Journal ArticleDOI
Recent trends in the biochemistry of surfactin.
TLDR
A fine study of the structure/function relationships associated with the three-dimensional structure has led to the recognition of the specific residues required for activity in surfactin biosynthesis and will assist researchers in the selection of molecules with improved and/or refined properties useful in oil and biomedical industries.Abstract:
The name surfactin refers to a bacterial cyclic lipopeptide, primarily renowned for its exceptional surfactant power since it lowers the surface tension of water from 72 mN m-1 to 27 mN m-1 at a concentration as low as 20 microM. Although surfactin was discovered about 30 years ago, there has been a revival of interest in this compound over the past decade, triggered by an increasing demand for effective biosurfactants for difficult contemporary ecological problems. This simple molecule also looks very promising as an antitumoral, antiviral and anti-Mycoplasma agent. Structural characteristics show the presence of a heptapeptide with an LLDLLDL chiral sequence linked, via a lactone bond, to a beta-hydroxy fatty acid with 13-15 C atoms. In solution, the molecule exhibits a characteristic "horse saddle" conformation that accounts for its large spectrum of biological activity, making it very attractive for both industrial applications and academic studies. Surfactin biosynthesis is catalysed non-ribosomally by the action of a large multienzyme complex consisting of four modular building blocks, called the surfactin synthetase. The biosynthetic activity involves the multicarrier thiotemplate mechanism and the enzyme is organized in structural domains that place it in the family of peptide synthetases, a class of enzymes involved in peptidic secondary-metabolite synthesis. The srfA operon, the sfp gene encoding a 4'-phosphopantetheinyltransferase and the comA regulatory gene work together for surfactin biosynthesis, while the gene encoding the acyltransferase remains to be isolated. Concerning surfactin production, there is no indication whether the genetic regulation, involving a quorum-sensing mechanism, overrides other regulation factors promoted by the fermentation conditions. Knowledge of the modular arrangement of the peptide synthetases is of the utmost relevance to combinatorial biosynthetic approaches and has been successfully used at the gene level to modify the surfactin template. Biosynthetic and genetic rationales have been described for building variants. A fine study of the structure/function relationships associated with the three-dimensional structure has led to the recognition of the specific residues required for activity. These studies will assist researchers in the selection of molecules with improved and/or refined properties useful in oil and biomedical industries.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Bacillus lipopeptides: versatile weapons for plant disease biocontrol.
Marc Ongena,Philippe Jacques +1 more
TL;DR: The different structural traits and physico-chemical properties of these effective surface- and membrane-active amphiphilic biomolecules explain their involvement in most of the mechanisms developed by bacteria for the biocontrol of different plant pathogens.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bacillus subtilis antibiotics: structures, syntheses and specific functions
TL;DR: The structures of all known B. subtilis antibiotics are summarized, including non‐ribosomally produced lipopeptides are involved in biofilm and swarming development, lantibiotics function as pheromones in quorum‐sensing, and a ‘killing factor’ effectuates programmed cell death in sister cells.
Journal ArticleDOI
Environmental applications for biosurfactants
TL;DR: Biosurfactants are surfactants that are produced extracellularly or as part of the cell membrane by bacteria, yeast and fungi as mentioned in this paper, which are used for soil and water treatment.
Journal ArticleDOI
A field guide to bacterial swarming motility
TL;DR: The requirements that define swarming motility in diverse bacterial model systems are reviewed, including an increase in the number of flagella per cell, the secretion of a surfactant to reduce surface tension and allow spreading, and movement in multicellular groups rather than as individuals.
Journal ArticleDOI
Developments in the use of Bacillus species for industrial production
TL;DR: Developments from the understanding of the complex protein translocation machinery of Gram-positive bacteria should allow the resolution of current secretion challenges and make Bacillus species preeminent hosts for heterologous protein production.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Modular Peptide Synthetases Involved in Nonribosomal Peptide Synthesis
Journal ArticleDOI
Surfactin, a crystalline peptidelipid surfactant produced by Bacillussubtilis: Isolation, characterization and its inhibition of fibrin clot formation
Journal ArticleDOI
Characterization of sfp, a bacillus subtilis phosphopantetheinyl transferase for peptidyl carrier protein domains in peptide synthetases
Luis E. N. Quadri,Paul H. Weinreb,Ming Lei,Michiko M. Nakano,Peter Zuber,Christopher T. Walsh +5 more
TL;DR: In contrast to other phosphopantetheinyl transferases (PPTases) previously examined, Sfp will modify the apo forms of heterologous recombinant proteins, including the PCP domain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Lys2, the aryl carrier protein (ArCP) domain of Escherichia coli EntB, and the E. coli acyl carrierprotein (ACP) subunit, suggesting Sfp as a good candidate forheterologous coexpression
Journal ArticleDOI
Enhanced Production of Surfactin from Bacillus subtilis by Continuous Product Removal and Metal Cation Additions
TL;DR: Hydrocarbon addition to the medium, which normally increases biosurfactant production, completely inhibited surfactin production by B. subtilis.
Journal ArticleDOI
Characterization of a new lipopeptide surfactant produced by thermotolerant and halotolerant subsurface Bacillus licheniformis BAS50.
TL;DR: Purified lichenysin A decreases the surface tension of water from 72 mN/m to 28 mN /liter and achieves the critical micelle concentration with as little as 12 mg/liter, characterizing the product as a powerful surface-active agent that compares favorably to others surfactants.
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