Extraction and Purification of Lipases Enzyme from Germinating Seeds of Four Crops

Lipase enzyme has attracted a lot of attention in recent years because of its diverse biotechnological applications. The present study was conducted to screen germinated seeds of four crops, namely sunflower (Helianthus annuus), flaxor linseed (Linum usitatissimum ), peanut (Arachis hypogaea ) and castor bean (Ricinus communis), for the activity of their lipases. to the study also included the extraction and purification of lipase from the seeds of the most promising crop using different solvents. The results indicated that the maximum enzymatic activity (0.669 U/ml) was obtained when 0.1 M Tris-HCl buffer extract was used after 3 days of seed germination of all the tested species, as compared to the other test solvents (acetone and water). Sunflower germinated seeds showed the highest lipase activity, which was higher by 159.67, 185.32, and 285.90 % over the activities of castor bean, flax, and peanut seeds, respectively. Among the used ranges of saturation of ammonium sulfate, the ratio of 70% was the best in precipitating the crude enzyme, showing a highest specific activity of 2.576 U/ mg protein. The first stage of gel filtration chromatography column by Sephadex G-200 indicated the presence of two non-identical peaks, one for protein and another for lipase activity, between the fractions of 18 to 23. The active fractions were pooled and loaded again in the Sephadex G-200 column and the eluted fractions showed two identical peaks, one for protein and another for lipase activity, between the fractions of 19 to 23. The final purification step by gel filtration showed a specific activity of 6.482 U/mg proteins with a yield of 38.75 % and 11.33 folds of time of purification. The study revealed that sunflower seeds are a better source of lipase as compared to the other used plant seeds, which can be used in different industries.

Characterization of Antifungal Lipopeptide Biosurfactants Produced by Marine Bacterium Bacillus sp. CS30

This study was initiated to screen for marine bacterial agents to biocontrol Magnaporthe grisea, a serious fungal pathogen of cereal crops. A bacterial strain, isolated from the cold seep in deep sea, exhibited strong growth inhibition against M. grisea, and the strain was identified and designated as Bacillus sp. CS30. The corresponding antifungal agents were purified by acidic precipitation, sequential methanol extraction, Sephadex LH-20 chromatography, and reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), and two antifungal peaks were obtained at the final purification step. After analysis by mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem MS, two purified antifungal agents were deduced to belong to the surfactin family, and designated as surfactin CS30-1 and surfactin CS30-2. Further investigation showed that although the antifungal activity of surfactin CS30-1 is higher than that of surfactin CS30-2, both of them induced the increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and caused serious damage to the cell wall and cytoplasm, thus leading to the cell death of M. grisea. Our results also show the differences of the antifungal activity and antifungal mechanism of the different surfactin homologs surfactin CS30-1 and surfactin CS30-2, and highlight them as potential promising agents to biocontrol plant diseases caused by M. grisea.

The EGD1 product, a yeast homolog of human BTF3, may be involved in GAL4 DNA binding.

A variety of techniques, including filter binding, footprinting, and gel retardation, can be used to assay the transcriptional activator GAL4 (Gal4p) through the initial steps of its purification from yeast cells. Following DNA affinity chromatography, Gal4p still bound DNA selectively when assayed by filter binding or footprinting. However, the affinity-purified protein was no longer capable of forming a stable complex with DNA, as assayed by gel retardation. Mixing the purified Gal4p with the flowthrough fraction from the DNA affinity column restored gel retardation complex formation. Gel retardation assays were used to monitor the purification of a heat-stable Gal4p-DNA complex stabilization activity from the affinity column flowthrough. The activity coeluted from the final purification step with polypeptides of 21 and 27 kDa. The yeast gene encoding the 21-kDa protein was cloned on the basis of its N-terminal amino acid sequence. The gene, named EGD1 (enhancer of GAL4 DNA binding), encodes a highly basic protein (21% lysine and arginine) with a predicted molecular mass of 16.5 kDa. The amino acid sequence of the EGD1 product, Egd1p, is highly similar to that of the human protein BTF3 (X. M. Zheng, D. Black, P. Chambon, and J. M. Egly, Nature [London] 344:556-559, 1990). Although an egd1 null mutant was viable and Gal+, induction of the galactose-regulated genes in the egd1 mutant strain was significantly reduced when cells were shifted from glucose to galactose.

The EGD1 product, a yeast homolog of human BTF3, may be involved in GAL4 DNA binding

A variety of techniques, including filter binding, footprinting, and gel retardation, can be used to assay the transcriptional activator GAL4 (Gal4p) through the initial steps of its purification from yeast cells. Following DNA affinity chromatography, Gal4p still bound DNA selectively when assayed by filter binding or footprinting. However, the affinity-purified protein was no longer capable of forming a stable complex with DNA, as assayed by gel retardation. Mixing the purified Gal4p with the flowthrough fraction from the DNA affinity column restored gel retardation complex formation. Gel retardation assays were used to monitor the purification of a heat-stable Gal4p-DNA complex stabilization activity from the affinity column flowthrough. The activity coeluted from the final purification step with polypeptides of 21 and 27 kDa. The yeast gene encoding the 21-kDa protein was cloned on the basis of its N-terminal amino acid sequence. The gene, named EGD1 (enhancer of GAL4 DNA binding), encodes a highly basic protein (21% lysine and arginine) with a predicted molecular mass of 16.5 kDa. The amino acid sequence of the EGD1 product, Egd1p, is highly similar to that of the human protein BTF3 (X. M. Zheng, D. Black, P. Chambon, and J. M. Egly, Nature [London] 344:556-559, 1990). Although an egd1 null mutant was viable and Gal+, induction of the galactose-regulated genes in the egd1 mutant strain was significantly reduced when cells were shifted from glucose to galactose.

Partial purification of a protein from maize (Zea mays) coleoptile membranes binding the Ca2+-channel antagonist verapamil

A protein that binds the calcium-channel antagonist verapamil has been partially purified from maize (Zea mays) coleoptile membranes. The protein was solubilized with the detergent CHAPS ([ 3-(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]propane-1-sulphonate) and purified by a combination of ion-exchange, gel-filtration and hydrophobic-interaction chromatography. This resulted in a 120-fold purification. SDS/polyacrylamide-gel-electrophoretic analysis of the polypeptides from the final purification step indicated that the verapamil-binding protein may have a major component of Mr 169,000. The dissociation constants for specific binding of [3H]verapamil to crude and CHAPS-solubilized maize coleoptile membrane fractions are 72 nM and 158 nM respectively, with respective binding-site concentrations of 135 pmol/mg of protein and 78 pmol/mg of protein. In both cases the Scatchard plots are linear, indicating a single class of binding sites. [3H]Verapamil binding to crude maize coleoptile membrane fractions could not be displaced by unlabelled desmethoxyverapamil or by nifedipine, but could be displaced by unlabelled methoxyverapamil.

Amino Acid Sequence Studies on Sheep Liver Fructose-Bisphosphatase. I. The S-Peptide

Fructose-bisphosphatase has been isolated from sheep liver using affinity-elution chromatography from carboxymethykellulose as the final purification step. The purified enzyme was homogeneous by disc gel electrophoresis.

Purification, Subunit Structure, and Kinetics of the Chloroform-Released F1ATPase Complex from Rhodospirillum rubrum and Its Comparison with F1ATPase Forms Isolated by Other Methods

A stable and homogeneous adenosine-5ʹ-triphosphatase (ATPase, EC 3.6.1.3) has been solubilized from Rhodospirillum rubrum (R . rubrum) chromatophores by chloroform extraction. Purification of the Ca2+-dependent ATPase activity was 200-fold. Ca2+ can be replaced by Mg2+, Cd2+, and Mn2+ .The Km for Ca-ATP (0.17 mᴍ) is increased about 5-fold during solubilization of the enzyme, whereas the Km values for Mg-ATP (0.029 mᴍ) and Cd-ATP (0.014 mᴍ) are not affected.The chloroform-released ATPase has a molecular weight of 400,000 ± 30,000 and consists of the following subunits (molecular weights in parenthesis): α (58,000), β (53,500), γ (39,000), δ (18,500), and ε (14,000). The amino acid composition and the fluorescence spectra are presented.Besides the chloroform-released ATPase complex three other Ca2+-dependent ATPase forms have been isolated from R. rubrum chromatophores by other methods for comparison. Ultrasonication of the membranes leads to the release of an ATPase complex which is mainly composed of α, β, and γ-subunits. From an acetone powder extract an ATPase complex could be purified by affinity chromatography which is composed of four kinds of subunits (α, β, γ, δ). The same acetone powder yields an ATPase consisting of only three different types of subunits (α, β, γ) if the final purification step is preparative disc electrophoresis on 6% polyacrylamide gels instead of affinity chromatography.

A Simplified Method for Preparation of Highly Purified Human Thrombin

Increasing use of synthetic substrates for potency estimation of biological activities within the coagulation field has raised a demand for a supply of highly purified thrombin. We have simplified a thrombin preparation procedure using clinical factor IX concentrates as starting material. Activation was performed using fresh brain thromboplastin prepared in a simplified way. A first ionic exchange chromatography step was used, which got rid of 80% of the impurities. The thrombin was further purified on SP Sephadex comparatively following two different pathways. In one case the whole purification procedure was performed at pH 6.5 which led to a thrombin with proposed high stability but which gives a relatively low-yield preparation. In another purification procedure the preparation was performed at pH 7.4 which gives a considerably better yield but possibly poorer stability upon storage. In both cases a final purification step on heparin gel was performed. The pH 6.5 thrombin could be separated into two fractions, one with a specific activity of 2500 iu/mg and another with a specific activity of 6000 iu/mg. A protein peak corresponding to the highly active thrombin was obtained also from the pH 7.4 thrombin, but that material had lost its biological activity. The different thrombin preparations have been carefully ampouled and sealed under nitrogen in order to faciliate further stability studies and comparative studies on bio-assays using clotting methods as well as synthetic substrate methods.

Purification and properties of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase from rabbit mammary gland

1. 6-Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase from rabbit mammary gland was purified to homogeneity by the criterion of polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate. The molecular weight of the subunit is 52 000. The enzyme was purified 150-fold with a final specific activity of 20 mumol of NADP+ reduced/min per mg of protein and overall yield of 3%. The molecular weight of the native enzyme is estimated to be 104 000 from gel-filtration studies. The final purification step was carried out by affinity chromatography with NADP+-Sepharose. 2. The Km values for 6-phosphogluconate and NADP+ are approx. 54 muM and 23 muM respectively. 3. Citrate and pyrophosphate are competitive inhibitors of the enzyme with respect to both 6-phosphogluconate and NADP+. 4. MgCl2 affects the apparent Km for NADP+ at saturating concentrations of 6-phosphogluconate.