Isoleucine 2-epimerase (ILEP) is a novel branched-chain amino acid racemase isolated from . In this study, we examined production of free d-branched-chain amino acids such as d-valine, d-leucine, and d--isoleucine, using lactic acid bacteria carrying homologs to ILEP. Twelve selected strains of lactic acid bacteria were grown at optimal growth temperatures and accumulation of d-branched-chain amino acids in the medium was monitored in exponential, early stationary, and stationary phases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKasugamycin (KSM), an aminoglycoside antibiotic isolated from Streptomyces kasugaensis cultures, has been used against rice blast disease for more than 50 years. We cloned the KSM biosynthetic gene (KBG) cluster from S. kasugaensis MB273-C4 and constructed three KBG cassettes (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn mice, fibroblast growth factor 4 (Fgf4) is a crucial gene for the generation of trophectoderm, progenitor cells of the placenta. Therefore, exogenous FGF4 promotes the isolation and maintenance of trophoblast stem cells from preimplantation embryos. We previously produced a 6× histidine (His)-tagged, mouse FGF4 (Pro(31)-Leu(202)) without a secretory signal peptide at the amino-terminus, referred to as HismFGF4, in Escherichia coli.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) is considered as a crucial gene for tumorigenesis in humans and the development of mammalian embryos. The secreted, mature form of human FGF4 is thought to be comprised of 175 amino acid residues (proline(32) to leucine(206), Pro(32)-Leu(206)). Here, we found that bacterially expressed, 6× histidine (His)-tagged human FGF4 (Pro(32)-Leu(206)) protein, referred to as HishFGF4, was unstable such as in phosphate-buffered saline.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) is considered a crucial gene in the proper development of bovine embryos. We recently determined the FGF4 gene sequence in eight cattle derived from three breeds and revealed a common nucleotide sequence of the structural gene encoding FGF4, which leads to the deletion and mutation of amino acid sequences in the mature FGF4 (Pro(32) -Leu(206) ) compared with the sequence previously reported. In the present study, HisbFGF4, a 6× histidine-tagged bovine FGF4 (Pro(32) -Leu(206) ), was produced in Escherichia coli based on the validated nucleotide sequence and purified by heparin column chromatography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) is considered a crucial gene in the development of mammalian embryos. Here we identified common amino acid sequences predicted from coding exons of the FGF4 gene in five pigs of two breeds, and HispFGF4, a 6× histidine-tagged porcine FGF4, was produced in Escherichia coli. HispFGF4 was purified efficiently from the supernatant of cell lysate by heparin column chromatography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA dibenzofuran (DF)-degrader Terrabacter sp. strain DBF63 harbors the dbfA and dbfBC genes for DF degradation and the fln-dbfA, pht, and pca gene clusters for the utilization of fluorene (FN) as a sole carbon source. From this strain, dfdA1, the gene encoding the second DF dioxygenase was detected using degenerate polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the dfdA1A2A3A4 genes were cloned from a cosmid library of the DBF63 genome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiosci Biotechnol Biochem
November 2012
Embryoid bodies were prepared from mouse embryonic stem cells expressing exogenous EGAM1C to analyze their ability to differentiate toward terminally differentiated cell types. The generation of cardiomyocytes was severely suppressed in Egam1c transfectants without upregulation of Nkx2-5, a crucial gene for cardiomyogenesis. These results indicate that EGAM1C is capable of affecting terminal differentiation in mouse embryonic stem cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEmbryonic stem (ES) cells have been considered as a valuable renewable source of materials in regenerative medicine. Recently, we identified the homeoprotein EGAM1 both in preimplantation mouse embryos and mouse ES cells. Expression of the Egam1 transcript and its encoded protein was detectable in differentiating mouse ES cells, while it was almost undetectable in undifferentiated cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) is considered as a crucial gene for the proper development of bovine embryos. However, the complete nucleotide sequences of the structural genes encoding FGF4 in identified breeds are still unknown. In the present study, direct sequencing of PCR products derived from genomic DNA samples obtained from three Japanese Black, two Japanese Shorthorn and three Holstein cattle, revealed that the nucleotide sequences of the structural gene encoding FGF4 matched completely among these eight cattle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe homeoprotein EGAM1C was identified in preimplantation mouse embryos and embryonic stem (ES) cells. To explore the impact of EGAM1C on the hallmarks of mouse ES cells, MG1.19 cells stably expressing EGAM1C at levels similar to those in blastocysts were established using an episomal expression system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) promotes isolation of trophoblast stem (TS) cells from mouse blastocysts and maintenance of TS cells in an undifferentiated state in vitro. To date, commercially available, bacterially expressed human FGF4 (RhFGF4) has been used generally for this purpose. In this study, HismFGF4, a 6x histidine-tagged mouse FGF4, was produced in E.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mouse Crxos gene encodes three structurally related homeoproteins, EGAM1, EGAM1N, and EGAM1C, as transcription and splicing variants. Recently, we identified the functions of EGAM1 and EGAM1N in the regulation of differentiation in mouse embryonic stem cells. However, the function of EGAM1C remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRat hepatoma Reuber H-35 cells produce a unique compound designated as Fr.B-25, a 2-cell stage-specific inhibitor of the cleavage of preimplantation mouse embryos cultured in vitro. Here, we identified Fr.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring the preimplantation development of mouse embryos between the 4-cell to 8-cell stage and the morula stage, when the first irreversible segregation of cell fates proceeds into the pluripotent inner cell mass (progenitor cells to form the fetus) and the trophectoderm (to form the placenta) of blastocysts, pluripotency-maintaining and differentiation-inducing genes are expressed to coordinately regulate cell fates. Three structurally related cDNAs (Crxos1, Crxos1 sv2, and Crxos1 tv3) that exhibited concomitant elevated expression during this critical period were identified by subtractive cDNA cloning. CRXOS1 contains two homeodomains, while CRXOS1 sv2 and CRXOS1 tv3 each contain one of the homeodomains included in CRXOS1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe phenomenon of developmental arrest at the 2-cell stage of zygotes obtained from certain mouse strains during in vitro culture is known as the 2-cell block. The effect of conditioned medium (CM) with rat hepatoma BRL cells on the 2-cell block of CD-1 mouse zygotes was investigated in comparison with that of CM with rat hepatoma Reuber H-35 cells. In control medium with EDTA, 75.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTerrabacter sp. strain DBF63 is capable of degrading fluorene (FN) to tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates via phthalate and protocatechuate. Genes were identified for the protocatechuate branch of the beta-ketoadipate pathway (pcaR, pcaHGBDCFIJ) by sequence analysis of a 70 kb DNA region of the FN-catabolic linear plasmid pDBF1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenes involved in the degradation of fluorene to phthalate were characterized in the fluorene degrader Terrabacter sp. strain DBF63. The initial attack on both fluorene and 9-fluorenone was catalyzed by DbfA to yield 9-fluorenol and 1,1a-dihydroxy-1-hydro-9-fluorenone, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe occurrence of pleiotropic mutants that are defective in both antibiotic production and aerial mycelium formation is peculiar to streptomycetes. Pleiotropic mutant KSB was isolated from wild-type Streptomyces kasugaensis A1R6, which produces kasugamycin, an antifungal aminoglycoside antibiotic. A 9.
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