Trehalose is a nonreducing disaccharide in which the two glucose units are linked in an alpha,alpha-1,1-glycosidic linkage. This sugar is present in a wide variety of organisms, including bacteria, yeast, fungi, insects, invertebrates, and lower and higher plants, where it may serve as a source of energy and carbon. In yeast and plants, it may also serve as a signaling molecule to direct or control certain metabolic pathways or even to affect growth. In addition, it has been shown that trehalose can protect proteins and cellular membranes from inactivation or denaturation caused by a variety of stress conditions, including desiccation, dehydration, heat, cold, and oxidation. Finally, in mycobacteria and corynebacteria, trehalose is an integral component of various glycolipids that are important cell wall structures. There are now at least three different pathways described for the biosynthesis of trehalose. The best known and most widely distributed pathway involves the transfer of glucose from UDP-glucose (or GDP-glucose in some cases) to glucose 6-phosphate to form trehalose-6-phosphate and UDP. This reaction is catalyzed by the trehalose-P synthase (TPS here, or OtsA in Escherichia coli ). Organisms that use this pathway usually also have a trehalose-P phosphatase (TPP here, or OtsB in E. coli) that converts the trehalose-P to free trehalose. A second pathway that has been reported in a few unusual bacteria involves the intramolecular rearrangement of maltose (glucosyl-alpha1,4-glucopyranoside) to convert the 1,4-linkage to the 1,1-bond of trehalose. This reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme called trehalose synthase and gives rise to free trehalose as the initial product. A third pathway involves several different enzymes, the first of which rearranges the glucose at the reducing end of a glycogen chain to convert the alpha1,4-linkage to an alpha,alpha1,1-bond. A second enzyme then releases the trehalose disaccharide from the reducing end of the glycogen molecule. Finally, in mushrooms there is a trehalose phosphorylase that catalyzes the phosphorolysis of trehalose to produce glucose-1-phosphate and glucose. This reaction is reversible in vitro and could theoretically give rise to trehalose from glucose-1-P and glucose. Another important enzyme in trehalose metabolism is trehalase (T), which may be involved in energy metabolism and also have a regulatory role in controlling the levels of trehalose in cells. This enzyme may be important in lowering trehalose concentrations once the stress is alleviated. Recent studies in yeast indicate that the enzymes involved in trehalose synthesis (TPS, TPP) exist together in a complex that is highly regulated at the activity level as well as at the genetic level.

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New insights on trehalose: a multifunctional molecule

There are currently intensive global research efforts aimed at increasing and modifying the accumulation of lipids, alcohols, hydrocarbons, polysaccharides, and other energy storage compounds in photosynthetic organisms, yeast, and bacteria through genetic engineering. Many improvements have been realized, including increased lipid and carbohydrate production, improved H2 yields, and the diversion of central metabolic intermediates into fungible biofuels. Photosynthetic microorganisms are attracting considerable interest within these efforts due to their relatively high photosynthetic conversion efficiencies, diverse metabolic capabilities, superior growth rates, and ability to store or secrete energy-rich hydrocarbons. Relative to cyanobacteria, eukaryotic microalgae possess several unique metabolic attributes of relevance to biofuel production, including the accumulation of significant quantities of triacylglycerol; the synthesis of storage starch (amylopectin and amylose), which is similar to that found in higher plants; and the ability to efficiently couple photosynthetic electron transport to H2 production. Although the application of genetic engineering to improve energy production phenotypes in eukaryotic microalgae is in its infancy, significant advances in the development of genetic manipulation tools have recently been achieved with microalgal model systems and are being used to manipulate central carbon metabolism in these organisms. It is likely that many of these advances can be extended to industrially relevant organisms. This review is focused on potential avenues of genetic engineering that may be undertaken in order to improve microalgae as a biofuel platform for the production of biohydrogen, starch-derived alcohols, diesel fuel surrogates, and/or alkanes.

Genetic Engineering of Algae for Enhanced Biofuel Production

Nutraceuticals: facts and fiction.

The bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans shows remarkable resistance to a range of damage caused by ionizing radiation, desiccation, UV radiation, oxidizing agents, and electrophilic mutagens. D. radiodurans is best known for its extreme resistance to ionizing radiation; not only can it grow continuously in the presence of chronic radiation (6 kilorads/h), but also it can survive acute exposures to gamma radiation exceeding 1,500 kilorads without dying or undergoing induced mutation. These characteristics were the impetus for sequencing the genome of D. radiodurans and the ongoing development of its use for bioremediation of radioactive wastes. Although it is known that these multiple resistance phenotypes stem from efficient DNA repair processes, the mechanisms underlying these extraordinary repair capabilities remain poorly understood. In this work we present an extensive comparative sequence analysis of the Deinococcus genome. Deinococcus is the first representative with a completely sequenced genome from a distinct bacterial lineage of extremophiles, the Thermus-Deinococcus group. Phylogenetic tree analysis, combined with the identification of several synapomorphies between Thermus and Deinococcus, supports the hypothesis that it is an ancient group with no clear affinities to any of the other known bacterial lineages. Distinctive features of the Deinococcus genome as well as features shared with other free-living bacteria were revealed by comparison of its proteome to the collection of clusters of orthologous groups of proteins. Analysis of paralogs in Deinococcus has revealed several unique protein families. In addition, specific expansions of several other families including phosphatases, proteases, acyltransferases, and Nudix family pyrophosphohydrolases were detected. Genes that potentially affect DNA repair and recombination and stress responses were investigated in detail. Some proteins appear to have been horizontally transferred from eukaryotes and are not present in other bacteria. For example, three proteins homologous to plant desiccation resistance proteins were identified, and these are particularly interesting because of the correlation between desiccation and radiation resistance. Compared to other bacteria, the D. radiodurans genome is enriched in repetitive sequences, namely, IS-like transposons and small intergenic repeats. In combination, these observations suggest that several different biological mechanisms contribute to the multiple DNA repair-dependent phenotypes of this organism.

Genome of the Extremely Radiation-Resistant Bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans Viewed from the Perspective of Comparative Genomics

Trehalose metabolism and signaling is an area of emerging significance. In less than a decade our views on the importance of trehalose metabolism and its role in plants have gone through something of a revolution. An obscure curiosity has become an indispensable regulatory system. Mutant and transgenic plants of trehalose synthesis display wide-ranging and unprecedented phenotypes for the perturbation of a metabolic pathway. Molecular physiology and genomics have provided a glimpse of trehalose biology that had not been possible with conventional techniques, largely because the products of the synthetic pathway, trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) and trehalose, are in trace abundance and difficult to measure in most plants. A consensus is emerging that T6P plays a central role in the coordination of metabolism with development. The discovery of trehalose metabolism has been one of the most exciting developments in plant metabolism and plant science in recent years. The field is fast moving and this review highlights the most recent insights.

Trehalose metabolism and signaling.

A trehalose-producing bacterium, Arthrobacter sp. strain Q36, was isolated from soil. From a supernatant of the culture broth, two novel enzymes related to trehalose synthesis were partially purified by Sepabeads FP-DA column chromatography. One enzyme catalyzed the conversion of maltopentaose into maltotriosyl trehalose by intramolecular transglycosylation, showing it to be maltooligosyl trehalose synthase. The other hydrolyzed the product transferred by the former into maltotriose and trehalose specifically, showing it to be maltooligosyl trehalose trehalohydrolase. In addition to the bacterial strain isolated, several bacteria kept in our laboratory were found to produce these enzymes. The enzymatic system was proposed to be a novel biosynthesis of trehalose in bacteria involving the following reactions : maltodextrin→maltooligosyl trehalose, maltooligosyl trehalose→maltodextrin + trehalose. When these enzymes acted on amylose simultaneously, the trehalose in the reaction mixture reached more than 80% in content.

Formation of trehalose from maltooligosaccharides by a novel enzymatic system.

Cloning and sequencing of a cluster of genes encoding novel enzymes of trehalose biosynthesis from thermophilic archaebacterium Sulfolobus acidocaldarius.

Glucosyl hesperidin (G-hesperidin) is a water-soluble derivative of hesperidin. We compared the absorption and metabolism of G-hesperidin with those of hesperidin in rats. After oral administration of G-hesperidin or hesperidin to rats, hesperetin was detected in sera hydrolyzed with beta-glucuronidase, but it was not detectable in unhydrolyzed sera. Serum hesperetin was found more rapidly in rats administered G-hesperidin than in those administered hesperidin. The area under the concentration-time curve for hesperetin in the sera of rats administered G-hesperidin was approximately 3.7-fold greater than that of rats administered hesperidin. In the urine of both administration groups, hesperetin and its glucuronide were found. Urinary excretion of metabolites was higher in rats administered G-hesperidin than in those administered hesperidin. These results indicate that G-hesperidin presents the same metabolic profile as hesperidin. Moreover, it was concluded that G-hesperidin is absorbed more rapidly and efficiently than hesperidin, because of its high water solubility.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1271/bbb.50657

Bioavailability of Glucosyl Hesperidin in Rats

A novel enzyme, trehalose synthase, was purified from a cell-free extract of Pimelobacter sp. R48 to an electrophoretically homogeneous state by successive chromatographies on DEAE-Toyopearl 650, Butyl-Toyopearl 650, and Mono Q HR5/5 columns. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 62,000 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the enzyme had a pI of 4.6 by gel isoelectrofocusing. The enzyme catalyzed the conversion of maltose into trehalose by intramolecular transglucosylation. The enzyme also converted into maltose but was inactive on other saccharides. The N-terminal amino acid of the enzyme was serine. The optimum pH and temperature were pH7.5 and 20 degrees C, respectively. The enzyme was stable in the range of pH 6.0-9.0 and up to 30 degrees C for 60 min. The rate of conversion of maltose into trehalose was independent of the maltose concentration. The maximum yield of trehalose from maltose were 81.8%, 80.9%, and 76.7% at 5, 15, and 25 degrees C, respectively. The activity was inhibited by Cu2+, Hg2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, and Tris.

Purification and properties of a novel enzyme, trehalose synthase, from Pimelobacter sp. R48.

Arthrobacter sp. Q36 produces a novel enzyme, maltooligosyl trehalose synthase, which catalyzes the conversion of maltooligosaccharide into the non-reducing saccharide, maltooligosyl trehalose (α-maltooligosyl α-D-glucoside) by intramolecular transglycosylation. The enzyme was purified from a cell-free extract to an electrophoretically homogeneous state by successive column chromatography on Sepabeads FP-DA13, DEAE-Sephadex A-50, Ultrogel AcA44, and Butyl-Toyopearl 650M. The enzyme was specific for maltooligosaccharides except maltose, and catalyzed the conversion to form maltooligosyl trehalose. The Km of the enzyme for maltotetraose, maltopentaose, maltohexaose, and maltoheptaose were 22.9mM, 8.7mM, 1.4mM, and 0.9mM, respectively. The enzyme had a molecular mass of 81,000 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and a pI of 4.1 by gel isoelectrofocusing. The N-terminal and C-terminal amino acids of the enzyme were methionine and serine, respectively. The enzyme showed the highest activity at pH 7.0 and...

Hiroto Chaen

Papers

Formation of trehalose from maltooligosaccharides by a novel enzymatic system.

Cloning and sequencing of a cluster of genes encoding novel enzymes of trehalose biosynthesis from thermophilic archaebacterium Sulfolobus acidocaldarius.

Bioavailability of Glucosyl Hesperidin in Rats

Purification and properties of a novel enzyme, trehalose synthase, from Pimelobacter sp. R48.

Purification and properties of a novel enzyme, maltooligosyl trehalose synthase, from Arthrobacter sp. Q36.