Regulation of the synthesis of hydrogenase (formate hydrogen-lyase linked) of E. coli

Co-production of hydrogen and ethyl acetate in Escherichia coli

BACKGROUND

Ethyl acetate (C₄H₈O₂) and hydrogen (H₂) are industrially relevant compounds that preferably are produced via sustainable, non-petrochemical production processes. Both compounds are volatile and can be produced by Escherichia coli before. However, relatively low yields for hydrogen are obtained and a mix of by-products renders the sole production of hydrogen by micro-organisms unfeasible. High yields for ethyl acetate have been achieved, but accumulation of formate remained an undesired but inevitable obstacle. Coupling ethyl acetate production to the conversion of formate into H₂ may offer an interesting solution to both drawbacks. Ethyl acetate production requires equimolar amounts of ethanol and acetyl-CoA, which enables a redox neutral fermentation, without the need for production of by-products, other than hydrogen and CO₂.

RESULTS

We engineered Escherichia coli towards improved conversion of formate into H₂ and CO₂ by inactivating the formate hydrogen lyase repressor (hycA), both uptake hydrogenases (hyaAB, hybBC) and/or overexpressing the hydrogen formate lyase activator (fhlA), in an acetate kinase (ackA) and lactate dehydrogenase (ldhA)-deficient background strain. Initially 10 strains, with increasing number of modifications were evaluated in anaerobic serum bottles with respect to growth. Four reference strains ΔldhAΔackA, ΔldhAΔackA p3-fhlA, ΔldhAΔackAΔhycAΔhyaABΔhybBC and ΔldhAΔackAΔhycAΔhyaABΔhybBC p3-fhlA were further equipped with a plasmid carrying the heterologous ethanol acyltransferase (Eat1) from Wickerhamomyces anomalus and analyzed with respect to their ethyl acetate and hydrogen co-production capacity. Anaerobic co-production of hydrogen and ethyl acetate via Eat1 was achieved in 1.5-L pH-controlled bioreactors. The cultivation was performed at 30 °C in modified M9 medium with glucose as the sole carbon source. Anaerobic conditions and gas stripping were established by supplying N₂ gas.

CONCLUSIONS

We showed that the engineered strains co-produced ethyl acetate and hydrogen to yields exceeding 70% of the pathway maximum for ethyl acetate and hydrogen, and propose in situ product removal via gas stripping as efficient technique to isolate the products of interest.

Multilevel optimisation of anaerobic ethyl acetate production in engineered Escherichia coli

BACKGROUND

Ethyl acetate is a widely used industrial solvent that is currently produced by chemical conversions from fossil resources. Several yeast species are able to convert sugars to ethyl acetate under aerobic conditions. However, performing ethyl acetate synthesis anaerobically may result in enhanced production efficiency, making the process economically more viable.

RESULTS

We engineered an E. coli strain that is able to convert glucose to ethyl acetate as the main fermentation product under anaerobic conditions. The key enzyme of the pathway is an alcohol acetyltransferase (AAT) that catalyses the formation of ethyl acetate from acetyl-CoA and ethanol. To select a suitable AAT, the ethyl acetate-forming capacities of Atf1 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Eat1 from Kluyveromyces marxianus and Eat1 from Wickerhamomyces anomalus were compared. Heterologous expression of the AAT-encoding genes under control of the inducible LacI/T7 and XylS/Pm promoters allowed optimisation of their expression levels.

CONCLUSION

Engineering efforts on protein and fermentation level resulted in an E. coli strain that anaerobically produced 42.8 mM (3.8 g/L) ethyl acetate from glucose with an unprecedented efficiency, i.e. 0.48 C-mol/C-mol or 72% of the maximum pathway yield.

Redesigning Escherichia coli metabolism for anaerobic production of isobutanol

Fermentation enables the production of reduced metabolites, such as the biofuels ethanol and butanol, from fermentable sugars. This work demonstrates a general approach for designing and constructing a production host that uses a heterologous pathway as an obligately fermentative pathway to produce reduced metabolites, specifically, the biofuel isobutanol. Elementary mode analysis was applied to design an Escherichia coli strain optimized for isobutanol production under strictly anaerobic conditions. The central metabolism of E. coli was decomposed into 38,219 functional, unique, and elementary modes (EMs). The model predictions revealed that during anaerobic growth E. coli cannot produce isobutanol as the sole fermentative product. By deleting 7 chromosomal genes, the total 38,219 EMs were constrained to 12 EMs, 6 of which can produce high yields of isobutanol in a range from 0.29 to 0.41 g isobutanol/g glucose under anaerobic conditions. The remaining 6 EMs rely primarily on the pyruvate dehydrogenase enzyme complex (PDHC) and are typically inhibited under anaerobic conditions. The redesigned E. coli strain was constrained to employ the anaerobic isobutanol pathways through deletion of 7 chromosomal genes, addition of 2 heterologous genes, and overexpression of 5 genes. Here we present the design, construction, and characterization of an isobutanol-producing E. coli strain to illustrate the approach. The model predictions are evaluated in relation to experimental data and strategies proposed to improve anaerobic isobutanol production. We also show that the endogenous alcohol/aldehyde dehydrogenase AdhE is the key enzyme responsible for the production of isobutanol and ethanol under anaerobic conditions. The glycolytic flux can be controlled to regulate the ratio of isobutanol to ethanol production.

An HcpR homologue from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans and its possible role in nitrate reduction and nitrosative stress

The Escherichia coli CRP (cAMP receptor protein), is a global regulator of transcription that modulates gene expression by activation or repression at a range of promoters in E. coli. A major function is to regulate the selection of nutrients required for growth. The anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ATCC27774 is capable of utilizing sulfate, nitrite and nitrate as terminal electron acceptors. In the presence of both sulfate and nitrate, sulfate is reduced preferentially despite nitrate being the thermodynamically more favourable electron acceptor. Three inverted repeat sequences upstream of the D. desulfuricans ATCC27774 nap (nitrate reduction in the periplasm) operon have high levels of similarity to the consensus sequence for the E. coli CRP DNA-binding site. In other Desulfovibrio species a putative CRP homologue, HcpR [regulator of hcp (hybrid cluster protein) transcription], has a predicted regulon comprising genes involved in sulfate reduction and nitrosative stress. The presence of CRP consensus sites within the D. desulfuricans ATCC27774 nap promoter prompted a search for CRP homologues in the genomes of sulfate-reducing bacteria. This revealed the presence of a potential CRP homologue that we predict binds to CRP consensus sites such as those of the nap operon. Furthermore, we predict that much of the core HcpR regulon predicted in other Desulfovibrio species is conserved in D. desulfuricans.

The N-terminal arm of the Helicobacter pylori Ni2+-dependent transcription factor NikR is required for specific DNA binding

The Ni(2+)-dependent transcription factor NikR is widespread among microbes. The two experimentally characterized NikR orthologs, from Helicobacter pylori and Escherichia coli, display vastly different regulatory capabilities in response to increased intracellular Ni(2+). Here, we demonstrate that the nine-residue N-terminal arm present in H. pylori NikR plays a critical role in the expanded regulatory capabilities of this NikR family member. Specifically, the N-terminal arm is required to inhibit NikR binding to low affinity and nonspecific DNA sequences and is also linked to a cation requirement for NikR binding to the nixA promoter. Site-directed mutagenesis and arm-truncation variants of NikR indicate that two residues, Asp-7 and Asp-8, are linked to the cation requirement for binding. Pro-4 and Lys-6 are required for maximal DNA binding affinity of the full-length protein to both the nixA and ureA promoters. The N-terminal arm is highly variable among NikR family members, and these results suggest that it is an adaptable structural feature that can tune the regulatory capabilities of NikR to the nickel physiology of the microbe in which it is found.

Maturation of hydrogenases

Enzymes possessing the capacity to oxidize molecular hydrogen have developed convergently three class of enzymes leading to: [FeFe]-, [NiFe]-, and [FeS]-cluster-free hydrogenases. They differ in the composition and the structure of the active site metal centre and the sequence of the constituent structural polypeptides but they show one unifying feature, namely the existence of CN and/or CO ligands at the active site Fe. Recent developments in the analysis of the maturation of [FeFe]- and [NiFe]- hydrogenases have revealed a remarkably complex pattern of mostly novel biochemical reactions. Maturation of [FeFe]-hydrogenases requires a minimum of three auxiliary proteins, two of which belong to the class of Radical-SAM enzymes and other to the family of GTPases. They are sufficient to generate active enzyme when their genes are co-expressed with the structural genes in a heterologous host, otherwise deficient in [FeFe]-hydrogenase expression. Maturation of the large subunit of [NiFe]-hydrogenases depends on the activity of at least seven core proteins that catalyse the synthesis of the CN ligand, have a function in the coordination of the active site iron, the insertion of nickel and the proteolytic maturation of the large subunit. Whereas this core maturation machinery is sufficient to generate active hydrogenase in the cytoplasm, like that of hydrogenase 3 from Escherichia coli, additional proteins are involved in the export of the ready-assembled heterodimeric enzyme to the periplasm via the twin-arginine translocation system in the case of membrane-bound hydrogenases. A series of other gene products with intriguing putative functions indicate that the minimal pathway established for E. coli [NiFe]-hydrogenase maturation may possess even higher complexity in other organisms.

The hydrogenases and formate dehydrogenases of Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli has the capacity to synthesise three distinct formate dehydrogenase isoenzymes and three hydrogenase isoenzymes. All six are multisubunit, membrane-associated proteins that are functional in the anaerobic metabolism of the organism. One of the formate dehydrogenase isoenzymes is also synthesised in aerobic cells. Two of the formate dehydrogenase enzymes and two hydrogenases have a respiratory function while the formate dehydrogenase and hydrogenase associated with the formate hydrogenlyase pathway are not involved in energy conservation. The three formate dehydrogenases are molybdo-selenoproteins while the three hydrogenases are nickel enzymes; all six enzymes have an abundance of iron-sulfur clusters. These metal requirements alone invoke the necessity for a profusion of ancillary enzymes which are involved in the preparation and incorporation of these cofactors. The characterisation of a large number of pleiotropic mutants unable to synthesise either functionally active formate dehydrogenases or hydrogenases has led to the identification of a number of these enzymes. However, it is apparent that there are many more accessory proteins involved in the biosynthesis of these isoenzymes than originally anticipated. The biochemical function of the vast majority of these enzymes is not understood. Nevertheless, through the construction and study of defined mutants, together with sequence comparisons with homologous proteins from other organisms, it has been possible at least to categorise them with regard to a general requirement for the biosynthesis of all three isoenzymes or whether they have a specific function in the assembly of a particular enzyme. The identification of the structural genes encoding the formate dehydrogenase and hydrogenase isoenzymes has enabled a detailed dissection of how their expression is coordinated to the metabolic requirement for their products. Slowly, a picture is emerging of the extremely complex and involved path of events leading to the regulated synthesis, processing and assembly of catalytically active formate dehydrogenase and hydrogenase isoenzymes. This article aims to review the current state of knowledge regarding the biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology and physiology of these enzymes.

Mutations in trans that affect formate dehydrogenase (fdhF) gene expression in Salmonella typhimurium

Expression of the fdhF locus of Salmonella typhimurium is shown to be dependent upon ntrA and oxrB. However, the oxrB8 mutation is pleiotropic and also affects the expression of hyd, pepT, and chlC, whereas a mutation in ntrA does not. Insertional inactivation with Tn10 and localized mutagenesis permitted the definition and partial characterization of two new genes, fdhS and fdhR, which appear to be involved in the positive regulation of fdhF expression. Both genes were mapped to the 71- to 72-min region of the S. typhimurium chromosome with the gene order fdhS-crp-fdhR-rpsL. Mutations in fdhS specifically affect fdhF expression without affecting the expression of the other anaerobically induced genes or enzymes that were tested, including hyd, pepT, chlC, nitrite reductase, sulfite reductase, and trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase. Both fdhR and fdhS may be involved in fdhF regulation vis-à-vis oxygen, since localized mutagenesis produced alleles of both genes that permitted the aerobic expression of fdhF. However, fdhR may more directly interact with fdhF, since insertional inactivation of fdhS does not abolish aerobic expression of fdhF in fdhR mutant strains. Taken together, these results suggest that fdhS and fdhR act in concert under anaerobic conditions to activate fdhF transcription.

Genetic regulation of formate hydrogenlyase of Escherichia coli: role of the fhlA gene product as a transcriptional activator for a new regulatory gene, fhlB

A new gene whose product is required for the production of formate hydrogenlyase (FHL) has been identified in Escherichia coli. This gene, termed fhlB, maps between the frdA (94.4 min) and argI (96.6 min) genes on the E. coli chromosome and is transcribed in a clockwise direction toward argI. Biochemical analysis of an FhlB- mutant, strain SE-2011 [phi(fhlB-lacZ+)], revealed that the mutant lacks formate dehydrogenase activity associated with FHL (FDH-H) and hydrogenase activity. As a result of these defects, fermentative hydrogen production and hydrogen uptake reactions were undetectable in strain SE-2011. Fumarate reductase activity of this mutant was also reduced to about 15% of the levels of the parent (strain MC4100), and strain SE-2011 did not produce succinate as a fermentation end product. Regulation of expression of the fhlB gene, studied as production of beta-galactosidase activity by strain SE-2011, revealed that the operon is expressed at low levels under aerobic conditions. Under anaerobic growth conditions, this activity increased by two- to threefold. Addition of formate enhanced the differential rate of synthesis of the fhlB gene product to as high as 130 U of beta-galactosidase specific activity per microgram of cell protein, but only under anaerobic conditions. Formate-dependent expression of phi(fhlB-lacZ+) required the sigma 54 subunit of RNA polymerase and the fhlA gene product. The concentration of formate required for maximum expression of the fhlB gene was about 15 mM; this value decreased to about 3 mM in the presence of plasmid pSE-133, which carries the fhlA gene in a multicopy plasmid. DNA sequence analysis of the fhlA gene showed that the FhlA protein is 686 amino acids long and has an anhydrous molecular weight of 78,086. On the basis of sequence homology with other transcriptional activators such as NtrC, HydG, and Klebsiella pneumoniae NifA proteins, the FhlA protein was deduced to be a transcriptional activator controlling the production of FHL. It is proposed that formate interacts with the FhlA protein and that this active complex initiates transcription of the fhlB gene. The FhlA and FhlB proteins act as a cascade in regulating the production of FDH-H and the FHL-linked hydrogenase and ultimately the production of FHL and fermentative hydrogen.

Complementation of Escherichia coli sigma 54 (NtrA)-dependent formate hydrogenlyase activity by a cloned Thiobacillus ferrooxidans ntrA gene

The ntrA gene of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans was cloned by complementation of an Escherichia coli ntrA mutant that was unable to produce gas via the sigma 54 (NtrA)-dependent formate hydrogenlyase pathway. Analysis of the DNA sequence showed that the T. ferrooxidans ntrA gene coded for a protein of 475 amino acids (calculated Mr, 52,972). The T. ferrooxidans NtrA protein had 49, 44, 33, and 18% amino acid similarity with the NtrA proteins of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Azotobacter vinelandii, Rhizobium meliloti, and Rhodobacter capsulatus, respectively. The ability of the T. ferrooxidans NtrA protein to direct transcription from sigma 54-dependent promoters was demonstrated in E. coli by using fdhF-lacZ and nifH-lacZ fusions. An open reading frame coding for a protein of 241 amino acids (calculated Mr, 27,023) was situated 12 base pairs upstream of the T. ferrooxidans ntrA gene. Comparison of this protein with the product of the open reading frame ORF1, located upstream of the R. meliloti ntrA gene, showed that the two proteins had 55% amino acid similarity. The cloned T. ferrooxidans ntrA gene was expressed in E. coli from a promoter located within the ORF1 coding region.

Characterization of divergent NtrA-dependent promoters in the anaerobically expressed gene cluster coding for hydrogenase 3 components of Escherichia coli

The regulatory region of two divergently oriented transcriptional units involved in the formation of the gas-evolving hydrogenase (isoenzyme 3) of Escherichia coli was investigated. DNA sequence analysis revealed the existence of a 210 bp non-coding region containing two sequences showing homology to -24/-12 NtrA-dependent promoters. These sequences were arranged in a divergent orientation entirely consistent with their being involved in transcribing the divergent operons. Through S1 protection experiments it could be shown that transcription of both promoters was NtrA-dependent and that it was regulated in an identical manner: oxygen repressed expression, as did anaerobic growth in the presence of nitrate; transcription was induced in cells grown anaerobically in the absence of exogenous electron acceptors and formate was found to be obligately required for this anaerobic induction. Lying at an approximately equal distance between both promoters was a short stretch of DNA which showed similarity to the sequence previously identified (Birkmann and Böck, 1989a) as being necessary for formate induction of the fdhF gene.

Nickel deficiency gives rise to the defective hydrogenase phenotype of hydC and fnr mutants in Escherichia coli

Hydrogenase activity and other hydrogenase-related functions can be restored to hydC mutants by the specific addition of nickel salts to the growth medium. These mutants are defective in all three hydrogenase isoenzymes and the restoration is dependent upon protein synthesis. The cellular nickel content of the mutant when grown in LB medium is less than 1% of that of the parental strain. Partial suppression of the hydrogenase phenotype of hydC mutants occurs when growth takes place in a different medium. This correlates with an increased cellular nickel content. The phenotype of the mutant is also fully suppressed by growth in media of very low magnesium content. Such media facilitate nickel uptake via the magnesium transport system, which leads to the acquisition of a normal cellular nickel content. Mutations in the fnr gene, which encodes a transcriptional regulator for several anaerobically expressed enzymes, abolishes hydC expression and gives rise to a defective hydrogenase phenotype. The hydrogenase phenotype of fnr is closely similar to that of hydC in all respects examined. The hydrogenase activity of fnr strains can be restored by the presence of a functional hydC gene on a multicopy plasmid. The hydrogenase phenotype of fnr strains therefore arises indirectly via suppression of hydC, which leads to a low cellular nickel content. Nickel has no influence on fumarate reductase or nitrate reductase activities in fnr strains. The hydrogen-metabolism phenotype of fnr strains is, therefore, dependent upon their ability to acquire nickel from growth media. It is likely that hydC encodes a specific transport system for nickel.

Mutations in trans which affect the anaerobic expression of a formate dehydrogenase (fdhF) structural gene

An operon fusion was constructed in which the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene (cat) is under the transcriptional control of the anaerobically-activated formate dehydrogenase (fdhF) gene promoter. It was used as a screening system for mutations in trans which prevent the formate-dependent anaerobic induction of fdhF gene expression. Five classes of mutants were identified. The defect in class I mutants was complemented by a plasmid (pBA11) or subclones thereof, which harbor genes of the Escherichia coli 58 min hyd (hydrogenase) gene cluster. They may comprise regulatory gene mutants. The phenotype of class II mutants was reversed by supplementing the medium with 100 microM MoO4(2-); WO4(2-) could substitute for MoO4(2-) in restoring anaerobic induction by formate. Similarly, class III mutants were phenotypically suppressed by inclusion of 500 microM Ni2+ in the medium; these mutants were shown to carry a defective fnr gene. The mutant of class IV had a defect in a formate dehydrogenase structural gene and that of class V was unable to grow under fermentative conditions while maintaining the capability to grow anaerobically in the presence of electron acceptors.

Hydrogen metabolism in Escherichia coli: biochemical and genetic evidence for a hydF gene

A new gene whose product is essential for production of all three hydrogenase isoenzymes in Escherichia coli has been identified. This gene, termed hydF, mapped at 59 min in the E. coli chromosome and resided next to the hydB gene. The map order of these genes was hydE, hydF, hydB, fhlA, and fdv. The hydF gene was transcribed from its own promoter and coded for a protein with an apparent molecular weight of 43,000 to 44,000. Expression of the hydF operon was enhanced by anaerobic growth conditions. Partial products of the hydF gene were capable of supporting various levels of hydrogenase activity in a hydF mutant in the presence of the fhlA gene product, also produced from multicopy plasmids. In the presence of a second mutation in an unidentified, unlinked gene, hydrogenase activity in a hydF mutant was restored by plasmids which carried incomplete hydF and hydB+ genes. These results suggest that the products of hydF and fhlA interact with each other and with yet one other gene product.

Gene-product relationships of fhlA and fdv genes of Escherichia coli

Synthesis of formate dehydrogenase coupled to formate hydrogenlyase activity in Escherichia coli was found to require the product of the fhlA gene. Transcription of fdhF, the gene coding for the 80-kilodalton (kDa) selenopeptide of formate dehydrogenase, was not detected in an fhlA genetic background. Mutations in the fhlA gene also abolished production of the hydrogenase activity associated with formate hydrogenlyase activity. The fhlA gene resides next to the hydB gene at 59 min in the E. coli chromosome, and the two genes are transcribed in opposite directions. The fhlA gene codes for a 78-kDa protein. A neighboring gene, fdv, codes for an 82-kDa protein, and the physiological role of this gene product is unknown, although a role in H2 metabolism can be detected.

Biochemical and genetic analysis of hydrogen metabolism in Escherichia coli: the hydB gene

Production of active hydrogenase by Escherichia coli requires several gene products. One of the essential genes, hydB, is encoded by a DNA fragment of approximately 1.0 kilobase. The hydB gene produced a protein with an apparent molecular weight of 32,000. The hydB gene was transcribed only under anaerobic conditions. Oxygen and nitrate repressed transcription of this gene. hydB gene transcription also required sigma 60, the product of the rpoN gene.

Anaerobic regulation of pyruvate formate-lyase from Escherichia coli K-12

The anaerobic regulation of the gene encoding pyruvate formate-lyase from Escherichia coli was investigated. Expression of a pfl'-'lacZ protein fusion demonstrated that the gene is subject to a 12-fold anaerobic induction which can be stimulated a further 2-fold by the addition of pyruvate to the growth medium. Construction of a strain deleted for pfl verified that either pyruvate or a metabolite of glycolysis functions as an inducer of pfl gene expression. Complete anaerobic induction required the presence of a functional fnr gene product. However, the dependence was not absolute since a two- to threefold anaerobic induction could still be observed in an fnr mutant. These results could be confirmed immunologically by analyzing the levels of pyruvate formate-lyase protein present in cells grown under various conditions. It was also shown that pfl'-'lacZ expression was partially repressed by nitrate and that this repression was mediated by the narL gene product.

Influence of nar (nitrate reductase) genes on nitrate inhibition of formate-hydrogen lyase and fumarate reductase gene expression in Escherichia coli K-12

In Escherichia coli, aerobiosis inhibits the synthesis of enzymes for anaerobic respiration (e.g., nitrate reductase and fumarate reductase) and for fermentation (e.g., formate-hydrogen lyase). Anaerobically, nitrate induces nitrate reductase synthesis and inhibits the formation of both fumarate reductase and formate-hydrogen lyase. Previous work has shown that narL+ is required for the effects of nitrate on synthesis of both nitrate reductase and fumarate reductase. Another gene, narK (whose function is unknown), has no observable effect on formation of these enzymes. We report here our studies on the role of nar genes in fumarate reductase and formate-hydrogen lyase gene expression. We observed that insertions in narX (also of unknown function) significantly relieved nitrate inhibition of fumarate reductase gene expression. This phenotype was distinct from that of narL insertions, which abolished this nitrate effect under certain growth conditions. In contrast, insertion mutations in narK and narGHJI (the structural genes for the nitrate reductase enzyme complex) significantly relieved nitrate inhibition of formate-hydrogen lyase gene expression. Insertions in narL had a lesser effect, and insertions in narX had no effect. We conclude that nitrate affects formate-hydrogen lyase synthesis by a pathway distinct from that for nitrate reductase and fumarate reductase.

Nickel affects expression of the nickel-containing hydrogenase of Alcaligenes latus

The effects of nickel on the expression of hydrogenase in the hydrogen-oxidizing bacterium Alcaligenes latus were studied. In the absence of added nickel, both hydrogenase activity, measured as O2-dependent H2 uptake, and hydrogenase protein, measured in a Western immunoblot, were very low compared with the levels in cells induced for hydrogenase in the presence of nickel. Hydrogenase activity and protein levels were dependent on the added nickel concentration and were saturated at 30 nM added Ni2+. The amount of hydrogenase protein in a culture at a given nickel concentration was calculated from the H2 uptake activity of the culture at that Ni2+ concentration. Between 0 and 30 nM added Ni2+, the amount of hydrogenase protein (in nanomoles) was stoichiometric with the amount of added Ni2+. Thus, all of the added Ni2+ could be accounted for in hydrogenase. Between 0 and 50 nM added Ni2+, all the Ni present in the cultures was associated with the cells after 12 h; above 50 nM added Ni2+, some Ni remained in the medium. No other divalent metal cations tested were able to substitute for Ni2+ in the formation of active hydrogenase. We suggest two possible mechanisms for the regulation of hydrogenase activity and protein levels by nickel.

How is nitrogenase regulated by oxygen?

Oxygen can be either beneficial or detrimental for diazotrophy in organisms capable of an aerobic catabolism. It supports the production of a substrate for nitrogenase (ATP), but it can also inhibit the activity and repress the synthesis of this enzyme. Here, aspects of the relevant physiology are reviewed with particular emphasis on those relating to the mechanism of O2 regulation of nitrogenase synthesis.

Novel regulatory loci controlling oxygen- and pH-regulated gene expression in Salmonella typhimurium

Three new loci were discovered, each of which participates in the regulation of anaerobic gene expression. The regulatory gene earA negatively regulates the expression of the anaerobiosis-inducible gene aniG as well as that of at least three other genes, as determined by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The earA locus maps at 86 min. The expression of aniG was also shown to be controlled by changes in external pH under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Maximal expression was observed under anaerobic conditions at an external pH of 6.0. Significant transcriptional activity was also observed under aerobic conditions at pH 6.0. This was in contrast to hyd, whose expression was dependent upon anaerobiosis and varied with external pH. The pH dependence disappeared under fully aerobic conditions. Mutations in earA had no effect upon hyd expression. The two other regulators identified were oxrF, which controls aniH, and oxrG, which, in concert with oxrA and oxrB, controls aniC and aniI. The oxrG locus was mapped to 88 min and appears to code for a positive regulator. Various oxr mutants were subjected to two-dimensional polyacrylamide electrophoretic analysis of anaerobiosis-inducible proteins. Several pathways of anaerobic control were observed by means of these techniques.

Involvement of the ntrA gene product in the anaerobic metabolism of Escherichia coli

The ntr A gene product, required for expression of genes involved in nitrogen fixation (nif) and regulation (ntr), was shown to be necessary for the expression of the two enzymes of the anaerobically inducible formate hydrogenlyase (FHL) pathway, formate dehydrogenase (FDHH) and hydrogenase isoenzyme 3. Consistent with this finding, the gene encoding the selenopolypeptide (fdhF) of FDHH was shown to have a nif consensus promoter. The levels of six other anaerobically inducible enzymes were examined and found to be ntrA independent. Significantly, these latter six enzymes are dependent upon the fnr gene product for their expression while FDHH and hydrogenase 3 are fnr independent. These findings indicate that there are at least two classes of anaerobically regulated promoters: one class which is ntrA dependent and fnr independent and a second class which is fnr dependent and ntr A independent.

Factors affecting transcriptional regulation of the formate-hydrogen-lyase pathway of Escherichia coli

The regulatory elements involved in expression of the gene (fdhF) for the selenopolypeptide of formate dehydrogenase and of a gene (or transcriptional unit) (hyd) specifically responsible for the formation of the gas-evolving hydrogenase (hydrogenase 3) in Escherichia coli were investigated. Formate (or a product of it) is required for expression of both systems since in a pyruvate-formate-lyase deficient mutant induction occurs only when formate is supplemented externally. Under this condition, formate can partially overcome repression by nitrate. The transcription of both the fdhF gene and the hydrogenase-3-encoding systems is independent of the presence of a wild-type fnr gene when formate is present, supporting the view that the Fnr effect on the formation of the formate-hydrogen-lyase pathway is indirect. Mutations blocking the synthesis of a functional molybdenum cofactor also had no major affect on fdhF and hyd expression. The nucleotide sequence of the 5' flanking region of the fdhF gene was determined and the transcription start point of the fdhF gene was localized by nuclease S1 mapping. Nuclease Bal31 generated deletion clones were constructed and the regulation of their expression was studied. Anaerobic expression and induction by formate depended on the presence of a stretch of approximately 185 nucleotides upstream of the translation start. Elements mediating formate induction and oxygen or nitrate repression could not be separated physically. The regulatory features of the fdhF upstream region bear striking resemblance to systems whose expression are dependent upon upstream activating elements.

Alteration by mutation of the control by oxygen of the nar operon in Escherichia coli

A nar-lac operon fusion was used to isolate a mutant in which the expression of the nar operon was no longer repressed by oxygen. The nard mutation, located upstream of the nar structural genes, was found to be cis dominant; it led to independence from the Fnr protein which, in the wild-type strain, exerts a strict positive control on the nar operon. Both other known controls, nitrate induction and autoregulation, were unaffected. It is proposed that molecular oxygen controls the expression of nar via Fnr and that the nard mutation affects the Fnr binding site of the narGHI control region.

Two genetically distinct pathways for transcriptional regulation of anaerobic gene expression in Salmonella typhimurium

Expression of the tripeptide permease gene tppB is anaerobically induced. This induction is independent of the fnr (oxrA) gene product, which is known to be required for the anaerobic induction of several respiratory enzymes. We isolated, characterized, and mapped mutations in two genes, oxrC and tppR, which prevent the anaerobic induction of tppB expression. Mutations in oxrC were highly pleiotropic, preventing the anaerobic expression of the formate dehydrogenase component of formate hydrogen lyase (fhl), a tripeptidase (pepT), and two of the three known hydrogenase isoenzymes (hydrogenases 1 and 3). On the other hand, expression of nitrate reductase, fumarate reductase, and a number of other fnr (oxrA)-dependent enzymes was not affected by mutations in oxrC. Thus, there appeared to be at least two distinct classes of anaerobically induced genes, those which required fnr for their expression and those which required oxrC. It seems that fnr-dependent enzymes perform primarily respiratory functions, whereas oxrC-dependent enzymes served fermentative or biosynthetic roles. We found the primary defect of oxrC mutants to be a deficiency in phosphoglucose isomerase activity, implying that a product of glycolysis functions as an anaerobic regulatory signal. Mutations in tppR were specific for tppB and did not affect expression of other oxrC-dependent genes. However, tppR did exhibit phenotypes other than the regulation of tppB. Both oxrC and tppR mutants were hypersensitive to the toxic NAD analog 6-aminonicotinic acid. This suggests that oxrC and tppR may play a role in the regulation of NAD biosynthesis or, alternatively, that NAD or a related nucleotide serves as the anaerobic signal for oxrC-dependent enzymes.

Genetic and physiological characterization of new Escherichia coli mutants impaired in hydrogenase activity

The Mu dl (ApR lac) bacteriophage was used to generate mutants of Escherichia coli which were defective in formate hydrogenlyase. Three mutants were chosen for further analysis: they lacked hydrogenase (hydrogen: benzyl viologen oxidoreductase) activity, but produced normal levels of fumarate reductase activity and two- to three-fold reduced levels of benzyl viologen (BV)-dependent formate dehydrogenase activity. Two of them (hydC) were shown to contain about 4-fold reduced amounts of formate hydrogenlyase and fumarate-dependent H2 uptake activities. The third one (hydD) was totally devoid of both activities. Their insertion sites were located at 77 min on the E. coli map. Subdivision of these mutants into two classes was subsequently based on the restoration capacity of hydrogenase activity with high concentration of nickel in the growth media. Addition of 500 microM NiCl2 led to a complete recovery of hydrogenase activity, and to the concomitant restoration of normal BV-linked formate dehydrogenase, formate hydrogenlyase and fumarate-dependent H2 uptake activities in the hydC mutants. The hydD mutant was insensitive to the effect of nickel. Expression of the lac operon in hydC and hydD mutants was induced by anaerobiosis. It was not increased by the addition of formate under anaerobic conditions. The presence of nitrate resulted in slightly reduced beta-galactosidase activities in the hydC mutants, whereas those found in the hydD mutant reached only one third of the level obtained in its absence. Fumarate had no effect on both classes. Moreover, in contrast to the hydD locus, the hydC::Mu dl fusions were found to be dependent upon the positive control exerted by the nirR gene product and were totally repressed by an excess of nickel. In addition, the low levels of overall hydrogenase-dependent activities found in a nirR strain were also relieved by the presence of nickel. Our results strongly suggest that the pleiotropic regulatory gene nirR is essential for the expression of a gene (hydC) involved in either transport or processing of nickel in the cell, whose alteration leads to a loss of hydrogenase activity.