• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1591-1598
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• 2004

To isolate the $\beta$-galactosidase producing thermophilic bacteria, samples of mud and water were collected from hot springs of avolcanic area near Golden Springs in New Zealand. Among eleven isolated strains, the strain of KNOUC112 produced the highest amounts of $\beta$-galactosidase at 40 h incubation time (0.013 unit). This strain was aerobic, asporogenic bacilli, immobile, gram negative, catalase positive, oxidase positive, and pigment producing. Optimum growth was at 70-72$^{\circ}C$, pH 7.0-7.2, and it could grow in the presence of 3% NaCl. The main fatty acids of cell components were iso-15:0 (30.26%), and iso-17:0 (31.31%). Based on morphological and biochemical properties and fatty acid composition, the strain could be identified as genus Thermus, and finally as Thermus thermophilus by phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA sequence. So the strain is designated as Thermus thermophilus KNOUC112. A gene from Thermus thermophilus KNOUC112 encoding $\beta$-galactosidase was amplified by PCR using redundancy primers prepared based on the structure of $\beta$-galactosidase gene of Thermus sp. A4 and Thermus sp. strain T2, cloned and expressed in E. coli JM109 DE3. The gene of Thermus thermophilus KNOUC112 $\beta$-galactosidase(KNOUC112$\beta$-gal) consisted of a 1,938 bp open reading frame, encoding a protein of 73 kDa that was composed of 645 amino acids. KNOUC112$\beta$-gal was expressed as dimer and trimer in E. coli JM109 (DE3) via pET-5b.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.376-378
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• 1997

In an attempt to increase the conversion of lactose to galactoligosaccharides, two types of ${\beta}-galactosidases$ originated from Thermus caldophilus and Bacillus sp. A4442 reacted with 60% (w/w) lactose consecutively. Concentration of galactooligosaccharides reached up to 60% at the 85% conversion of the initial lactose maintaining transgalactosylation ratio ca. 90%.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.272-279
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• 2006

The gene encoding Thermus sp. T351 alkaline phosphatase (T351 APase) was cloned and sequenced. The gene consisted of 1,503 bp coding for a protein with 500 amino acid residues including a signal peptide. The deduced amino acid sequence of T351 APase showed relatively low similarity to other Thermus APases. The T351 APase gene was expressed under the control of the T7lac promoter on the expression vector pET-22b(+) in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The expressed enzyme was purified by heat treatment, and $UNO^{TM}$ Q and $HiTrap^{TM}$ Heparin HP column chromatographies. The purified enzyme exhibited high activity at extremely alkaline pHs, reaching a maximum at pH 12.0. The optimum temperature of the enzyme was $80^{\circ}C$, and the half-life at $85^{\circ}C$ was approximately 103 min. The enzyme activity was found to be dependent on metal ions: the addition of $Mg^{2+}$ and $CO^{2+}$ increased the activity, whereas EDTA inhibited it. With p-nitrophenyl phosphate as the substrate, T351 APase had a Michaelis constant ($K_{m}$) of $3.9{\times}10^{-5}M$. The enzyme catalyzed the hydrolysis of a wide variety of phosphorylated compounds.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.257-262
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• 2012

The gene encoding Thermus thermophilus HJ6 laccase (Tt-laccase) was cloned, sequenced, and comprised of 1,389 nucleotides encoding a protein (462 amino acids) with a predicted molecular mass of 51,049 Da. The deduced amino acid sequence of Tt-laccase showed 99.7% and 44.3% identities to the Thermus thermophilus HB27 laccase and Synechococcus sp. RS9917 laccase, respectively. Tt-laccase gene was expressed as a fusion protein with six histidine residues in E. coli Rosetta-gami (DE3) cells, and the recombinant protein was purified to homogeneity. UV-Vis spectrum analysis revealed that the enzyme has copper atoms, a type I Cu(II) and a type III binuclear Cu(II). The optimum pH for the oxidation of guaiacol was 5.0 and the optimum temperature was $90^{\circ}C$ The half-life of heat inactivation was about 120 min at $90^{\circ}C$ The enzyme reaction was inhibited by sodium azide, L-cystein, EDTA, dithiothreitol, tropolone, and kojic acid. The enzyme oxidized various known laccase substrates, its lowest $K_m$ value being for 4-hydroxyindole, highest $k_{cat}$ value for syringaldazine, and highest $k_{cat}/K_m$ for guaiacol.

• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.347-354
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• 2001

$\alpha$-Glucosidase of an extreme thermophile, Thermus caldophilus GK24 (TcaAG), was purified 80-fold from cells to a homogeneous state and characterized. The enzyme exhibited optimum activity at pH 6.5 and $90^{\circ}C$, and was stable from pH 6.0 to 85 and up to $90^{\circ}C$. The enzyme had a half-life of 85 minutes at $90^{\circ}C$. An analysis of the substrate specificity showed that the enzyme hydrolyzed the non-reducing terminal unit of $\alpha$-1,6-glucosidic linkages of isomaltosaccharides and panose, $\alpha$-1,3-glycosidic bond of nigerose and turanose, and $\alpha$-1,2-glycosidic bond of sucrose. The gene encoding the TcaAG was cloned, sequenced, and sequenced in E. coli. The nucleotide sequence of the gene encoded a 530 amino acid polypeptide and had a G+C content of 68.4% with a strong bias for G or C in the third position of the codons (93.6%). A sequence analysis revealed that TcaAG belonged to the $\alpha$-amylase family. We suggest that this monomeric, thermostable, and broad-acting $\alpha$-glucosidase is a departure from previously exhibited specificities. It is, therefore, a novel $\alpha$-glucosidase.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.12
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• pp.748-753
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• 2012

A sequence of 10 amino acids at the C-terminus region of methylglyoxal synthase from Escherichia coli (EMGS) provides an arginine, which plays a crucial role in forming a salt bridge with a proximal aspartate residue in the neighboring subunit, consequently transferring the allosteric signal between subunits. In order to verify the role of arginine, the gene encoding MGS from a thermophile species, Thermus sp. GH5 (TMGS) lacking this arginine was cloned with an additional 30 bp sequence at the 3'-end and then expressed in form of a fusion TMGS with a 10 residual segment at the C-terminus ($TMGS^+$). The resulting recombinant enzyme showed a significant increase in cooperativity towards phosphate, reflected by a change in the Hill coefficient (nH) from 1.5 to 1.99. Experiments including site directed mutagenesis for Asp-10 in TMGS and $TMGS^+$, two dimentional structural survey, fluorescence and irreversible thermoinactivation were carried out to confirm this pathway.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.165-168
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• 2001

Regulation of pyrimidine nucleotide synthesis has been studied extensively in enteric bacteria and Bacillus species. Varieties of control modes have been proposed for regulation of pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthetic (pyr) genes. In Bacillus caldolyticus and B. subtilis, it has been proved that pyrimidine de novo biosynthetic operon is controlled by a regulatory protein PyrR-mediated attenuation. Another Gram-positive bacteria including Enterococcus faecalis, Lactobacillus plantarum, and wctococcus lactis have been found to constitute a pyr gene cluster containing the pyrR gene. In addition, it has been proposed that the structure of the 5' leader region of the Gram-negative extreme thermophile Thermus strain Z05 pyr operon provides a novel mechanism of PyrR-dependent coupled transcription-translation attenuation. Bacterial genome sequencing projects have identified the PyrR homologues in Haemophilus influenzae, Synechocystis sp., Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, S. pyogenes, and Clostridium acetobutylicum, which are currently investigating for their physiological functions.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.5-13
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• 1983

This experiment was carried out to elucidate the thermotolerant properties of a thermophilic bacterium which isolated from soils of the hot springs area and selected for the $\beta$-galactosidase production. Biochemical and physiological characteristics of this strain were studied, including the investigation on the fatty acid composition for its neutral fats. The results obtained were summarized as follows. 1. This bacterium was identified as a strain belong to the genus Thermus. 2. Optimal temperature and pH for growth of this strain were $65^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.5 respectively, and it was found to be an absolute thermophilic bacterium which could not grow at 37$^{\circ}C$. 3. No growth was obtained in the medium which contained more than 1.0% of sodium chloride. 4. The tolerable concentration of antobiotics were 10$\mu\textrm{g}$ of penicillin G per $m\ell$ of medium and 0.5$\mu\textrm{g}$ of chloramphenicol per $m\ell$ respectively 5. This strain had autotrophilic requirements for calcium-pantothenate and pyridoxine-HCO as an-essential factor and for niacin as a stimulative factor. 6. Fatty acid composition of neutral fats of the strain was palmitic acid. 60.20%; lauric acid, 11.8%; myristic acid, 7.56%, behenic acid, 4.25%; capric acid, 1.77%; stearic acid, 2.13%; arachidic acid, 1.53%; and others unidentified, 10.7%.