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Cyanophycin‐degrading bacteria in digestive tracts of mammals, birds and fish and consequences for possible applications of cyanophycin and its dipeptides in nutrition and therapy
Author(s) -
Sallam A.,
Steinbüchel A.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2009.04221.x
Subject(s) - biology , bacteria , microbiology and biotechnology , caecum , gut flora , biochemistry , 16s ribosomal rna , segmented filamentous bacteria , medicine , sewage treatment , genetics , activated sludge , engineering , waste management
Aims: To determine the susceptibility of cyanophycin granule polypeptide (CGP) to degradation by several mammalian, avian and fish gut flora. Methods and Results: Samples of gut flora were investigated for the occurrence of bacteria capable of CGP degradation. With all samples, a complete anaerobic degradation of CGP was achieved over incubation periods of only 12–48 h at 37°C. CGP‐degrading bacteria were detected in all samples, and they occurred in particular high titres in caecum flora from rabbit and sheep and in the digestive tract of carp fish. A total of 62 axenic cultures were isolated. All degraded CGP aerobically, 46 of them degraded CGP also anaerobically over incubation periods ranging from 24 h to 7 days. HPLC analysis revealed that all isolates degraded CGP to its constituting dipeptides. Eight strains were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and were affiliated to the genera Bacillus , Brevibacillus , Pseudomonas , Streptomyces and Micromonospora . Conclusions: These data demonstrate for the first time the occurrence of a natural niche for CGP in the digestive tracts of animals. Significance and Impact of the Study: The biodegradability of CGP by gut flora provides a first confirmation for the potential applications of CGP and its dipeptides in nutrition and therapy as highly bio‐available sources for arginine, lysine, aspartate and possibly also other amino acids.