EXOCELLULAR ALGINIC ACID FROM AZOTOBACTER VINELANDII

1966 ◽  
Vol 44 (9) ◽  
pp. 993-998 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. J. Gorin ◽  
J. F. T. Spencer

Azotobactervinelandii produces a partly acetylated exocellular polysaccharide which consists mainly of D-mannuronic acid units and a small proportion of L-guluronic acid units. It resembles alginic acid since it contains 4-O-linked mannuronosyl residues and guluronosyl residues which are 4-O- and (or) 5-O-linked. The specific rotation of bacterial sodium alginate is close to that of its algal counterpart, thus suggesting that the glycosidic configurations are similar.

1975 ◽  
Vol 152 (3) ◽  
pp. 617-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
D F Pindar ◽  
C Bucke

The sequence of reactions by which alginic acid is biosynthesized from sucrose in Azotobacter vinelandii was determined both by feeding radioactive individual enzymes involved. Results indicate that the first polymeric substance formed in the synthesis is polymannuronic acid and that mannuronic acid units are epimerized to guluronic acid at the polymer level. Guluronic acid does not appear to be formed at the monomer level, either free or in combination with GDP.


Author(s):  
S. Inoue ◽  
Y. Tanaka ◽  
S.C. Skoryna

Sodium alginate, a brown seaweed polysaccharide, is capable of preventing intestinal absorption of radioactive strontium and its radiotoxicological importance is now well established. Alginic acid was found to be composed of 1,4-linked poly-L-guluronic acid and poly-D-mannuronic acid chains with some glycosidic linkages between these uronic acids.Polyguluronic and polymannuronic acid were prepared by acid hydrolysis of alginic acid from Laminaria hyperborea followed by fractionation of the partially degraded sodium alginate at pH 2.8. These components consist almost exclusively of a single uronic acid (polyguluronic acid: man/gul = 0.27; polymannuronic acid: man/gul = 10.7). Sodium polyguluronate inhibits absorption of radiostrontium more effectively than sodium polymannuronate.


1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan A. Hellebust ◽  
Arne Haug

Amino acids, particularly alanine and aspartate, become more strongly labeled than mannitol in short-term 14C-photoassimilation experiments. The amino acids are the most likely sources of carbon for alginic acid synthesis and respiration in the dark, in contrast to mannitol, which appears to be relatively unavailable. Temperature is very important in determining the rate of loss of recent photoassimilate in L. digitata. The rate of photosynthesis, on a fresh weight basis, is much higher for blades than for stipes.The time course for incorporation of photoassimilated carbon into alginate differs for the stipe and blade both in light and dark periods. Very little 14C enters alginate in blades in the dark, while alginate in stipes acquires considerable amounts of activity during dark periods. Alginate in both blade and stipe acquires 14C predominantly in mannuronic acid residues of their alginate during short-term photoassimilation periods, while guluronic acid residues become relatively more rapidly labeled during dark periods.


1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan A. Hellebust ◽  
Arne Haug

New and old tissues of L. digitata blades have very similar photosynthetic capacities on a fresh weight basis. Very little of the photoassimilate goes into alginic acid, or other macromolecular substances in old blade tissues. Less than 1% of the photoassimilated 14C in the old blade portion of a L. digitata blade was translocated to the new blade tissues in a 5-h experiment. In contrast, there is rapid transport of photoassimilate from bark cells to cells of the underlying tissues of L. digitata and L. hyperborea stipe sections. Isolated cortex and medulla tissues of L. digitata stipes have significant photosynthetic capacities, but are probably so strongly shaded by the darkly pigmented bark cells that little photosynthesis can normally occur in these tissues.A larger proportion of the photoassimilated carbon enters alginate in the cortex and medulla than in the bark of L. digitata and L. hyperborea stipes in short-term experiments. The time course for incorporation of photosynthate into alginate in continuous and pulse-labeling experiments indicates the presence of relatively large pools of alginate precursors. A large proportion of the total 14C incorporated into alginate in short-term experiments is found in the "M–M" (mannuronic acid) and "M–G" (alternating mannuronic and guluronic acid) block components.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 520
Author(s):  
Masanori Mori ◽  
Rintaro Asahi ◽  
Yoshihiro Yamamoto ◽  
Takanobu Mashiko ◽  
Kayo Yoshizumi ◽  
...  

Filler injection demand is increasing worldwide, but no ideal filler with safety and longevity currently exists. Sodium alginate (SA) is the sodium salt of alginic acid, which is a polymeric polysaccharide obtained by linear polymerization of two types of uronic acid, d-mannuronic acid (M) and l-guluronic acid (G). This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic value of SA. Nine SA types with different M/G ratios and viscosities were tested and compared with a commercially available sodium hyaluronate (SH) filler. Three injection modes (onto the periosteum, intradermally, or subcutaneously) were used in six rats for each substance, and the animals were sacrificed at 4 or 24 weeks. Changes in the diameter and volume were measured macroscopically and by computed tomography, and histopathological evaluations were performed. SA with a low M/G ratio generally maintained skin uplift. The bulge gradually decreased over time but slightly increased at 4 weeks in some samples. No capsule formation was observed around SA. However, granulomatous reactions, including macrophage recruitment, were observed 4 weeks after SA implantation, although fewer macrophages and granulomatous reactions were observed at 24 weeks. The long-term volumizing effects and degree of granulomatous reactions differed depending on the M/G ratio and viscosity. By contrast, SH showed capsule formation but with minimal granulomatous reactions. The beneficial and adverse effects of SA as a filler differed according to the viscosity or M/G ratio, suggesting a better long-term volumizing effect than SH with relatively low immunogenicity


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (10) ◽  
pp. 3033-3038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helga Ertesvåg ◽  
Svein Valla

ABSTRACT The industrially important polysaccharide alginate is composed of the two sugar monomers β-d-mannuronic acid (M) and its epimer α-l-guluronic acid (G). In the bacteriumAzotobacter vinelandii, the G residues originate from a polymer-level reaction catalyzed by one periplasmic and at least five secreted mannuronan C-5-epimerases. The secreted enzymes are composed of repeats of two protein modules designated A (385 amino acids) and R (153 amino acids). The modular structure of one of the epimerases, AlgE1, is A1R1R2R3A2R4. This enzyme has two catalytic sites for epimerization, each site introducing a different G distribution pattern, and in this article we report the DNA-level construction of a variety of truncated forms of the enzyme. Analyses of the properties of the corresponding proteins showed that an A module alone is sufficient for epimerization and that A1 catalyzed the formation of contiguous stretches of G residues in the polymer, while A2 introduces single G residues. These differences are predicted to strongly affect the physical and immunological properties of the reaction product. The epimerization reaction is Ca2+ dependent, and direct binding studies showed that both the A and R modules bind this cation. The R modules appeared to reduce the Ca2+ concentration needed for full activity and also stimulated the reaction rate when positioned both N and C terminally.


2009 ◽  
Vol 191 (15) ◽  
pp. 4845-4853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Gimmestad ◽  
Helga Ertesvåg ◽  
Tonje Marita Bjerkan Heggeset ◽  
Olav Aarstad ◽  
Britt Iren Glærum Svanem ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Alginates are polysaccharides composed of 1-4-linked β-d-mannuronic acid and α-l-guluronic acid. The polymer can be degraded by alginate lyases, which cleave the polysaccharide using a β-elimination reaction. Two such lyases have previously been identified in the soil bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii, as follows: the periplasmic AlgL and the secreted bifunctional mannuronan C-5 epimerase and alginate lyase AlgE7. In this work, we describe the properties of three new lyases from this bacterium, AlyA1, AlyA2, and AlyA3, all of which belong to the PL7 family of polysaccharide lyases. One of the enzymes, AlyA3, also contains a C-terminal module similar to those of proteins secreted by a type I secretion system, and its activity is stimulated by Ca2+. All three enzymes preferably cleave the bond between guluronic acid and mannuronic acid, resulting in a guluronic acid residue at the new reducing end, but AlyA3 also degrades the other three possible bonds in alginate. Strains containing interrupted versions of alyA1, alyA3, and algE7 were constructed, and their phenotypes were analyzed. Genetically pure alyA2 mutants were not obtained, suggesting that this gene product may be important for the bacterium during vegetative growth. After centrifugation, cultures from the algE7 mutants form a large pellet containing alginate, indicating that AlgE7 is involved in the release of alginate from the cells. Upon encountering adverse growth conditions, A. vinelandii will form a resting stage called cyst. Alginate is a necessary part of the protective cyst coat, and we show here that strains lacking alyA3 germinate poorly compared to wild-type cells.


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Britt Iren Glærum Svanem ◽  
Gudmund Skjåk-Bræk ◽  
Helga Ertesvåg ◽  
Svein Valla

ABSTRACT The cloning and expression of a family of five modular-type mannuronan C-5-epimerase genes from Azotobacter vinelandii(algE1 to -5) has previously been reported. The corresponding proteins catalyze the Ca2+-dependent polymer-level epimerization of β-d-mannuronic acid to α-l-guluronic acid (G) in the commercially important polysaccharide alginate. Here we report the identification of three additional structurally similar genes, designated algE6,algE7, and algY. All three genes were sequenced and expressed in Escherichia coli. AlgE6 introduced contiguous stretches of G residues into its substrate (G blocks), while AlgE7 acted as both an epimerase and a lyase. The epimerase activity of AlgE7 leads to formation of alginates with both single G residues and G blocks. AlgY did not display epimerase activity, but a hybrid gene in which the 5′-terminal part was exchanged with the corresponding region in algE4 expressed an active epimerase. Southern blot analysis of genomic A. vinelandii DNA, using the 5′ part ofalgE2 as a probe, indicated that all hybridization signals originated from algE1 to -5 or the three new genes reported here.


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