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Calcium regulates glutamate dehydrogenase and poly-γ-glutamic acid synthesis in Bacillus natto

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Abstract

Objective

To study the effect of Ca2+ on glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and its role in poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) synthesis in Bacillus natto HSF 1410.

Results

When the concentration of Ca2+ varied from 0 to 0.1 g/l in the growth medium of B. natto HSF 1410, γ-PGA production increased from 6.8 to 9.7 g/l, while GDH specific activity and NH4Cl consumption improved from 183 to 295 U/mg and from 0.65 to 0.77 g/l, respectively. GDH with α-ketoglutarate as substrate primarily used NADPH as coenzyme with a K m of 0.08 mM. GDH was responsible for the synthesis of endogenous glutamate. The specific activity of GDH remained essentially unchanged in the presence of CaCl2 (0.05–0.2 g/l) in vitro. However, the specific activity of GDH and its expression was significantly increased by CaCl2 in vivo. Therefore, the regulation of GDH and PGA synthesis by Ca2+ is an intracellular process.

Conclusion

Calcium regulation may be an effective approach for producing γ-PGA on an industrial scale.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the overall planning of Shaanxi Science and Technology (Project No. 2012K202-04), and The Central College Fund of the Special Support Project of China (GK2372014LXM115).

Supplementary information

Supplementary Fig. 1—Determination of Km values of the purified GDH from Bacillus natto using either NADPH or NADH according to the Lineweater–Burk method.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Food Engineering and Nutritional Science, Shaanxi Normal University, 620 West Chang’an Avenue, Chang’an, 710119, Xi’an, People’s Republic of China

    Yonghong Meng, Guiru Dong, Chen Zhang, Yuanyuan Ren & Yuling Qu

  2. Institute of Enzyme Engineering, Shannxi Academy of Sciences, No.16 East Renmin Road, Lintong District, Xi’an, 710600, People’s Republic of China

    Weifeng Chen

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  1. Yonghong Meng
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  2. Guiru Dong
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  3. Chen Zhang
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  4. Yuanyuan Ren
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  5. Yuling Qu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yonghong Meng.

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Meng, Y., Dong, G., Zhang, C. et al. Calcium regulates glutamate dehydrogenase and poly-γ-glutamic acid synthesis in Bacillus natto . Biotechnol Lett 38, 673–679 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-015-2023-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-015-2023-x

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