Ming-Yang Zhou

Diversity of Both the Cultivable Protease-Producing Bacteria and Their Extracellular Proteases in the Sediments of the South China Sea

Protease-producing bacteria are known to play an important role in degrading sedimentary particular organic nitrogen, and yet, their diversity and extracellular proteases remain largely unknown. In this paper, the diversity of the cultivable protease-producing bacteria and their extracellular proteases in the sediments of the South China Sea was investigated. The richness of the cultivable protease-producing bacteria reached 106 cells/g in all sediment samples. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the predominant cultivated protease-producing bacteria are Gammaproteobacteria affiliated with the genera Pseudoalteromonas, Alteromonas, Marinobacter, Idiomarina, Halomonas, Vibrio, Shewanella, Pseudomonas, and Rheinheimera, with Alteromonas (34.6%) and Pseudoalteromonas (28.2%) as the predominant groups. Inhibitor analysis showed that nearly all the extracellular proteases from the bacteria are serine proteases or metalloproteases. Moreover, these proteases have different hydrolytic ability to different proteins, reflecting they may belong to different kinds of serine proteases or metalloproteases. To our knowledge, this study represents the first report of the diversity of bacterial proteases in deep-sea sediments.

Tenderization effect of cold-adapted collagenolytic protease MCP-01 on beef meat at low temperature and its mechanism

The enzymes currently used to increase meat tenderness are all mesophilic or thermophilic proteases. This study provides insight into the tenderization effect and the mechanism of a cold-adapted collagenolytic enzyme MCP-01 on beef meat at low temperatures. MCP-01 (10 U of caseinolytic activity) reduced the meat shear force by 23% and increased the relative myofibrillar fragmentation index of the meat by 91.7% at 4 °C, and it also kept the fresh colour and moisture of the meat. Compared to the commercially used tenderizers papain and bromelain, MCP-01 showed a unique tenderization mechanism. MCP-01 had a strong selectivity for degrading collagen at 4 °C, showed a distinct digestion pattern on the myofibrillar proteins, and had a different disruption pattern on the muscle fibres under scanning electron micrograph. These results suggest that the cold-adapted collagenolytic protease MCP-01 may be promising for use as a meat tenderizer at low and moderate temperatures.

Diversity of Both the Cultivable Protease-Producing Bacteria and Bacterial Extracellular Proteases in the Coastal Sediments of King George Island, Antarctica

Protease-producing bacteria play a vital role in degrading sedimentary organic nitrogen. However, the diversity of these bacteria and their extracellular proteases in most regions remain unknown. In this paper, the diversity of the cultivable protease-producing bacteria and of bacterial extracellular proteases in the sediments of Maxwell Bay, King George Island, Antarctica was investigated. The cultivable protease-producing bacteria reached 105 cells/g in all 8 sediment samples. The cultivated protease-producing bacteria were mainly affiliated with the phyla Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria, and the predominant genera were Bacillus (22.9%), Flavobacterium (21.0%) and Lacinutrix (16.2%). Among these strains, Pseudoalteromonas and Flavobacteria showed relatively high protease production. Inhibitor analysis showed that nearly all the extracellular proteases from the bacteria were serine proteases or metalloproteases. These results begin to address the diversity of protease-producing bacteria and bacterial extracellular proteases in the sediments of the Antarctic Sea.

Rheinheimera nanhaiensis sp. nov., isolated from marine sediments, and emended description of the genus Rheinheimera Brettar et al. 2002 emend. Merchant et al. 2007.

A Gram-negative, facultatively aerobic, oxidase- and catalase-positive, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain E407-8(T), was isolated from a sediment sample from the South China Sea. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain E407-8(T) was affiliated with the genus Rheinheimera, sharing the highest sequence similarity with Rheinheimera pacifica KMM 1406(T) (97.5 %) and Rheinheimera aquimaris SW-353(T) (97.4 %) and showing less than 97 % sequence similarity to the type strains of other recognized Rheinheimera species. Levels of DNA-DNA relatedness of strain E407-8(T) to R. pacifica DSM 17616(T) and R. aquimaris JCM 14331(T) were 25.2 % (25.3 % in the duplicate measurement) and 9.4 % (6.5 %), respectively. The bacterium could grow at 10-48 °C (optimum 37 °C) and in the presence of 0-8 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 0.5-2.5 %). The major cellular fatty acids of strain E407-8(T) were summed feature 3 (C(16 : 1)ω7c and/or iso-C(15 : 0) 2-OH), C(17 : 1)ω8c, C(16 : 0) and C(18 : 1)ω7c. The predominant respiratory quinone was ubiquinone Q-8. The DNA G+C content was 51.0 mol%. Based on the results of our polyphasic taxonomic study, strain E407-8(T) represents a novel species in the genus Rheinheimera, for which the name Rheinheimera nanhaiensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is E407-8(T) ( = CCTCC AB 209089(T)  = KACC 14030(T)). An emended description of the genus Rheinheimera Brettar et al. 2002 emend. Merchant et al. 2007 is also proposed.

Elastolytic Mechanism of a Novel M23 Metalloprotease Pseudoalterin from Deep-sea Pseudoalteromonas sp. CF6-2 CLEAVING NOT ONLY GLYCYL BONDS IN THE HYDROPHOBIC REGIONS BUT ALSO PEPTIDE BONDS IN THE HYDROPHILIC REGIONS INVOLVED IN CROSS-LINKING

Background: The mechanism of marine elastin degradation is unclear. Results: A novel M23 metalloprotease pseudoalterin from a marine bacterium degraded elastin by cleaving both the glycyl bonds and the peptide bonds involved in cross-linking. Conclusion: Pseudoalterin adopts a novel elastolytic mechanism different from other M23 metalloproteases. Significance: The results shed light on the mechanism of marine elastin degradation. Elastin is a common insoluble protein that is abundant in marine vertebrates, and for this reason its degradation is important for the recycling of marine nitrogen. It is still unclear how marine elastin is degraded because of the limited study of marine elastases. Here, a novel protease belonging to the M23A subfamily, secreted by Pseudoalteromonas sp. CF6-2 from deep-sea sediment, was purified and characterized, and its elastolytic mechanism was studied. This protease, named pseudoalterin, has low identities (<40%) to the known M23 proteases. Pseudoalterin has a narrow specificity but high activity toward elastin. Analysis of the cleavage sites of pseudoalterin on elastin showed that pseudoalterin cleaves the glycyl bonds in hydrophobic regions and the peptide bonds Ala–Ala, Ala–Lys, and Lys–Ala involved in cross-linking. Two peptic derivatives of desmosine, desmosine-Ala-Ala and desmosine-Ala-Ala-Ala, were detected in the elastin hydrolysate, indicating that pseudoalterin can dissociate cross-linked elastin. These results reveal a new elastolytic mechanism of the M23 protease pseudoalterin, which is different from the reported mechanism where the M23 proteases only cleave glycyl bonds in elastin. Genome analysis suggests that M23 proteases may be popular in deep-sea sediments, implying their important role in elastin degradation. An elastin degradation model of pseudoalterin was proposed, based on these results and scanning electron microscopic analysis of the degradation by pseudoalterin of bovine elastin and cross-linked recombinant tropoelastin. Our results shed light on the mechanism of elastin degradation in deep-sea sediment.

Idiomarina maris sp. nov., a marine bacterium isolated from sediment

A protease-producing marine bacterium, designated CF12-14(T), was isolated from sediment of the South China Sea. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain CF12-14(T) formed a separate lineage within the genus Idiomarina (Gammaproteobacteria). The isolate showed the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with Idiomarina salinarum ISL-52(T) (94.7 %), Idiomarina seosinensis CL-SP19(T) (94.6 %) and other members of the genus Idiomarina (91.9-94.6 %). Cells were gram-negative, aerobic, flagellated, straight or slightly curved, and often formed buds and prosthecae. Strain CF12-14(T) grew at 4-42 °C (optimum 30-35 °C) and with 0.1-15 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 2-3 %). The isolate reduced nitrate to nitrite and hydrolysed DNA, but did not produce acids from sugars. The predominant cellular fatty acids were iso-C(15 : 0) (27.4 %), iso-C(17 : 0) (16.0 %) and iso-C(17 : 1)ω9c (15.8 %). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol. The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone 8. The DNA G+C content was 50.4 mol%. The phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data supported the conclusion that CF12-14(T) represents a novel species of the genus Idiomarina, for which the name Idiomarina maris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CF12-14(T) ( = CCTCC AB 208166(T) = KACC 13974(T)).

Structural and mechanistic insights into collagen degradation by a bacterial collagenolytic serine protease in the subtilisin family.

A number of proteases in the subtilisin family derived from environmental or pathogenic microorganisms have been reported to be collagenolytic serine proteases. However, their collagen degradation mechanisms remain unclear. Here, the degradation mechanism of type I collagen fibres by the S8 collagenolytic protease MCP‐01, from Pseudoalteromonas sp. SM9913, was studied. Atomic force microscopy observation and biochemical analysis confirmed that MCP‐01 progressively released single fibrils from collagen fibres and released collagen monomers from fibrils mainly by hydrolysing proteoglycans and telopeptides in the collagen fibres. Structural and mutational analyses indicated that an enlarged substrate‐binding pocket, mainly composed of loops 7, 9 and 11, is necessary for collagen recognition and that the acidic and aromatic residues on these loops form a negatively charged, hydrophobic environment for collagen binding. MCP‐01 displayed a non‐strict preference for peptide bonds with Pro or basic residues at the P1 site and/or Gly at the P1’ site in collagen. His211 is a key residue for the P1‐basic‐residue preference of MCP‐01. Our study gives structural and mechanistic insights into collagen degradation of the S8 collagenolytic protease, which is helpful in developing therapeutics for diseases with S8 collagenolytic proteases as pathogenic factors and in studying environmental organic nitrogen degradation mechanisms.

Puniceibacterium antarcticum gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from seawater

A Gram-reaction-negative, aerobic, non-flagellated, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain SM1211T, was isolated from Antarctic seawater. The isolate grew at 4-35 °C and with 0-10% (w/v) NaCl. It could produce bacteriochlorophyll a, but did not reduce nitrate to nitrite or hydrolyse DNA. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain SM1211T constituted a distinct phylogenetic line within the family Rhodobacteraceae and was closely related to species in the genera Litorimicrobium, Leisingera, Seohaeicola and Phaeobacter with 95.1-96.0% similarities. The predominant cellular fatty acid was C18:1ω7c. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, an unidentified aminolipid and two unidentified phospholipids. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain SM1211T was 60.7 mol%. Based on the phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data obtained in this study, strain SM1211T is considered to represent a novel species in a new genus within the family Rhodobacteraceae, for which the name Puniceibacterium antarcticum gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Puniceibacterium antarcticum is SM1211T (=CCTCC AB 2013147T=KACC 16875T).