D-Fructose dehydrogenase was solubilized and purified from the membrane fraction of glycerol-grown Gluconobacter industrius IFO 3260 by a procedure involving solubilization of the enzyme with Triton X-100 and subsequent fractionation on diethylaminoethyl-cellulose and hydroxylapatite columns. The purified enzyme was tightly bound to a c-type cytochrome and another peptide existing as a dehydrogenase-cytochrome complex. The purified enzyme was deemed pure by analytical ultracentrifugation as well as by gel filtration on a Sephadex G-200 column. The molecular weight of the enzyme complex was determined to be about 140,000, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed the presence of three components having molecular weights of 67,000 (dehydrogenase), 50,800 (cytochrome c), and 19,700 (unknown function). Only D-fructose was readily oxidized by the enzyme in the presence of dyes such as ferricyanide, 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol, or phenazine methosulfate. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, and oxygen did not function as electron acceptors. The optimum pH of D-fructose oxidation was 4.0. The enzyme was stable at pH 4.5 to 6.0 Stability of the purified enzyme was much enhanced by the presence of detergent in the enzyme solution. Removal of detergent from the enzyme solution facilitated the aggregation of the enzyme and caused its inactivation. An apparent Michaelis constant for D-fructose was observed to be 10(-2) M with the purified enzyme. D-Fructose dehydrogenase was shown to be a satisfactory reagent for microdetermination of D-fructose.

A bacterial strain that can utilize several kinds of alcohols as its sole carbon and energy sources was isolated from soil and tentatively identified as Pseudomonas putida HK5. Three distinct dye-linked alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs), each of which contained the prosthetic group pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), were formed in the soluble fractions of this strain grown on different alcohols. ADH I was formed most abundantly in the cells grown on ethanol and was similar to the quinoprotein ADH reported for P. putida (H. Görisch and M. Rupp, Antonie Leeuwenhoek 56:35-45, 1989) except for its isoelectric point. The other two ADHs, ADH IIB and ADH IIG, were formed separately in the cells grown on 1-butanol and 1,2-propanediol, respectively. Both of these enzymes contained heme c in addition to PQQ and functioned as quinohemoprotein dehydrogenases. Potassium ferricyanide was an available electron acceptor for ADHs IIB and IIG but not for ADH I. The molecular weights were estimated to be 69,000 for ADH IIB and 72,000 for ADH IIG, and both enzymes were shown to be monomers. Antibodies raised against each of the purified ADHs could distinguish the ADHs from one another. Immunoblot analysis showed that ADH I was detected in cells grown on each alcohol tested, but ethanol was the most effective inducer. ADH IIB was formed in the cells grown on alcohols of medium chain length and also on 1,3-butanediol. Induction of ADH IIG was restricted to 1,2-propanediol or glycerol, of which the former alcohol was more effective. These results from immunoblot analysis correlated well with the substrate specificities of the respective enzymes. Thus, three distinct quinoprotein ADHs were shown to be synthesized by a single bacterium under different growth conditions.

Oxidative fermentations have been well established for a long time, especially in vinegar and in L-sorbose production. Recently, information on the enzyme systems involved in these oxidative fermentations has accumulated and new developments are possible based on these findings. We have recently isolated several thermotolerant acetic acid bacteria, which also seem to be useful for new developments in oxidative fermentation. Two different types of membrane-bound enzymes, quinoproteins and flavoproteins, are involved in oxidative fermentation, and sometimes work with the same substrate but produce different oxidation products. Recently, there have been new developments in two different oxidative fermentations, D-gluconate and D-sorbitol oxidations. Flavoproteins, D-gluconate dehydrogenase, and D-sorbitol dehydrogenase were isolated almost 2 decades ago, while the enzyme involved in the same oxidation reaction for D-gluconate and D-sorbitol has been recently isolated and shown to be a quinoprotein. Thus, these flavoproteins and a quinoprotein have been re-assessed for the oxidation reaction. Flavoprotein D-gluconate dehydrogenase and D-sorbitol dehydrogenase were shown to produce 2-keto- D-gluconate and D-fructose, respectively, whereas the quinoprotein was shown to produce 5-keto- D-gluconate and L-sorbose from D-gluconate and D-sorbitol, respectively. In addition to the quinoproteins described above, a new quinoprotein for quinate oxidation has been recently isolated from Gluconobacter strains. The quinate dehydrogenase is also a membrane-bound quinoprotein that produces 3-dehydroquinate. This enzyme can be useful for the production of shikimate, which is a convenient salvage synthesis system for many antibiotics, herbicides, and aromatic amino acids synthesis. In order to reduce energy costs of oxidative fermentation in industry, several thermotolerant acetic acid bacteria that can grow up to 40 degrees C have been isolated. Of such isolated strains, some thermotolerant Acetobacter species were found to be useful for vinegar fermentation at a high temperature such 38-40 degrees C, where mesophilic strains showed no growth. They oxidized higher concentrations of ethanol up to 9% without any appreciable lag time, while alcohol oxidation with mesophilic strains was delayed or became almost impossible under such conditions. Several useful Gluconobacter species of thermotolerant acetic acid bacteria are also found, especially L-erythrulose-producing strains and cyclic alcohol-oxidizing strains. Gluconobacter frateurii CHM 43 is able to rapidly oxidize meso-erythritol at 37 degrees C leading to the accumulation of L-erythrulose, which may replace dihydroxyacetone in cosmetics. G. frateuriiCHM 9 is able to oxidize cyclic alcohols to their corresponding cyclic ketones or aliphatic ketones, which are known to be useful for preparing many different physiologically active compounds such as oxidized steroids or oxidized bicyclic ketones. The enzymes involved in these meso-erythritol and cyclic alcohol oxidations have been pu...

Quinohemoprotein amine dehydrogenase (AMDH) was purified and crystallized from the soluble fraction of Pseudomonas putida IFO 15366 grown on n-butylamine medium. AMDH gave a single component in analytical ultracentrifugation showing an intrinsic sedimentation coefficient of 5.8s. AMDH showed a typical absorption spectrum of cytochrome c showing maxima at 554, 522, 420, and 320 nm in the reduced form and one peak at 410 nm, a shoulder at 350 nm, and a broad hill around 530 nm in the oxidized form. The oxidized enzyme was specifically reduced by the addition of amine substrate. AMDH was composed of three different subunits, 60, 40, and 20 kDa, with the total molecular weight of 120,000. Two moles of heme c were detected per mole of AMDH and the 60-kDa subunit was found to be the heme c-carrying subunit. By redox-cycling quinone staining, a positive reaction band corresponding to the 20-kDa subunit was detected after developed by SDS-PAGE, but the 20 kDa band was scarcely stained by conventional protein staining. Only a silver staining method was possible to detect the subunit after the protein was developed by SDS-PAGE. p-Nitrophenylhydrazine-inhibited AMDH was dissociated into subunits and the 20-kDa subunit showed an absorption maximum at 455 nm, indicating Schiff base formation between the carbonyl cofactor in AMDH and the carbonyl reagent. Thus, AMDH is different from nonheme quinoprotein methylamine dehydrogenase and aromatic amine dehydrogenase in many respects. The presence of an azurin-like blue protein was identified and purified from the same cell-free extract of P. putida as AMDH was purified. The blue protein was reduced specifically during AMDH reaction, suggesting that the blue protein is the direct electron acceptor in amine oxidation. The amine oxidation system was reconstituted successfully only by AMDH, the blue protein, and the cytoplasmic membranes of the organism. The function of the 40-kDa subunit is unknown at the moment. The properties of AMDH were compared with other bacterial amine dehydrogenases so far reported.

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