Skip to main content
Log in

Expression of glr gene encoding glutamate racemase in Bacillus licheniformis WX-02 and its regulatory effects on synthesis of poly-γ-glutamic acid

  • Original Research Paper
  • Published:
Biotechnology Letters Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The glr gene, which encodes glutamate racemase involved in the conversion of l-glutamic acid to its D-isomer, was cloned and expressed in Bacillus licheniformis WX-02. Overexpression of the glr gene not only increased the production of poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) by 22.5% but also increased the proportion of d-glutamate in γ-PGA from 77 to 85%. The activity of glutamate racemase was higher than in the original strain throughout cultivation. This is the first report that overexpression of the glr gene could enhance the l- and d-glutamate conversion in B. licheniformis WX-02 and increase the proportion of d-glutamate in γ-PGA and the yield of γ-PGA.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ashiuchi M, Tani K, Soda K, Misono H (1998) Properties of glutamate racemase from Bacillus subtilis IFO3336 producing poly-γ-glutamate. J Biochem 123:1156–1163

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ashiuchi M, Kamei T, Beak DH, Shin SY, Sung MH, Soda K, Yagi T, Misono H (2001) Isolation of Bacillus subtilis (chungkookjng), a poly-γ-glutamate producer with high genetic competence. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 57:764–769

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Horton RM, Cai ZL, Ho SN, Pease LR (1990) Gene splicing by overlap extension: tailor-made genes using the polymerase chain reaction. BioTechniques 8(5):528–535

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kunioka M (1997) Biosynthesis and chemical reactions of poly (amino acids) from microorganisms. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 47:469–475

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nimura N, Kinoshita T (1986) o-Phthalaldehyde-N-acetyl-l-cysteine as a chiral derivatization reagent for liquid chromatographic optical resolution of amino acid ernantiomers and its application to conventional amino acid analysis. J Chromatogr 352:169–177

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Richard A, Margaritis A (2003) Optimization of cell growth and poly (glutamic acid) production in batch fermentation by Bacillus subtilis. Biotechnol Lett 25:465–468

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sung HY, Jin HD, Sang YL, Ho NC (2000) Production of poly-γ-glutamic acid by fed-batch culture of Bacillus licheniformis. Biotechnol Lett 7:585–588

    Google Scholar 

  • Wei XT, Ji ZX, Chen SW (2009) Isolation of Halotolerant Bacillus licheniformis WX-02 and Regulatory Effects of Sodium Chloride on Yield and Molecular Sizes of Poly-γ-Glutamic Acid. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 160(5):1332–1340

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Q, Xu H, Xu L, Ouyang PK (2006) Biosynthesis of poly (γ-glutamic acid) in Bacillus subtilis NX-2: Regulation of stereochemical composition of poly (γ-glutamic acid). Process Biochem 41:1650–1655

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xue GP, Johnson JS, Dalrymple BP (1999) High osmolarity improves the electro-transformation efficiency of the gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis. J Microbiol Method 34:183–191

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University of China (no. NCET-07-0341) and the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China (no. 2008AA10Z317).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shouwen Chen.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 359 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jiang, F., Qi, G., Ji, Z. et al. Expression of glr gene encoding glutamate racemase in Bacillus licheniformis WX-02 and its regulatory effects on synthesis of poly-γ-glutamic acid. Biotechnol Lett 33, 1837–1840 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-011-0631-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-011-0631-7

Keywords

Navigation