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Murphy, Cormac D.
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Murphy, Cormac D.
Official Name
Murphy, Cormac D.
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Now showing 1 - 10 of 40
- PublicationCharacterisitics of Streptomyces griseus biofilms in continuous flow tubular reactorsThe purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of cultivating the biotechnologically important bacterium Streptomyces griseus in single-species and mixed- species biofilms using a Tubular Biofilm Reactor (TBR). Streptomyces griseus biofilm development was found to be cyclical, starting with the initial adhesion and subsequent development of a visible biofilm after 24 hours growth, followed by the complete detachment of the biofilm as a single mass, and ending with the re-colonization of the tube. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that the filamentous structure of the biofilm was lost upon treatment with protease, but not DNase or metaperiodate, indicating that the extracellular polymeric substance is predominantly protein. When the biofilm was cultivated in conjunction with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, no detachment was observed after 96 h, although once subjected to flow detachment occurred. Electron microscopy confirmed the presence of both bacteria in the biofilm and revealed a network of fimbriae-like structures that were much less apparent in single-species biofilm, and are likely to increase mechanical stability when developing in a TBR. This study presents the very first attempt in engineering Streptomyces griseus biofilms for continuous bioprocess applications.
880Scopus© Citations 15 - PublicationProduction of the Novel Lipopeptide Antibiotic Trifluorosurfactin via Precursor-Directed BiosynthesisIncorporation of fluorine into antibiotics can moderate their biological activity, lipophilicity and metabolic stability. The introduction of fluorine into an antimicrobial lipopeptide produced by Bacillus sp. CS93 via precursor-directed biosynthesis is described. The lipopeptide surfactin is synthesised non-ribosomally by various Bacillus species and is known for its biological activity. Administering 4,4,4-trifluoro-dl-valine to cultures of Bacillus sp. CS93 results in the formation of trifluorosurfactin in quantities sufficient for detection by LC–MS/MS. 19F NMR analysis of the culture supernatant revealed that the bulk of the fluorinated amino acid was transformed and thus was unavailable for incorporation into surfactin. Detection of ammonia, and MS analysis indicated that the transformation proceeds with deamination and reduction of the keto acid, yielding 4,4,4-trifluoro-2-hydroxy-3-methylbutanoic acid.
524Scopus© Citations 5 - PublicationBiocatalytic stereoinversion of D-para-bromophenylalanine in a one-pot three-enzyme reaction(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016-10-07)
; ; ; Halogenated derivatives of phenylalanine can be used as cross-coupling reagents for making drug-like molecules, and pure enantiomers of these precursors are therefore highly desirable. In our exploration of enzymatic routes to simplify the deracemisation process, the application of two enzymes, D-amino acid transaminase and phenylalanine dehydrogenase, both from Lysinibacillus sphaericus, has given promising results for the stereo-inversion of D-enantiomers of para-bromophenylalanine as the model substrate and also p-chloro/fluorophenylalanine and tyrosine. The addition of a coenzyme recycling system using ethanol and alcohol dehydrogenase reduced the amount of coenzyme needed for the reaction catalysed by phenylalanine dehydrogenase, reducing cost and permitting efficient and complete conversion of the racemic amino acids to the L-enantiomer. Relative proportions of the enzymes were optimized. The high purity of the L-enantiomer, with an ee over 99%, and the ease of the process make it an ideal alternative for deracemisation of the studied compounds.146Scopus© Citations 14 - PublicationThe synthesis and biological testing of bacilysin analoguesA series of compounds based on the structure of bacilysin were synthesised and tested for antibacterial activity. The key steps in the syntheses are the coupling of an iodide to a diketopiperazine (DKP) and mono-lactim ether scaffold, respectively. The diastereoselectivity of the coupling reactions was dependant on the scaffold, with selectivity for DKP of about 4:1 and mono-lactim ether exceeding 98:2. Subsequent elaboration of the compounds to give open chain dipeptides and DKPs that mimic the structure of bacilysin but substitute the epoxy ketone for a saturated or unsaturated ketone is described. Overall yield from coupling to final product was between 5 and 21 %, with the yield of the saturated products notably higher. The open chain dipeptides demonstrated moderate antibacterial and antifungal activity.
260Scopus© Citations 3 - PublicationA convenient chemical-microbial method for developing fluorinated pharmaceuticals(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013)
; ; ; ; ; A significant proportion of pharmaceuticals are fluorinated and selecting the site of fluorine incorporation can be an important beneficial part a drug development process. Here we describe initial experiments aimed at the development of a general method of selecting optimum sites on pro - drug molecules for fluorination, so that metabolic stability may be improved. Several model biphenyl derivatives were transformed by the fungus Cunninghamella elegans and the bacterium Streptomyces griseus, both of which contain cytochromes P450 that mimic oxidation processes in vivo, so that the site of oxidation could be determined. Subsequently, fluorinated biphenyl derivatives were synthesised using appropriate Suzuki - Miyaura coupling reactions, positioning the fluorine atom at the pre - determined site of microbial oxidation; the fluorinated biphenyl derivatives were incubated with the microorganisms and the degree of oxidation assessed. Biphenyl-4-carboxylic acid was transformed completely to 4' - hydroxybiphenyl - 4 - carboxylic acid by C. elegans but, in contrast, the 4' fluoro - analogue remained untransformed exemplifying the microbial oxidation – chemical fluorination concept. 2' - Fluoro-and 3' - fluoro - biphenyl - 4 - carboxylic acid were also transformed, but more slowly than the non - fluorinated biphenyl carboxylic acid derivative. Thus, it is possible to design compounds in an iterative fashion with a longer metabolic half - life by identifying the sites that are most easily oxidised by in vitro methods and subsequent fluorination without recourse to extensive animal studies.361Scopus© Citations 36 - PublicationAlternative mild route to the synthesis of 4-methylenecyclohex-2-enone, a key moiety of the anticancer compounds ottelione A and B(Taylor & Francis, 2012-02-27)
; ; ; Rare 4-methylenecyclohex-2-enone is prepared from a Diels-Alder methanesulfonate adduct and sodium iodide in acetone in up to 70% yield under mild conditions. This procedure is envisaged to be relevant to the synthesis of 4-methylenecyclo hex-2-enone analogues, structurally similar to the key functionality of cytotoxic otteliones and with potentially significant bioactivity.468Scopus© Citations 3 - PublicationBiodegradation of polyfluorinated biphenyl in bacteriaFluorinated aromatic compounds are significant environmental pollutants, and microorganisms play important roles in their biodegradation. The effect of fluorine substitution on the transformation of fluorobiphenyl in two bacteria was investigated. Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes KF707 and Burkholderia xenovorans LB400 used 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobiphenyl and 4,4′-difluorobiphenyl as sole sources of carbon and energy. The catabolism of the fluorinated compounds was examined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and fluorine-19 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (19F NMR), and revealed that the bacteria employed the upper pathway of biphenyl catabolism to degrade these xenobiotics. The novel fluorometabolites 3-pentafluorophenyl-cyclohexa-3,5-diene-1,2-diol and 3-pentafluorophenyl-benzene-1,2-diol were detected in the supernatants of biphenyl-grown resting cells incubated with 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobiphenyl, most likely as a consequence of the actions of BphA and BphB. 4-Fluorobenzoate was detected in cultures incubated with 4,4′-difluorobiphenyl and 19F NMR analysis of the supernatant from P. pseudoalcaligenes KF707 revealed the presence of additional water-soluble fluorometabolites.
654Scopus© Citations 17 - PublicationDevelopment of a bacterial propionate-biosensor for anaerobic digestion monitoringMonitoring anaerobic digestion (AD) leachate for changes in acetate and propionate concentrations is essential for effective AD operation. In this paper the development of a novel propionate cell-based biosensor is described. A previously designed E. coli mutant (IMD Wldgy) that could selectively determine acetate concentrations in synthetic leachates, based on oxygen uptake measurements, was used as a starting point in the development of a propionate biosensor. However, the propionate-grown IMD Wldgy cells exhibited extremely low propionate:acetate O2 consumption ratios (1:2.4). Screening for alternative propionate-grown E. coli strains naturally possessing a more favourable propionate:acetate O2 consumption ratio identified strain IMD 1, which exhibited a positive ratio (1.6:1). To improve the selectivity of the strain, successive gene knockouts were performed generating the IMD 1 hldgyep mutant. However, propionate-grown IMD 1hdlgyep's O2 consumption ratio was deemed too low to be considered as a propionate detecting bio-element. It was reasoned that the mechanisms by which E. coli activates acetate had to be removed. Deleting acs (acetyl-CoA synthesase) and ackA (acetate kinase) from IMD Wldgyep, resulted in an E. coli IMD Wldgyepak knockout mutant that, when grown on propionate, produced a mean propionate:acetate O2 consumption ratio of approx. 13:1. The resulting IMD Wldgyep and IMD Wldgyepak strains, which formed the acetate- and propionate-biosensor, respectively, were capable of detecting acetate and propionate concentrations ranging from 0.05 mM to 4.5 mM within two-phase AD synthetic leachates.
262Scopus© Citations 7 - PublicationExploiting the genome sequence of Streptomyces nodosus for enhanced antibiotic productionThe genome of the amphotericin producer Streptomyces nodosus was sequenced. A single scaffold of 7,714,110 bp was obtained. Biosynthetic genes were identified for several natural products including polyketides, peptides, siderophores and terpenes. The majority of these clusters specified known compounds. Most were silent or expressed at low levels and unlikely to compete with amphotericin production. Biosynthesis of a skyllamycin analogue was activated by introducing expression plasmids containing either a gene for a LuxR transcriptional regulator or genes for synthesis of the acyl moiety of the lipopeptide. In an attempt to boost amphotericin production, genes for acyl CoA carboxylases, a phosphopantetheinyl transferase and the AmphRIV transcriptional activator were overexpressed, and the effects on yields were investigated. This study provides the groundwork for metabolic engineering of S. nodosus strains to produce high yields of amphotericin analogues.
499Scopus© Citations 20 - PublicationBacterial production of hydroxylated and amidated metabolites of flurbiprofenSeveral Streptomyces and Bacillus strains were examined for their ability to transform the anti-inflammatory drug flurbiprofen 1 to the hydroxylated metabolites that are found in humans after ingestion of this compound. Of the seven Streptomyces spp. examined, all but one transformed flurbiprofen to the main mammalian metabolite 4′-hydroxyflurbiprofen 2, and the majority also produced 3′,4′-dihydroxyflurbiprofen 3. Three strains, Streptomyces griseus DSM40236 and ATCC13273, and Streptomyces subrutilis DSM40445, also elaborated 3′-methoxy, 4′-hydroxy-flurbiprofen 4. None of the Bacillus spp. examined yielded these metabolites. Examination of the extracted supernatants of Streptomyces lavenduligriseus and Streptomyces rimosus by fluorine-19 nuclear magnetic resonance (19F NMR), indicated new resonances and these new fluorometabolites were purified by HPLC and revealed to be flurbiprofenamide 5 and 7-hydroxyflurbiprofenamide 6 after MS and NMR analyses. Subsequent re-examination of the culture supernatants from Bacillus subtilis IM7, Bacillus megaterium NCIMB8291 and B. megaterium ATTC14581 showed that these strains also produced 5 and 6. Resting cell investigations suggested that the amidation reaction employed nitrogen from an as yet unidentified amino acid.
516Scopus© Citations 15