Graham G. Pritchard

CHARACTERIZATION OF X-PROLYL DIPEPTIDYL AMINOPEPTIDASE FROM LACTOCOCCUS LACTIS SUBSP. LACTIS

Summary: A dipeptidyl aminopeptidase catalysing hydrolysis of X-prolyl amidomethylcoumarin (AMC) substrates has been purified from Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis H1. The active enzyme has a molecular mass of approximately 150 kDa, a subunit molecular mass of 82 to 83 kDa and is inhibited by the serine protease inhibitor phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride. The K m and k cat values for five different dipeptidyl AMC substrates (Gly-Pro-; Leu-Pro-; Lys-Pro-; Phe-Pro- and Glu-Pro-AMC) are similar except for the K m value for Glu-Pro-AMC, which is about threefold higher than that for the other substrates. The enzyme also catalyses hydrolysis of X-Ala-AMC substrates but with much lower kcat and higher K m values than the corresponding X-Pro-AMC substrates. The β-casein-derived heptapeptides Lys-Ala-Val-Pro-Tyr-Pro-Gln and Tyr-Pro-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro-Ile were hydrolysed, but bradykinins with N-terminal sequences Arg-Pro-Pro- and Lys-Pro-Pro- were not. Dipeptidyl aminopeptidase specific activity is the same in a plasmid-free strain of L. lactis subsp. lactis H1 and in the wild-type, indicating that the enzyme is chromosomally encoded.

The diversity of potential cheese ripening characteristics of lactic acid starter bacteria: 2. The levels and subcellular distributions of peptidase and esterase activities

Abstract The levels and subcellular distributions of various peptidase and esterase activities in a range of lactococcal and Streptococcus thermophilus strains were investigated. There was no correlation between the levels of the enzymes in the different strains and the ability of the strains to produce acid when grown in milk. While considerable differences between individual strains were apparent, average levels of X-prolyldipeptidyl aminopeptidase, dipeptidase and tripeptidase were similar in the Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and L. lactis subsp. cremoris strains studied, while that of lysylaminopeptidase (i.e. activity assayed using lysine p-nitroanilide as substrate) in the L. lactis subsp. cremoris strains was approximately double that in the L. lactis subsp. lactis strains. The average levels of lysylaminopeptidase and X-prolyldipeptidyl aminopeptidase in the S. thermophilus strains studied were similar to those in the L. lactis subsp. cremoris strains, while the average levels of dipeptidase and tripeptidase were considerably lower. All peptidases studied were recovered predominantly in the cytoplasmic fraction, although in a few strains there was some evidence to suggest that a part of the tripeptidase activity may be associated with cell structures comprising the particulate fraction. The levels of esterase activity in the strains were considerably different between strains. However, the average level of esterase activity detected in the two lactococcal subspecies was similar, while that in the S. thermophilus strains was more than double the lactococcal average. The subcellular distribution of the esterase in all strains studied showed that a significant proportion of the activity is located on the cell surface.

Action of a cell wall proteinase from Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris SK11 on bovine αs1-casein

SummaryThe cell wall-associated proteinase from Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris SK11 was partially purified and incubated with αs1-casein for various times up to 48 h. Sixteen trifluoroacetic acid-soluble oligopeptide hydrolysis products were identified by determination of the aminp acid sequence. Eleven of these oligopeptides originated from the 78-residue sequence comprising the C-terminal region of αs1-casein and were present among the products after the first 60 min of digestion. Three oligopeptides from the N-terminal region and two others from the central region of the αs1-casein sequence were also present among the early digestion products although in smaller amounts than most of the oligopeptides from the C-terminal region. No cleat consensus sequence of amino acid residues surrounding the cleavage sites could be identified.

Purification and properties of pyruvate kinase from Streptococcus lactis.

The pyruvate kinase (ATP: pyruvate 2-O-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.40) of Streptococcus lactis C10 is activated by fructose 1,6-diphosphate (Fru-1,6-P2), activity being a sigmoidal function of activator concentration. The FDP0.5V (Fru-1,6-P2 concentration giving half-maximal velocity) is markedly increased in the presence of low concentrations of inorganic phosphate; 1 mM phosphate increases the FDP0.5V value 6-fold. Although the intracellular level of Fru-1,6-P2 (12-18 mM) in exponentially growing cells on the medium used is much greater than the FDP0.5V for pyruvate kinase (0.2 mM) as determined in triethanolamine-HCl buffer, a much higher Fru-1,6-P2 concentration may be required to activate the enzyme in vivo to overcome phosphate inhibition. Tris and maleate also inhibit the enzyme. At low concentrations of Fru-1,6-P2 (0.1 mM), reaction rate is a sigmoidal function of both phosphoenolpyruvate and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) concentrations; at near saturating concentrations of activator (1 mM) the response to varying ADP is hyperbolic while the response to varying phosphoenolpyruvate becomes much less sigmoidal. The affinity for both substrates (especially phosphoenolpyruvate) is also increased by increasing the concentration of Fru-1,6-P2. The affinity of the enzyme for guanosine disphosphate (GDP) is 12-13 times that for ADP under the assay conditions used. The Streptococcus lactis pyruvate kinase has a molecular weight of 240000 with a subunit molecular weight of 60000.

Purification and characterization of an endopeptidase from Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris SK11.

An endopeptidase has been purified from Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris SK11. The enzyme is a 70 kDa monomer, strongly inhibited by the metalloproteinase inhibitors 1,10-phenanthroline and phosphoramidon but relatively insensitive to EDTA. It is not significantly inhibited by the thiol enzyme inhibitor p-chloromercuribenzoate nor by the serine protease inhibitor phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride. The action of the endopeptidase in catalysing the hydrolysis of several peptide hormones has been studied and the hydrolysis products identified by sequence analysis. The enzyme catalyses hydrolysis of peptide bonds in which a hydrophobic amino acid (most commonly a Phe or Leu) residue occupies the position immediately C-terminal to the hydrolysed bond. It thus has a specificity very similar to that of thermolysin. Two of the oligopeptides produced during the early stages of beta-casein digestion by the lactococcal cell-wall proteinases were hydrolysed by the endopeptidase, the others were resistant to hydrolysis. Cell fractionation studies have shown that the distribution of endopeptidase activity between the different cell fractions is the same as that of the intracellular marker enzyme fructose bisphosphate aldolase, and thus indicate a cytoplasmic location for the enzyme. These observations argue against a role for this enzyme in the early stages of casein breakdown by the lactococcal proteolytic system.

An NAD+-independent l-lactate dehydrogenase from Rhizopus oryzae

Abstract Two distinct lactate dehydrogenases are present in cultures of a lactic acid-producing strain of Rhizopus oryzae. During rapid vegetative growth, when lactic acid is being produced, the mycelium contains an NAD+-dependent lactate dehydrogenase ( l -lactate:NAD+ oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.27) which catalyses the reduction of pyruvate to lactate but not, apparently, the reverse reaction. Following exhaustion of the glucose from the medium and the onset of sporulation the activity of this enzyme decreases rapidly to an undetectable level and it is replaced by an NAD+-independent lactate dehydrogenase ( l -lactate:(acceptor) oxidoreductase) catalysing the oxidation of l -lactic acid to pyruvic acid. This enzyme shows no activity with d -lactic acid or glycollate, is competitively inhibited by oxalate and can use dichlorophenol indophenol, ferricyanide or cytochrome c but not oxygen as electron acceptors.

The effect of monovalent and divalent cations on the activity of Streptococcus lactis C10 pyruvate kinase

The pyruvate kinase (ATP: pyruvate 2-O-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.40) from Streptococcus lactis C10 had an obligatory requirement for both a monovalent cation and divalent cation. NH+4 and K+ activated the enzyme in a sigmoidal manner (nH =1.55) at similar concentrations, whereas Na+ and Li+ could only weakly activate the enzyme. Of eight divalent cations studied, only three (Co2+, Mg2+ and Mn2+) activated the enzyme. The remaining five divalent cations (Cu2+, Zn2+, Ca2+, Ni2+ and Ba2+) inhibited the Mg2+ activated enzyme to varying degrees. (Cu2+ completely inhibited activity at 0.1 mM while Ba2+, the least potent inhibitor, caused 50% inhibition at 3.2 mM). In the presence of 1 mM fructose 1,6-diphosphate (Fru-1,6-P2) the enzyme showed a different kinetic response to each of the three activating divalent cations. For Co2+, Mn2+ and Mg2+ the Hill interaction coefficients (nH) were 1.6, 1.7 and 2.3 respectively and the respective divalent cation concentrations required for 50% maximum activity were 0.9, 0.46 and 0.9 mM. Only with Mn2+ as the divalent cation was there significatn activity in the absence of Fru-1,6-P2. When Mn2+ replaced Mg2+, the Fru-1,6-P2 activation changed from sigmoidal (nH = 2.0) to hyperbolic (nH = 1.0) kinetics and the Fru-1,6-P2 concentration required for 50% maximum activity decreased from 0.35 to 0.015 mM. The cooperativity of phosphoenolpyruvate binding increased (nH 1.2 to 1.8) and the value of the phosphoenolpyruvate concentration giving half maximal velocity decreased (0.18 to 0.015 mM phosphoenolyruvate) when Mg2+ was replaced by Mn2+ in the presence of 1 mM Fru-1,6-P2. The kinetic response to ADP was not altered significantly when Mn2+ was substituted for Mg2+. The effects of pH on the binding of phosphoenolpyruvate and Fru-1,6-P2 were different depending on whether Mg2+ or Mn2+ was the divalent cation.

Restriction mapping and localization of the lactose-metabolizing genes of Streptococcus cremoris pDI-21

SummaryThe conjugative plasmid pDI-21 (63 kb) from Streptococcus cremoris encodes genes which are responsible for lactose utilization and protein degradation. Restriction mapping and hybridization using heterologous probes have localized these genes to regions of 12.5 kb and 4.4 kb. The tagatose-6-phosphate pathway genes were closely linked and were assigned in the order; galactose-6-phosphate isomerase, d-tagatose-6-phosphate kinase and tagatose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase. The Lac-PTS genes and the phospho-β-galactosidase gene were mapped approximately 1 kb from the tagatose-6-phosphate genes.

Aerobic electron transport in Propionibacterium shermanii effects of cyanide

Cyanide inhibited d- and l-lactate and NADH oxidase activities of membrane particles from Propionibacterium shermanii but only at relatively high concentrations. Inhibition occurred at two different sites in the electron transport pathway. One site, with a half-maximal inhibition concentration (I0.5) of 2 to 3 mM KCN, is located at the terminal oxidase involved in cytochrome b oxidation; the evidence is consistent with cytochrome d being the major oxidase involved. At high concentrations, cyanide inhibited reduction of cytochrome b by d-lactate (I0.5 value 20–25 mM cyanide). A proportion of the oxygen-uptake remained uninhibited even by 100 mM cyanide; this proportion was about 80% for succinate, 30% for l-lactate, 15% for d-lactate and 10% for NADH. The oxygen uptake per mol of substrate oxidised increased with increasing cyanide concentration and was accompanied by the formation of hydrogen peroxide as a product of a cyanide-insensitive oxidase system.

Kinetics of activation of l-lactate dehydrogenase from Streptococcus faecalis by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and by metal ions

The lactate dehydrogenase from Streptococcus faecalis is activated either by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate or by divalent cations such as Mn2+ or Co2+. With both types of activator, a lag is observed before attainment of the steady state rate of pyruvate reduction if the activator is added to the enzyme at the same time as the substrates. This lag can be largely abolished by preincubation of enzyme with activator before mixing with substrates. For fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (Fru(1,6)P2) as the activator, the rate constant for the lag phase showed a linear dependence on activator concentration but was independent of enzyme concentration. This suggests that binding of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate induces a conformational change in the enzyme which leads to increased activity, without association of enzyme subunits or dimers. With Co2+ as activator, the rate constant for the lag phase showed a hyperbolic dependence on Co2+ concentration and was also dependent on enzyme concentration. This suggests that activation by Co2+, in contrast to that by Fru(1,6)P2, involves association of enzyme dimers, followed by ligand binding.