Bioaerosol Removal from Outpatient Clinic by Vaporized Water-Soluble Chitosan

Bioaerosol is commonly present indoors, which may affect human health. In this study, the feasibility of water-soluble chitosan as a biochemical environment protestant to remove bioaerosol from the outpatient clinic was evaluated. Results indicated the predominant bacteria existed in the outpatient clinic included Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Corynebacterium callunae, Bacillus cereus and Moraxella sp. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and inhibition zone of water-soluble chitosan against these strains ranged from 3500-6500 ppm and 2-6 mm, respectively. When the vaporized water-soluble chitosan (500-4000 ppm) was applied in removing bioaerosol from the outpatient clinic, >90% efficiency was achieved at 50 ml/h after 4 h treatment. However, the bioaerosol removal was also attained to 90% after 50 h continuous treatment by a diluted water-soluble chitosan solution (100 ppm). Based on the cost and efficiency consideration, the bioaerosol reduction using a diluted water-soluble chitosan solution for a long-term treatment was practical. These results clearly illustrated that water-soluble chitosan has a great potential as a biochemical environment protestant to remove bioaerosol.

PorH, a new channel-forming protein present in the cell wall of Corynebacterium efficiens and Corynebacterium callunae

Corynebacterium callunae and Corynebacterium efficiens are close relatives of the glutamate-producing mycolata species Corynebacterium glutamicum. The properties of the pore-forming proteins, extracted by organic solvents, were studied. The cell extracts contained channel-forming proteins that formed ion-permeable channels with a single-channel conductance of about 2 to 3 nS in 1 M KCl in a lipid bilayer assay. The corresponding proteins from both corynebacteria were purified to homogeneity and were named PorHC.call and PorHC.eff. Electrophysiological studies of the channels suggested that they are wide and water-filled. Channels formed by PorHC.call are cation-selective, whereas PorHC.eff forms slightly anion-selective channels. Both proteins were partially sequenced. A multiple sequence alignment search within the known chromosome of C. efficiens demonstrated that it contains a gene that fits the partial amino acid sequence of PorHC.eff. PorHC.call shows high homology to PorHC.eff. PorHC.eff is encoded in the bacterial chromosome by a gene that is localized within the vicinity of the porA gene of C. efficiens. PorHC.eff has no signal sequence at the N terminus, which means that it is not exported by the Sec-secretion pathway. The structure of PorH in the cell wall of the corynebacteria is discussed.

Catalytic mechanism of α-retaining glucosyl transfer by Corynebacterium callunae starch phosphorylase: the role of histidine-334 examined through kinetic characterization of site-directed mutants

Purified site-directed mutants of Corynebacterium callunae starch phosphorylase in which His-334 was replaced by an alanine, glutamine or asparagine residue were characterized by steady-state kinetic analysis of enzymic glycosyl transfer to and from phosphate and studies of ligand binding to the active site. Compared with wild-type, the catalytic efficiencies for phosphorolysis of starch at 30 °C and pH 7.0 decreased approx. 150- and 50-fold in H334Q (His334→Gln) and H334N mutants, and that of H334A was unchanged. In the direction of α-glucan synthesis, selectivity for the reaction with G1P (α-D-glucose 1-phosphate) compared with the selectivity for reaction with α-D-xylose 1-phosphate decreased from a wild-type value of ∼20000 to 2600 and 100 in H334N and H334Q respectively. Binding of G1P to the free enzyme was weakened between 10-fold (H334N, H334Q) and 50-fold (H334A) in the mutants, whereas binding to the complex of enzyme and α-glucan was not affected. Quenching of fluorescence of the pyridoxal 5′-phosphate cofactor was used to examine interactions of the inhibitor GL (D-gluconic acid 1,5-lactone) with wild-type and mutant enzymes in transient and steady-state experiments. GL binding to the free enzyme and the enzyme–phosphate complex occurred in a single step. The 50-fold higher constant (Kd) for GL dissociation from H334Q bound to phosphate resulted from an increased off-rate for the ligand in the mutant, compared with wild-type. A log-log correlation of catalytic-centre activity for phosphorolysis of starch with a reciprocal Kd value established a linear free-energy relationship (slope=1.19±0.07; r2=0.991) across the series of wild-type and mutant enzymes. It reveals that GL in combination with phosphate has properties of a transition state analogue and that the His-334 side chain has a role in selectively stabilizing the transition state of the reaction.