Md Riad Hossain Khan, Yosuke Toyotake, Mamoru Wakayama
{"title":"A tunable heterologous phosphatidylcholine biosynthetic system reveals distinct phosphatidylcholine requirements for strong and weak acid responses in Acetobacter pasteurianus.","authors":"Md Riad Hossain Khan, Yosuke Toyotake, Mamoru Wakayama","doi":"10.2323/jgam.2026.03.002","DOIUrl":"10.2323/jgam.2026.03.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Acetic acid bacteria, including the genera Acetobacter and Komagataeibacter, utilize phosphatidylcholine (PC) as a major membrane component, which plays an important role in their membrane physiology. However, the significance of PC abundance within the membrane remains speculative. Here, we constructed a mutant strain of A. pasteurianus through genome modification, enabling choline-dependent PC production. This mutant exhibited different dependencies on PC levels in response to strong and weak acid stress, requiring higher PC levels under strong acid stress but lower levels under weak acid stress. These findings provide new insights into the membrane-based mechanisms of acid-stress response in A. pasteurianus.</p>","PeriodicalId":15842,"journal":{"name":"Journal of General and Applied Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147480895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Functional diversification of five superoxide dismutase genes in Aspergillus nidulans against oxidative stress: distinct cellular roles of SodA and SodB.","authors":"Kyoko Kanamaru, Yumiko Maeda, Makoto Kimura, Tetsuo Kobayashi","doi":"10.2323/jgam.2025.12.002","DOIUrl":"10.2323/jgam.2025.12.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Superoxide dismutases (SODs) play crucial roles in protecting cells against oxidative stress by catalyzing the dismutation of superoxide radicals. In Aspergillus nidulans, five putative SOD genes have been predicted in the genome; however, their comparative expression profiles and physiological functions remain largely uncharacterized. In this study, we analyzed the expression levels of all five SOD genes at different growth stages and examined the oxidative stress sensitivity of corresponding gene-disrupted strains. We found that sodA exhibited high and constitutive expression across all growth stages, while sodB was predominantly expressed in conidia (asexual spores). Disruption mutants of sodA and sodB showed increased sensitivity to oxidative agents, confirming their functional importance. Subcellular fractionation and SOD activity assays revealed that SodA was localized in the cytoplasm, whereas SodB was primarily localized in mitochondria. These results highlight the growth stage-specific expression and distinct cellular roles of SodA and SodB in A. nidulans, providing novel insights into the oxidative stress defense system in filamentous fungi.</p>","PeriodicalId":15842,"journal":{"name":"Journal of General and Applied Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145723958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Characterization of bacterial bioluminescence using a large liquid culture of Photobacterium kishitanii KH-2005.","authors":"Satoshi Sasaki, Noriyuki Hatsugai, Takashi Kanno, Sowyo Matsumura, Yoshiteru Hara","doi":"10.2323/jgam.2025.11.001","DOIUrl":"10.2323/jgam.2025.11.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>At the 2025 Osaka/Kansai Expo, a bacterial-bioluminescence-based lighting system, called BIOLIGHT, was exhibited. It consists of 80 liters of liquid culture medium and produces enough brightness to illuminate a room. In this study, to make clear the relationship between the liquid culture thickness and the brightness using BIOLIGHT, the world's largest liquid culture aquarium of bioluminescent bacteria, we investigated the brightness of the bacterial liquid culture in relation to optical density (OD). The theoretical brightness of BIOLIGHT was calculated using the transmittance of the liquid culture at 475 nm (the peak luminescence wavelength) derived from the measured OD and was then compared with the brightness actually measured. The calculated (theoretical) brightness was lower than the measured one, suggesting that the light output of BIOLIGHT is influenced not only by cell-induced light shielding but also by another factor, presumably forward scattering. Additionally, depth-dependent brightness measurements showed that brightness became saturated at a liquid culture thickness greater than 7 cm. These findings will contribute to the design of future lighting solutions using bacterial bioluminescence.</p>","PeriodicalId":15842,"journal":{"name":"Journal of General and Applied Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145634389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Superoxide dismutase SodB is essential for growth on non-fermentable carbon sources and conidiation under mitochondrial stress in Aspergillus nidulans.","authors":"Kyoko Kanamaru, Yumiko Maeda, Makoto Kimura, Tetsuo Kobayashi","doi":"10.2323/jgam.2025.12.003","DOIUrl":"10.2323/jgam.2025.12.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Superoxide dismutases (SODs) play crucial roles in cellular oxidative stress defense. In Aspergillus nidulans, SodB is a mitochondria-localized SOD whose physiological function remains poorly understood. Here, we show that a ΔsodB mutant displays impaired growth on non-fermentable carbon sources including acetate, ethanol, threonine, and Tween 20/80, suggesting compromised mitochondrial function. Oxygen consumption assays using an extracellular oxygen consumption reagent revealed a ~50% reduction in respiratory activity in the ΔsodB strain compared to the wild type. When mitochondrial respiration was inhibited by Antimycin A or salicylhydroxamic acid, giant colony growth was equally suppressed across wild-type, ΔsodA, ΔsodB, and complemented strains. However, conidial production was significantly reduced in ΔsodB under Antimycin A treatment, and morphological abnormalities in conidiophore heads were observed under this condition. These results indicate that SodB is not only involved in mitochondrial respiration but also required for maintaining normal sporulation under mitochondrial stress conditions. This study provides new insights into the role of mitochondrial ROS defense systems in filamentous fungal development.</p>","PeriodicalId":15842,"journal":{"name":"Journal of General and Applied Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145723956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Feng Xiao, Lei Pan, Yunfei Xu, Mengying Xu, Zengmiao Lin, Yiqian Dai, Guiyu Zhao, Zhengbo Zhang, Kun Wang, Tingheng Zhu
{"title":"Decolorization and degradation of azo dyes by the thermal and heavy metal tolerant bacterial consortium BPA-1.","authors":"Feng Xiao, Lei Pan, Yunfei Xu, Mengying Xu, Zengmiao Lin, Yiqian Dai, Guiyu Zhao, Zhengbo Zhang, Kun Wang, Tingheng Zhu","doi":"10.2323/jgam.2025.12.004","DOIUrl":"10.2323/jgam.2025.12.004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>An efficient bacterial consortium (designated BPA-1), comprising Bacillus subtilis SX-6, Pseudomonas sp. SX-10, and Georgenia sp. SY-1, was successfully constructed for the decolorization of the azo dye Congo Red (CR). BPA-1 exhibited significant thermotolerance and heavy metal resistance, achieving over 90% CR decolorization within 60 h at 47°C under co-stress conditions with Zn²⁺, Mn²⁺, and Pb²⁺ (50 mg/L each). The consortium demonstrated broad substrate specificity, effectively decolorizing 12 structurally diverse azo dyes. Enzymatic assays revealed the involvement of laccase, manganese peroxidase, lignin peroxidase, and azoreductase in CR biodegradation. Metabolic pathway analysis indicated a three-stage degradation mechanism: (1) Asymmetric cleavage of azo bonds (-N=N-) generated 4,4'-diazaldenylbiphenyl and 4-amino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid (Intermediate II); (2) Deamination converted Intermediate II to 3,4-dihydroxy-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid, followed by desulfurization to form naphthalene-1,2,3,4-tetraol; (3) Complete mineralization of intermediates occurred through subsequent oxidative steps. Notably, 4,4'-diazaldenylbiphenyl was further transformed into 4,4'-diaminobiphenyl, confirming the consortium's capacity for multi-step detoxification.</p>","PeriodicalId":15842,"journal":{"name":"Journal of General and Applied Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145959442","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Polyhydroxyalkanoate production from poly(ethylene furanoate) using a completely biotechnological approach.","authors":"Shin-Ichi Hachisuka, Yuki Miyahara, Manami Ishii-Hyakutake, Takeharu Tsuge","doi":"10.2323/jgam.2025.12.005","DOIUrl":"10.2323/jgam.2025.12.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Plastics are indispensable in modern society, but their increasing production and disposal pose serious environmental challenges, including pollution and the depletion of non-renewable resources. Poly(ethylene furanoate) (PEF), a bio-based polyester composed of ethylene glycol and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), is attracting attention as a sustainable alternative to poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). In this study, we developed a fully biotechnological upcycling system for PEF. Our approach involved enzymatic depolymerization of PEF to release FDCA, followed by microbial conversion of FDCA into polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a biodegradable polyester. From soil samples enriched with FDCA as the sole carbon source, we isolated two bacterial strains: Pseudomonas sp. S8-1 and Caballeronia sp. S8-5. These strains produced medium-chain-length and short-chain-length PHAs, respectively, in defined medium containing FDCA. For enzymatic depolymerization, we employed the thermostable ICCG variant (F243I/D238C/S283C/Y127G) of leaf-branch compost cutinase, known for its high PET-degrading activity. The depolymerization of PET by this enzyme was enhanced by the addition of calcium carbonate (CaCO<sub>3</sub>) powder to suppress acidification. Furthermore, the enzyme retained high activity even after partial purification by heat treatment at 60°C and efficiently depolymerized PEF as well. Finally, the PEF degradation solution was successfully utilized as a carbon source for PHA production by strain S8-5. These results demonstrate a proof-of-concept biorecycling system for PEF and represent a first step toward sustainable plastic management.</p>","PeriodicalId":15842,"journal":{"name":"Journal of General and Applied Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145998357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Characterization of rice rhizospheric Bacillus thuringiensis as biocide against leaf folder (Cnaphalocrocis medinalis), stripe stem borer (Chilo suppresalis), plant pathogens, and plant growth promotion traits.","authors":"Jyotirmayee Das, Kshira Sagar Behera, Tapan Kumar Adhya, Tushar Kanti Dangar, Madhusmita Panigrahy","doi":"10.2323/jgam.2025.12.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2323/jgam.2025.12.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has broad spectrum multipotent functionalities for pest and disease suppression, and growth promotion (PGP) of plants. Therefore, potency of 27 rice rhizospheric and 2 commercial Bt isolates was assessed for biocidal and PGP traits. Functionally rhizospheric Bts were broadly superior than commercial Bts. Virulence of the Bts varied against rice leaf folder (LF, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis) and stripe stem borer (SSB, Chilo suppresalis) larvae in laboratory, net house and field tests. Drosophila diet (DD) incorporation, cut leaf and field assays proved virulence of 5-9 Bt isolates against LF larvae with LC<sub>50</sub>s 1.99 - 6.31 x 10<sup>8</sup>, 2.18 x 10<sup>6</sup> - 2.25 x 10<sup>9</sup> and 3.16 x 10<sup>6</sup> - 1.25 x 10<sup>9</sup> bacteria-spore-crystal (BSC)/ml, respectively, and TB261 was most (LC<sub>50</sub>s 2.18 x 10<sup>6</sup> - 3.98 x 10<sup>8</sup> BSC/ml) infective. DD and cut stem assays for SSB proved virulence of 5 and 6 Bts with LC<sub>50</sub>s 9.20 x 10<sup>6</sup> - 3.62 x 10<sup>8</sup> and 9.21 x 10<sup>6</sup>- 3.24 x 10<sup>8</sup> BSC/ml, respectively, and maximum (LC<sub>50</sub>s 9.20 - 9.21 x 10<sup>8</sup> BSC/ml) infectivity of TB263. Eight Bts inhibited 1-4 out of 7 rice pathogens and 16 Bts antagonized 1-4 out of 9 entomopathogenic fungi. Biocidal principles of the Bts were cell wall/membrane hydrolyzing exoenzymes, toxin/inhibitors and crystal toxins. Furthermore, the Bts were also inhibited by 3 insecticides and 2 fungicides. The Bts possessed 1-4 PGP and phytostimulation traits also. The potent rhizospheric Bt can be prospected for overall improvement/sustenance of rice.</p>","PeriodicalId":15842,"journal":{"name":"Journal of General and Applied Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145916461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Anti-Cancer Activity of Methionine gamma-lyase Isolated from Mucor irregularis PQ344458.","authors":"Nuha Mansour Alhazmi","doi":"10.2323/jgam.2025.10.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2323/jgam.2025.10.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Methionine gamma-lyase enzyme was isolated and purified from Mucor irregularis PQ344458 fungal isolates, that obtained from plant root, the isolates were identified through observation of their colony morphological features, implementation of PCR and DNA sequencing via sanger-chain termination approach, then data of DNA sequence alignment, phylogenetic tree, percent identity was generated. Through implementation of several stages that involved using of ion-exchange chromatography, gel-filtration chromatography, ammonium sulphate, enzyme isolation and purification stages were accomplished. The enzyme extract then, was analyzed for its protein content, specific activity and Impact of pH, temperature, inhibitors and activators on its kinetics. Additionally, MTT and DPPH radical scavenging assays were carried-out to reveal information about anti-cancer and anti-oxidant activities of methionine gamma-lyase enzyme. MTT assay results of %viable cells were 15% for HeLa cells and 6.6% for U937 cells at maximum concentration of the enzyme extract. Moreover, DPPH scavenging activity results were 82% at maximum concentration.</p>","PeriodicalId":15842,"journal":{"name":"Journal of General and Applied Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145401048","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Secretory expression of a multifunctional nuclease Nuc A in Bacillus licheniformis 2709.","authors":"Huimin Guo, Kefen Wang, Tongtong Zhang, Honglei Fang, Wei Hui, Huitu Zhang","doi":"10.2323/jgam.2025.05.001","DOIUrl":"10.2323/jgam.2025.05.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Serratia nuclease Nuc A is a non-specific nucleotide hydrolase that has been widely used in large-scale protein purification or eliminating nucleic acid contamination from purified proteins. To enhance the enzyme production, the Serratia nuclease gene was synthesized and expressed in Bacillus licheniformis 2709, a robust strain capable of secreting native and heterologous proteins selectively or non-selectively. To further increase the secretory expression level of the enzyme, different strong promoters and signal peptides were fused with the mature Nuc A-encoding gene at various genetic loci. The highest expression level of Nuc A was observed under the control of regulatory elements P<sub>aprE</sub>, which occur naturally in B. licheniformis 2709 for the alkaline protease (AprE) expression. Through maximizing the number of copies of P<sub>aprE-nucA</sub> expression cassette at different integration sites, the yield of nuclease Nuc A reached approximately 31954 U/mL after 60 hours of cultivation in shake flasks. The specific activity of the recombinant nuclease reached 1.58×107 U/mg, which is about 9 times higher than that expressed in Escherichia coli strain. Additionally, the recombinant Nuc A exhibited high catalytic activities in the pH range of 7-10. Furthermore, it was resistant to 0.2% SDS, 1.0 mM PMSF, and 0.4% Triton X-100. After 8 M Urea treatment, residual activity is measured. The high expression levels and positive characteristics of recombinant Nuc A provide an effective solution for large-scale production and industrial application of the nuclease.</p>","PeriodicalId":15842,"journal":{"name":"Journal of General and Applied Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144174138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Functional characterization of the mys genes for porphyra-334 biosynthesis from the terrestrial cyanobacterium Nostoc commune by heterologous expression.","authors":"Wei Yang, Toshio Sakamoto","doi":"10.2323/jgam.2025.05.002","DOIUrl":"10.2323/jgam.2025.05.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) are low-molecular-weight UV-protective compounds, and porphyra-334 and shinorine are common MAAs. Porphyra-334 is synthesized via the conjugation of mycosporine-glycine with threonine, whereas substitution with serine yields shinorine. The terrestrial cyanobacterium Nostoc commune KU002 (NIES-2538) produces 7-O-(β-arabinopyranosyl)-porphyra-334, and the mysABCD gene cluster responsible for MAA biosynthesis has been isolated. The heterologous expression of the mysABC genes from N. commune KU002 in Escherichia coli cells led to mycosporine-glycine production regardless of the culture medium supplemented with serine, threonine, or xylose. When the mysABCD genes from N. commune KU002 were expressed in E. coli cells, porphyra-334 production occurred, and shinorine production was observed upon serine supplementation in the culture medium. Notably, threonine and xylose supplementation in the culture medium increased the amounts of porphyra-334 in both cellular extracts and culture medium extracts. When the mysD gene was replaced with that from the shinorine producer Actinosynnema mirum JCM 3225, shinorine was primarily synthesized instead of porphyra-334. Interestingly, the transformant expressing the chimeric KU002-mysABC-JCM3225-mysD produced a novel MAA derivative with an absorption maximum at 334 nm and a molecular mass of 346 when cultured in the medium supplemented with threonine and xylose. These results suggest that the substrate specificity of MysD, which catalyzes the conjugation of mycosporine-glycine and serine or threonine, alters the production of porphyra-334 or shinorine and that the supplements added to the culture medium affect the amount and composition of MAAs produced in the E. coli transformant.</p>","PeriodicalId":15842,"journal":{"name":"Journal of General and Applied Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144199345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}