Effect of gamma-glutamyl kinase gene knock-out on metabolism in L-arginine-producing strain Corynebacterium crenatum 8-193

Abstract:

Abstract: ［Objective］In order to optimize precursor supply for L-arginine biosynthesis，we constructed a Corynebacterium crenatum 8-193 mutant with gamma-glutamyl kinase gene (proB) in-frame deletion．The effects of proB knock-out on physiological characteristics of the mutant were investigated．［Methods］ The upstream and downstream fragments of proB were cloned from C．crenatum 8-193 chromosome and ligated to integration vector． The mutant C．crenatum 8-193-ΔproB was obtained by homologous recombination．The mutant phenotype can be reversed by complementation with proB gene from the expression vector．The physiological characteristics of the mutant were investigated by measurement of the activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPCx) and pyruvate carboxylase (PYC)．［Results］ The proB gene in-frame deletion was screened and confirmed by PCR，gamma-glutamyl kinase determination and complementation． The mutant lost the ability of growth on minimal medium without proline addition．The proB knock-out mutant resulted a decrease of cell mass by 9. 6% and an increase of L-arginine accumulation by 13. 6% compared with that of the parent strain． The analysis of by-products of fermentation broth showed that the concentrations of glutamate-related and aspartate-related amino acids increased，and the concentrations of α-ketoglutaric acid，PEP and succinic acid decreased． The specific activities of PEPCx and PYC increased in 8-193-ΔproB．［Conclusion］ The proB gene knock-out of the strain 8-193 blocked branch catabolism of L-glutamate and improved efficiency of the glucose utilization and L-arginine accumulation．