title: Characterization and phylogenetic analysis of ectoine biosynthesis genes from Bacillus halodurans.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology, Fermentation and Biotechnology Division, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Matsyapuri P.O., Cochin, 682029 Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Lawrance Anbu
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Rajan
authors.forename: Toms C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.forename: Nirmala
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Thampuran
authors.forename: Roswin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: Viswanathan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chinnusamy
authors.forename: Kailash C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Bansal
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000599:Amino Acids, Diamino / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001407:Bacillus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004790:Enzyme Induction; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D015870:Gene Expression; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D000599:Amino Acids, Diamino; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C045628:ectoine