Effects of nuclei acid compounds on viability and cell composition of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus during starvation

Uptake of intact nucleoside monophosphates by Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus 109J

The degraded nucleic acids and ribosomes of its prey cell provide Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus 109J with a source of ribonucleoside monophosphates and deoxyribonucleoside monophosphates for biosynthesis and respiration. We demonstrate that bdellovibrios, in contrast to almost all other bacteria, take up these nucleoside monophosphates into the cell in an intact, phosphorylated form. In this way they are able to assimilate more effectively the cellular contents of their prey. Studies with UMP and dTMP demonstrate that they are transported and accumulated against a concentration gradient, achieving internal levels at least 10 times the external levels. Treatment of the bdellovibrios with azide or carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone eliminates their ability to either transport or maintain accumulated UMP and suggests the presence of a freely reversible exchange mechanism. There are at least two separate classes of transport systems for nucleoside monophosphates, each exhibiting partial specificity for either ribonucleoside monophosphates or deoxyribonucleoside monophosphates. Kinetic analyses of UMP transport in different developmental stages of strain 109J indicate that each stage expresses a single, saturable uptake system with a distinct apparent substrate affinity constant (Kt) of 104 microM in attack phase cells and 35 microM in prematurely released growth phase filaments. The capacity for transport of UMP by the growth phase filaments was 2.4 times that of the attack phase cells. These data, in addition to the apparent lack of environmental control of UMP transport capacity in attack phase cells, suggest that there are two transport systems for UMP in bdellovibrios and that the high-affinity, high-capacity growth phase system is developmentally regulated.

Changes in Viability, Cell Composition, and Enzyme Levels During Starvation of Continuously Cultured (Ammonia-Limited) Selenomonas ruminantium

Under nitrogen (ammonia)-limited continuous culture conditions, the ruminal anaerobe Selenomonas ruminantium was grown at various dilution rates (D). The proportion of the population that was viable increased with D, being 91% at D = 0.5 h −1 . Washed cell suspensions were subjected to long-term nutrient starvation at 39°C. All populations exhibited logarithmic linear declines in viability that were related to the growth rate. Cells grown at D = 0.05, 0.20, and 0.50 lost about 50% viability after 8.1, 4.6, and 3.6 h, respectively. The linear rates of decline in total cell numbers were dramatically less and constant regardless of dilution rate. All major cell constituents declined during starvation, with the rates of decline being greatest with RNA, followed by DNA, carbohydrate, cell dry weight, and protein. The rates of RNA loss increased with cells grown at higher D values, whereas the opposite was observed for rates of carbohydrate losses. The majority of the degraded RNA was not catabolized but was excreted into the suspending buffer. At all D values, S. ruminantium produced mainly lactate and lesser amounts of acetate, propionate, and succinate during growth. With starvation, only small amounts of acetate were produced. Addition of glucose, vitamins, or both to the suspending buffer or starvation in the spent culture medium resulted in greater losses of viability than in buffer alone. Examination of extracts made from starving cells indicated that fructose diphosphate aldolase and lactate dehydrogenase activities remained relatively constant. Both urease and glutamate dehydrogenase activities declined gradually during starvation, whereas glutamine synthetase activity increased slightly. The data indicate that nitrogen (ammonia)-limited S. ruminantium cells have limited survival capacity, but this capacity is greater than that found previously with energy (glucose)-limited cells. Apparently no one cellular constituent serves as a catabolic substrate for endogenous metabolism. Relative to losses in viability, cellular enzymes are stable, indicating that nonviable cells maintain potential metabolic activity and that generalized, nonspecific enzyme degradation is not a major factor contributing to viability loss.

Periplasmic enzymes in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus and Bdellovibrio stolpii

When cells of either Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus 109J or Bdellovibrio stolpii UKi2 were subjected to osmotic shock by treatment with sucrose-EDTA and MgCl2 solutions, only trace amounts of proteins or enzyme activities were released into the shock fluid. In contrast, when nongrowing cells were converted to motile, osmotically stable, peptidoglycan-free spheroplasts by penicillin treatment, numerous proteins were released into the suspending fluid. For both species, this suspending fluid contained substantial levels of 5'-nucleotidase, purine phosphorylase, and deoxyribose-phosphate aldolase. Penicillin treatment also released aminoendopeptidase N from B. bacteriovorus, but not from B. stolpii. Penicillin treatment did not cause release of cytoplasmic enzymes such as malate dehydrogenase. The data indicated that bdellovibrios possess periplasmic enzymes or peripheral enzymes associated with the cell wall complex. During intraperiplasmic bdellovibrio growth, periplasmic and cytoplasmic enzymes of the Escherichia coli substrate cell were not released upon formation of the spherical bdelloplast during bdellovibrio penetration. Most of the E. coli enzymes were retained within the bdelloplast until later in the growth cycle, when they became inactivated or released into the suspending buffer or both.

Pyrimidine metabolism of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus grown intraperiplasmically and axenically

Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus grown axenically or intraperiplasmically on Escherichia coli has pathways for the interconversion of pyrimidines and the synthesis of pyrimidine nucleoside 5'-triphosphates similar to those found in the enteric bacteria. Minimal differences in enzyme activities were observed for axenically and intraperiplasmically grown cells. As might be expected for an organism which takes up deoxyribonucleoside 5'-monophosphates per se, high levels of enzymes which catalyze the generation of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates from monophosphates were found. In addition, all enzymes of the thymine salvage pathway, except for thymidine kinase, were directly demonstrated in wild-type strains. It was possible to demonstrate this activity only indirectly owing to an inhibitor in wild-type extracts. Investigations with inhibitors of pyrimidine interconversion reactions showed that essentially all B. bacteriovorus deoxyribonucleic acid not synthesized from units derived from E. coli deoxyribonucleic acid is made from components of the substrate organism's ribonucleic acid. Evidence for de novo pyrimidine synthesis from the amino acid level was not found for B. bacteriovorus grown on E. coli that had a high protein/deoxyribonucleic acid ratio or on normal E. coli. The potential for de novo pyrimidine synthesis by intraperiplasmically grown B. bacteriovorus, however, cannot be totally ruled out on the basis of these investigations.

Metabolism of RNA-ribose by Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus during intraperiplasmic growth on Escherichia coli

During intraperiplasmic growth of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus 109J on Escherichia coli some 30 to 60% of the initial E. coli RNA-ribose disappeared as cell-associated orcinol-positive material. The levels of RNA-ribose in the suspending buffer after growth together with the RNA-ribose used for bdellovibrio DNA synthesis accounted for 50% or less of the missing RNA-ribose. With intraperiplasmic growth in the presence of added U-14C-labeled CMP, GMP, or UMP, radioactivity was found both in the respired CO2 and incorporated into the bdellovibrio cell components. The addition of exogenous unlabeled ribonucleotides markedly reduced the amounts of both the 14CO2 and 14C incorporated into the progeny bdellovibrios. During intraperiplasmic growth of B. bacteriovorus on [U-14C]ribose-labeled E. coli BJ565, ca. 74% and ca. 19% of the initial 14C was incorporated into the progeny bdellovibrios and respired CO2, respectively. Under similar growth conditions, the addition of glutamate substantially reduced only the 14CO2; however, added ribonucleotides reduced both the 14CO2 and the 14C incorporated into the progeny bdellovibrios. No similar effects were found with added ribose-5-phosphate. The distribution of 14C in the major cell components was similar in progeny bdellovibrios whether obtained from growth on [U-14C]ribose-labeled E. coli BJ565 or from E. coli plus added U-14C-labeled ribonucleotides. After intraperiplasmic growth of B. bacteriovorus on [5,6-3H-]uracil-[U-14C]ribose-labeled E. coli BJ565 (normal or heat treated), the whole-cell 14C/3H ratio of the progeny bdellovibrios was some 50% greater and reflected the higher 14C/3H ratios found in the cell fractions. B. bacteriovorus and E. coli cell extracts both contained 5'-nucleotidase, uridine phosphorylase, purine phosphorylase, deoxyribose-5-phosphate aldolase, transketolase, thymidine phosphorylase, phosphodeoxyribomutase, and transaldolase enzyme activities. The latter three enzyme activities were either absent or very low in cell extracts prepared from heat-treated E. coli cells. It is concluded that during intraperiplasmic growth B. bacteriovorus degrades some 20 to 40% of the ribonucleotides derived from the initial E. coli RNA into the base and ribose-1-phosphate moieties. The ribose-1-phosphate is further metabolized by B. bacteriovorus both for energy production and for biosynthesis, of non-nucleic acid cell material. In addition, the data indicate that during intraperiplasmic growth B. bacteriovorus can metabolize ribose only if this compound is available to it as the ribonucleoside monophosphate.