Mechanism of the aromatic aminotransferase encoded by the Aro8 gene from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Metabolic Engineering for Effective Synthesis of 2-Hydroxyadipate

Adipic acid is an important monomer in the synthesis of nylon-6,6. In recent years, the biosynthesis of adipic acid has received more and more attention. The pathway with l-lysine as a precursor has potential for adipic acid synthesis, and 2-hydroxyadipate is a key intermediate metabolite in this pathway. In this Letter, the biosynthesis pathway of 2-hydroxyadipate was constructed in Escherichia coli. Through enhancement of precursor synthesis and cofactors regulation, 7.11 g/L of 2-hydroxyadipate was produced in the 5 L bioreactor, which verified the scale-up potential of 2-hydroxyadipate production. Furthermore, 11.1 g/L of 2-hydroxyadipate was produced in the 5 L bioreactor on the basis of potential optimization strategies via transcriptome analysis. This is the first time for the biosynthesis of 2-hydroxyadipate. The results lay a solid foundation for the biosynthesis of adipic acid and the production of bionylon.

Evolutionary Origin and Functional Diversification of Aminotransferases

Aminotransferases (ATs) are pyridoxal 5′-phosphate–dependent enzymes that catalyze the transamination reactions between amino acid donor and keto acid acceptor substrates. Modern AT enzymes constitute ∼2% of all classified enzymatic activities, play central roles in nitrogen metabolism, and generate multitude of primary and secondary metabolites. ATs likely diverged into four distinct AT classes before the appearance of the last universal common ancestor and further expanded to a large and diverse enzyme family. Although the AT family underwent an extensive functional specialization, many AT enzymes retained considerable substrate promiscuity and multifunctionality because of their inherent mechanistic, structural, and functional constraints. This review summarizes the evolutionary history, diverse metabolic roles, reaction mechanisms, and structure–function relationships of the AT family enzymes, with a special emphasis on their substrate promiscuity and multifunctionality. Comprehensive characterization of AT substrate specificity is still needed to reveal their true metabolic functions in interconnecting various branches of the nitrogen metabolic network in different organisms.

Pyridoxal 5'-Phosphate-Dependent Enzymes at the Crossroads of Host-Microbe Tryptophan Metabolism

The chemical processes taking place in humans intersects the myriad of metabolic pathways occurring in commensal microorganisms that colonize the body to generate a complex biochemical network that regulates multiple aspects of human life. The role of tryptophan (Trp) metabolism at the intersection between the host and microbes is increasingly being recognized, and multiple pathways of Trp utilization in either direction have been identified with the production of a wide range of bioactive products. It comes that a dysregulation of Trp metabolism in either the host or the microbes may unbalance the production of metabolites with potential pathological consequences. The ability to redirect the Trp flux to restore a homeostatic production of Trp metabolites may represent a valid therapeutic strategy for a variety of pathological conditions, but identifying metabolic checkpoints that could be exploited to manipulate the Trp metabolic network is still an unmet need. In this review, we put forward the hypothesis that pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzymes, which regulate multiple pathways of Trp metabolism in both the host and in microbes, might represent critical nodes and that modulating the levels of vitamin B6, from which PLP is derived, might represent a metabolic checkpoint to re-orienteer Trp flux for therapeutic purposes.

Optimization of the l-tyrosine metabolic pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by analyzing p-coumaric acid production

In this study, we applied a series of genetic modifications to wild-type S. cerevisiae strain BY4741 to address the bottlenecks in the l-tyrosine pathway. A tyrosine ammonia-lyase (TAL) gene from Rhodobacter capsulatus, which can catalyze conversion of l-tyrosine into p-coumaric acid, was overexpressed to facilitate the analysis of l-tyrosine and test the strain's capability to synthesize heterologous derivatives. First, we enhanced the supply of precursors by overexpressing transaldolase gene TAL1, enolase II gene ENO2, and pentafunctional enzyme gene ARO1 resulting in a 1.55-fold increase in p-coumaric acid production. Second, feedback inhibition of 3-deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate synthase and chorismate mutase was relieved by overexpressing the mutated feedback-resistant ARO4 ^K229L and ARO7 ^G141S , and a 3.61-fold improvement of p-coumaric acid production was obtained. Finally, formation of byproducts was decreased by deleting pyruvate decarboxylase gene PDC5 and phenylpyruvate decarboxylase gene ARO10, and p-coumaric acid production was increased 2.52-fold. The best producer-when TAL1, ENO2, ARO1, ARO4 ^K229L , ARO7 ^G141S , and TAL were overexpressed, and PDC5 and ARO10 were deleted-increased p-coumaric acid production by 14.08-fold (from 1.4 to 19.71 mg L^-1). Our study provided a valuable insight into the optimization of l-tyrosine metabolic pathway.

Vitamin requirements and biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Chemically defined media for yeast cultivation (CDMY) were developed to support fast growth, experimental reproducibility, and quantitative analysis of growth rates and biomass yields. In addition to mineral salts and a carbon substrate, popular CDMYs contain seven to nine B-group vitamins, which are either enzyme cofactors or precursors for their synthesis. Despite the widespread use of CDMY in fundamental and applied yeast research, the relation of their design and composition to the actual vitamin requirements of yeasts has not been subjected to critical review since their first development in the 1940s. Vitamins are formally defined as essential organic molecules that cannot be synthesized by an organism. In yeast physiology, use of the term "vitamin" is primarily based on essentiality for humans, but the genome of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae reference strain S288C harbours most of the structural genes required for synthesis of the vitamins included in popular CDMY. Here, we review the biochemistry and genetics of the biosynthesis of these compounds by S. cerevisiae and, based on a comparative genomics analysis, assess the diversity within the Saccharomyces genus with respect to vitamin prototrophy.

Crystal structures of aminotransferases Aro8 and Aro9 from Candida albicans and structural insights into their properties

Aminotransferases catalyze reversibly the transamination reaction by a ping-pong bi-bi mechanism with pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) as a cofactor. Various aminotransferases acting on a range of substrates have been reported. Aromatic transaminases are able to catalyze the transamination reaction with both aromatic and acidic substrates. Two aminotransferases from C. albicans, Aro8p and Aro9p, have been identified recently, exhibiting different catalytic properties. To elucidate the multiple substrate recognition of the two enzymes we determined the crystal structures of an unliganded CaAro8p, a complex of CaAro8p with the PLP cofactor bound to a substrate, forming an external aldimine, CaAro9p with PLP in the form of internal aldimine, and CaAro9p with a mixture of ligands that have been interpreted as results of the enzymatic reaction. The crystal structures of both enzymes contains in the asymmetric unit a biologically relevant dimer of 55 kDa for CaAro8 and 59 kDa for CaAro9p protein subunits. The ability of the enzymes to process multiple substrates could be related to a feature of their architecture in which the active site resides on one subunit while the substrate-binding site is formed by a long loop extending from the other subunit of the dimeric molecule. The separation of the two functions to different chemical entities could facilitate the evolution of the substrate-binding part and allow it to be flexible without destabilizing the conservative catalytic mechanism.

Biochemical Characterization of Aspergillus fumigatus AroH, a Putative Aromatic Amino Acid Aminotransferase

The rise in the frequency of nosocomial infections is becoming a major problem for public health, in particular in immunocompromised patients. Aspergillus fumigatus is an opportunistic fungus normally present in the environment directly responsible for lethal invasive infections. Recent results suggest that the metabolic pathways related to amino acid metabolism can regulate the fungus-host interaction and that an important role is played by enzymes involved in the catabolism of L-tryptophan. In particular, in A. fumigatus L-tryptophan regulates Aro genes. Among them, AroH encodes a putative pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent aminotransferase. Here we analyzed the biochemical features of recombinant purified AroH by spectroscopic and kinetic analyses corroborated by in silico studies. We found that the protein is dimeric and tightly binds the coenzyme forming a deprotonated internal aldimine in equilibrium with a protonated ketoenamine form. By setting up a new rapid assay method, we measured the kinetic parameters for the overall transamination of substrates and we demonstrated that AroH behaves as an aromatic amino acid aminotransferase, but also accepts L-kynurenine and α-aminoadipate as amino donors. Interestingly, computational approaches showed that the predicted overall fold and active site topology of the protein are similar to those of its yeast ortholog, albeit with some differences in the regions at the entrance of the active site, which could possibly influence substrate specificity. Should targeting fungal metabolic adaptation be of therapeutic value, the results of the present study may pave the way to the design of specific AroH modulators as potential novel agents at the host/fungus interface.

Novel Method for l-Methionine Production Catalyzed by the Aminotransferase ARO8 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The aminotransferase ARO8 was proved to play an efficient role in conversion of l-methionine into methionol via the Ehrlich pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae in our previous work. In this work, the reversible transamination activity of ARO8 for conversion of α-keto-γ-(methylthio) butyric acid (KMBA) into l-methionine was confirmed in vitro. ARO8 was cloned from S. cerevisiae S288c and overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21. A 2-fold higher aminotransferase activity was detected in the recombinant strain ARO8-BL21, and ARO8 was detected in the supernatant of ARO8-BL21 lysate with IPTG induction by SDS-PAGE analysis. The recombinant ARO8 was then purified and used for transforming KMBA into l-methionine. An approximately 100% conversion rate of KMBA into l-methionine was achieved by optimized enzymatic reaction catalyzed by ARO8. This work fulfilled l-methionine biosynthesis catalyzed by the aminotransferase ARO8 using glutamate and KMBA, which provided a novel method for l-methionine production by enzymatic catalysis with the potential application prospect in industry.

Properties of Bacterial and Archaeal Branched-Chain Amino Acid Aminotransferases

Branched-chain amino acid aminotransferases (BCATs) catalyze reversible stereoselective transamination of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) L-leucine, L-isoleucine, and L-valine. BCATs are the key enzymes of BCAA metabolism in all organisms. The catalysis proceeds through the ping-pong mechanism with the assistance of the cofactor pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP). BCATs differ from other (S)-selective transaminases (TAs) in 3D-structure and organization of the PLP-binding domain. Unlike other (S)-selective TAs, BCATs belong to the PLP fold type IV and are characterized by the proton transfer on the re-face of PLP, in contrast to the si-specificity of proton transfer in fold type I (S)-selective TAs. Moreover, BCATs are the only (S)-selective enzymes within fold type IV TAs. Dual substrate recognition in BCATs is implemented via the "lock and key" mechanism without side-chain rearrangements of the active site residues. Another feature of the active site organization in BCATs is the binding of the substrate α-COOH group on the P-side of the active site near the PLP phosphate group. Close localization of two charged groups seems to increase the effectiveness of external aldimine formation in BCAT catalysis. In this review, the structure-function features and the substrate specificity of bacterial and archaeal BCATs are analyzed. These BCATs differ from eukaryotic ones in the wide substrate specificity, optimal temperature, and reactivity toward pyruvate as the second substrate. The prospects of biotechnological application of BCATs in stereoselective synthesis are discussed.

Management of Multiple Nitrogen Sources during Wine Fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

During fermentative growth in natural and industrial environments, Saccharomyces cerevisiae must redistribute the available nitrogen from multiple exogenous sources to amino acids in order to suitably fulfill anabolic requirements. To exhaustively explore the management of this complex resource, we developed an advanced strategy based on the reconciliation of data from a set of stable isotope tracer experiments with labeled nitrogen sources. Thus, quantifying the partitioning of the N compounds through the metabolism network during fermentation, we demonstrated that, contrary to the generally accepted view, only a limited fraction of most of the consumed amino acids is directly incorporated into proteins. Moreover, substantial catabolism of these molecules allows for efficient redistribution of nitrogen, supporting the operative de novo synthesis of proteinogenic amino acids. In contrast, catabolism of consumed amino acids plays a minor role in the formation of volatile compounds. Another important feature is that the α-keto acid precursors required for the de novo syntheses originate mainly from the catabolism of sugars, with a limited contribution from the anabolism of consumed amino acids. This work provides a comprehensive view of the intracellular fate of consumed nitrogen sources and the metabolic origin of proteinogenic amino acids, highlighting a strategy of distribution of metabolic fluxes implemented by yeast as a means of adapting to environments with changing and scarce nitrogen resources.IMPORTANCE A current challenge for the wine industry, in view of the extensive competition in the worldwide market, is to meet consumer expectations regarding the sensory profile of the product while ensuring an efficient fermentation process. Understanding the intracellular fate of the nitrogen sources available in grape juice is essential to the achievement of these objectives, since nitrogen utilization affects both the fermentative activity of yeasts and the formation of flavor compounds. However, little is known about how the metabolism operates when nitrogen is provided as a composite mixture, as in grape must. Here we quantitatively describe the distribution through the yeast metabolic network of the N moieties and C backbones of these nitrogen sources. Knowledge about the management of a complex resource, which is devoted to improvement of the use of the scarce N nutrient for growth, will be useful for better control of the fermentation process and the sensory quality of wines.

Experimental and computational studies on the unusual substrate specificity of branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase from Thermoproteus uzoniensis

PLP-Dependent fold-type IV branched-chain amino acid aminotransferases (BCATs) from archaea have so far been poorly characterized. A new BCAT from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermoproteus uzoniensis (TUZN1299) has been studied. TUZN1299 was found to be highly active toward branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), positively charged amino acids, l-methionine, l-threonine, l-homoserine, l-glutamine, as well as toward 2-oxobutyrate and keto analogs of BCAAs, whereas l-glutamate and α-ketoglutarate were not converted in the overall reaction. According to stopped-flow experiments, the enzyme showed the highest specificity to BCAAs and their keto analogs. In order to explain the molecular mechanism of the unusual specificity of TUZN1299, bioinformatic analysis was implemented to identify the subfamily-specific positions in the aminotransferase class IV superfamily of enzymes. The role of the selected residues in binding of various ligands in the active site was further studied using molecular modeling. The results indicate that Glu188 forms a novel binding site for positively charged and polar side-chains of amino acids. Lack of accommodation for α-ketoglutarate and l-glutamate is due to the unique orientation and chemical properties of residues 102-106 in the loop forming the A-pocket. The likely functional roles of TUZN1299 in cellular metabolism - in the synthesis and degradation of BCAAs - are discussed.

Label-Free Proteomic Analysis of Flavohemoglobin Deleted Strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Yeast flavohemoglobin, YHb, encoded by the nuclear gene YHB1, has been implicated in the nitrosative stress responses in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is still unclear how S. cerevisiae can withstand this NO level in the absence of flavohemoglobin. To better understand the physiological function of flavohemoglobin in yeast, in the present study a label-free differential proteomics study has been carried out in wild-type and YHB1 deleted strains of S. cerevisiae grown under fermentative conditions. From the analysis, 417 proteins in Y190 and 392 proteins in ΔYHB1 were identified with high confidence. Interestingly, among the differentially expressed identified proteins, 40 proteins were found to be downregulated whereas 41 were found to be upregulated in ΔYHB1 strain of S. cerevisiae (p value < 0.05). The differentially expressed proteins were also classified according to gene ontology (GO) terms. The most enriched and significant GO terms included nitrogen compound biosynthesis, amino acid biosynthesis, translational regulation, and protein folding. Interactions of differentially expressed proteins were generated using Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) database. This is the first report which offers a more complete view of the proteome changes in S. cerevisiae in the absence of flavohemoglobin.

Significant enhancement of methionol production by co-expression of the aminotransferase gene ARO8 and the decarboxylase gene ARO10 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Methionol is an important volatile sulfur flavor compound, which can be produced via the Ehrlich pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Aminotransferase and decarboxylase are essential enzymes catalyzing methionol biosynthesis. In this work, two aminotransferase genes ARO8 and ARO9 and one decarboxylase gene ARO10 were introduced into S. cerevisiae S288c, respectively, via an expression vector. Over-expression of ARO8 resulted in higher aminotransferase activity than that of ARO9. And the cellular decarboxylase activity was remarkably increased by over-expression of ARO10. A co-expression vector carrying both ARO8 and ARO10 was further constructed to generate the recombinant strain S810. Shaking flask experiments showed that the methionol yield from S810 reached 1.27 g L(-1), which was increased by 51.8 and 68.8% compared to that from the wild-type strain and the control strain harboring the empty vector. The fed-batch fermentation by strain S810 produced 3.24 g L(-1) of methionol after 72 h of cultivation in a bioreactor. These results demonstrated that co-expression of ARO8 and ARO10 significantly boosted the methionol production. It is the first time that more than 3.0 g L(-1) of methionol produced by genetically engineered yeast strain was reported by co-expression of the aminotransferase and decarboxylase via the Ehrlich pathway.

In vivo instability of chorismate causes substrate loss during fermentative production of aromatics

Metabolic engineering of microbial strains to produce aromatic compounds deriving from the shikimate pathway is of great interest to the chemical industry as a more sustainable alternative for feedstock production. Chorismate is a significant intermediate in the shikimate pathway. In this study, the formation of phenylalanine and phenylpyruvate as by-products in strains engineered downstream of the chorismate node for increased aromatic production was explored in yeast fermentations. Tracer experiments showed that these compounds are synthesized de novo during fermentation, under conditions in which their synthesis was genetically blocked. Chorismate stability evaluation, as well as deletion mutation analysis throughout the phenylalanine biosynthesis pathway, suggested that this synthesis was a result of intracellular, non-enzymatic rearrangement of chorismate to phenylpyruvate via prephenate, which was followed by enzymatic transamination of phenylpyruvate to form phenylalanine. These results not only aid in the development of strain-engineering strategies to avoid the accumulation of by-products during fermentations aimed at increased aromatics production, but also deepen our understanding of yeast metabolism.

Crystal structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Aro8, a putative α-aminoadipate aminotransferase

α-Aminoadipate aminotransferase (AAA-AT) catalyzes the amination of 2-oxoadipate to α-aminoadipate in the fourth step of the α-aminoadipate pathway of lysine biosynthesis in fungi. The aromatic aminotransferase Aro8 has recently been identified as an AAA-AT in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This enzyme displays broad substrate selectivity, utilizing several amino acids and 2-oxo acids as substrates. Here we report the 1.91Å resolution crystal structure of Aro8 and compare it to AAA-AT LysN from Thermus thermophilus and human kynurenine aminotransferase II. Inspection of the active site of Aro8 reveals asymmetric cofactor binding with lysine-pyridoxal-5-phosphate bound within the active site of one subunit in the Aro8 homodimer and pyridoxamine phosphate and a HEPES molecule bound to the other subunit. The HEPES buffer molecule binds within the substrate-binding site of Aro8, yielding insights into the mechanism by which it recognizes multiple substrates and how this recognition differs from other AAA-AT/kynurenine aminotransferases.