L-Malic acid has many uses in food, beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical and medical industries. It can be produced by one-step fermentation, enzymatic transformation of fumaric acid to l-malate and acid hydrolysis of polymalic acid. However, the process for one-step fermentation is preferred as it has many advantages over any other process. The pathways of l-malic acid biosynthesis in microorganisms are partially clear and three metabolic pathways including non-oxidative pathway, oxidative pathway and glyoxylate cycle for the production of l-malic acid from glucose have been identified. Usually, high levels of l-malate are produced under the nitrogen starvation conditions, l-malate, as a calcium salt, is secreted from microbial cells and CaCO3 can play an important role in calcium malate biosynthesis and regulation. However, it is still unclear how it is secreted into the medium. To enhance l-malate biosynthesis and secretion by microbial cells, it is very important to study the mechanisms of l-malic acid biosynthesis and secretion at enzymatic and molecular levels.

Killer toxins secreted by some yeast strains are the proteins that kill sensitive cells of the same or related yeast genera. In recent years, many new yeast species have been found to be able to produce killer toxins against the pathogenic yeasts, especially Candida albicans. Some of the killer toxins have been purified and characterized, and the genes encoding the killer toxins have been cloned and characterized. Many new targets including different components of cell wall, plasma membrane, tRNA, DNA and others in the sensitive cells for the killer toxin action have been identified so that the new molecular mechanisms of action have been elucidated. However, it is still unknown how some of the newly discovered killer toxins kill the sensitive cells. Studies on the killer phenomenon in yeasts have provided valuable insights into a number of fundamental aspects of eukaryotic cell biology and interactions of different eukaryotic cells. Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of their action will be helpful to develop the strategies to fight more and more harmful yeasts.

The genus Aureobasidium spp. have been divided into three species, A. pullulans. A. leucospermi and A. proteae, and A. pullulans has been known to have five varieties. However, after analysis of many strains of this yeast isolated from different environments, they do not belong to any of the three species or the five varieties. Although pullulan produced by A. pullulans has been widely used in different fields in industry and different strains of this yeast has been known to produce poly(β-L-malic acid) (PMA), heavy oils and β-1,3-glucan, it is still unknown how the black yeast synthesizes and secretes the extracellular polymers at molecular level. In this review article, new biosynthetic pathways of pullulan, PMA and heavy oils, the enzymes and their genes related to their biosynthesis and regulation are proposed. Furthermore, some enzymes and their genes related to pullulan biosynthesis in A. pullulans have been characterized. But it is completely unknown how pullulan is secreted and how PMA, heavy oils and β-1,3-glucan are synthesized and secreted. Therefore, there is much work to be done about taxonomy and biosynthesis, secretion and regulation of pullulan, PMA, heavy oils and β-1,3-glucan at molecular levels in Aureobasidium spp.

RNase II, a 3′ to 5′ processive exoribonuclease, is the major hydrolytic enzyme in Escherichia coli accounting for ∼90% of the total activity. Despite its importance, little is actually known about regulation of this enzyme. We show here that one residue, Lys501, is acetylated in RNase II. This modification, reversibly controlled by the acetyltransferase Pka, and the deacetylase CobB, affects binding of the substrate and thus decreases the catalytic activity of RNase II. As a consequence, the steady-state level of target RNAs of RNase II may be altered in the cells. We also find that under conditions of slowed growth, the acetylation level of RNase II is elevated and the activity of RNase II decreases, emphasizing the importance of this regulatory process. These findings indicate that acetylation can regulate the activity of a bacterial ribonuclease.

Lysine acetylation is a major post-translational modification that plays an important regulatory role in almost every aspects in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, a Gram-positive bacterium, is very effective for the control of plant pathogens. However, very little is known about the function of lysine acetylation in this organism. Here, we conducted the first lysine acetylome in B. amyloliquefaciens through a combination of highly sensitive immune-affinity purification and high-resolution LC−MS/MS. Overall, we identified 3268 lysine acetylation sites in 1254 proteins, which account for 32.9% of the total proteins in this bacterium. Till date, this is the highest ratio of acetylated proteins that have been identified in bacteria. Acetylated proteins are associated with a variety of biological processes and a large fraction of these proteins are involved in metabolism. Interestingly, for the first time, we found that about 71.1% (27/38) and 78.6% (22/28) of all the proteins tightly related to the synthesis of three types of pepketides and five families of lipopeptides were acetylated, respectively. These findings suggest that lysine acetylation plays a critical role in the regulation of antibiotics biosynthesis. These data serves as an important resource for further elucidation of the physiological role of lysine acetylation in B. amyloliquefaciens.