Rajan Lawrance Anbu, Joseph Toms C, Thampuran Nirmala, James Roswin, Chinnusamy Viswanathan, Bansal Kailash C
Microbiology, Fermentation and Biotechnology Division, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Matsyapuri P.O., Cochin, 682029 Kerala, India.
Arch Microbiol. 2008 Oct;190(4):481-7. doi: 10.1007/s00203-008-0397-z. Epub 2008 Jul 16.
Ectoine, a cyclic tetrahydropyrimidine (2-methyl-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidine-4-carboxylic acid), is a natural compound, which serves as a protective substance in many bacterial cells. In this study, the putative ectABC gene cluster from Bacillus halodurans was heterologously expressed in E. coli and the production of ectoine was confirmed by HPLC analysis. The activity of the enzymes coded by the ectA, B and C genes were found to be higher in induced transgenic cells compared to the uninduced cells. Phylogenetic analysis revealed sequence identities ranging from 36-73% for ectA gene, 55-81% for ectB gene and 55-80% for ectC gene indicating that the enzymes are evolutionarily well conserved.
四氢嘧啶是一种环状四氢嘧啶（2-甲基-1,4,5,6-四氢嘧啶-4-羧酸），是一种天然化合物，在许多细菌细胞中作为保护物质。在本研究中，来自嗜碱芽孢杆菌的假定ectABC基因簇在大肠杆菌中进行了异源表达，并通过高效液相色谱分析证实了四氢嘧啶的产生。与未诱导的细胞相比，在诱导的转基因细胞中发现ectA、B和C基因编码的酶活性更高。系统发育分析显示，ectA基因的序列同一性为36-73%，ectB基因的序列同一性为55-81%，ectC基因的序列同一性为55-80%，这表明这些酶在进化上具有良好的保守性。
