Utilizing Bacteria. 7
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BIOCATALYSTS FOR PRODUCTION A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of London By Mahmoud Seyed-Mahmoudian Centre for Biotechnology Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine London - England July 1989 Abstract An extensive screen for microorganisms capable of growth on olefins was carried out. Over 100 bacterial strains (mesophilic, thermophilic) were isolated in pure culture with gaseous or liquid (internal & terminal) olefins as the sole source of carbon and energy. The organisms included Aero coccus, Aeromonas,Alcaligenes, Flavobacterium, Micrococcus, Moraxella, Nocardia, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Streptomyces and Vibrio spp. and a variety of Gram-negative, Gram-positive and Gram-variable rods/coccobacilli not yet identified. Given the success of isolating many different genera of alkene-utilizing bacteria, it would suggest that the ability to utilize olefin hydrocarbons is more widespread in nature than previously recognized. Initial studies involved testing a collection of strains for i) growth rate on the substrate of isolation and ii) evidence of epoxide accumulation from lower gaseous olefins. All of the 18 ethene- and propene-utilizing bacteria tested, stereospecifically formed R- 1,2-epoxypropane (ee=90-96%), R -l,2-epoxybutane (ee=90- 98%) and trans- (2/?,37?)-epoxybutane (ee=64-88%), as analyzed by chiral complexation glc. A particularly promising strain of Micrococcus sp. M90C was selected to demonstrate: a) Induction of epoxidation activity in carbohydrate-grown cells. b) Optimization of a biotransformation process for production of epoxyethane. c) Involvement of a specific monooxygenase in the formation of chiral epoxides. d) Stereoselectivity of epoxyalkane degradation. e) Substrate specificity toward a range of olefins. Micrococcus sp. M90C stereospecifically formed S-(+)-phenyl glycidyl ether (ee=93%) and /?-(+)- phenyl methyl sulphoxide (ee>98%), as analyzed by chiral-shift NMR and HPLC. The ability to catalyze heteroatom oxygenation as well as epoxidation of a wide range of olefins in high optical and chemical yields, demonstrates its potential as a 'general-purpose' biocatalyst for the production of optically pure oxygenated compounds. Two other promising ethene-utilizing bacteria (M26, M93 A) each catalyzed the stereospecific formation of S-(+)-phenyl glycidyl ether (ee=93%). This has attracted considerable industrial interest and is currently under investigation at ICI for commercial production of optically active./1-blockers. In addition to Micrococcus sp. M90C, the substrate specificities of 6 other organisms were studied in order to probe the active site of the enzymes involved. The pattern of reactivity for the group of 4 ethene- (M26, M90C, M93A, M186) and 2 propene- (M142, Ml 56) utilizers differed from that expected with peracids, suggesting a considerable degree of enzymatic control.The nature of the substrate, however, modulated enzymatic epoxidations in Staphylcoccus sp. M97B. CONTENTS Page No. List of tables i List of figures ii Acknowledgements iii Abbreviations iv Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1. Microbial epoxidation of olefins 4 1.1.1. Alkane-utilizers 6 1.1.2. Methanotrophs 7 1.1.3. Alkene-utilizers 8 1.1.4. Nitrifying bacterium 11 1.1.5. Biochemical role of epoxidation reactions 12 1.1.6. Haloperoxidase and halohydrin epoxidase 16 1.2. Microbial metabolism of epoxyalkanes 17 1.3. Applications of epoxidation reactions in biotechnological processes 20 Chapter 2 Methods 2.1. General techniques 25 2.1.1. Cleaning of glassware 25 2.1.2. Determination of pH 25 2.1.3. Sterility 25 2.1.4. Centrifugation 26 Page No. 2.2. Chemicals 26 2.3. Bacterial strains 27 2.4. Growth conditions 27 2.5. Biomass analyses 28 2.5.1. Cultural turbidity 28 2.5.2. Determination of protein 28 2.5.2.1. Bio-Rad assay 28 2.5.2.2. Lowry method 29 2.5.3. Dry weight measurements 30 2.5.3.1. Filtration 30 2.5.3.2. Centrifugation 30 2.6. Bioconversions 30 2.7. Preparation of cell-free extracts 31 2.8. Product analyses 31 2.8.1. Gas liquid chromatography 31 2.8.2. Mass spectrometry 34 2.9. Chiral analyses 34 2.9.1. Chiral complexation capillary glc 34 2.9.2. Chiral-shiftlK NMR 34 2.9.3. HPLC 35 2.10. Optical rotation 35 2.11. Staining 36 2.11.1. Differential stains 36 2.11.1.1. Gram method 36 2.11.1.2. Ziehl-Neelsen method (Acid-fast stain) 37 Page No. 2.11.2. Special stains 38 2.11.2.1. Spore stain 3 8 2.11.2.2. Capsule stain 39 2.12. Characterization tests 40 2.12.1. Arginine hydrolysis 40 2.12.2. Bile esculin (aesculin) hydrolysis 41 2.12.3. Carbohydrate fermentation 42 2.12.4. Catalase activity 43 2.12.5. Citrate utilization 44 2.12.6. Fluorescein production 45 2.12.7. Gelatin liquefaction 45 2.12.8. Indole production 46 2.12.9. MacConkey agar 46 2.12.10. Methyl red (MR) 47 2.12.11. Motility 48 2.12.12. Nitrate reduction 49 2.12.13. Oxidase activity 50 2.12.14. Oxidation fermentation (OF) 51 2.12.15. Slide culture 54 2.12.16. Starch hydrolysis 54 2.12.17. Triple sugar iron (TSI) agar 55 2.12.18. Urease activity 56 2.12.19. Voges Proskauer (VP) 57 2.13. Appendix: Gas chromatographic methods 59 Chapter 3 Results and Discussion 3.1. Isolation and characterization of alkene-utilizing microorganisms 69 3.1.1. Isolation strategy 69 3.1.2. Selective culture techniques 72 3.1.2.1. Direct plating 72 3.1.2.2. Enrichment 72 3.1.3. Culture purity and maintenance of isolates 73 Page No. 3.1.4. Taxonomic and biochemical characterization 74 3.1.4.1. Group (I): Mycelial-type 75 3.1.4.2. Group (II): Coccoid 77 3.1.4.3. Group (III): Rods and coccobacilli 78 3.1.5. Selection of suitable bacteria 81 3.1.5.1. Gaseous olefins 81 3.1.5.2. Liquid olefins 81 3.1.5.3. Thermophilic bacteria 82 3.2. Micrococcus sp. M90C 84 3.2.1. Characterization 84 3.2.2. Growth on various substrates 84 3.2.3. Epoxidation of gaseous olefins 86 3.2.4. Enantiomeric composition of epoxyalkanes 86 3.2.5. Low temperature storage stability 88 3.2.6. Process optimization 93 3.2.6.1. pH Optimum 93 3.2.6.2. pH Profile for production vs degradation 95 3.2.6.3. Optimization of temperature, buffer and substrate concentration 95 3.2.7. Induction of epoxidation activity 99 3.2.8. Stereoselectivity of epoxyalkane degradation 101 3.2.9. Effect of cell age on product formation 103 3.2.10. Substrate specificity 103 3.2.10.1. Internal and terminal olefins 103 3.2.10.2. Cyclic olefins 105 3.2.10.3. Aryl-substituted olefins 107 3.2.11. The involvement of a specific monooxygenase 114 3.2.12. Asymmetric sulphur oxygenation 117 3.2.12.1. Introduction 117 3.2.12.2. Production of phenyl methyl sulphoxide 118 3.2.12.3. Optical purity of microbial sulphoxidation 122 Page No. 3.3. Biocatalysts for production of chiral epoxides 126 3.3.1. Growth characteristics on hydrocarbons 126 3.3.2. Enantiomeric excess of lower epoxyalkanes 128 3.4. Beta-blockers 131 3.4.1. Bacterial epoxidation of phenyl allyl ether 131 3.4.2. Enantiomeric excess of phenyl glycidyl ether 136 3.5. A comparison of substrate specificities of alkene- utilizing bacteria 142 3.5.1. Internal and terminal olefins 142 3.5.2. Cyclohexene 143 3.5.3. Styrene and phenyl allyl ether 143 3.5.4. 1-Trifluoromethyl, 1-(4'ethoxy phenyl)-ethene 150 3.6. Summary 151 References 158 List of Tables 1. Solubility of paraffins and olefins in water at room temperature. 2. Solubility of cyclic and aromatic hydrocarbons in water at room temperature. 3. Protein content of various subcellular fractions. 4. Carbohydrate utilization pattern for Gram-negative organisms. 5. Carbohydrate utilization pattern for Gram-positive organisms. 6. Gaseous and liquid olefins as isolation substrates for alkene-utilizing bacteria. 7. Taxonomic and biochemical properties of olefin-utilizing Streptomyces spp. 8. Taxonomic and biochemical properties of olefin-utilizing Nocardia spp. 9. Identification of Gram-positive olefin-utilizing bacteria. 10. Identification of ethene-utilizing bacteria. 11. Identification of Gram-negative olefin-utilizing bacteria. 12. Production of epoxyalkanes by Micrococcus sp. M90C. 13. Enantiomeric composition of epoxyalkanes by ethene-grown Micrococcus sp. M90C. 14. pH Profile for degradation of epoxyethane by Micrococcus sp. M90C. 15. A comparison of catalytic activity of various alkane- and alkene-utilizing bacteria for the epoxidation of ethene. 16. Effect of culture age on formation of epoxyethane by Micrococcus sp. M90C. 17. Epoxidation of olefins by ethene-grown Micrococcus sp. M90C. 18. Production of epoxyethane by whole cells and cell-free extracts of Micrococcus sp. M90C. 19. Enantiomeric composition of epoxyalkanes by whole cells and cell-free extracts of Micrococcus sp. M90C. 20. Catalytic activity of Micrococcus sp. M90C for the production of phenyl methyl sulphoxide. 21. Reported optical purities of microbial phenyl methyl sulphoxide. 22. Pattern of hydrocarbon utilization by ethene- and propene-grown bacteria. 23. Enantiomeric composition of microbial epoxidations. 24. Production of phenyl glycidyl ether by various alkene-utilizing bacteria. 25. Optical rotations and enantiomeric compositions of microbial phenyl glycidyl ether. 26. Reported chiralities of phenyl glycidyl ether by various bacteria. 27. A comparison of substrate specificities of various alkene-utilizing bacteria. 28. Summary of the newly isolated bacterial genera on gaseous and liquid olefins. 29. Reported isolation of bacterial genera on gaseous olefins. i List of Figures 1. Reactions involved in microbial epoxidation. 2. The structures of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. 3. The pathways utilized by mammals for the metabolism of aromatic hydrocarbons.