Role of a repeated hexapeptide motif GIHFAP near C-terminus in assembly, stability, and activity of "HCH dehydrochlorinase LinA"

Innexin hemichannel activation by Microplitis bicoloratus ecSOD monopolymer reduces ROS

The extracellular superoxide dismutases (ecSODs) secreted by Microplitis bicoloratus reduce the reactive oxygen species (ROS) stimulated by the Microplitis bicoloratus bracovirus. Here, we demonstrate that the bacterial transferase hexapeptide (hexapep) motif and bacterial-immunoglobulin-like (BIg-like) domain of ecSODs bind to the cell membrane and transiently open hemichannels, facilitating ROS reductions. RNAi-mediated ecSOD silencing in vivo elevated ROS in host hemocytes, impairing parasitoid larva development. In vitro, the ecSOD-monopolymer needed to be membrane bound to open hemichannels. Furthermore, the hexapep motif in the beta-sandwich of ecSOD49 and ecSOD58, and BIg-like domain in the signal peptides of ecSOD67 were required for cell membrane binding. Hexapep motif and BIg-like domain deletions induced ecSODs loss of adhesion and ROS reduction failure. The hexapep motif and BIg-like domain mediated ecSOD binding via upregulating innexins and stabilizing the opened hemichannels. Our findings reveal a mechanism through which ecSOD reduces ROS, which may aid in developing anti-redox therapy.

Insights into Ongoing Evolution of the Hexachlorocyclohexane Catabolic Pathway from Comparative Genomics of Ten Sphingomonadaceae Strains

Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), a synthetic organochloride, was first used as a broad-acre insecticide in the 1940s, and many HCH-degrading bacterial strains have been isolated from around the globe during the last 20 years. To date, the same degradation pathway (the lin pathway) has been implicated in all strains characterized, although the pathway has only been characterized intensively in two strains and for only a single HCH isomer. To further elucidate the evolution of the lin pathway, we have biochemically and genetically characterized three HCH-degrading strains from the Czech Republic and compared the genomes of these and seven other HCH-degrading bacterial strains. The three new strains each yielded a distinct set of metabolites during their degradation of HCH isomers. Variable assembly of the pathway is a common feature across the 10 genomes, eight of which (including all three Czech strains) were either missing key lin genes or containing duplicate copies of upstream lin genes (linA-F). The analysis also confirmed the important role of horizontal transfer mediated by insertion sequence IS6100 in the acquisition of the pathway, with a stronger association of IS6100 to the lin genes in the new strains. In one strain, a linA variant was identified that likely caused a novel degradation phenotype involving a shift in isomer preference. This study identifies a number of strains that are in the early stages of lin pathway acquisition and shows that the state of the pathway can explain the degradation patterns observed.