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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2005, p. 858-866, Vol. 71, No. 2
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.2.858-866.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Physiological Conditions Conducive to High Cyanophycin Content in Biomass of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus Strain ADP1

Yasser Elbahloul,¹ Martin Krehenbrink,^1, Rudolf Reichelt,² and Alexander Steinbüchel^1*

Institut für Molekulare Mikrobiologie und Biotechnologie,¹ Institut für Medizinische Physik und Biophysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany²

Received 24 June 2004/ Accepted 15 September 2004

The effects of the inorganic medium components, the initial pH, the incubation temperature, the oxygen supply, the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and chloramphenicol on the synthesis of cyanophycin (CGP) by Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strain ADP1 were studied in a mineral salts medium containing sodium glutamate and ammonium sulfate as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. Variation of all these factors resulted in maximum CGP contents of only about 3.5% (wt/wt) of the cell dry matter (CDM), and phosphate depletion triggered CGP accumulation most substantially. However, addition of arginine to the medium as the sole carbon source for growth promoted CGP accumulation most strikingly. This effect was systematically studied, and an optimized phosphate-limited medium containing 75 mM arginine and 10 mM ammonium sulfate yielded a CGP content of 41.4% (wt/wt) of the CDM at 30°C. The CGP content of the cells was further increased to 46.0% (wt/wt) of the CDM by adding 2.5 µg of chloramphenicol per ml of medium in the accumulation phase. These contents are by far the highest CGP contents of bacterial cells ever reported. CGP was easily isolated from the cells by using an acid extraction method, and this CGP contained about equimolar amounts of aspartic acid and arginine and no detectable lysine; the molecular masses ranged from 21 to 29 kDa, and the average molecular mass was about 25 kDa. Transmission electron micrographs of thin sections of cells revealed large CGP granules that frequently had an irregular shape with protuberances at the surface and often severely deformed the cells. A cphI::Km mutant of strain ADP1 with a disrupted putative cyanophycinase gene accumulated significantly less CGP than the wild type accumulated, although the cells expressed cyanophycin synthetase at about the same high level. It is possible that the intact CphI protein is involved in the release of CGP primer molecules from initially synthesized CGP. The resulting lower concentration of primer molecules could explain the observed low rate of accumulation at similar specific activities.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut für Molekulare Mikrobiologie und Biotechnologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstrasse 3, D-48149 Münster, Germany. Phone: 49-251-8339821. Fax: 49-251-8338388. E-mail: steinbu{at}uni-muenster.de.

Present address: Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UH, United Kingdom.

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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2005, p. 858-866, Vol. 71, No. 2
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.2.858-866.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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