Determination of free amino acids in microalgae by high-performance liquid chromatography using pre-column fluorescence derivatization

The UV-A Receptor CRY-DASH1 Up- and Downregulates Proteins Involved in Different Plastidial Pathways

Algae encode up to five different types of cryptochrome photoreceptors. So far, relatively little is known about the biological functions of the DASH (Drosophila, Arabidopsis, Synechocystis and Homo)-type cryptochromes. The green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii encodes two of them. CRY-DASH1 also called DCRY1 has its maximal absorption peak in the UV-A range. It is localized in the chloroplast and plays an important role in balancing the photosynthetic machinery. Here, we performed a comparative analysis of chloroplast proteins from wild type and a knockout mutant of CRY-DASH1 named cry-dash1mut, using label-free quantitative proteomics as well as immunoblotting. Our results show upregulation of enzymes involved in specific pathways in the mutant including key enzymes of chlorophyll and carotenoid biosynthesis consistent with increased levels of photosynthetic pigments in cry-dash1mut. There is also an increase in certain redox as well as photosystem I and II proteins, including D1. Strikingly, CRY-DASH1 is coregulated in a D1 deletion mutant, where its amount is increased. In contrast, key proteins of the central carbon metabolism, including glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, dark fermentation and the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway are downregulated in cry-dash1mut. Similarly, enzymes of histidine biosynthesis are downregulated in cry-dash1mut leading to a reduction in the amount of free histidine. Yet, transcripts encoding for several of these proteins are at a similar level in the wild type and cry-dash1mut or even opposite. We show that CRY-DASH1 can bind to RNA, taking the psbA RNA encoding D1 as target. These data suggest that CRY-DASH1 regulates plastidial metabolic pathways at the posttranscriptional level.

Hydrogen production using amino acids obtained by protein degradation in waste biomass by combined dark- and photo-fermentation

The biological hydrogen production from amino acids obtained by protein degradation was comprehensively investigated to increase heating value conversion efficiency. The five amino acids (i.e., alanine, serine, aspartic acid, arginine, and leucine) produced limited hydrogen (0.2-16.2 mL/g) but abundant soluble metabolic products (40.1-84.0 mM) during dark-fermentation. The carbon conversion efficiencies of alanine (85.3%) and serine (94.1%) during dark-fermentation were significantly higher than those of other amino acids. Residual dark-fermentation solutions treated with zeolite for NH4(+) removal were inoculated with photosynthetic bacteria to further produce hydrogen during photo-fermentation. The hydrogen yields of alanine and serine through combined dark- and photo-fermentation were 418.6 and 270.2 mL/g, respectively. The heating value conversion efficiency of alanine to hydrogen was 25.1%, which was higher than that of serine (21.2%).

A novel amino acid analysis method using derivatization of multiple functional groups followed by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

We have developed a novel amino acid analysis method using derivatization of multiple functional groups (amino, carboxyl, and phenolic hydroxyl groups).

Comparison in dark hydrogen fermentation followed by photo hydrogen fermentation and methanogenesis between protein and carbohydrate compositions in Nannochloropsis oceanica biomass

The thermodynamic comparison in dark fermentation between amino acids and reducing sugars released from Nannochloropsis oceanica biomass are investigated for the first time. The total utilisation efficiencies of amino acids and reducing sugars are both about 95% in dark fermentation. But the consumption time of most amino acids is about 2 times as long as that of most reducing sugars in dark fermentation. A three-stage method comprising dark fermentation, photofermentation and methanogenesis is proposed to improve hydrogen and energy yields from N. oceanica biomass. Overall, the maximum hydrogen yield of 183.9 ml/g-total volatile solids (TVS) and the methane yield of 161.3 ml/g-TVS are achieved from N. oceanica biomass through the three-stage method. The total energy yield of hydrogen and methane from microalgae biomass through the three-stage method is 1.7 and 1.3 times higher than those through the two-stage (dark fermentation and methanogenesis) and single-stage (methanogenesis) methods, respectively.

Sequential generation of hydrogen and methane from glutamic acid through combined photo-fermentation and methanogenesis

Glutamic acid can hardly produce hydrogen via dark- or photo-fermentation without pretreatment. In this study, a novel process of acidogenic pretreatment with bacteria and zeolite treatment for NH4(+) removal was proposed to use glutamic acid as feedstock in photo-fermentation for efficient hydrogen production. Glutamic acid pretreated with acidogenic bacteria produces soluble metabolite products. After zeolite treatment, the acidulated solution, which mainly contains acetate, butyrate, and NH4(+), shows a decrease in NH4(+) concentration from 36.7mM to 3.2mM (NH4(+) removal efficiency of 91.1%). After NH4(+) removal, the treated solution is incubated with photosynthetic bacteria, exhibiting a maximum hydrogen yield of 292.9mL/g(-glutamic acid) during photo-fermentation. The residual solution from photo-fermentation is reused by methanogenic bacteria to produce a maximum methane yield of 102.7mL/g. The heating value conversion efficiency from glutamic acid to gas fuel significantly increases from 18.9% during photo-fermentation to 40.9% in the combined photo-fermentation and methanogenesis process.

Targeted disruption of homoserine dehydrogenase gene and its effect on cephamycin C production in Streptomyces clavuligerus

The aspartate pathway of Streptomyces clavuligerus is an important primary metabolic pathway which provides substrates for beta-lactam synthesis. In this study, the hom gene which encodes homoserine dehydrogenase was cloned from the cephamycin C producer S. clavuligerus NRRL 3585 and characterized. The fully sequenced open reading frame encodes 433 amino acids with a deduced M (r) of 44.9 kDa. The gene was heterologously expressed in the auxotroph mutant Escherichia coli CGSC 5075 and the recombinant protein was purified. The cloned gene was used to construct a plasmid containing a hom disruption cassette which was then transformed into S. clavuligerus. A hom mutant of S. clavuligerus was obtained by insertional inactivation via double crossover, and the effect of hom gene disruption on cephamycin C yield was investigated by comparing antibiotic levels in culture broths of this mutant and in the parental strain. Disruption of hom gene resulted in up to 4.3-fold and twofold increases in intracellular free L-lysine concentration and specific cephamycin C production, respectively, during stationary phase in chemically defined medium.

GABA, 5-HT and amino acids in the rotifers Brachionus plicatilis and Brachionus rotundiformis

gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) have been shown to increase the reproduction of the Brachionus plicatilis (NH3L strain). In the present study, the endogenous presence of GABA and 5-HT in the rotifers B. plicatilis (NH3L and Kamiura strains) and Brachionus rotundiformis (Langkawi strain) were confirmed by dot blot immunoassay and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). HPLC showed that GABA and 5-HT concentrations in the three rotifer strains range from 71 to 188 pmol/mg and from 12 to 64 pmol/mg, respectively. A total of 33 amino acids were also detected in B. plicatilis and B. rotundiformis, with glutamic acid, serine, glycine, taurine, threonine, alanine, arginine, proline, valine and isoleucine in high concentrations relative to other amino acids.