Pressure effects on the chimeric 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenases of the deep-sea piezophilic Shewanella benthica and the atmospheric pressure-adapted Shewanella oneidensis

Abstract

The chimeric 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase enzymes were constructed from the deep-sea piezophilic Shewanella benthica and the shallow water Shewanella oneidensis genes. The properties of the enzymatic activities under pressure conditions indicated that the central region, which contained the active center and the dimer forming domains, was shown to be the most important region for pressure tolerance in the deep-sea enzyme.

Key words:

• chimeric enzyme
• high pressure
• isopropylmalate dehydrogenase
• piezophilic bacteria
• Shewanella

Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. H. K. Kuramitsu for assistance in editing the manuscript. This work was partially supported by Grant-in-aid for Exploratory Research (25450121) and the Strategic Research Foundation Grant-aided Project for Private Universities (S1201003) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan.