Aspergillus flavus produced approximately 50 U/mL of amylolytic activity when grown in liquid medium with raw low-grade tapioca starch as substrate. Electrophoretic analysis of the culture filtrate showed the presence of only one amylolytic enzyme, identified as an alpha-amylase as evidenced by (i) rapid loss of color in iodine-stained starch and (ii) production of a mixture of glucose, maltose, maltotriose and maltotetraose as starch digestion products. The enzyme was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and ion-exchange chromatography and was found to be homogeneous on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified enzyme had a molar mass of 52.5 +/- 2.5 kDa with an isoelectric point at pH 3.5. The enzyme was found to have maximum activity at pH 6.0 and was stable in a pH range from 5.0 to 8.5. The optimum temperature for the enzyme was 55 degrees C and it was stable for 1 h up to 50 degrees C. The Km and V for gelatinized tapioca starch were 0.5 g/L and 108.67 mumol reducing sugars per mg protein per min, respectively.
The (R)-3-hydroxyacyl-ACP-CoA transferase catalyses the conversion of (R)-3-hydroxyacyl-ACP to (R)-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA derivatives, which serves as the ultimate precursor for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymerisation from unrelated substrates in pseudomonads. PhaG was found to be responsible for channelling precursors for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase from a de novo fatty acid biosynthesis pathway when cultured on carbohydrates, such as glucose or gluconate. The phaG gene was cloned from Pseudomonas sp. USM 4-55 using a homologous probe. The gene was located in a 3660 bp Sal I fragment (GenBank accession number EU305558). The open reading frame (ORF) was 885 bp long and encoded a 295 amino acid protein. The predicted molecular weight was 33251 Da, and it showed a 62% identity to the PhaG of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The function of the cloned phaG of Pseudomonas sp. USM 4-55 was confirmed by complementation studies. Plasmid pBCS39, which harboured the 3660 bp Sal I fragment, was found to complement the PhaG-mutant heterologous host cell, Pseudomonas putida PhaGN-21. P. putida PhaGN-21, which harboured pBCS39, accumulated PHA that accounted for up to 18% of its cellular dry weight (CDW). P. putida PhaGN-21, which harboured the vector alone (PBBR1MCS-2), accumulated only 0.6% CDW of PHA.