To further explore the underlying mechanism of the selectivity, we explored the intermediates in this indole biodegradation pathway using liquid chromatography electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS), which indicated that the indole biodegradation pathway in Providencia rettgeri is the catechol pathway. The heterologous expression of the indole degradation gene cluster in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and in vitro enzymatic reaction demonstrated that the indole biodegradation gene cluster may contribute to selectively biosynthesizing Tyrian purple. An indole degradation gene cluster for indole metabolism was identified from this GS-2 strain. This GS-2 strain was then identified as Providencia rettgeri based on bacterial genome sequencing analysis. In this study, we found Tyrian purple can be selectively produced by a bacterial strain GS-2 when fed with 6-bromotryptophan in the presence of tryptophan. Tyrian purple, mainly composed of 6, 6′-dibromoindigo, is a precious dye extracted from sea snails. 4Center for Synthetic Biochemistry, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.3CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China. 2Shenzhen Key Laboratory for the Intelligent Microbial Manufacturing of Medicines, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.1School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China.These dye kits are available in limited quantities or on demand since the dye production is painstakingly slow and as I said I am just processing what little amounts of snails I use for my own family consumption.Feifei Li 1,2,3,4, Huaxiang Deng 2,3,4, Biming Zhong 2,3,4, Banlai Ruan 2,3,4, Xixi Zhao 2,3,4* and Xiaozhou Luo 1,2,3,4* If preserved properly, murex dyes and pigments remain vibrant and shiny for centuries and even intensify with time as the dyed stuff keeps interacting with the elements (precisely sun light). Small samples of dyed silk and wool (10 different hues in total) A capsule of nearly pure purple pigment that was in ancient times worth several times its weight in gold (for instance up to 100 pounds of fresh snails are needed to produce less than 1g of more or less pure pigment)Ĥ. Some dried glands (the organ that actually yields the dye precursor inside the snail)ģ. A set of 3 murex shells the kinds historically used to produce the dye namely (from right to left in the attached photo) Purpura haemastoma, Hexaplex trunculus and Bolinus brandaris.Ģ. After years of experiments and research and at the demand of many of my friends around the world, I thought of putting together the main ingredients of this legendary dye in small elegant mini kits that would be ideal for workshops, lectures or presentations so that other people in other parts of the world can see and smell what these dyes looked like centuries ago!Įach of these mini wooden kits comes complete with:ġ.
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