Tn916-induced mutants of Clostridium acetobutylicum defective in regulation of solvent formation

Investigation of availability of a high throughput screening method for predicting butanol solvent -producing ability of Clostridium beijerinckii

BACKGROUND

Currently, efficient screening methods for selection of desired bacterial phenotypes from large populations are not easy feasible or readily available due to the complicated physiological and metabolic networks of solventogenic clostridia. In this study, to contribute to the improvement of methods for predicting the butanol-producing ability of Clostridium beijerinckii based on starch substrate, we further investigate a simple, visualization screening method for selecting target strains from mutant library of Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 by using trypan blue dye as an indicator in solid starch via statistical survey and validation of fermentation experiment with controlling pH.

RESULTS

To verify an effective, efficient phenotypic screening method for isolating high butanol-producing mutants, the revalidation process was conducted based on Trypan Blue was used for visualization, and starch was used as the bacterial metabolic substrate. The availability of the screening system was further evaluated based on the relationship between characteristics of mutant strains and their α-amylase activities. Mutant clones were analyzed in detail based on their distinctive growth patterns and rate of fermentation of soluble starch to form butanol and were compared by statistical method. Significant correlations were identified between colony morphology and changes in butanol concentrations. The screening method was validated via statistical analysis for characterizing phenotypic parameters. The fermentation experiment of mutant strains with controlling pH value also demonstrated a positive correlation between increased α-amylase activity and increased solvent production by Clostridium beijerinckii was observed, and therefore indicated that the trypan blue dyeing method can be used as a fast method to screen target mutant strain for better solvent producers from, for instance, a mutant library.

CONCLUSIONS

The suitability of the novel screening procedure was validated, opening up a new indicator of approach to select mutant solventogenic clostridia with improved fermentation of starch to increase butanol concentrations. The applicability can easily be broadened to a wide range of interesting microbes such as cellulolytic or acetogenic microorganisms, which produce biofuels from feedstock rich in starch.

Development of an inducible transposon system for efficient random mutagenesis in Clostridium acetobutylicum

Clostridium acetobutylicum is an industrially important Gram-positive organism, which is capable of producing economically important chemicals in the ABE (Acetone, Butanol and Ethanol) fermentation process. Renewed interests in the ABE process necessitate the availability of additional genetics tools to facilitate the derivation of a greater understanding of the underlying metabolic and regulatory control processes in operation through forward genetic strategies. In this study, a xylose inducible, mariner-based, transposon system was developed and shown to allow high-efficient random mutagenesis in the model strain ATCC 824. Of the thiamphenicol resistant colonies obtained, 91.9% were shown to be due to successful transposition of the catP-based mini-transposon element. Phenotypic screening of 200 transposon clones revealed a sporulation-defective clone with an insertion in spo0A, thereby demonstrating that this inducible transposon system can be used for forward genetic studies in C. acetobutylicum.

A useful method for forward genetic studies in Clostridium acetobutylicum.

Characterization and development of two reporter gene systems for Clostridium acetobutylicum

The use of lacZ from Thermoanaerobacterium thermosulfurigenes (encoding beta-galactosidase) and lucB from Photinus pyralis (encoding luciferase) as reporter genes in Clostridium acetobutylicum was analyzed with promoters of genes required for solventogenesis and acidogenesis. Both systems proved to be well suited and allowed the detection of differences in promoter strength at least up to 100-fold. The luciferase assay could be performed much faster and comes close to online measurement. Resequencing of lacZ revealed a sequence error in the original database entry, which resulted in beta-galactosidase with an additional 31 amino acids. Cutting off part of the gene encoding this C terminus resulted in decreased enzyme activity. The lacZ reporter data showed that bdhA (encoding butanol dehydrogenase A) is expressed during the early growth phase, followed by sol (encoding butyraldehyde/butanol dehydrogenase E and coenzyme A transferase) and bdhB (encoding butanol dehydrogenase B) expression. adc (encoding acetoacetate decarboxylase) was also induced early. There is about a 100-fold difference in expression between adc and bdhB (higher) and bdhA and the sol operon (lower). The lucB reporter activity could be increased 10-fold by the addition of ATP to the assay. Washing of the cells proved to be important in order to prevent a red shift of bioluminescence in an acidic environment (for reliable data). lucB reporter measurements confirmed the expression pattern of the sol and ptb-buk (encoding phosphotransbutyrylase and butyrate kinase) operons as determined by the lacZ reporter and showed that the expression level from the ptb promoter is 59-fold higher than that from the sol operon promoter.

Control of butanol formation in Clostridium acetobutylicum by transcriptional activation

The sol operon of Clostridium acetobutylicum is the essential transcription unit for formation of the solvents butanol and acetone. The recent proposal that transcriptional regulation of this operon is controlled by the repressor Orf5/SolR (R. V. Nair, E. M. Green, D. E. Watson, G. N. Bennett, and E. T. Papoutsakis, J. Bacteriol. 181:319-330, 1999) was found to be incorrect. Instead, regulation depends on activation, most probably by the multivalent transcription factor Spo0A. The operon is transcribed from a single promoter. A second signal identified in primer extension studies results from mRNA processing and can be observed only in the natural host, not in a heterologous host. The first structural gene in the operon (adhE, encoding a bifunctional butyraldehyde/butanol dehydrogenase) is translated into two different proteins, the mature AdhE enzyme and the separate butanol dehydrogenase domain. The promoter of the sol operon is preceded by three imperfect repeats and a putative Spo0A-binding motif, which partially overlaps with repeat 3 (R3). Reporter gene analysis performed with the lacZ gene of Thermoanaerobacterium thermosulfurigenes and targeted mutations of the regulatory region revealed that the putative Spo0A-binding motif, R3, and R1 are essential for control. The data obtained also indicate that an additional activator protein is involved.

In vitro processing of the proproteins GrdE of protein B of glycine reductase and PrdA of D-proline reductase from Clostridium sticklandii: formation of a pyruvoyl group from a cysteine residue

GrdE and PrdA of Clostridium sticklandii are subunits of glycine reductase and D-proline reductase, respectively, that are processed post-translationally to form a catalytic active pyruvoyl group. The cleavage occurred on the N-terminal side of a cysteine residue, which is thus the precursor of a pyruvoyl moiety. Both proproteins could be over-expressed in Escherichia coli and conditions were developed for in vitro processing. GrdE could be expressed as full-size protein, whereas PrdA had to be truncated N-terminally to achieve successful over-expression. Both proproteins were cleaved at the in vivo observed cleavage site after addition of 200 mM NaBH4 in Tris buffer (pH 7.6) at room temperature as analysed by SDS/PAGE and MS. Cleavage of GrdE was observed with a half-time of approximately 30 min. Cys242, as the precursor of the pyruvoyl group in GrdE, was changed to alanine, serine, or threonine by site-directed mutagenesis. The Cys242-->Ser and Cys242-->Thr mutant proteins were also cleaved under similar conditions with extended half-times. However, the Cys242-->Ala mutant protein was not cleaved indicating a pivotal role of the thiol group of cysteine or hydroxyl group of serine and threonine during the processing of pyruvoyl group-dependent reductases.

The ald gene, encoding a coenzyme A-acylating aldehyde dehydrogenase, distinguishes Clostridium beijerinckii and two other solvent-producing clostridia from Clostridium acetobutylicum

The coenzyme A (CoA)-acylating aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) catalyzes a key reaction in the acetone- and butanol (solvent)-producing clostridia. It reduces acetyl-CoA and butyryl-CoA to the corresponding aldehydes, which are then reduced by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) to form ethanol and 1-butanol. The ALDH of Clostridium beijerinckii NRRL B593 was purified. It had no ADH activity, was NAD(H) specific, and was more active with butyraldehyde than with acetaldehyde. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified ALDH was determined. The open reading frame preceding the ctfA gene (encoding a subunit of the solvent-forming CoA transferase) of C. beijerinckii NRRL B593 was identified as the structural gene (ald) for the ALDH. The ald gene encodes a polypeptide of 468 amino acid residues with a calculated M(r) of 51, 353. The position of the ald gene in C. beijerinckii NRRL B593 corresponded to that of the aad/adhE gene (encoding an aldehyde-alcohol dehydrogenase) of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 and DSM 792. In Southern analyses, a probe derived from the C. acetobutylicum aad/adhE gene did not hybridize to restriction fragments of the genomic DNAs of C. beijerinckii and two other species of solvent-producing clostridia. In contrast, a probe derived from the C. beijerinckii ald gene hybridized to restriction fragments of the genomic DNA of three solvent-producing species but not to those of C. acetobutylicum, indicating a key difference among the solvent-producing clostridia. The amino acid sequence of the ALDH of C. beijerinckii NRRL B593 was most similar (41% identity) to those of the eutE gene products (CoA-acylating ALDHs) of Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli, whereas it was about 26% identical to the ALDH domain of the aldehyde-alcohol dehydrogenases of C. acetobutylicum, E. coli, Lactococcus lactis, and amitochondriate protozoa. The predicted secondary structure of the C. beijerinckii ALDH suggests the presence of an atypical Rossmann fold for NAD(+) binding. A comparison of the proposed catalytic pockets of the CoA-dependent and CoA-independent ALDHs identified 6 amino acids that may contribute to interaction with CoA.

Truncation of peptide deformylase reduces the growth rate and stabilizes solvent production in Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052

The wild-type strain of Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 tends to degenerate (i.e., lose the ability to form solvents) after prolonged periods of laboratory culture. Several Tn1545 mutants of this organism showing enhanced long-term stability of solvent production were isolated. Four of them harbor identical insertions within the fms (def) gene, which encodes peptide deformylase (PDF). The C. beijerinckii fms gene product contains four diagnostic residues involved in the Zn2+ coordination and catalysis found in all PDFs, but it is unusually small, because it lacks the dispensable disordered C-terminal domain. Unlike previously characterized PDFs from Escherichia coli and Thermus thermophilus, the C. beijerinckii PDF can apparently tolerate N-terminal truncation. The Tn1545 insertion in the mutants is at a site corresponding to residue 15 of the predicted gene product. This probably removes 23 N-terminal residues from PDF, leaving a 116-residue protein. The mutant PDF retains at least partial function, and it complements an fms(Ts) strain of E. coli. Northern hybridizations indicate that the mutant gene is actively transcribed in C. beijerinckii. This can only occur from a previously unsuspected, outwardly directed promoter located close to the right end of Tn1545. The Tn1545 insertion in fms causes a reduction in the growth rate of C. beijerinckii, and, associated with this, the bacteria display an enhanced stability of solvent production. The latter phenotype can be mimicked in the wild type by reducing the growth rate. Therefore, the observed amelioration of degeneration in the mutants is probably due to their reduced growth rates.

Genetic manipulation of acid and solvent formation in clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824

The genes coding for enzymes involved in butanol or butyrate formation were subcloned into a novel Escherichia coli-Clostridium acetobutylicum shuttle vector constructed from pIMP1 and a chloramphenicol acetyl transferase gene. The resulting replicative plasmids, referred to as pTHAAD (aldehyde/alcohol dehydrogenase) and pTHBUT (butyrate operon), were used to complement C. acetobutylicum mutant strains, in which genes encoding aldehyde/alcohol dehydrogenase (aad) or butyrate kinase (buk) had been inactivated by recombination with Emr constructs. Complementation of strain PJC4BK (buk mutant) with pTHBUT restored butyrate kinase activity and butyrate production during exponential growth. Complementation of strain PJC4AAD (aad mutant) with pTHAAD restored NAD(H)-dependent butanol dehydrogenase activity, NAD(H)-dependent butyraldehyde dehydrogenase activity and butanol production during solventogenic growth. The development of an alternative selectable marker makes it is possible to overexpress genes, via replicative plasmids, in mutant strains that lack specific enzyme activities, thereby expanding the number of possible genetic manipulations that can be performed in C. acetobutylicum. Copyright 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Physiology of carbohydrate to solvent conversion by clostridia

The solvent-forming clostridia have attracted interest because of their ability to convert a range of carbohydrates to end-products such as acetone, butanol and ethanol. Polymeric substrates such as cellulose, hemicellulose and starch are degraded by extracellular enzymes. The majority of cellulolytic clostridia, typified by Clostridium thermocellum, produce a multi-enzyme cellulase complex in which the organization of components is critical for activity against the crystalline substrate. A variety of enzymes involved in degradation of hemicellulose and starch have been identified in different strains. The products of degradation, and other soluble substrates, are accumulated via membrane-bound transport systems which are generally poorly characterized. It is clear, however, that the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system (PTS) plays a major role in solute uptake in several species. Accumulated substrates are converted by intracellular enzymes to end-products characteristic of the organism, with production of ATP to support growth. The metabolic pathways have been described, but understanding of mechanisms of regulation of metabolism is incomplete. Synthesis of extracellular enzymes and membrane-bound transport systems is commonly subject to catabolite repression in the presence of a readily metabolized source of carbon and energy. While many genes encoding cellulases, xylanases and amylases have been cloned and sequenced, little is known of control of their expression. Although the mechanism of catabolite repression in clostridia is not understood, some recent findings implicate a role for the PTS as in other low G-C Gram-positive bacteria. Emphasis has been placed on describing the mechanisms underlying the switch of C. acetobutylicum fermentations from acidogenic to solventogenic metabolism at the end of the growth phase. Factors involved include a lowered pH and accumulation of undissociated butyric acid, intracellular concentration of ATP and reduced pyridine nucleotides, nutrient limitation, and the interplay between pathways of carbon and electron flow. Genes encoding enzymes of solvent pathways have been cloned and sequenced, and their expression correlated with the pattern of end-product formation in fermentations. There is evidence that the initiation of solvent formation may be subject to control mechanisms similar to other stationary-phase phenomena, including sporulation. The application of recently developed techniques for genetic manipulation of the bacterium is improving understanding of the regulatory circuits, but a complete molecular description of the control of solvent formation remains elusive. Experimental manipulation of the pathways of electron flow in other species has been shown to influence the range and yield of fermentation end-products. Acid-forming clostridia can, under appropriate conditions, be induced to form atypical solvents as products. While the mechanisms of regulation of gene expression are not at all understood, the capacity to adapt in this way further illustrates the metabolic flexibility of clostridial strains.

Isolation of alpha-toxin, theta-toxin and kappa-toxin mutants of Clostridium perfringens by Tn916 mutagenesis

Clostridium perfringens is the causative agent of clostridial myonecrosis or gas gangrene and mediates infection and disease by producing numerous extracellular toxins, including alpha-toxin, theta-toxin and kappa-toxin. Tn916-mutagenesis was used to isolate mutants defective in their ability to produce either alpha-toxin or theta-toxin. Nine independently derived mutants were isolated. In four of these mutants Tn916 had inserted at sites located 193 bp or 198 bp upstream of the theta-toxin structural gene, pfoA. Four mutants contained large deletions, three in regions which encompassed the theta-toxin structural and regulatory genes pfoA and pfoR, respectively, and the kappa-toxin structural gene, colA, and one in a region encompassing the alpha-toxin structural gene, plc. These mutants should prove to be invaluable for further genetic studies aimed at determining the role of these toxins in virulence.

Regulation of nitrogen metabolism, starch utilisation and the beta-hbd-adh1 gene cluster in Clostridium acetobutylicum

The successful genetic manipulation of Clostridium acetobutylicum for the increased production of solvents will depend on an understanding of gene structure and regulation in the bacterium. The glutamine synthetase (glnA) gene is regulated by antisense RNA, transcribed from a downstream promoter, in the opposite direction to the glnA gene. An open reading frame (ORF) was detected downstream of the glnA gene, which has sequence homology to response regulators with anti-termination activity and may be involved in sensing nitrogen conditions. The expression of the linked beta-hbd, adh1 and fixB genes was investigated throughout the bacterial growth cycle by RNA hybridisation techniques. The adh1 gene was independently expressed as a 2.4-kb transcript which peaked at 12 h, immediately prior to the solventogenic phase. The beta-hbd and fixB genes were transcribed throughout the acidogenic and solventogenic phases. A regulator gene, regA, which complements a Bacillus subtilis ccpA mutant, has been identified and sequenced from C. acetobutylicum P262. The regA gene repressed the degradation of starch by an uncharacterised C. acetobutylicum gene, and may therefore play a role in the utilisation of carbohydrate substrates in this organism.

Solventogenic enzymes of Clostridium acetobutylicum: catalytic properties, genetic organization, and transcriptional regulation

The enzymes acetoacetate decarboxylase and coenzyme A transferase catalyse acetone production from acetoacetyl-CoA in Clostridium acetobutylicum. The adc gene encoding the former enzyme is organized in a monocistronic operon, while the ctf genes form a common transcription unit with the gene (adhE) encoding a probable polyfunctional aldehyde/alcohol dehydrogenase. This genetic arrangement could reflect physiological requirements at the onset of solventogenesis. In addition to AdhE, two butanol dehydrogenase isozymes and a thiolase are involved in butanol synthesis. RNA analyses showed a sequential order of induction for the different butanol dehydrogenase genes, indicating an in vivo function of BdhI in low level butanol formation. The physiological roles of AdhE and BdhII most likely involve high level butanol formation, with AdhE being responsible for the onset of solventogenesis and BdhII ensuring continued butanol production. Addition of methyl viologen results in artificially induced butanol synthesis which seems to be mediated by a still unknown set of enzymes. Although the signal that triggers the shift to solventogenesis has not yet been elucidated, recent investigations suggest a possible function of DNA supercoiling as a transcriptional sensor of the respective environmental stimuli.

Alcohol dehydrogenase: multiplicity and relatedness in the solvent-producing clostridia

Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is a key enzyme for the production of butanol, ethanol, and isopropanol by the solvent-producing clostridia. Initial studies of ADH in extracts of several strains of Clostridium acetobutylicum and C. beijerinckii gave conflicting molecular properties. A more coherent picture has emerged because of the following results: (i) identification of ADHs with different coenzyme specificities in these species; (ii) discovery of structurally conserved ADHs (type 3) in three solvent-producing species; (iii) isolation of mutants with deficiencies in butanol production and restoration of butanol production with a cloned alcohol/aldehyde dehydrogenase gene; and (iv) resolution of various 'C. acetobutylicum' cultures into four species. The three ADH isozymes of C. beijerinckii NRRL B592 have high sequence similarities to ADH-1 of Clostridium sp. NCP 262 (formerly C. acetobutylicum P262) and to the ADH domain of the alcohol/aldehyde dehydrogenase of C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824/DSM 792. The NADH-dependent activity of the ADHs from C. beijerinckii NRRL B592 and the BDHs from C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824 is profoundly affected by the pH of the assay, and the relative importance of NADH and NADPH to butanol production may be misappraised when NAD(P)H-dependent activities were measured at different pH values. The primary/secondary ADH of isopropanol-producing C. beijerinckii is a type-1 enzyme and is highly conserved in Thermoanaerobacter brockii (formerly Thermoanaerobium brockii) and Entamoeba histolytica. Several solvent-forming enzymes (primary ADH, aldehyde dehydrogenase, and 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase) are very similar between C. beijerinckii and the species represented by Clostridium sp. NCP 262 and NRRL B643. The realization of such relationships will facilitate the elucidation of the roles of different ADHs because each type of ADH can now be studied in an organism most amenable to experimental manipulations.

Structure and transcription of genes within the beta-hbd-adh1 region of Clostridium acetobutylicum P262

The 1.2-kb DNA fragment upstream of the linked beta-hbd (3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase) and adh1 (NADPH-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase) genes from Clostridium acetobutylicum P262 was sequenced. The upstream region contained an open reading frame (ORFB) which was found to have 44% amino acid identity to the fixB gene products of Rhizobium and Azorhizobium. The beta-hbd and ORFB genes were expressed during the acidogenic and solventogenic phases. The beta-hbd gene was transcribed on a single mRNA species of 2.0 kb, whereas the ORFB gene was transcribed on two species of mRNA of 2.0 and 3.5 kb, respectively. The adh1 gene was induced or derepressed at the pH breakpoint before the onset of solventogenesis and was transcribed on a single species of mRNA of 2.4 kb.

Analysis of Tn916-induced mutants of Clostridium acetobutylicum altered in solventogenesis and sporulation

The conjugative transposon Tn916 was used for mutagenesis of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824. Tetracycline-resistant mutants were screened for loss of granulose synthesis and five classes of granulose mutants, that contained single transposon insertions, were identified on the basis of altered solvent production. Class 1 mutants did not make acetone or butanol, lacked activity of enzymes induced during solventogenesis, and did not sporulate, indicating that they are regulatory mutants. The class 2 mutant strains also did not produce acetone but did form small amounts of butanol and ethanol, while the class 3 mutants produced low amounts of all solvents. Class 4 and 5 mutants produced essentially the same or higher amounts of solvents than the parent strain. Transposon insertions in the class 1 mutants were used as markers for in vitro synthesis of flanking chromosomal DNA using Tn916-specific primers. The DNA fragments were labeled to produce specific probes. Transposon insertion sites in the chromosomes of 13 different class 1 regulatory mutants were compared by hybridization of the specific probes to Southern blots of restriction endonuclease-digested parental chromosomal DNA. Insertions in two mutants appeared to be in the same region of the chromosome. These results predict that multiple regulatory elements are required to induce solvent production and sporulation.

Molecular characterization of microbial alcohol dehydrogenases

There is an astonishing array of microbial alcohol oxidoreductases. They display a wide variety of substrate specificities and they fulfill several vital but quite different physiological functions. Some of these enzymes are involved in the production of alcoholic beverages and of industrial solvents, others are important in the production of vinegar, and still others participate in the degradation of naturally occurring and xenobiotic aromatic compounds as well as in the growth of bacteria and yeasts on methanol. They can be divided into three major categories. (1) The NAD- or NADP-dependent dehydrogenases. These can in turn be divided into the group I long-chain (approximately 350 amino acid residues) zinc-dependent enzymes such as alcohol dehydrogenases I, II, and III of Saccharomyces cerevisiae or the plasmid-encoded benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase of Pseudomonas putida; the group II short-chain (approximately 250 residues) zinc-independent enzymes such as ribitol dehydrogenase of Klebsiella aerogenes; the group III "iron-activated" enzymes that generally contain approximately 385 amino acid residues, such as alcohol dehydrogenase II of Zymomonas mobilis and alcohol dehydrogenase IV of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but may contain almost 900 residues in the case of the multifunctional alcohol dehydrogenases of Escherichia coli and Clostridium acetobutylicum. The aldehyde/alcohol oxidoreductase of Amycolatopsis methanolica and the methanol dehydrogenases of A. methanolica and Mycobacterium gasti are 4-nitroso-N,N-dimethylaniline-dependent nicotinoproteins. (2) NAD(P)-independent enzymes that use pyrroloquinoline quinone, haem or cofactor F420 as cofactor, exemplified by methanol dehydrogenase of Paracoccus denitrificans, ethanol dehydrogenase of Acetobacter and Gluconobacter spp. and the alcohol dehydrogenases of certain archaebacteria. (3) Oxidases that catalyze an essentially irreversible oxidation of alcohols, such as methanol oxidase of Hansenula polymorpha and probably the veratryl alcohol oxidases of certain fungi involved in lignin degradation. This review deals mainly with those enzymes for which complete amino acid sequences are available. The discussion focuses on a comparison of their primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures and their catalytic mechanisms. The physiological roles of the enzymes and isoenzymes are also considered, as are their probable evolutionary relationships.

Transposon mutagenesis of Clostridium acetobutylicum P262: isolation and characterization of solvent deficient and metronidazole resistant mutants

An efficient transposon mutagenesis system using conjugative transposons Tn916 and Tn925::Tn917 was established for Clostridium acetobutylicum P262, an industrial strain which has proved difficult to manipulate genetically. Transposon insertions occurred at several different locations to produce a variety of mutants. An oligosporogenous mutant deficient in acetone and butanol production, and two sporulation-deficient and metronidazole resistant mutants were characterized with respect to differentiation and solvent production. Tn925::Tn917 inserted near a string of adenosine residues and transposon insertion was often multiple.

Cloning, sequencing, and molecular analysis of the sol operon of Clostridium acetobutylicum, a chromosomal locus involved in solventogenesis

A DNA region of Clostridium acetobutylicum contiguous with the adc operon has been cloned and sequenced. Structural genes encoding the acetoacetyl coenzyme A:acetate/butyrate:coenzyme A transferase (ctfB and ctfA) and an alcohol/aldehyde dehydrogenase (adhE) could be identified. These three genes together with a small open reading frame (ORF) of unknown function (upstream of adhE) formed an operon (sol operon), as shown by mRNA analyses. The complete sol operon was transcriptionally induced or derepressed before the onset of solventogenesis, thus confirming earlier results of Northern hybridizations with a ctfB gene probe (U. Gerischer and P. Dürre, J. Bacteriol. 174:426-433, 1992). Upstream of the sol operon, we identified two putative promoters that were located in regions with possible stem-loop structures formed by several inverted repeats. The distal promoter P1 showed only minor transcription initiation in solventogenic C. acetobutylicum cells but was recognized in Escherichia coli, presumably because of its high similarity to the sigma 70 consensus sequence. The adhE-proximal promoter P2 directed the major transcription start point in solventogenic C. acetobutylicum but was not recognized in E. coli. The clostridial AdhE showed high similarity to a novel family (type III) of alcohol dehydrogenases. Two other ORFs (ORF 5 and ORF 6) were found on the cloned DNA region that showed no significant similarity to sequences in various available data bases. mRNA studies revealed that ORF 5 formed a monocistronic operon and showed increased expression before onset of solventogenesis.

Purification and characterization of a primary-secondary alcohol dehydrogenase from two strains of Clostridium beijerinckii

Two primary alcohols (1-butanol and ethanol) are major fermentation products of several clostridial species. In addition to these two alcohols, the secondary alcohol 2-propanol is produced to a concentration of about 100 mM by some strains of Clostridium beijerinckii. An alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) has been purified to homogeneity from two strains (NRRL B593 and NESTE 255) of 2-propanol-producing C. beijerinckii. When exposed to air, the purified ADH was stable, whereas the partially purified ADH was inactivated. The ADHs from the two strains had similar structural and kinetic properties. Each had a native M(r) of between 90,000 and 100,000 and a subunit M(r) of between 38,000 and 40,000. The ADHs were NADP(H) dependent, but a low level of NAD(+)-linked activity was detected. They were equally active in reducing aldehydes and 2-ketones, but a much lower oxidizing activity was obtained with primary alcohols than with secondary alcohols. The kcat/Km value for the alcohol-forming reaction appears to be a function of the size of the larger alkyl substituent on the carbonyl group. ADH activities measured in the presence of both acetone and butyraldehyde did not exceed activities measured with either substrate present alone, indicating a common active site for both substrates. There was no similarity in the N-terminal amino acid sequence between that of the ADH and those of fungi and several other bacteria. However, the N-terminal sequence had 67% identity with those of two other anaerobes, Thermoanaerobium brockii and Methanobacterium palustre. Furthermore, conserved glycine and tryptophan residues are present in ADHs of these three anaerobic bacteria and ADHs of mammals and green plants.

Possible function of tRNA(Thr)ACG in regulation of solvent formation in Clostridium acetobutylicum

The mutation of Clostridium acetobutylicum mutant AA2, defective in the formation of acetone and butanol, was shown to be caused by a single insertion of Tn916 close to the structural gene thrA, encoding the tRNA(Thr)ACG. The DNA region containing the thrA gene was cloned and sequenced. Start and end points of the transcript were determined by primer extension and S1-mapping analysis. The results obtained were identical to predictions derived from the DNA sequence by various RNA-analysing computer programs. The rarely used ACG codon seems to be confined to genes expressed at the end of the exponential growth phase or involved in uptake or turnover of minor C or N substrates. Evolutionary aspects of this codon selection and a possible translational regulation mechanism are discussed.

Physiological Events in Clostridium acetobutylicum during the Shift from Acidogenesis to Solventogenesis in Continuous Culture and Presentation of a Model for Shift Induction

The pH of continuous cultures of Clostridium acetobutylicum growing at pH 5.6 was allowed to decrease to 4.3 after acid production and thereby to shift the cultures from acetate and butyrate to acetone and butanol formation. Several parameters were determined during the shift. An increase in the intracellular acid concentration to 440 mM was recorded. An excess of undissociated butyric acid but not of acetic acid just before the shift to solventogenesis was followed by a decline in acid production and subsequently by the uptake of acids. The intracellular ATP concentration reached a minimum before the onset of solventogenesis; this presumably reflects the ATP-consuming proton extrusion connected with the increase in the ΔpH from 0.7 to 1.4 units. The pool of NADH plus NADPH exhibited a drastic increase until solventogenesis was induced. The changes in the ATP and ADP and NADH plus NADPH pools during these pH shift experiments were the beginning of a stable metabolic oscillation which could also be recorded as an oscillation of the culture redox potential under steady-state solventogenic conditions. Similar changes were observed when the shift was induced by the addition of butyrate and acetate (50 mM each) to the continuous culture. However, when methyl viologen was added, important differences were found: ATP levels did not reach a minimum, acetoacetate decarboxylase activity could not be measured, and butanol but not acetone was produced. A model for the shift is proposed; it assumes the generation of two signals, one by the changed ATP and ADP levels and the other by the increased NAD(P)H level.

mRNA analysis of the adc gene region of Clostridium acetobutylicum during the shift to solventogenesis

By using primer extension analysis, we located the transcription start point of the acetoacetate decarboxylase (adc) gene of Clostridium acetobutylicum 90 nucleotides upstream from the initiation codon with A as the first transcribed nucleotide. From this site the promoter structure TTTACT(18 bp)TATAAT was identified; it shows high homology to the consensus sequences of gram-positive bacteria and Escherichia coli. Northern blot experiments revealed a length of 850 bases for the transcript of the adc gene. It thus represents a monocistronic operon. Transcription of adc was induced by conditions necessary for the onset of solvent formation. Induction occurred long before the respective fermentation product (acetone) could be detected in the medium. Transcription of the operon containing the genes for acetoacetyl coenzyme A:acetate/butyrate:coenzyme A transferase (designated ctf) downstream of the adc gene but divergently transcribed is also induced by conditions necessary for the onset of solvent formation. The length of the respective RNA transcript, 4.1 kb, indicates additional coding capacity, since the genes for the two subunits of the coenzyme A transferase cover only approximately 1.5 kb. No distinct transcripts for the other open reading frames of the adc gene region, ORF1 and ORF2, could be detected. Computer analysis indicated that ORF1, which showed significant similarity to the alpha-amylase gene of Bacillus subtilis (U. Gerischer and P. Dürre, J. Bacteriol. 172:6907-6918, 1990), probably is indeed a coding region. ORF2, however, does not seem to have a coding function.

Molecular cloning of an alcohol (butanol) dehydrogenase gene cluster from Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824

In Clostridium acetobutylicum, conversion of butyraldehyde to butanol is enzymatically achieved by butanol dehydrogenase (BDH). A C. acetobutylicum gene that encodes this protein was identified by using an oligonucleotide designed on the basis of the N-terminal amino acid sequence of purified C. acetobutylicum NADH-dependent BDH. Enzyme assays of cell extracts of Escherichia coli harboring the clostridial gene demonstrated 15-fold-higher NADH-dependent BDH activity than untransformed E. coli, as well as an additional NADPH-dependent BDH activity. Kinetic, sequence, and isoelectric focusing analyses suggest that the cloned clostridial DNA contains two or more distinct C. acetobutylicum enzymes with BDH activity.

Cloning, sequencing, and molecular analysis of the acetoacetate decarboxylase gene region from Clostridium acetobutylicum

Acetoacetate decarboxylase (ADC) (EC4.1.1.4) of Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM 792 was purified to homogeneity, and its first 25 N-terminal amino acids were determined. Oligonucleotide probes deduced from this sequence were used to detect positive clones in partial gene banks derived from Sau3A and HaeIII digests with following ligation into the vector pUC9. In Escherichia coli, the 2.1-kbp HaeIII clones expressed high levels of ADC activity. The expression was independent of the orientation of the insert with respect to the lac promoter of the vector and also of the addition of isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside, thus indicating that sequences located on the clostridial DNA controlled transcription and translation. From the E. coli clone with the recombinant plasmid pUG93 containing the 2.1-kbp HaeIII fragment, the ADC protein was purified and compared with the native enzyme. Both were indistinguishable with respect to the molecular mass of subunits and native protein as well as to activity stain. The 2.9-kbp Sau3A fragment could be shown to contain the amino terminus of the acetoacetate decarboxylase (adc) gene but did not express enzyme activity. It partially overlapped with the HaeIII fragment, spanning together 4,053 bp of the clostridial genome that were completely sequenced. Four open reading frames (ORFs) could be detected, one of which was unambiguously assigned to the acetoacetate decarboxylase (adc) gene. Amino acid sequences of the N terminus and the catalytic center as deduced from the nucleotide sequence were identical to sequences obtained from direct analysis of the protein. Typical procaryotic transcriptional and translational start and stop signals could be found in the DNA sequence. Together with these regulatory sequences, the adc gene formed a single operon. The carboxyl terminus of the enzyme proved to be rather hydrophobic. In vitro transcription-translation assays resulted in formation of ADC and ORF3 gene product; the other two ORFs were not expressed. Whereas no homology of the adc gene and ORF2 could be detected with sequences available in the EMBL or GenBank data bases, the obviously truncated ORF1 showed significant similarity to alpha-amylase of Bacillus subtilis. The restriction pattern and N-terminal amino acid sequence (as deduced from the nucleotide sequence) of ORF3 proved to be identical to those of the large subunit of acetoacetyl coenzyme A:acetate/butyrate:coenzyme A transferase.