Participation of an extracellular deaminase in amino acid utilization by Neurospora crassa

A strain of Neurospora crassa defective in amino acid transport can utilize a variety of amino acids for growth when readily metabolizable nitrogen is limiting. Growth is accompanied by the production of an extracellular deaminase that converts the amino acid to its respective keto acid plus equimolar quantities of utilizable nitrogen in the ammonium ion form. Production of the deaminase is subject to ammonium repression. The relationship between the ability of an amino acid to trigger deaminase production and the presence of particular amino acid permease deficiencies is complex. Four classes of amino acids have been defined with respect to this relationship. The existence of multiple extracellular deaminases is discussed.

Control of the formation of extracellular ribonuclease in Neurospora crassa

A finding was made that a species of ribonuclease is released into mycelial culture media when a wild-type strain of Neurospora crassa was grown on limiting amounts of phosphate. The ribonuclease activity in the fully derepressed state extends to about 60 to 100 fold of that in the repressed state. The synthesis of the ribonuclease was inhibited by the addition of rifampicin, cycloheximide or orthophosphate. Three molecular species of the ribonuclease were found. Two enzyme fractions showing larger molecular weights were suspected to be aggregates containing the enzyme showing the smallest molecular weight (molecular weight of 10 300). All three fractions showed pH optima of around 7, preferential hydrolysis of polyguanylic acid and poor hydrolysis of guanosine 2',3',-cyclic monophosphate. These characteristics were the same as those of ribonuclease N1, and it was suggested that ribonuclease N1 is a repressible extracellular enzyme. Mutations in the genes nuc-1 and nuc-2 caused loss of ability to derepress this enzyme, but heterokaryon between them partially restored the ability. The nuc-1 mutation was epistatic to the nuc-2 alleles which are partly constitutive in the ribonuclease production.

Enzyme activities during the asexual cycle of Neurospora crassa. 3. Nicotinamide adenosine diphosphate glycohydrolase

The level and specific activity of nicotinamide adenosine diphosphate glycohydrolase (NADase) were followed throughout the asexual cycle in Neurospora crassa. A large quantity of NADase associated with the conidia was water soluble. NADase activity rapidly disappeared from the growth medium during conidial germination and from early logarithmic mycelial growth. As the mycelia aged, the enzyme accumulated in the growth medium and in the aging aconidial conidiophores, regardless of their inability to produce conidia. Since the enzyme was synthesized as the culture aged, it appears that the conidiophores age quickly with respect to their production of NADase. Conidia produced from conidiophores of the wild-type culture contained about the same quantity of NADase as the inoculum conidia. The accumulation of NADase in the conidia of wild-type Neurospora is due to the normal differentiation of these conidia in the absence of a liquid environment. The enzyme becomes locked into the conidia being differentiated from conidiophores that contain large amounts of the NADase activity.

Thymine 7-hydroxylase from Neurospora crassa. Substrate specificity studies

A partially purified preparation of thymine 7-hydroxylase (thymine, 2-oxoglutarate : oxygen oxidoreductase (7-hydroxylating), EC 1.14.11.6) from Neurospora crassa was incubated with a number of pyrimidines chemically related to tyymine. 1. Pyrimidines with oxygen or sulfur substituents on atoms Nos. 2 and 4 as well as an alkyl group on atom Nos. 1 or 5 were substrates. 2. Km values were determined for 1-methyluracil, 1-ethyluracil, thymine, 6-azathymine, 1-methylthymine, 1-ethylthymine, 5-formyluracil and 5-hydroxymethyluracil. 3. Uracil was identified as one of the metabolites after incubation with 1-methyluracil. The one-carbon metabolite has not been characterized. 4. Several pyrimidines with polar groups on atoms Nos. 2 and 4 were inhibitory. 5. Addition of 1-methyluracil, 1-methylthymine, 1-ethylthymine or 5-hydroxymethyluracil to incubations with thymine and 2-oxo[1-14C1]glutarate did not result in additional formation of 14CO2, indicating that the same enzyme acts on the different compounds. It has previously been found (Bankel, L., Holme, E., Lindstedt, G. and Lindstedt, S. (1972) FEBS Lett. 21, 135-138) that a mutant strain of N. crassa which is devoid of thymine 7-hydroxylase activity also lacks ability to perform the coupled oxygenation of 2-oxoglutarate and 1-methyluracil, 5-hydroxymethyluracil and 5-formyluracil, respectively. It is concluded that one and the same oxygenase is responsible for the activities studied.

Regulation of amino acid synthetic enzymes in Neurospora crassa in the presence of high concentrations of amino acids

Ornithine carbamoyl transferase and leucine aminotransferase of Neurospora crassa represent two of many amino acid synthetic enzymes which are regulated through cross-pathway (or general) amino acid control. In the wild-type strain both enzymes display derepressed activities if the growth medium is supplemented with high (mM range) concentrations of L-amino acids derived from branched pathways, i.e. the aspartate, pyruvate, glycerophosphate and aromatic families of amino acids. A cpc-1 mutant strain, impaired in cross-pathway regulation i.e. lacking the ability to derepress, shows delayed growth under such conditions. In the presence of glycine, homoserine and isoleucine various cpc-1 isolates do not grow at all. Derepression of the wild-type enzymes and the retarded growth of the mutant strain can be reversed if certain amino acids are present in the medium in addition to the inhibitory amino acids.

Genetic and biochemical studies of the hexose monophosphate shunt in Neurospora crassa. II. Characterization of biochemical defects of the morphological mutants colonial 2 and colonial 3

The two dehydrogenases of the hexose monophosphate shunt, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconic acid dehydrogenase, were examined in two morphology mutants of Neurospora crassa. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase extracted from the mutant colonial-2 was found in an altered form as compared to the wild-type enzyme. The second enzyme of the pathway was observed to be abnormal in the mutant colonial-3. In addition, 6-phosphogluconic acid dehydrogenase was found to exhibit non-classical kinetics. The data indicate that the altered morphology exhibited by both colonial-2 and colonial-3 is due to the suboptimal capacity of the hexose monophosphate shunt to function normally. This physiological impairment of the pathway is reflected in a lowered cellular steady-state level of NADP.

Purification and characterization of histidyl-transfer RNA synthetase from Neurospora crassa

Histidyl-tRNA synthetase (L-histidine:tRNAHis ligase (AMP-forming), EC 6.1.1.21) has been purified 921-fold from crude extracts of lyophilized mycelia of Neurospora crassa. Sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis at pH 8.9 of the purified enzyme yields one band with an apparent Mr of 62 500. The estimated Mr by Sephadex gel filtration is 125 000. Thus the native histidyl-tRNA synthetase of N. crassa is a dimer, composed of two identical subunits. The Km values determined in the enzyme-catalyzed esterification of [14C]-histidine to tRNAHis are: for histidine, 5.8 x 10(-6 M, for ATP, 5.9 x 10(-4) M, and for tRNAHis, 1.2 x 10(-7) M. Effects of various intermediates of the histidine, tryptophan and arginine biosynthetic pathways on histidyl-tRNA synthetase activity were studied. The Ki values for imidazoleglycerol phosphate and histidinol (histidine intermediates and competitive inhibitors of the enzyme) are 1.1 x 10(-2) M, 1.3 x 10(-6) M, respectively. The Ki for indoleglycerol phosphate (a tryptophan intermediate and non-competitive inhibitor) is 1.2 x 10(-3) M.

End-product regulation of the tryptophan-nicotinic acid pathway in Neurospora crassa

The regulation of the tryptophan-nicotinic acid pathway in Neurospora crassa was examined with mutants (nic-2, nic-3) which require nicotinamide for growth. The accumulation of N-acetylkynurenin and 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid by these mutants served to estimate the level of function of the early reactions in the pathway. In still cultures, maximal accumulation occurred with media containing growth-limiting amounts of nicotinamide; the accumulation of intermediates was almost negligible with nicotinamide in excess. Only nicotinamide and closely related compounds which also supported the growth of these mutants inhibited the accumulation of intermediates. The site of inhibition was assessed to be between tryptophan and kynurenin (or N-acetylkynurenin). The synthesis of N-acetylkynurenin was examined in washed germinated conidia suspended in buffer; the level of N-acetylkynurenin-synthesizing activity was inversely related to the concentration of nicotinamide in the germination medium. The addition of large amounts of nicotinamide to suspensions of germinated conidia did not affect their N-acetylkynurenin-synthesizing activity. Formamidase activity, kynurenin-acetylating activity, and gross tryptophan metabolism in germinated conidia was not influenced by the concentration of nicotinamide in the germination medium. The results obtained indicate that the site of inhibition by nicotinamide is the first step in the pathway, the tryptophan pyrrolase reaction. The data are interpreted as nicotinamide or a product thereof, such as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, acting as a repressor of the formation of tryptophan pyrrolase in N. crassa.

Gene-enzyme relationships in Neurospora invertase

A spontaneous, single-gene mutation responsible for a total lack of invertase activity in Neurospora crassa is described. The mutation is believed to lie in the structural gene for invertase, since an immunologically cross-reacting protein is made by the mutant strain. In addition, there was no evidence for a defect in regulation of invertase activity or synthesis by the following criteria. (i) The invertaseless condition was recessive in heterokaryons; (ii) no invertase inhibitor was found in mutant extracts by mixing experiments; and (iii) none of the several sugars able to induce activity in wild-type strains was able to induce activity in the mutant strain. It was also discovered that most of the wild-type enzyme (55 to 75%) cannot be washed free from the rapidly sedimenting cell debris. This finding provided additional support for the hypothesis that Neurospora invertase is located within or about the cell wall.

Purification and characterization of epsilon-N-trimethyllysine L-amino oxidase from Neurospora crassa

epsilon-N-Trimethyllysine L-amino oxidase from Neurospora crassa has been purified to electrophoretic homogeneity. A 1500-fold purification was obtained by centrifugation and successive column chromatography on ion-exchange and gel filtration supports. The enzyme has an estimated molecular weight of 160 000. It transforms epsilon-N-trimethyllysine into alpha-keto, epsilon-N-trimethylhexanoic acid by oxidative deamination. Kinetic studies of this new enzyme are reported and its probable physiological role is discussed.

Characterization of Neurospora crassa catabolic dehydroquinase purified from N. crassa and Escherichia coli

1. Neurospora crassa catabolic dehydroquinase has been purified from N. crassa and Escherichia coli. 2. Protein-sequence and gel-electrophoretic data show that apparently pure, homogeneous native dehydroquinase is a mixture of intact and proteinase-cleaved enzyme monomers. 3. Protein-sequence data and steady-state kinetics show that the catabolic dehydroquinase gene of N. crassa is expressed with fidelity in E. coli.

Isolation, mapping, and characterization of trehalaseless mutants of Neurospora crassa

Mutant strains of Neurospora crassa that lack trehalase and are unable to grow on trehalose were isolated, and the gene (tre) was positioned on the right arm of linkage group I. Maltase and beta-galactosidase activities are almost identical in tre(-) strains, whereas that of invertase was reduced by more than half and those of acid phosphatase and amylase were somewhat increased. Heterocaryons between standard and trehalaseless strains yield less than one-tenth the activity of the former. In addition, strains with duplications heterozygous for trehalase produce less than 1% of the activity of the standard strain. An inhibitor of trehalase has been found in tre(-) strains; its sensitivity to heat and proteolysis, and its nondialyzability suggest that this substance is a protein. The mig gene, which determines the rate of migration of trehalase on acrylamide gels, has been shown to be less than 1 map unit away from the tre gene.

The role of carbohydrate in the glycoenzyme invertase of Neurospora crassa

Data obtained concerning the carbohydrate moieties of the glycoenzyme invertase (EC 3.2.1.26, beta-D-fructofuranoside fructohydrolase) from Neurospora crassa were consistent with a linkage of some carbohydrate chains by O-glycosidic bonds to serine and threonine residues; the possibility of N-glycosylamine linkage of some of the carbohydrate to the amide group of asparagine is also indicated. The invertase was remarkably stable on storage at low temperatures. Oxidation of the carbohydrate residues in the enzyme by sodium periodate markedly affected the heat-stability of the enzyme. It is suggested that the carbohydrate moieties function as stabilizers of the tertiary structure of the glycoenzyme.

Purification and properties of DNA-dependent DNA-polymerases from Neurospora crassa

Two DNA-dependent DNA-polymerases (E.C. 2.7.7.7) are partially purified from the high speed supernatant of mechanically disrupted hyphae of Neurospora crassa WT 74A. Some properties such as temperature and pH optimum and theoptimal concentrations for Mg2+, Zn2+, NH4+ and Na+ are very similar. On the other hand these enzymes show different properties on ion-exchange columns, are well distinguished by molecular weight (147 000 d and 110 000 d for A and B resp.) and the stimulation by K+ differs (K+ optimum for A: 5-70 mM and for B: 45 mM). Mn2+ and Zn2+ inhibit incorporation of deoxyribonucleoside monophosphates between 70 and 90%. Our best preparations so far have specific activities of 13 200 units/mg protein for A and 12 000 units/mg protein for B.