Evidence for the existence of three promoters for the deo operon of Escherichia coli K12 in vitro

DERA is the human deoxyribose phosphate aldolase and is involved in stress response

Deoxyribose-phosphate aldolase (EC 4.1.2.4), which converts 2-deoxy-d-ribose-5-phosphate into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and acetaldehyde, belongs to the core metabolism of living organisms. It was previously shown that human cells harbor deoxyribose phosphate aldolase activity but the protein responsible of this activity has never been formally identified. This study provides the first experimental evidence that DERA, which is mainly expressed in lung, liver and colon, is the human deoxyribose phosphate aldolase. Among human cell lines, the highest DERA mRNA level and deoxyribose phosphate aldolase activity were observed in liver-derived Huh-7 cells. DERA was shown to interact with the known stress granule component YBX1 and to be recruited to stress granules after oxidative or mitochondrial stress. In addition, cells in which DERA expression was down-regulated using shRNA formed fewer stress granules and were more prone to apoptosis after clotrimazole stress, suggesting the importance of DERA for stress granule formation. Furthermore, the expression of DERA was shown to permit cells in which mitochondrial ATP production was abolished to make use of extracellular deoxyinosine to maintain ATP levels. This study unraveled a previously undescribed pathway which may allow cells with high deoxyribose-phosphate aldolase activity, such as liver cells, to minimize or delay stress-induced damage by producing energy through deoxynucleoside degradation.

The first crystal structure of archaeal aldolase. Unique tetrameric structure of 2-deoxy-d-ribose-5-phosphate aldolase from the hyperthermophilic archaea Aeropyrum pernix

A gene encoding a 2-deoxy-d-ribose-5-phosphate aldolase (DERA) homolog was identified in the hyperthermophilic Archaea Aeropyrum pernix. The gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, and the produced enzyme was purified and characterized. The enzyme is an extremely thermostable DERA; its activity was not lost after incubation at 100 degrees C for 10 min. The enzyme has a molecular mass of approximately 93 kDa and consists of four subunits with an identical molecular mass of 24 kDa. This is the first report of the presence of tetrameric DERA. The three-dimensional structure of the enzyme was determined by x-ray analysis. The subunit folds into an alpha/beta-barrel. The asymmetric unit consists of two homologous subunits, and a crystallographic 2-fold axis generates the functional tetramer. The main chain coordinate of the monomer of the A. pernix enzyme is quite similar to that of the E. coli enzyme. There was no significant difference in hydrophobic interactions and the number of ion pairs between the monomeric structures of the two enzymes. However, a significant difference in the quaternary structure was observed. The area of the subunit-subunit interface in the dimer of the A. pernix enzyme is much larger compared with the E. coli enzyme. In addition, the A. pernix enzyme is 10 amino acids longer than the E. coli enzyme in the N-terminal region and has an additional N-terminal helix. The N-terminal helix produces a unique dimer-dimer interface. This promotes the formation of a functional tetramer of the A. pernix enzyme and strengthens the hydrophobic intersubunit interactions. These structural features are considered to be responsible for the extremely high stability of the A. pernix enzyme. This is the first description of the structure of hyperthermophilic DERA and of aldolase from the Archaea domain.

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.

Deoxyribose 5-phosphate aldolase of Bacillus cereus: purification and properties

Deoxyribose 5-phosphate aldolase was purified 41 times from Bacillus cereus induced by growth on deoxyribonucleosides. The purification procedure includes ammonium sulphate fractionation, gel filtration on Sephadex G-100, ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel and preparative electrophoresis on 10% polyacrylamide gel. The enzyme is stable above pH 6.5, but is rapidly inactivated by sulfhydryl reagents. Being insensitive to EDTA, it may be considered as a Class I aldolase. Among a number of compounds tested (including some carboxylic acids, free and phosphorylated pentoses, nucleotides and nucleosides), none has been found to affect the enzyme activity. The enzyme appears to be dimeric, with a subunit Mr of 23,600. A Km of 4.4 x 10(-4) M was calculated for dRib 5-P.

Studies on deo operon regulation in Escherichia coli: cloning and expression of the deoR structural gene

Recombinant plasmid pBR322 derivatives containing the Escherichia coli deoR structural gene (coding for one repressor of the deo operon) and a mutant allele of the cmlA gene (chromosomally encoded chloramphenicol resistance) have been constructed and the positions of these genes on a 6.3-kb EcoRI fragment have been determined. Transformation of an E. coli deoR single mutant with any of the deoR+ plasmids resulted in complementation of the chromosomal deoR mutation. More importantly, however, transformation of a deoR cytR double mutant with the deoR+ plasmids also resulted in complete repression of Deo enzyme synthesis. Based on these data, we conclude that transcription of the deo operon initiating from both the cAMP/CRP-independent promoter-operator site, PO1, and the cAMP/CRP-dependent promoter-operator site, PO2, is negatively controlled by the deoR-encoded repressor, whereas the cytR-encoded repressor regulates deo operon expression only from the cAMP/CRP-dependent promoter-operator site, PO2.

The internal regulated promoter of the deo operon of Escherichia coli K-12

Previous studies of the structure and regulation of the deo operon in Escherichia coli have localized an internal regulated promoter, called deoP3, in front of the two distal genes in the operon. We report here the nucleotide sequence of the distal portion of the deoA, the deoA-deoB intercistronic region and the first part of the deoB gene, and show that deoP3 overlaps the distal segment of the deoA gene. The location of the internal promoter and the transcriptional start site were determined by means of 1) sequence homology to the consensus promoter sequence of E. coli, 2) high resolution S1 nuclease mapping of in vivo transcripts and 3) in vivo regulation of beta-galactosidase from low as well as high copy number P31acZ protein fusion vectors.

Influence of the rho-15 temperature-sensitive (ts) mutation on the expression of the deo-operon in Escherichia coli

In the rho-15 temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant deo-operon enzymes show no sensitivity to catabolite repression and are not derepressed under the influence of a constitutive regulatory mutation, cytR. These data suggest that intact Rho-protein along with CRP protein is necessary for a catabolite sensitive deo-operon promoter cytP to work. In addition, there are data suggesting that Rho-factor and CRP-protein interact with each other in regulation of the deo-operon. Thus, in studies of the effect of the rho-15 (ts) and crp mutations, maximum deo-enzyme levels have been found in the double rho-15 (ts) crp mutant, and therefore intact Rho-protein in the crp genome or intact CRP-protein on the rho-15 (ts) background seems to be an obstacle for the deoP promoter in the deo-operon. In rho-15 (ts) a relative increase has been observed in the enzyme activity for a distal purine nucleoside phosphorylase gene with respect to a proximal thymidine phosphorylase gene. However in crp, the rho-15 (ts) mutation has no effect on the polarity gradient, that is on the background of impaired CRP protein Rho-factor does not seem to work as a transcription terminator within the operon.

The cloning of the Escherichia coli K-12 deoxyribonucleoside operon

A 6.1-kb EcoRI DNA fragment containing the four structural genes (deoC, deoA, deoB, deoD) of the deoxyribonucleoside operon has been cloned into the plasmid pMFS53. By use of a unique, asymmetrically positioned HindIII site on the 6.1 kb insert, plasmids containing the deoC,deoA genes (pMFS50) or the deoB,deoD genes (pMFS55) have been constructed. Enzyme assays performed on extracts prepared from clones harboring pMFS53, pMFS50 or pMFS55 revealed that each clone possessed amplified deo enzyme levels and that the spectrum of enzyme amplification corresponded to the genetic composition of the plasmids carried by each clone. A plasmid (pMFS50l) having functional deoA, deoB and deoD genes but devoid of the deo regulatory region and a portion of the deoC structural gene has been isolated following treatment of BamHI cleaved pMFS53 and BAL31 nuclease. Comparison of the deo enzyme levels for clones harboring pMFS53 and pMFS501 suggest that plasmid pMFS53 possesses a functional deo regulatory region in addition to the four structural genes of the operon.

Utilization of 2,6-diaminopurine by Salmonella typhimurium

The pathway for the utilization of 2,6-diaminopurine (DAP) as an exogenous purine source in Salmonella typhimurium was examined. In strains able to use DAP as a purine source, mutant derivatives lacking either purine nucleoside phosphorylase or adenosine deaminase activity lost the ability to do so. The implied pathway of DAP utilization was via its conversion to DAP ribonucleoside by purine nucleoside phosphorylase, followed by deamination to guanosine by adenosine deaminase. Guanosine can then enter the established purine salvage pathways. In the course of defining this pathway, purine auxotrophs able to utilize DAP as sole purine source were isolated and partially characterized. These mutants fell into several classes, including (i) strains that only required an exogenous source of guanine nucleotides (e.g., guaA and guaB strains); (ii) strains that had a purF genetic lesion (i.e., were defective in alpha-5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate amidotransferase activity); and (iii) strains that had constitutive levels of purine nucleoside phosphorylase. Selection among purine auxotrophs blocked in the de novo synthesis of inosine 5'-monophosphate, for efficient growth on DAP as sole source of purine nucleotides, readily yielded mutants which were defective in the regulation of their deoxyribonucleoside-catabolizing enzymes (e.g., deoR mutants).