The groES and groEL heat shock gene products of Escherichia coli are essential for bacterial growth at all temperatures

SecB protein: a cytosolic export factor that associates with nascent exported proteins

Soluble factors participate in protein translocation across a variety of biological membranes. The Escherichia coli soluble protein SecB (the product of the secB gene) is involved in the export of periplasmic and outer membrane proteins. The isolation of secB mutations permitted the demonstration that SecB is required for rapid and efficient export of certain proteins. Consistent with the results of these genetic studies, purified SecB has been shown to stimulate protein translocation across E. coli inner membrane vesicles in vitro. This article presents a review of these past studies of SecB, speculation on the role of SecB in protein translocation, and a comparison of SecB and other factors, trigger factor and GroEL.

A new Escherichia coli heat shock gene, htrC, whose product is essential for viability only at high temperatures

We identified and characterized a new Escherichia coli gene, htrC. Inactivation of the htrC gene results in the inability to form colonies at 42 degrees C. An identical bacterial phenotype is found whether the htrC gene is inactivated either by Tn5 insertions or by a deletion spanning the entire gene. The htrC gene has been localized at 90 min, immediately downstream of the rpoC gene, and has been previously sequenced. It codes for a basic polypeptide with an Mr of 21,130. The htrC gene is under heat shock regulation, since it is transcribed actively only in bacteria possessing functional sigma 32. Inactivation of htrC results in (i) bacterial filamentation at intermediate temperatures, (ii) cell lysis at temperatures above 42 degrees C, (iii) overproduction of sigma 32-dependent heat shock proteins at all temperatures, (iv) overproduction of a few additional polypeptides, (v) underproduction of many polypeptides, and (vi) an overall defect in cellular proteolysis as judged by the reduced rate of puromycyl polypeptide degradation. In addition, the presence of an htrC mutation eliminates the UV sensitivity normally exhibited by lon mutant bacteria.

Induction of Salmonella stress proteins upon infection of macrophages

Regulated expression of bacterial genes allows a pathogen to adapt to new environmental conditions within the host. The synthesis of over 30 Salmonella proteins is selectively induced during infection of macrophages. Two proteins induced by Salmonella are the heat shock proteins GroEL and DnaK. Two avirulent, macrophage-sensitive mutants of Salmonella synthesize GroEL and DnaK but fail to synthesize different subsets of proteins normally induced within the macrophage. Enhanced expression of selected Salmonella proteins contributes to bacterial survival within macrophages and may also contribute to the apparent immunodominance of heat shock proteins.

Escherichia coli cells resistant to the DNA gyrase inhibitor, ciprofloxacin, overproduce a 60 kD protein homologous to GroEL

Using a variety of mutagenic methods, we have generated a series of ciprofloxacin-resistant mutants derived from Escherichia coli strains which overproduce the DNA gyrase A protein. Many of these mutants are found to overexpress a 60 kD protein which is shown to be highly homologous in terms of N-terminal amino acid sequence to the E. coli heat-shock protein, GroEL. Other evidence confirms that the 60 kD protein is unrelated to DNA gyrase and is similar, but not identical, to GroEL.

Phage shock protein, a stress protein of Escherichia coli

Filamentous phage infection induces the synthesis of large amounts of an Escherichia coli protein, phage shock protein (Psp), the product of a previously undescribed gene. This induction is due to the phage gene IV protein, pIV, an integral membrane protein. The uninduced level of Psp is undetectable, but when induced by prolonged synthesis of pIV, it can become one of the most abundant proteins in the cell. Psp is also synthesized transiently in response to several stresses (heat, ethanol, and osmotic shock). High-level synthesis occurs only after extreme treatment. Unlike the members of the heat shock regulon, Psp induction does not require the heat shock sigma factor, sigma 32; some stimuli that elicit sigma 32-dependent heat shock proteins do not induce Psp synthesis. The level of Psp induction after extreme stress is even higher in sigma 32 mutant cells, which are unable to mount a normal heat shock response, suggesting that these parallel stress responses are interrelated.

Mutational analysis of the phage T4 morphogenetic 31 gene, whose product interacts with the Escherichia coli GroEL protein

The phage T4 morphogenetic gene 31 has been sequenced. Its deduced gene product is a polypeptide of 111 aa, with a predicted Mr of 12064 and a pI of 4.88. The proof that the assigned open reading frame (ORF) encodes Gp31 rests on the sequencing of two known gene 31 amber mutations, amN54 and NG71, demonstrating that these mutations result in translational termination within the assigned ORF. Furthermore, the sequencing of four different T4 epsilon mutations, isolated on the basis of allowing the phage to propagate on Escherichia coli groEL- hosts, showed that they are either missense mutations or 3-bp deletions in the gene 31 reading frame. The sequencing of neighboring DNA revealed the presence of five other ORFs, one of which overlaps gene 31 substantially, but in the opposite orientation.

Microbial stress proteins

There is general agreement that a function, perhaps the major function, of stress proteins under normal physiological conditions is to help assembly and disassembly of protein complexes and to catalyse protein-translocation processes. It remains unclear, however, as to what role these processes play in stressed cells. It could be that cells under stress produce abnormal, misfolded or otherwise damaged proteins and that increased synthesis of stress proteins is required to counter protein modifications. A role for stress proteins in recovery of cells from stress, as opposed to a role in helping cells to withstand a lethal stress, is thus suggested. The intracellular location of stress proteins, in the unstressed and stressed cell, is worthy of further studies. Members of the hsp70 family are associated with the cytosol, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. There is evidence, particularly from studies on mammalian cells (Tanguay, 1985; Welch and Mizzen, 1988; Arrigo et al., 1988), that following stress hsps migrate to various cellular compartments and subsequently delocalize after stress. However, there is little comparable data from microbial systems for this phenomenon (e.g. Rossi and Lindquist, 1989). The question as to the role of stress proteins in the transient acquisition of thermotolerance remains to be answered. It is insufficient to equate the kinetics of stress-protein synthesis with acquisition of thermotolerance. Quantitative data on the amount of stress protein present at various times, including the recovery period, is required. The demonstration that microbial stress proteins are important antigenic determinants of micro-organisms causing major debilitating diseases in the world is an exciting observation. Studies on the interplay of pathogen and host, both carrying similar antigenic hsp determinants, will be a challenging area for future research. It is likely that E. coli and Sacch. cerevisiae, with their well-established biochemical and genetic properties, will continue to be the experimental systems of choice for studies on stress proteins. On the other hand, it is encouraging that studies on other micro-organisms have expanded in the past few years and have made substantial contributions towards our understanding of the stress response. The ubiquitous nature of the stress response and the remarkable evolutionary conservation of the stress proteins continue to be attractive areas for research.

Several proteins imported into chloroplasts form stable complexes with the GroEL-related chloroplast molecular chaperone

Nine different proteins were imported into isolated pea chloroplasts in vitro. For seven of these [the large and small subunits of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco), beta-subunit of ATP synthase, glutamine synthetase, the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b binding protein, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, and pre-beta-lactamase], a fraction was found to migrate as a stable high-molecular-weight complex during nondenaturing gel electrophoresis. This complex contained the mature forms of the imported proteins and the groEL-related chloroplast chaperonin 60 (previously known as Rubisco subunit binding protein). Thus, the stable association of imported proteins with this molecular chaperone is widespread and not necessarily restricted to Rubisco subunits or to chloroplast proteins. With two of the imported proteins (ferredoxin and superoxide dismutase), such complexes were not observed. It seems likely that, in addition to its proposed role in assembly of Rubisco, the chloroplast chaperonin 60 is involved in the assembly or folding of a wide range of proteins in chloroplasts.

Demonstration by genetic suppression of interaction of GroE products with many proteins

The way in which proteins attain and maintain their final form is of fundamental importance. Recent work has focused on the role of a set of ubiquitous proteins, termed chaperonins, in the assembly of phage and multisubunit proteins. The range of chaperonin action is unknown; they could interact with most cellular polypeptides or have a limited subset of protein partners. Included in the chaperonin family is the essential heat-shock regulated Escherichia coli groEL gene product. Over-expression of the groE operon in E. coli causes enhanced assembly of heterologously expressed ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase subunits and suppresses the heat-sensitive mutant phenotype of several dnaA alleles. It has been inferred that suppression of heat-sensitive mutations is confined to dnaA alleles and that this confinement could reflect an interaction between the groE operon products and a dnaA protein aggregate at the replication origin. We now report that multiple copies of the groE operon suppress mutations in genes encoding several diverse proteins. Our data indicate a general role for the groE operon products, the GroEL and GroES proteins, in the folding-assembly pathways of many proteins.

Polypeptide chain binding proteins: catalysts of protein folding and related processes in cells

Subcellular compartments in which folding and assembly of proteins occur seem to have a set of PCB proteins capable of mediating these and related processes, such as translocation across membranes. When a domain of a polypeptide chain emerges from a ribosome during synthesis or from the distal side of a membrane during translocation, successive segments of the chain are incrementally exposed to solvent and yet are unlikely to be able to fold. This topological restriction on folding likely mandates a need for PCB proteins to prevent aggregation. Catalysis of topologically restricted folding by PCB proteins is likely to involve both an antifolding activity that postpones folding until entire domains are available and, more speculatively, a folding activity resulting from a programmed stepwise release that employs the energy of ATP hydrolysis to ensure a favorable pathway. We are left with a new set of problems. How do proteins fold in cells? What are the sequences or structural signals that dictate folding pathways? The new challenge will be to understand folding as a combination of physical chemistry, enzymology, and cell biology.

Delta dnaK52 mutants of Escherichia coli have defects in chromosome segregation and plasmid maintenance at normal growth temperatures

Major heat shock proteins, such as the Escherichia coli DnaK protein, not only are required for cell growth after heat shock but seem to possess important functions in cellular metabolism at normal growth temperatures as well. E. coli delta dnaK52 mutants have severe cellular defects at 30 degrees C, one of which is in cell division (B. Bukau and G. C. Walker, J. Bacteriol, 171:2337-2346, 1989). Here we show that at 30 degrees C, delta dnaK52 mutants have defects in chromosome segregation and in maintenance of low-copy-number plasmids. Fluorescence microscopic analysis revealed that chromosomes were frequently lacking at peripheries of cell filaments of delta dnaK52 mutants and clustered at other locations. In other parts of the cell filaments, chromosomes were apparently normally distributed and they were also present in most of the small cells found in populations of delta dnaK52 cells. These defects might be at the level of DNA replication, since delta dnaK52 mutants have a threshold lower rate of DNA synthesis than wild-type cells. Chromosome segregation defects of delta dnaK52 mutants were also observed in an rnh dnaA mutant background, in which initiation of DNA replication is DnaA-oriC independent. We also found that low-copy-number P1 miniplasmids could not be stably maintained in delta dnaK52 mutants at 30 degrees C. delta par P1 miniplasmids that carry the P1-encoded rep functions required for their replication but lack the P1-encoded par functions required for faithful partitioning of the plasmids during cell division were also unstable in delta dnaK52 mutants. Taken together, our results indicate important, although not absolutely essential, functions for DnaK at 30 degrees C in one or more processes necessary for correct replication and/or partitioning of chromosomes and P1 miniplasmids. Furthermore, we found that P1 miniplasmids were also highly unstable in dnaJ259 mutants, indicating a role for the DnaJ heat shock protein in maintenance of these plasmids.

groE mutants of Escherichia coli are defective in umuDC-dependent UV mutagenesis

Overexpression of the SOS-inducible umuDC operon of Escherichia coli results in the inability of these cells to grow at 30 degrees C. Mutations in several heat shock genes suppress this cold sensitivity. Suppression of umuD+C+-dependent cold sensitivity appears to occur by two different mechanisms. We show that mutations in lon and dnaK heat shock genes suppress cold sensitivity in a lexA-dependent manner. In contrast, mutations in groES, groEL, and rpoH heat shock genes suppress cold sensitivity regardless of the transcriptional regulation of the umuDC genes. We have also found that mutations in groES and groEL genes are defective in umuDC-dependent UV mutagenesis. This defect can be suppressed by increased expression of the umuDC operon. The mechanism by which groE mutations affect umuDC gene product function may be related to the stability of the UmuC protein, since the half-life of this protein is shortened because of mutations at the groE locus.

A novel ubiquitous protein 'chaperonin' supports the endosymbiotic origin of mitochondrion and plant chloroplast

The deduced amino acid sequences for a major mitochondrial protein (designated P1, related to the 'chaperonin' family of proteins) from human and Chinese hamster cells show extensive similarity (greater than 60% identity observed over the entire length) with a related protein present in evolutionarily as divergent organisms as Escherichia coli, Coxiella burnetii, Mycobacterium species, cyanobacteria as well as in yeast mitochondria and higher plant chloroplasts. Of the different groups of bacteria for which sequence data is available, maximum similarity of the mammalian/yeast P1 protein is observed with the corresponding protein from purple bacteria (especially C. burnetii) while the protein from plant chloroplasts exhibited highest similarity with the corresponding protein from cyanobacteria. The sequence data for this protein thus support the contention that the endosymbiont that gave rise to mitochondrion was a member of purple bacteria, while plant chloroplast originated from a member of the cyanobacterial lineage.

Transient shut off of Escherichia coli heat shock protein synthesis upon temperature shift down

A moderate downward shift in growth temperature (37 to 30 degrees C in strain B/r and 37 to 24 degrees C in strain K-12) was found to depress markedly the synthesis of major heat shock proteins GroEL and DnaK in E. coli. The depression was transient and cancelled gradually to a new steady state level, taking 60-80 min. The synthesis of beta-galactosidase directed by transcription initiated at the groE promoter behaved similarly, suggesting that this regulation, termed "reverse heat shock response", occurs at the transcriptional level.

Lysis of Escherichia coli by the bacteriophage phi X174 E protein: inhibition of lysis by heat shock proteins

Lysis of Escherichia coli by the cloned E protein of bacteriophage phi X174 was more rapid than expected when bacteria were shifted from 30 to 42 degrees C at the time of E induction. Since such treatment also induces the heat shock response, we investigated the effect of heat shock proteins on lysis. An rpoH mutant was more sensitive to lysis by E, but a secondary suppressor mutation restored lysis resistance to parental levels, which suggests that the sigma 32 subunit itself did not directly increase lysis resistance. At 30 degrees C, mutants in five heat shock genes (dnaK, dnaJ, groEL, groES, and grpE) were more sensitive to lysis than were their wild-type parents. The magnitude of lysis sensitivity varied with mutation and strain background, with dnaK, dnaJ, and groES mutants consistently exhibiting the greatest sensitivities. Extended protection against lysis occurred when overproduction of heat shock proteins was induced artificially in cells that contained a plasmid with the rpoH+ gene under control of the tac promoter. This protective effect was completely abolished by mutations in dnaK, dnaJ, or groES but not by grpE or groEL mutations. Altered membrane behavior probably explains the contradiction whereby an actual temperature shift sensitized cells to lysis, but production of heat shock proteins exhibited protective effects. The results demonstrate that E-induced lysis can be divided into two distinct operations which may now be studied separately. They also emphasize a role for heat shock proteins under non-heat-shock conditions and suggest cautious interpretation of lysis phenomena in systems where E protein production is under control of a temperature-sensitive repressor.

The heat-shock-regulated grpE gene of Escherichia coli is required for bacterial growth at all temperatures but is dispensable in certain mutant backgrounds

Previous work has established that the grpE+ gene product is a heat shock protein that is essential for bacteriophage lambda growth at all temperatures and for Escherichia coli growth at temperatures above 43 degrees C. Here it is shown that the grpE+ gene product is essential for bacterial viability at all temperatures. The strategy required constructing a grpE deletion derivative carrying a selectable chloramphenicol drug resistance marker provided by an omega insertion and showing that this deletion construct can be crossed into the bacterial chromosome if and only if a functional grpE+ gene is present elsewhere in the same cell. As a control, the same omega insertion could be placed immediately downstream of the grpE+ coding sequence without any observable effects on host growth. This result demonstrates that the inability to construct a grpE-deleted E. coli strain is not simply due to a lethal polar effect on neighboring gene expression. Unexpectedly, it was found that the grpE deletion derivative could be crossed into the bacterial chromosome in a strain that was defective in DnaK function. Further analysis showed that it was not the lack of DnaK function per se that allowed E. coli to tolerate a deletion in the grpE+ gene. Rather, it was the presence of unknown extragenic suppressors of a dnaK mutation that somehow compensated for the deficiency in both DnaK and GrpE function.