Gram-Negative Bacteria; for Instance, Coetzee Spheroplast Formation
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Agric. Biol. Chem., 49 (1), 133-140, 1985 133 Fusion of Spheroplasts and Genetic Recombination of Zymomonasmobilis Hideshi Yanase, Masaru Yasui, Takayuki Miyazaki and KenzoTonomura Department of Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, University of Osaka Prefecture, Mozu-ume-machi, Sakai, Osaka 591, Japan Received July 1.8, 1984 Spheroplasts of Zymomonasmobilis (Z-6) were prepared by cultivating it in a hypertonic mediumcontaining penicillin G or glycine at 30°C for more than 6 hr. Thereversion of spheroplasts to a bacillary form was observed at frequencies of 10~2 to 10~3 whenspheroplasts were incubated on hypertonic solid agar plates overlaid with soft agar. Spheroplast fusion was attempted with polyethylene glycol 6000 by crossing two mutants lacking the ability to ferment sugars. Fusants were selected, and obtained at high frequencies. The properties of a stable fusant are discussed. Recently broad host-range plasmids have Media. For the cultivation of Zymomonasstrains, RM and T media were used. RMmediumcontained 2% been transferred into Zymomonasmobilis by glucose, 1.0% yeast extract and 0.2% KH2PO4, pH 6.0. T conjugation.1 ~4) However, transformation medium contained 10% glucose, 1% yeast extract, 1% and transduction have not yet been accom- KH2PO4, 1% (NH4)2SO4 and 0.05% MgSO4-7H2O, pH plished. Besides, cell fusion could be regarded 5.6. For the formation of spheroplasts, S mediumwas used as a useful method for strain improvement. containing 20%sucrose, 2%glucose, 1%yeast extract, There have been manyreports indicating pro- 0.2% KH2PO4 and 0.2% MgSO4à"7H2O, pH 6.0. For the toplast fusion in Gram-positive bacteria such regeneration, R mediumwas used containing 16% sor- as Bacillus^ Staphylococcus,6) Brevibacte- bitol, 2% glucose, 1% yeast extract and 0.2% KH2PO4, pH riurn1) and Streptomyces^ but only a few on Gram-negative bacteria; for instance, Coetzee Spheroplast formation. An aliquot (0.1 ml) of a culture et al.9) have reported intraspecific fusion in of a Zymomonasstrain was inoculated into 5ml of T medium and cultured for 12hr at 30°C. The culture at the Providence alcalifaciens, and Rastogi et al.10) late exponential phase (5 x 108 cells/ml) was diluted 1 : 4 in Mycobacterium aurum. Therefore, we de- 6.0.with S medium containing 3.8% glycine or 250 units/ml of cided to attempt spheroplast fusion in Z. penicillin G. After 6 to 12hr incubation, almost all of the mobilis, and obtained fusants at high frequen- vegetative cells had been converted to a spherical form. cies. This paper describes the procedure for The total numberof cells in the spheroplast mixture was spheroplast formation, spheroplast fusion, and determined with a haemocytometerunder a microscope. cell wall regeneration of Z. mobilis for the first Table I. Strains of ZymomonasUsed time. _ T ^ , Fermentationofstrain Invertase a-Gal _ c oRaf Sue Era MATERIALS AND METHODS Z -6 W In d u c ib le Bacterial strains. These are listed in Table I. Zymomonas Z -6 -C M C o n stitu tiv e - mobilis subsp. mobilis IFO 13756 (Z-6) is a wild strain. The Z - 6 - C f r i T M C o n s t i t u t i v e - Z-6-C strain is a spontaneous mutant derived from Z-6, Z - 6 - C s u e " M C o n s t i t u t i v e - and produces invertase constitutively. Z-6-C fru ~ and Z-6- C sue" are mutants derived from Z-6-C by TV-methyl-JV'- Z-6, Zymomonas mobilis subsp. mobilis IFO13756; nitro-TV-nitrosoguanidine (NTG) treatment, which have Raf, raffinose; Sue, sucrose; Fru, fructose; a-Gal, a- lost the ability to ferment fructose or sucrose, respectively. galactosidase; W, wild; M, mutant. 134 H. Yanase et al. The numbers of osmotic resistant cells in the spheroplast Electron microscopy of spheroplasts. Spheroplasts were mixture were determined as follows. The spheroplast fixed by a modification of the method of Sagara et al.ll) mixture was diluted with 0.85% saline solution to expose This involved treatment with 3%(v/v) glutaraldehyde in the cells to low osmotic pressure, and spread onto an agar phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing 1 m sucrose followed plate of RMmedium. The numbers of colonies which by post-fixation in 1 %(w/v) OsO4 for 4hr; both steps were appeared were determined after 5 days incubation at 30°C, performed at 4°C. The fixed material was dehydrated in a and defined as osmotic resistant cells. The number of graded ethanol dilution series and embeddedin Epon 812. spheroplasts in the spheroplast mixture was calculated by This sections were prepared with a LKBultramicrotome deducting the number of osmotic resistant cells from the with glass knives, and viewed under a Hitachi H-300 number of cells. The frequency of spheroplast formation Electron Microscope. wasexpressed as the ratio of the numberof spheroplasts to the total numberof cells. Chemicals. Penicillin G was purchased from Meiji Seika Co., Ltd. (Tokyo). DNase I was obtained from Regeneration of spheroplasts. The spheroplast mixtures Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis). All other reagents were were diluted with R medium and plated on R medium of the highest grade available from commercial sources. containing 1.5% agar (R-solid medium). R medium con- taining 0.8% agar (R-soft medium) was overlaid onto the RESULTS surface of the R-solid medium.The numbers of colonies were determined after 3 to 5 days incubation at 30°C. The number of regenerated cells was calculated by deducting SpheroplastIn general,formationgram-negative bacteria are the numberof osmoicresistant cells fromthe numberof colonies on R medium. The frequency of regeneration was known to be converted into spherical bodies expressed as the ratio of the numberof regenerated cells to by a lysozyme-EDTA method.12) However, the numberof spheroplasts. spheroplasts of Z. mobilis (Z-6) could not be formed with this method. Since it is known Spheroplast fusion. Spheroplasts of two strains, Z-6-C fru~ and Z-6-C sue", were mixed and harvested by that the biosynthesis of bacterial cell walls is specifically inhibited by penicillins or gly- centrifugation at 3000rpm for lOmin at 4°C. They were washed with 10mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.2, containing 50mM cine,13) the organism was cultured in S medium CaCl2 and 20% sucrose. The washed spheroplasts were containing penicillin G or glycine to generate resuspended in a one-tenth volume of 10 mMTris-HCl, pH 7.2, containing 50mM CaCl2 and 33% polyethylene glycol spheroplasts; spherical cells were observed un- 6000 (PEG 6000). After incubation at 30°C for 60 min, the der a microscope. Spherical bodies began to suspension was diluted with Raffinose-R medium appear after 3 hr cultivation, and more than (R-medium containing 5%raffinose instead of glucose). 99.99% of the cells had been converted to a For the selection of fusants whose ability to ferment raffinose had been restored, Raffinose-R medium was 100r i n n n n n used. The suspension was spread on a 1.5% agar plate of Raffinose-R medium, and overlaid with the same medium containing 0.8% agar. After 14 days incubation at 30°C, colonies were isolated and fusants were examined as to their sugar fermentation properties. Analyses. Ethanol was quantitatively determined with a Hitachi Gas Chromatograph Model 163 equipped with a flame ionizing detector and a stainless steel column 0 100 200 00 0 1 0 0 D (3.2mmx2m) packed with Porapak Q (80 to 100mesh). The conditions for analysis were as follows: Carrier gas, Fig. 1. Effects of Concentrations of Penicillin G and nitrogen (40ml/min); temperature, 160~ 185°C for the Glycine on Spheroplast Formation of Z. mobilis Z-6. column, 230°C for the injection and detector; internal Spheroplasts of Z-6 were prepared by cultivation in S standard, isopropanol. mediumcontaining penicillin G and glycine at the con- Glucose, fructose, sucrose, melibiose and raffinose were centrations indicated at 30°C for lOhr. The numbers of analyzed and determined with a Liquid Chromatograph spheroplasts and osmotic resistant cells were calculated by equipped with a Shodex RI Model SE-ll and an Ionpak the method described in Materials and Methods. jii^ , KS-802 column. The conditions for analysis were as ratio of the numberof spheroplasts to the numberof total follows: Effluent, H2O(l.O ml/min); column temperature, 60°C. cells, percent; $p , ratio of the number of osmotic resistent cells to the number of total cells, percent. Spheroplast Fusion of Zymomonas 135 Fig. 2. Electron Micrograph of a Thin Section of Penicillin G-Induced Spheroplats of Z. mobilis Z-6 spherical form after 10hr. Figure 1 shows the effects of the concentrations of penicillin G and glycine, respectively, on the formation of spheroplasts of Z. mobilis. The optimum con- centrations were determined to be 100 units/ml for penicillin G and 3% for glycine, since the ratio of the number of osmotic resistant cells to the number of spheroplasts was lowest at that concentration. An electron micrograph of a thin section of a spheroplast of Z. mobilis is shown in Fig. 2. 1.0% Detached cell walls and exposed cytoplasmic 3.0% 5.0% (%) membraneswere observed on spheroplasts. 50100 Frequency of -, regeneration P mmmmtm^m fmmmmmmm |Wa:ffl=;¥ffl$S?;-ft-:-;-;-K-;-;-K-3Kxmxmx-mK^m l.ixlO"2 Regeneration and colony formation of Fig. 3. Effects of Concentrations of Penicillin G or spherop lasts Glycine on Regeneration of Z. mobilis Z-6. For the regeneration of spheroplasts of Spheroplasts of Z-6 were prepared by cultivation in S yeast and gram-positive bacteria, an osmotic mediumcontaining the indicated concentrations of penic- stabilizer such as 0.6n KC1,14) 0.5n NaCl,15) illin G or glycine.