Optimization of Fermentation Process for Hyaluronic Acid Production by Streptococcus zooepidemicus

Hyaluronic acid （HA） is a high molecular weight glycosaminoglycan consisting of alternating D-glucuronic acid and N-acetylglueasamine and plays ex- tremely important roles in many biological processes. In this study, we optimized fermentation process for the production of HA by Streptococcus zooepidemicus ATCC35246, including fermentation broth composition and various fermentation parameters. The experimental results showed that the optimal fermentation broth composition was： glucose 45 g/L, yeast extract 10 g/L, tryptone 12 g/L, KH2PO4 2 g/L, K2HPO4 . 3H20 2 g/L, MgSO4 · 7H2O 2 g/L, and （NH4 ）2SO4 0.4 g/L. The optimal parameters involved in fermentation was： liquid volume 20%, pH 6. 0, rotation speed 180 r/min, fermentation temperature 35 ℃, fermentation duration 18 h, CTAB concentration 25 mg/L. Under the optimized conditions, the yield of HA was 0. 305 g/L, which was dramatically improved by 43.87% compared to that of 0. 212 g/L before optimization.

The vital role of CovS in the establishment of Streptococcus equi subsp.zooepidemicus virulence

Streptococcus equi subsp.zooepidemicus(SEZ)is an important zoonotic agent.Here,a virulence-attenuated strain M35246 derived from natural variation of wild-type SEZ ATCC35246 was found.M35246 showed a deletion of 25contiguous genes as well as a loss-of-function mutation in covS.Subsequently,a 25-gene-deleted strain(ΔPI),a covS-mutant strain(Mcov S),and relevant complementary strains were constructed and investigated.M35246 and Mcov S were significantly less encapsulated and exhibited poorer anti-phagocytic capacity compared to wild-type SEZ.McovS was significantly more sensitive toβ-lactams,aminoglycosides,macrolides,and lincosamides than wild-type SEZ.M35246,McovS,andΔPI exhibited an increase in median lethal dose(LD_(50))in mice by 10~5,10~5,and 5 times when compared to wild-type SEZ,respectively.Neither M35246 nor McovS were isolated from mice 48 h after being challenged with approximately 2000 times the LD_(50)of wild-type SEZ.Transcriptome analysis showed that 668 significantly differentially expressed genes existed between McovS and wild-type SEZ.Numerous virulence factor-encoding genes and anabolicrelated genes in McovS that were involved in anti-phagocytosis,capsule formation,pathogenicity,and antibiotic resistance were downregulated significantly relative to the wild-type strain.This study revealed that the CovS plays a vital role in the establishment of SEZ virulence.

Identification and Characterization of Putative Virulent Genes in Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus

Suppression subtractive hybridization （SSH） was performed with virulent strain ATCC35246 and avirulent strain ST171 to identify novel genes associated with virulence in Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus （SEZ）. There were fourteen genomic regions that only presented in virulent strain ATCC35246. These regions encoded 14 proteins, some of them were homologous to proteins associated with cellular surface structure, molecular synthesis, energy metabolism, regulation, transport systems, and other unknown functions. Primers for 6 particular regions were designed from the already published SEZ sequence. Then, we used PCR to evaluate the distribution and conservation of these 6 DNA fragments in various SEZ strains collected from different sources, regions, groups, and times. The results showed that these 6 DNA fragments were widely distributed in SEZ strains, yet they were not existence in the avirulent strain ST171. Moreover, these fragments could not be detected in other Streptococcus groups.

Purification and Structure Identification of Hyaluronic Acid

Polysaccharide produced by mutated strain of Streptococcus zooepidemicus was purified by the procedures including Savage method, quaternary ammonium compound precipitation, DEAE-cellulose(DE52) chromatography and Sephadex G-75 gel filtration. The structure of the purified polysaccharide has been characterized by means of chemical composition analysis,13C NMR spectrum, infrared spectrum and circular dichroism (CD). All the results showed that the purified polysaccharide was hyaluronic acid (HA). The single helix conformation of the purified HA was determined by Congo red experiment. The molecular weight of the HA was about 1.16×106D, which was measured by viscosity method.

Statistical modeling and optimization for enhanced hyaluronic acid production by batch culture of Sreptococcus zooepidemicus via the supplement of uracil

This work is aimed to achieve the optimal hyaluronic acid(HA)production by batch culture of Streptococcus zooepidemicus via the supplement of nucleotide bases using response surface methodology(RSM).First,the influence of nucleotide bases(adenine,guanine,cytosine,thymine,and uracil)on microbial HA production was investigated using fractional factorial design(FFD).By a 2^(5-2)FFD,uracil was found to be the most significant factor for cell growth and HA production,while the other nucleotide bases were shown to have no significant effects on cell growth and HA production.Also,the impact of uracil on cell growth and HA production was further investigated by RSM,where two variables were considered:uracil concentration and supplement time.The optimal uracil concentration and supplement time were found to be 0.051 g/L and 7 h,respectively,and the predicted maximal HA production reached 6.42 g/L.The maximal HA production increased from 5.0 g/L of the control without uracil supplement to 6.31 g/L at the optimal conditions in validation experiments.