Insights into the autotrophic CO2 fixation pathway of the archaeon Ignicoccus hospitalis: comprehensive analysis of the central carbon metabolism

The Iho670 fibers of Ignicoccus hospitalis: a new type of archaeal cell surface appendage

Ignicoccus hospitalis forms many cell surface appendages, the Iho670 fibers (width, 14 nm; length, up to 20 mum), which constitute up to 5% of cellular protein. They are composed mainly of protein Iho670, possessing no homology to archaeal flagellins or fimbrins. Their existence as structures different from archaeal flagella or fimbriae have gone unnoticed up to now because they are very brittle.

Community genomic and proteomic analyses of chemoautotrophic iron-oxidizing "Leptospirillum rubarum" (Group II) and "Leptospirillum ferrodiazotrophum" (Group III) bacteria in acid mine drainage biofilms

We analyzed near-complete population (composite) genomic sequences for coexisting acidophilic iron-oxidizing Leptospirillum group II and III bacteria (phylum Nitrospirae) and an extrachromosomal plasmid from a Richmond Mine, Iron Mountain, CA, acid mine drainage biofilm. Community proteomic analysis of the genomically characterized sample and two other biofilms identified 64.6% and 44.9% of the predicted proteins of Leptospirillum groups II and III, respectively, and 20% of the predicted plasmid proteins. The bacteria share 92% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity and >60% of their genes, including integrated plasmid-like regions. The extrachromosomal plasmid carries conjugation genes with detectable sequence similarity to genes in the integrated conjugative plasmid, but only those on the extrachromosomal element were identified by proteomics. Both bacterial groups have genes for community-essential functions, including carbon fixation and biosynthesis of vitamins, fatty acids, and biopolymers (including cellulose); proteomic analyses reveal these activities. Both Leptospirillum types have multiple pathways for osmotic protection. Although both are motile, signal transduction and methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins are more abundant in Leptospirillum group III, consistent with its distribution in gradients within biofilms. Interestingly, Leptospirillum group II uses a methyl-dependent and Leptospirillum group III a methyl-independent response pathway. Although only Leptospirillum group III can fix nitrogen, these proteins were not identified by proteomics. The abundances of core proteins are similar in all communities, but the abundance levels of unique and shared proteins of unknown function vary. Some proteins unique to one organism were highly expressed and may be key to the functional and ecological differentiation of Leptospirillum groups II and III.

Autotrophic carbon dioxide assimilation in Thermoproteales revisited

For Crenarchaea, two new autotrophic carbon fixation cycles were recently described. Sulfolobales use the 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle, with acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA)/propionyl-CoA carboxylase as the carboxylating enzyme. Ignicoccus hospitalis (Desulfurococcales) uses the dicarboxylate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle, with pyruvate synthase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase being responsible for CO(2) fixation. In the two cycles, acetyl-CoA and two inorganic carbons are transformed to succinyl-CoA by different routes, whereas the regeneration of acetyl-CoA from succinyl-CoA proceeds via the same route. Thermoproteales would be an exception to this unifying concept, since for Thermoproteus neutrophilus, the reductive citric acid cycle was proposed as a carbon fixation mechanism. Here, evidence is presented for the operation of the dicarboxylate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle in this archaeon. All required enzyme activities were detected in large amounts. The key enzymes of the cycle were strongly upregulated under autotrophic growth conditions, indicating their involvement in autotrophic CO(2) fixation. The corresponding genes were identified in the genome. (14)C-labeled 4-hydroxybutyrate was incorporated into the central building blocks in accordance with the key position of this compound in the cycle. Moreover, the results of previous (13)C-labeling studies, which could be reconciled with a reductive citric acid cycle only when some assumptions were made, were perfectly in line with the new proposal. We conclude that the dicarboxylate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle is operating in CO(2) fixation in the strict anaerobic Thermoproteales as well as in Desulfurococcales.

Phylogenomic dating--the relative antiquity of archaeal metabolic and physiological traits

Ancestral trait reconstruction was used to identify the relative ancestry of metabolic and physiological traits in the archaeal domain of life. First, well-resolved phylogenetic trees were inferred with multiple gene sequences obtained from whole genome sequences. Next, metabolic and physiological traits were coded into characters, and ancestral state reconstruction was used to identify ancient and derived traits. Traits inferred to be ancient included sulfur reduction, methanogenesis, and hydrogen oxidation. By using the articulation of the "oxygen age constraint," several other traits were inferred to have arisen at or after 2.32 Ga: aerobic respiration, nitrate reduction, sulfate reduction, thiosulfate reduction, sulfur oxidation, and sulfide oxidation. Complex organic metabolism appeared to be nearly as ancient as autotrophy. Hyperthermophily was ancestral, while hyperacidophily and extreme halophily likely arose after 2.32 Ga. The ancestral euryarchaeote was inferred to have been a hyperthermophilic marine methanogen that lived in a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. In contrast, the ancestral crenarchaeote was most likely a hyperthermophilic sulfur reducer that lived in a slightly acidic terrestrial environment, perhaps a fumarole. Cross-colonization of these habitats may not have occurred until after 2.32 Ga, which suggests that both archaeal lineages exhibited niche specialization on early Earth for a protracted period of time.

Can sugars be produced from fatty acids? A test case for pathway analysis tools

MOTIVATION

In recent years, several methods have been proposed for determining metabolic pathways in an automated way based on network topology. The aim of this work is to analyse these methods by tackling a concrete example relevant in biochemistry. It concerns the question whether even-chain fatty acids, being the most important constituents of lipids, can be converted into sugars at steady state. It was proved five decades ago that this conversion using the Krebs cycle is impossible unless the enzymes of the glyoxylate shunt (or alternative bypasses) are present in the system. Using this example, we can compare the various methods in pathway analysis.

RESULTS

Elementary modes analysis (EMA) of a set of enzymes corresponding to the Krebs cycle, glycolysis and gluconeogenesis supports the scientific evidence showing that there is no pathway capable of converting acetyl-CoA to glucose at steady state. This conversion is possible after the addition of isocitrate lyase and malate synthase (forming the glyoxylate shunt) to the system. Dealing with the same example, we compare EMA with two tools based on graph theory available online, PathFinding and Pathway Hunter Tool. These automated network generating tools do not succeed in predicting the conversions known from experiment. They sometimes generate unbalanced paths and reveal problems identifying side metabolites that are not responsible for the carbon net flux. This shows that, for metabolic pathway analysis, it is important to consider the topology (including bimolecular reactions) and stoichiometry of metabolic systems, as is done in EMA.

A genomic analysis of the archaeal system Ignicoccus hospitalis-Nanoarchaeum equitans

Sequencing of the complete genome of Ignicoccus hospitalis gives insight into its association with another species of Archaea, Nanoarchaeum equitans.

Background

The relationship between the hyperthermophiles Ignicoccus hospitalis and Nanoarchaeum equitans is the only known example of a specific association between two species of Archaea. Little is known about the mechanisms that enable this relationship.

Results

We sequenced the complete genome of I. hospitalis and found it to be the smallest among independent, free-living organisms. A comparative genomic reconstruction suggests that the I. hospitalis lineage has lost most of the genes associated with a heterotrophic metabolism that is characteristic of most of the Crenarchaeota. A streamlined genome is also suggested by a low frequency of paralogs and fragmentation of many operons. However, this process appears to be partially balanced by lateral gene transfer from archaeal and bacterial sources.

Conclusions

A combination of genomic and cellular features suggests highly efficient adaptation to the low energy yield of sulfur-hydrogen respiration and efficient inorganic carbon and nitrogen assimilation. Evidence of lateral gene exchange between N. equitans and I. hospitalis indicates that the relationship has impacted both genomes. This association is the simplest symbiotic system known to date and a unique model for studying mechanisms of interspecific relationships at the genomic and metabolic levels.

Ignicoccus hospitalis and Nanoarchaeum equitans: ultrastructure, cell-cell interaction, and 3D reconstruction from serial sections of freeze-substituted cells and by electron cryotomography

Ultrastructure and intercellular interaction of Ignicoccus hospitalis and Nanoarchaeum equitans were investigated using two different electron microscopy approaches, by three-dimensional reconstructions from serial sections, and by electron cryotomography. Serial sections were assembled into 3D reconstructions, for visualizing the unusual complexity of I. hospitalis, its huge periplasmic space, the vesiculating cytoplasmic membrane, and the outer membrane. The cytoplasm contains fibres which are reminiscent to a cytoskeleton. Cell division in I. hospitalis is complex, and different to that in Euryarchaeota or Bacteria. An irregular invagination of the cytoplasmic membrane is followed by separation of the two cytoplasms. Simultaneous constriction of cytoplasmic plus outer membrane is not observed. Cells of N. equitans show a classical mode of cell division, by constriction in the mid-plane. Their cytoplasm exhibits two types of fibres, elongated and ring-shaped. Electron micrographs of contact sites between I. hospitalis and N. equitans exhibit two modes of interaction. One is indirect and mediated by thin fibres; in other cells the two cell surfaces are in direct contact. The two membranes of I. hospitalis cells are frequently seen in direct contact, possibly a prerequisite for transporting metabolites or substrates from the cytoplasm of one cell to the other. Rarely, a transport based on cargo vesicles is observed between I. hospitalis and N. equitans.

Insight into the proteome of the hyperthermophilic Crenarchaeon Ignicoccus hospitalis: the major cytosolic and membrane proteins

Ignicoccus hospitalis, a hyperthermophilic, chemolithoautotrophic Crenarchaeon, is the host of Nanoarchaeum equitans. Together, they form an intimate association, the first among Archaea. Membranes are of fundamental importance for the interaction of I. hospitalis and N. equitans, as they harbour the proteins necessary for the transport of macromolecules like lipids, amino acids, and cofactors between these organisms. Here, we investigated the protein inventory of I. hospitalis cells, and were able to identify 20 proteins in total. Experimental evidence and predictions let us conclude that 11 are soluble cytosolic proteins, eight membrane or membrane-associated proteins, and a single one extracellular. The quantitatively dominating proteins in the cytoplasm (peroxiredoxin; thermosome) antagonize oxidative and temperature stress which I. hospitalis cells are exposed to at optimal growth conditions. Three abundant membrane protein complexes are found: the major protein of the outer membrane, which might protect the cell against the hostile environment, forms oligomeric complexes with pores of unknown selectivity; two other complexes of the cytoplasmic membrane, the hydrogenase and the ATP synthase, play a key role in energy production and conversion.

A dicarboxylate/4-hydroxybutyrate autotrophic carbon assimilation cycle in the hyperthermophilic Archaeum Ignicoccus hospitalis

Ignicoccus hospitalis is an anaerobic, autotrophic, hyperthermophilic Archaeum that serves as a host for the symbiotic/parasitic Archaeum Nanoarchaeum equitans. It uses a yet unsolved autotrophic CO(2) fixation pathway that starts from acetyl-CoA (CoA), which is reductively carboxylated to pyruvate. Pyruvate is converted to phosphoenol-pyruvate (PEP), from which glucogenesis as well as oxaloacetate formation branch off. Here, we present the complete metabolic cycle by which the primary CO(2) acceptor molecule acetyl-CoA is regenerated. Oxaloacetate is reduced to succinyl-CoA by an incomplete reductive citric acid cycle lacking 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase or synthase. Succinyl-CoA is reduced to 4-hydroxybutyrate, which is then activated to the CoA thioester. By using the radical enzyme 4-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydratase, 4-hydroxybutyryl-CoA is dehydrated to crotonyl-CoA. Finally, beta-oxidation of crotonyl-CoA leads to two molecules of acetyl-CoA. Thus, the cyclic pathway forms an extra molecule of acetyl-CoA, with pyruvate synthase and PEP carboxylase as the carboxylating enzymes. The proposal is based on in vitro transformation of 4-hydroxybutyrate, detection of all enzyme activities, and in vivo-labeling experiments using [1-(14)C]4-hydroxybutyrate, [1,4-(13)C(2)], [U-(13)C(4)]succinate, or [1-(13)C]pyruvate as tracers. The pathway is termed the dicarboxylate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle. It combines anaerobic metabolic modules to a straightforward and efficient CO(2) fixation mechanism.

A 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate autotrophic carbon dioxide assimilation pathway in Archaea

The assimilation of carbon dioxide (CO2) into organic material is quantitatively the most important biosynthetic process. We discovered that an autotrophic member of the archaeal order Sulfolobales, Metallosphaera sedula, fixed CO2 with acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA)/propionyl-CoA carboxylase as the key carboxylating enzyme. In this system, one acetyl-CoA and two bicarbonate molecules were reductively converted via 3-hydroxypropionate to succinyl-CoA. This intermediate was reduced to 4-hydroxybutyrate and converted into two acetyl-CoA molecules via 4-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydratase. The key genes of this pathway were found not only in Metallosphaera but also in Sulfolobus, Archaeoglobus, and Cenarchaeum species. Moreover, the Global Ocean Sampling database contains half as many 4-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydratase sequences as compared with those found for another key photosynthetic CO2-fixing enzyme, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase. This indicates the importance of this enzyme in global carbon cycling.

Nanoarchaeum equitans and Ignicoccus hospitalis: new insights into a unique, intimate association of two archaea

Nanoarchaeum equitans and Ignicoccus hospitalis represent a unique, intimate association of two archaea. Both form a stable coculture which is mandatory for N. equitans but not for the host I. hospitalis. Here, we investigated interactions and mutual influence between these microorganisms. Fermentation studies revealed that during exponential growth only about 25% of I. hospitalis cells are occupied by N. equitans cells (one to three cells). The latter strongly proliferate in the stationary phase of I. hospitalis, until 80 to 90% of the I. hospitalis cells carry around 10 N. equitans cells. Furthermore, the expulsion of H2S, the major metabolic end product of I. hospitalis, by strong gas stripping yields huge amounts of free N. equitans cells. N. equitans had no influence on the doubling times, final cell concentrations, and growth temperature, pH, or salt concentration ranges or optima of I. hospitalis. However, isolation studies using optical tweezers revealed that infection with N. equitans inhibited the proliferation of individual I. hospitalis cells. This inhibition might be caused by deprivation of the host of cell components like amino acids, as demonstrated by 13C-labeling studies. The strong dependence of N. equitans on I. hospitalis was affirmed by live-dead staining and electron microscopic analyses, which indicated a tight physiological and structural connection between the two microorganisms. No alternative hosts, including other Ignicoccus species, were accepted by N. equitans. In summary, the data show a highly specialized association of N. equitans and I. hospitalis which so far cannot be assigned to a classical symbiosis, commensalism, or parasitism.

An extremely oligotrophic bacterium, Rhodococcus erythropolis N9T-4, isolated from crude oil

Rhodococcus erythropolis N9T-4, which was isolated from crude oil, showed extremely oligotrophic growth and formed its colonies on a minimal salt medium solidified using agar or silica gel without any additional carbon source. N9T-4 did not grow under CO(2)-limiting conditions but could grow on a medium containing NaHCO(3) under the same conditions, suggesting that the oligotrophic growth of N9T-4 depends on CO(2). Proteomic analysis of N9T-4 revealed that two proteins, with molecular masses of 45 and 55 kDa, were highly induced under the oligotrophic conditions. The primary structures of these proteins exhibited striking similarities to those of methanol: N,N'-dimethyl-4-nitrosoaniline oxidoreductase and an aldehyde dehydrogenase from Rhodococcus sp. These enzyme activities were three times higher under oligotrophic conditions than under n-tetradecane-containing heterotrophic conditions, and gene disruption for the aldehyde dehydrogenase caused a lack of growth on the minimal salt medium. Furthermore, 3-hexulose 6-phosphate synthase and phospho-3-hexuloisomerase activities, which are key enzymes in the ribulose monophosphate pathway in methylotrophic bacteria, were detected specifically in the cell extract of oligotrophically grown N9T-4. These results suggest that CO(2) fixation involves methanol (formaldehyde) metabolism in the oligotrophic growth of R. erythropolis N9T-4.