Thiosine-resistant mutants of Escherichia coli K-12 with growth-medium-dependent lysyl-tRNA synthetase activity

Former orphan riboswitches reveal unexplored areas of bacterial metabolism, signaling, and gene control processes

Comparative sequence analyses have been used to discover numerous classes of structured noncoding RNAs, some of which are riboswitches that specifically recognize small-molecule or elemental ion ligands and influence expression of adjacent downstream genes. Determining the correct identity of the ligand for a riboswitch candidate typically is aided by an understanding of the genes under its regulatory control. Riboswitches whose ligands were straightforward to identify have largely been associated with well-characterized metabolic pathways, such as coenzyme or amino acid biosynthesis. Riboswitch candidates whose ligands resist identification, collectively known as orphan riboswitches, are often associated with genes coding for proteins of unknown function, or genes for various proteins with no established link to one another. The cognate ligands for 16 former orphan riboswitch motifs have been identified to date. The successful pursuit of the ligands for these classes has provided insight into areas of biology that are not yet fully explored, such as ion homeostasis, signaling networks, and other previously underappreciated biochemical or physiological processes. Herein we discuss the strategies and methods used to match ligands with orphan riboswitch classes, and overview the lessons learned to inform and motivate ongoing efforts to identify ligands for the many remaining candidates.

De Novo Guanine Biosynthesis but Not the Riboswitch-Regulated Purine Salvage Pathway Is Required for Staphylococcus aureus Infection In Vivo

De novo guanine biosynthesis is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that creates sufficient nucleotides to support DNA replication, transcription, and translation. Bacteria can also salvage nutrients from the environment to supplement the de novo pathway, but the relative importance of either pathway during Staphylococcus aureus infection is not known. In S. aureus, genes important for both de novo and salvage pathways are regulated by a guanine riboswitch. Bacterial riboswitches have attracted attention as a novel class of antibacterial drug targets because they have high affinity for small molecules, are absent in humans, and regulate the expression of multiple genes, including those essential for cell viability. Genetic and biophysical methods confirm the existence of a bona fide guanine riboswitch upstream of an operon encoding xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (xpt), xanthine permease (pbuX), inosine-5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase (guaB), and GMP synthetase (guaA) that represses the expression of these genes in response to guanine. We found that S. aureus guaB and guaA are also transcribed independently of riboswitch control by alternative promoter elements. Deletion of xpt-pbuX-guaB-guaA genes resulted in guanine auxotrophy, failure to grow in human serum, profound abnormalities in cell morphology, and avirulence in mouse infection models, whereas deletion of the purine salvage genes xpt-pbuX had none of these effects. Disruption of guaB or guaA recapitulates the xpt-pbuX-guaB-guaA deletion in vivo In total, the data demonstrate that targeting the guanine riboswitch alone is insufficient to treat S. aureus infections but that inhibition of guaA or guaB could have therapeutic utility.

IMPORTANCE

De novo guanine biosynthesis and purine salvage genes were reported to be regulated by a guanine riboswitch in Staphylococcus aureus We demonstrate here that this is not true, because alternative promoter elements that uncouple the de novo pathway from riboswitch regulation were identified. We found that in animal models of infection, the purine salvage pathway is insufficient for S. aureus survival in the absence of de novo guanine biosynthesis. These data suggest targeting the de novo guanine biosynthesis pathway may have therapeutic utility in the treatment of S. aureus infections.

The promise of riboswitches as potential antibacterial drug targets

Riboswitches represent promising novel RNA structures for developing compounds that artificially regulate gene expression and, thus, bacterial growth. The past years have seen increasing efforts to identify metabolite-analogues which act on riboswitches and which reveal antibacterial activity. Here, we summarize the current inventory of riboswitch-targeting compounds, their characteristics and antibacterial potential.

Amino acid recognition and gene regulation by riboswitches

Riboswitches specifically control expression of genes predominantly involved in biosynthesis, catabolism and transport of various cellular metabolites in organisms from all three kingdoms of life. Among many classes of identified riboswitches, two riboswitches respond to amino acids lysine and glycine to date. Though these riboswitches recognize small compounds, they both belong to the largest riboswitches and have unique structural and functional characteristics. In this review, we attempt to characterize molecular recognition principles employed by amino acid-responsive riboswitches to selectively bind their cognate ligands and to effectively perform a gene regulation function. We summarize up-to-date biochemical and genetic data available for the lysine and glycine riboswitches and correlate these results with recent high-resolution structural information obtained for the lysine riboswitch. We also discuss the contribution of lysine riboswitches to antibiotic resistance and outline potential applications of riboswitches in biotechnology and medicine.

Riboswitches: ancient and promising genetic regulators

BAIT AND SWITCH: Metabolite-sensing riboswitches make use of RNA structural modulation to regulate gene expression, as illustrated in the scheme, in response to subtle changes in metabolite concentrations. This review describes the current knowledge about naturally occurring riboswitches and their growing potential as antibacterial cellular targets and as molecular biosensors. Newly discovered metabolite-sensing riboswitches have revealed that cellular processes extensively make use of RNA structural modulation to regulate gene expression in response to subtle changes in metabolite concentrations. Riboswitches are involved at various regulation levels of gene expression, such as transcription attenuation, translation initiation, mRNA splicing and mRNA processing. Riboswitches are found in the three kingdoms of life, and in various cases, are involved in the regulation of essential genes, which makes their regulation an essential part of cell survival. Because riboswitches operate without the assistance of accessory proteins, they are believed to be remnants of an ancient time, when gene regulation was strictly based on RNA, from which are left numerous "living molecular fossils", as exemplified by ribozymes, and more spectacularly, by the ribosome. Due to their nature, riboswitches hold high expectations for the manipulation of gene expression and the detection of small metabolites, and also offer an unprecedented potential for the discovery of novel classes of antimicrobial agents.

An mRNA structure in bacteria that controls gene expression by binding lysine

Riboswitches are metabolite-responsive genetic control elements that reside in the untranslated regions (UTRs) of certain messenger RNAs. Herein, we report that the 5'-UTR of the lysC gene of Bacillus subtilis carries a conserved RNA element that serves as a lysine-responsive riboswitch. The ligand-binding domain of the riboswitch binds to L-lysine with an apparent dissociation constant (KD) of approximately 1 micro M, and exhibits a high level of molecular discrimination against closely related analogs, including D-lysine and ornithine. Furthermore, we provide evidence that this widespread class of riboswitches serves as a target for the antimetabolite S-(2-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine (AEC). These findings add support to the hypotheses that direct sensing of metabolites by messenger RNAs is a fundamental form of genetic control and that riboswitches represent a new class of antimicrobial drug targets.

Nonorthologous replacement of lysyl-tRNA synthetase prevents addition of lysine analogues to the genetic code

Insertion of lysine during protein synthesis depends on the enzyme lysyl-tRNA synthetase (LysRS), which exists in two unrelated forms, LysRS1 and LysRS2. LysRS1 has been found in most archaea and some bacteria, and LysRS2 has been found in eukarya, most bacteria, and a few archaea, but the two proteins are almost never found together in a single organism. Comparison of structures of LysRS1 and LysRS2 complexed with lysine suggested significant differences in their potential to bind lysine analogues with backbone replacements. One such naturally occurring compound, the metabolic intermediate S-(2-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine, is a bactericidal agent incorporated during protein synthesis via LysRS2. In vitro tests showed that S-(2-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine is a poor substrate for LysRS1, and that it inhibits LysRS1 200-fold less effectively than it inhibits LysRS2. In vivo inhibition by S-(2-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine was investigated by replacing the endogenous LysRS2 of Bacillus subtilis with LysRS1 from the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi. B. subtilis strains producing LysRS1 alone were relatively insensitive to growth inhibition by S-(2-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine, whereas a WT strain or merodiploid strains producing both LysRS1 and LysRS2 showed significant growth inhibition under the same conditions. These growth effects arising from differences in amino acid recognition could contribute to the distribution of LysRS1 and LysRS2 in different organisms. More broadly, these data demonstrate how diversity of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases prevents infiltration of the genetic code by noncanonical amino acids, thereby providing a natural reservoir of potential antibiotic resistance.

Linkage map of Escherichia coli K-12, edition 10: the traditional map

This map is an update of the edition 9 map by Berlyn et al. (M. K. B. Berlyn, K. B. Low, and K. E. Rudd, p. 1715-1902, in F. C. Neidhardt et al., ed., Escherichia coli and Salmonella: cellular and molecular biology, 2nd ed., vol. 2, 1996). It uses coordinates established by the completed sequence, expressed as 100 minutes for the entire circular map, and adds new genes discovered and established since 1996 and eliminates those shown to correspond to other known genes. The latter are included as synonyms. An alphabetical list of genes showing map location, synonyms, the protein or RNA product of the gene, phenotypes of mutants, and reference citations is provided. In addition to genes known to correspond to gene sequences, other genes, often older, that are described by phenotype and older mapping techniques and that have not been correlated with sequences are included.

Lysyl-tRNA synthetase

Lysyl-tRNA synthetase catalyses the formation of lysyl-transfer RNA, Lys-tRNA(Lys), which then is ready to insert lysine into proteins. Lysine is important for proteins since it is one of only two proteinogenic amino acids carrying an alkaline functional group. Seven genes of lysyl-tRNA synthetases have been localized in five organisms, and the nucleotide and the amino acid sequences have been established. The lysyl-tRNA synthetase molecules are of average chain lengths among the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, which range from about 300 to 1100 amino acids. Lysyl-tRNA synthetases act as dimers; in eukaryotes they can be localized in multienzyme complexes and can contain carbohydrates or lipids. Lysine tRNA is recognized by lysyl-tRNA synthetase via standard identity elements, namely anticodon region and acceptor stem. The aminoacylation follows the standard two-step mechanism. However the accuracy of selecting lysine against the other amino acids is less than average. The first threedimensional structure of a lysyl-tRNA synthetase worked out very recently, using the enzyme from the Escherichia coli lysU gene which binds one molecule of lysine, is similar to those of other class II synthetases. However, none of the reaction steps catalyzed by the enzyme is clarified to atomic resolution. Thus surprising findings might be possible. Lysyl-tRNA synthetase and its precursors as well as its substrates and products are targets and starting points of many regulation circuits, e.g. in multienzyme complex formation and function, dinucleoside polyphosphate synthesis, heat shock regulation, activation or deactivation by phosphorylation/dephosphorylation, inhibition by amino acid analogs, and generation of antibodies against lysyl-tRNA synthetase. None of these pathways is clarified completely.

Comparison of the enzymatic properties of the two Escherichia coli lysyl-tRNA synthetase species

In Escherichia coli, lysyl-tRNA synthetase activity is encoded by either a constitutive lysS gene or an inducible one, lysU. The two corresponding enzymes could be purified at homogeneity from a delta lysU and a delta lysS strain, respectively. Comparison of the pure enzymes, LysS and LysU, indicates that, in the presence of saturating substrates, LysS is about twice more active than LysU in the ATP-PPi exchange as well as in the tRNALys aminoacylation reaction. Moreover, the dissociation constant of the LysU-lysine complex is 8-fold smaller than that of the LysS-lysine complex. In agreement with this difference, the activity of LysU is less sensitive than that of LysS to the addition of cadaverine, a decarboxylation product of lysine and a competitive inhibitor of lysine binding to its synthetase. This observation points to a possible useful role of LysU, under physiological conditions causing cadaverine accumulation in the bacterium. Remarkably, these conditions also induce lysU expression. Homogeneous LysU and LysS were also compared in Ap4A synthesis. LysU is only 2-fold more active than LysS in the production of this dinucleotide. This makes unlikely that the heat-inducible LysU species could be preferentially involved in the accumulation of Ap4A inside stressed Escherichia coli cells. This conclusion could be strengthened by determining the concentrations of Ap4N (N = A, C, G, or U) in a delta lysU as well as in a lysU+ strain, before and after a 1-h temperature shift at 48 degrees C. The measured concentration values were the same in both strains.

The lysP gene encodes the lysine-specific permease

Escherichia coli transports lysine by two distinct systems, one of which is specific for lysine (LysP) and the other of which is inhibited by arginine ornithine. The activity of the lysine-specific system increases with growth in acidic medium, anaerobiosis, and high concentrations of lysine. It is inhibited by the lysine analog S-(beta-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine (thiosine). Thiosine-resistant (Tsr) mutants were isolated by using transpositional mutagenesis with TnphoA. A Tsr mutant expressing alkaline phosphatase activity in intact cells was found to lack lysine-specific transport. This lysP mutation was mapped to about 46.5 min on the E. coli chromosome. The lysP-phoA fusion was cloned and used as a probe to clone the wild-type lysP gene. The nucleotide sequence of the 2.7-kb BamHI fragment was determined. An open reading frame from nucleotides 522 to 1989 was observed. The translation product of this open reading frame is predicted to be a hydrophobic protein of 489 residues. The lysP gene product exhibits sequence similarity to a family of amino acid transport proteins found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, including the aromatic amino acid permease of E. coli (aroP) and the arginine permease of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (CAN1). Cells carrying a plasmid with the lysP gene exhibited a 10- to 20-fold increase in the rate of lysine uptake above wild-type levels. These results demonstrate that the lysP gene encodes the lysine-specific permease.

Escherichia coli leucine-responsive regulatory protein (Lrp) controls lysyl-tRNA synthetase expression

Using random Tn10 insertion mutagenesis, we isolated an Escherichia coli mutant strain affected in the regulation of lysU, the gene encoding the inducible form of lysyl-tRNA synthetase. The transposon giving rise to the altered expression of lysU was found inserted within lrp. The latter gene codes for the leucine-responsive regulatory protein (Lrp) which mediates a global response of the bacterium to leucine. An involvement of Lrp in the regulation of lysU was searched for by using a lysU-lacZ operon fusion. The following conclusions were reached: (i) inactivation of lrp causes an increased activity of the lysU promoter, whatever the growth conditions assayed, (ii) insertion of a wild-type lrp gene into a multi-copy plasmid significantly reduces lysU expression, and (iii) sensitivity of the lysU promoter to the presence of leucine in the growth medium is abolished in the lrp context.

Partial tRNA deacylation specifically triggers Escherichia coli cell volume reduction

Limitation of Escherichia coli cell growth rate either by means of continuous 366 nm illumination, which is known to decrease the in vivo acylation level of some tRNA species, or by means of specific inhibitors of tRNA acylation allows the division rate to remain unchanged for a few generations, resulting in cell volume reduction. In contrast the cell volume remains stable or increases after treatment with inhibitors of DNA replication and transcription, or with drugs acting at any other step of protein synthesis. The conclusion that limiting acylation of some tRNA species is the triggering event is confirmed by the use of thermosensitive mutants of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases or of tRNA (the divE strain mutated in the tRNA1Ser gene). Other cellular responses modulate the expression of cell volume reduction. The relA+ stringent response helps expression of the effect but does not appear to be strictly required. However, cell volume reduction may be masked under conditions triggering the SOS response. The data suggest that tRNA acylation is one of the major steps where cells sense change in their nutrient environment.

Isolation and properties of a thialysine-resistant clone of CHO cells

A variant clone of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells resistant to thialysine has been isolated. It maintains the phenotypic properties even after 250 generations in medium without thialysine. Growth rate, cell viability and protein synthesis rate of the variant are much less affected by thialysine than the parental strain. In both the parental strain and the variant, thialysine acts in competition with lysine as indicated by the fact that all thialysine effects can be completely reversed by lysine.

AppppA and related adenylylated nucleotides are synthesized as a consequence of oxidation stress

AppppA , ApppGpp , AppppG , ApppG , and ApppA rapidly accumulate to high levels in Salmonella typhimurium following exposure to a variety of oxidizing agents, but not to a variety of other stresses. Among the agents inducing these adenylylated nucleotides are 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene, diamide, hydrogen peroxide, t-butyl hydroperoxide, N-ethyl maleimide, iodoacetamide, cadmium chloride, and a variety of quinones. Some of these oxidizing agents cause preferential synthesis of specific adenylylated nucleotides, e.g., N-ethyl maleimide induces ApppA and menadione induces ApppGpp . Our data, as well as other evidence in the literature, strongly suggest that oxidation stress is coupled to adenylylated nucleotide synthesis by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Although adenylylated nucleotides are made by tRNA synthetases in vitro, their synthesis in vivo is not a simple consequence of inhibition of synthetase activity. Compounds that inhibit normal charging by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases do not result in the synthesis of adenylylated nucleotides, nor do mutations in tRNA synthetase structural genes or tRNA structural, modifying, or processing genes. We propose that the family of adenylylated nucleotides are alarmones signaling the onset of oxidation stress, and that particular ones may be alarmones for specific oxidative stresses, e.g., ApppGpp for oxidative damage to amino acid biosynthesis.

Escherichia coli K-12 lysyl-tRNA synthetase mutant with a novel reversion pattern

Fast-growing revertants have been selected from a slow-growing lysyl-tRNA synthetase mutant. All of the revertants had increased lysyl-tRNA synthetase activity compared with the mutant (5- to 85-fold), and in some revertants this amounted to two to three times the wild-type synthetase activity. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of a whole-cell extract of revertant IH2018 (1.5- to 2-fold wild-type synthetase activity) showed that the increase in synthetase activity is due to the induction of cryptic lysyl-tRNA synthetase forms and not to a change in the constitutive lysyl-tRNA synthetase. Genetic studies have shown that a locus termed rlu (for regulation of lysU ) which is cotransducible with purF at 49.5 min influences the amount of the cryptic lysyl-tRNA synthetase.

Gene for heat-inducible lysyl-tRNA synthetase (lysU) maps near cadA in Escherichia coli

A hybrid ColE1 plasmid from the Clarke-Carbon colony bank with a 7-kilobase insertion was found to encode the inducible lysyl-tRNA synthetase along with the catabolic enzyme lysine decarboxylase. The gene for the inducible synthetase, lysU, must lie within 0.3 min of the lysine decarboxylase gene, cadA, at 92 min on the Escherichia coli genetic map.

Escherichia coli regulatory mutation affecting lysine transport and lysine decarboxylase

A spontaneous thiosine-resistant mutant of Escherichia coli was shown to have the following characteristics: lowered initial rate of lysine uptake and lowered plateau level of accumulation of exogenous lysine by both the lysine-specific and the general basic amino acid transport systems; altered repressibility of these two lysine transport systems; a derepressed level of lysine decarboxylase; normal growth rate; parental levels of lysyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase and the inducible and constitutive arginine and ornithine decarboxylases. Both the mutant (lysP) and its parent (lysP+) feed a lysine auxotroph when they are plated in proximity on solid medium. However, the feeding response was observable after 1 day less of incubation when the mutant was the feeding strain. Despite the derepressed level of lysine decarboxylase in exponential cultures of the mutant extracts of these cultures had no detectable cadaverine pool. Conjugation experiments established the following gene order: gyrA (formerly nalA) lysP metG his. All thiosine-resistant recombinants assayed showed reduced lysine transport. In many of these recombinants the derepression of lysine decarboxylase was not expressed.

Regulation of the biosynthesis of aminoacyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetases and of transfer ribonucleic acid in Escherichia coli. V. Mutants with increased levels of valyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase

Spontaneous revertants of a temperature-sensitive Escherichia coli strain harboring a thermolabile valyl-transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) synthetase were selected for growth at 40 degrees C. Of these, a large number still contain the thermolabile valyl-tRNA synthetase. Three of these revertants contained an increased level of the thermolabile enzyme. The genetic locus, valX, responsible for the enzyme overproduction, is adjacent to the structural gene, valS, of valyl-tRNA synthetase. Determination (by radioimmunoassay) of the turnover rates of valyl-tRNA synthetase showed that the increased level of valyl-tRNA synthetase is due to new enzyme synthesis rather than decreased rates of protein degradation.

Growth-dependent factors in the regulation of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase activities of Tetrahymena pyriformis

Changes in phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase (L-phenylalanine : tRNAPhe ligase, EC 6.1.1.20) and leucyl-tRNA synthetase (L-leucine : tRNALeu ligase. EC 6.1.1.4) activities were studied during the growth cycle of Tetrahymena pyriformis. High levels of charged tRNA observed during exponential growth were associated with elevated aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase activities. Low levels of charges tRNA in the stationary phase culture were associated with decreased aminoacyl-tRNA synthethase activities together with a concomitant accumulation of factor(s) which inhibited the enzyme activities. The inhibitory factor(s) has been partially purified and evidence is presented to rule out RNA, RNAases, proteases and ATPases as the responsible inhibitory factor(s) of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases.

Two modes of metabolic regulation of lysyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase in Escherichia coli K-12

Lysyl-transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) synthetase activity was compared in three independently isolated Escherichia coli K-12 mutants of the enzyme S-adenosyl-L-methionine synthetase (metK mutants) and their isogenic parents. In all three cases the activity of the lysyl-tRNA synthetase was elevated two- to fourfold in the mutant strains. Glycyl-L-leucine (3 mM) usually enhanced lysyl-tRNA synthetase activity two- to threefold in wild-type cells but did not further stimulate the synthetase activity in metK mutants. By two other criteria, the lysyl-tRNA synthetase from wild-type cells grown with the peptide and from the metK mutant RG62, grown in minimal medium, were similar. These criteria are enhanced resistance to thermal inactivation and altered susceptibility to endogenous proteases when compared with the synthetase from wild-type cells grown in minimal medium. In a separate set of experiments, the activities of the lysyl-, arginyl-, seryl-, and valyl-tRNA synthetases were measured in an isogenic pair of relt and rel strains of E. coli grown in a relatively poor growth medium (acetate) and in enriched medium. In the rel+ strain the level of all four synthetases was higher (two- to fourfold) in the enriched medium as expected. In the rel strain the difference in the activities of the synthetases between the two media were diminished. In all four cases the activities of the synthetases were higher in acetate medium in the rel strain. Evidence is presented that these two modes of metabolic regulation act independently.

An in vivo effect of the metabolites L-alanine and glycyl-L-leucine on the properties of lysyl-tRNA synthetase from Escherichia coli K-12. I. Influence on subunit composition and molecular weight distribution

Lysyl-tRNA synthetase was purified to 70-90% of homogeneity from Escherichia coli K-12. The enzyme was purified from wild-type cells grown in minimal medium, or minimal medium containing either 20 mM L-alanine or 3 mM glycly-L-leucine. The synthetase was similarly purified from a mutant strain grown in minimal medium plus 20 mM L-alanine. Results based on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, gel filtration, and trypsin inactivation studies indicate (A) that the presence of L-alanine of glycyl-L-leucine in the culture medium alters the properties of the wild-type enzyme; (B) that the alteration of the synthetase by l-alanine and glycyl-L-leucine is different; and (c) that the molecular weight of lysyl-tRNA synthetase is at least 135000--140000. The results suggest that most likely the metabolites modify the structure of lysyl-tRNA synthetase, but the possibility that the metabolites induce the synthesis of a new lysyl-tRNA synthetase cannot be completely eliminated.

Role of lysyl-tRNA in the regulation of lysine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K12

A mutant of lysyl-tRNA synthetase has been isolated in Escherichia coli K12. With this strain the Kmapp for lysine is 25 fold higher than with the parental strain. The percentage of charged tRNAlys in vivo is only 7 per cent (as against 65 per cent with HFR H). Under these conditions no derepression of synthesis is observed for three lysine biosynthetic enzymes (AK III, ASA-dehydrogenase, DAP-decarboxylase) ; a partial derepression is obtained in the case of the dhdp-reductase. Thus lysyl-tRNA does not act as the only corepressor molecule in the lysine regulon.

Regulation of dihydrodipicolinate synthase and aspartate kinase in Bacillus subtilis

The regulation of dihydrodipicolinate synthase (EC 4.2.1.52) and aspartate kinase (EC 2.7.2.4) was studied in Bacillus subtilis 168. Starvation for lysine gave depression of one aspartate kinase isoenzyme but not of dihydrodipicolinate synthase. Strains resistant to growth inhibition by the lysine analogue thiosine exhibited constitutively derepressed synthesis of one aspartate kinase isoenzyme but had normal levels of dihydrodipicolinate synthase. The data provide strong evidence that lysine is not the signal for derepression of dihydrodipicolinate synthase. Nevertheless, dihydrodipicolinate synthase specific activity increased during sporulation, and it is suggested that this increase may result, in part, from resistance to proteolysis of that enzyme.

Thermal death of temperature-sensitive lysyl- and tryptophanyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase mutants of Bacillus subtilis: effect of culture medium and developmental stage

The growth of thermosensitive Bacillus subtilis lysyl- and tryptophanyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase mutants (lysS1 and trypS1) (l-lysine:transfer ribonucleic acid [tRNA] ligase [AMP], EC 6.1.1.6; and l-tryptophan:tRNA ligase [AMP], EC 6.1.1.2) was terminated when exponential phase cells were shifted from 30 to 43 C in a rich medium. Under these conditions, the temperature-inhibited cells undergo thermal death; they rapidly lose their ability to form colonies at 30 C. Another lysyl-tRNA synthetase mutant (lysS2) is refractory to thermal death even though its growth is inhibited at 43 C. The thermal death response of the lysS1 mutant is affected by the stage of cell development. At periods in spore outgrowth and sporogenesis these cells become refractory to thermal death. The refractory state does not result from the production of an inhibitor, or from the degradation of an activator of thermal death. However, culture medium composition does modify the thermal death response. Rich media enhance the effect, and no thermal death occurs in the lysS1 strain grown in a minimal medium. Temperature-sensitive cells can grow in a lysine- (0.25 mM) or tryptophan- (0.25 mM) supplemented minimal medium at 43 C, but amino acid concentrations of 25 mM only transiently protect trypS1 and lysS1 cells from thermal death in a rich medium. Osmotic agents such as sucrose (0.5 M) and NaCl (0.34 M) completely prevent thermal death in the lysS1 strain, although growth is still arrested. On solid media, sucrose stabilized lysS1 cells can form colonies at the restrictive temperature, but neither sucrose (0.5 M) nor NaCl (0.34 M) stabilized the lysS1 enzyme in vitro. Chloramiphenicol increased the rate of thermal death of the lysS1 strain but decreased the thermal death response of the trypS1 mutant. Considering the nature of the enzyme defect in the lysS1 strain, the common genetic origin of the spore and vegetative lysyl-tRNA synthetase, and the protective effects exerted by lysine and osmotic agents, it is tentatively concluded that thermal death results from irreversible inactivation of the mutant gene product. According to this hypothesis, either the lysS1 enzyme is altered during sporogenesis or some physiological or structural aspect of this developmental phase can stabilize the mutant phenotype and thereby rescue cells from thermal death.

Particular influence of leucine peptides on lysyl-transfer ribonucleic acid ligase formation in a mutant of Escherichia coli K-12

l-Leucine dipeptides can enhance lysyl-transfer ribonucleic acid ligase activity 15- to 20-fold in a mutant of Escherichia coli K-12. Evidence indicates the peptides act per se.

Effect of alanine, leucine and fructose on lysyl-transfer ribonucleic acid ligase activity in a mutant of Escherichia coli K-12

A mutant of Escherichia coli K-12 was examined which has growth medium-dependent lysyl-transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) ligase activity. In minimal medium or 0.5% yeast extract, the activity of the enzyme in the mutant strain was 5 to 10% of wild type. However, when the mutant was grown in a highly enriched medium, such as AC broth (Difco), the activity of the mutant ligase increased 10- to 20-fold. We found that the supplementation of 0.5% yeast extract by l-alanine plus d-fructose replaces the need for the highly enriched medium. Fructose plus l-leucine and fructose plus l-alpha-amino-n-butyric acid were also stimulatory, but not as effective as fructose and alanine. With minimal medium, a combination of carbohydrate (fructose or glucose) plus alanine and leucine was required to replace the enriched medium. The most effective combination was fructose, glucose, alanine, and leucine. Lysyl-tRNA ligase was stimulated 1.5 to 2-fold in the wild-type strain or Hfr H (Hayes) by fructose plus alanine when these strains were cultured in 0.5% yeast extract. Experiments employing the combined technique of density labeling with D(2)O and isopycnic centrifugation in cesium chloride indicated that the increased activity of lysyl-tRNA ligase observed in AC broth or in the presence of fructose, glucose, alanine, and leucine is due to the synthesis of new enzyme.