THE STREPTOCOCCUS FAECALIS OXIDASES FOR REDUCED DIPHOSPHOPYRIDINE NUCLEOTIDE

Adaptation to Adversity: the Intermingling of Stress Tolerance and Pathogenesis in Enterococci

Enterococcus is a diverse and rugged genus colonizing the gastrointestinal tract of humans and numerous hosts across the animal kingdom. Enterococci are also a leading cause of multidrug-resistant hospital-acquired infections. In each of these settings, enterococci must contend with changing biophysical landscapes and innate immune responses in order to successfully colonize and transit between hosts. Therefore, it appears that the intrinsic durability that evolved to make enterococci optimally competitive in the host gastrointestinal tract also ideally positioned them to persist in hospitals, despite disinfection protocols, and acquire new antibiotic resistances from other microbes. Here, we discuss the molecular mechanisms and regulation employed by enterococci to tolerate diverse stressors and highlight the role of stress tolerance in the biology of this medically relevant genus.

Ostensible enzyme promiscuity: alkene cleavage by peroxidases

Enzyme promiscuity is generally accepted as the ability of an enzyme to catalyse alternate chemical reactions besides the 'natural' one. In this paper peroxidases were shown to catalyse the cleavage of a C=C double bond adjacent to an aromatic moiety for selected substrates at the expense of molecular oxygen at an acidic pH. It was clearly shown that the reaction occurs due to the presence of the enzyme; furthermore, the reactivity was clearly linked to the hemin moiety of the peroxidase. Comparison of the transformations catalysed by peroxidase and by hemin chloride revealed that these two reactions proceed equally fast; additional experiments confirmed that the peptide backbone was not obligatory for the reaction and only a single functional group of the enzyme was required, namely in this case the prosthetic group (hemin). Consequently, we propose to define such a promiscuous activity as 'ostensible enzyme promiscuity'. Thus, we call an activity that is catalysed by an enzyme 'ostensible enzyme promiscuity' if the reactivity can be tracked back to a single catalytic site, which on its own can already perform the reaction equally well in the absence of the peptide backbone.

Borrelia burgdorferi bb0728 encodes a coenzyme A disulphide reductase whose function suggests a role in intracellular redox and the oxidative stress response

The cellular responses of Borrelia burgdorferiTo reactive oxygen species (ROS) encountered during the different stages of its infective cycle are poorly understood. Few enzymes responsible for protecting proteins, DNA/RNA and lipids from damage by ROS have been identified and characterized. Data presented here suggest that bb0728 encodes an enzyme involved in this process. Biochemical analyses on purified recombinant BB0728 indicated that it functioned as a coenzyme A disulphide reductase (CoADR) (specific activity approximately 26 units per mg of protein). This enzyme was specific for coenzyme A (CoA) disulphide, required NADH and had no significant activity against other disulphides, such as oxidized glutathione or thioredoxin. The high intracellular concentration of reduced CoA (CoASH) in B. burgdorferi cells ( approximately 1 mM) and absence of glutathione suggest that CoA is the major low-molecular-weight thiol in this spirochete. Interestingly, CoASH was able to reduce H(2)O(2) and be regenerated by CoADR suggesting one role for the system may be to protect B. burgdorferi from ROS. Further, mobility-shift assays and transcriptional fusion data indicated that bb0728 was positively regulated by the Borrelia oxidative stress response regulator, BosR. Taken together, these data suggest a role for BB0728 in intracellular redox and the oxidative stress response in B. burgdorferi.

Analysis of the kinetic and redox properties of the NADH peroxidase R303M mutant: correlation with the crystal structure

The crystal structure of the flavoprotein NADH peroxidase shows that the Arg303 side chain forms a hydrogen bond with the active-site His10 imidazole and is therefore likely to influence the catalytic mechanism. Dithionite titration of an R303M mutant [E(FAD, Cys42-sulfenic acid)] yields a two-electron reduced intermediate (EH(2)) with enhanced flavin fluorescence and almost no charge-transfer absorbance at pH 7.0; the pK(a) for the nascent Cys42-SH is increased by over 3.5 units in comparison with the wild-type EH(2) pK(a) of </=4.5. NADH titration of the mutant peroxidase yields the same EH(2) intermediate, but in contrast to the behavior of wild-type enzyme, this species can be reduced directly to an EH(4).NAD(+) complex. Kinetic analyses demonstrate that the R303M mutant is severely compromised, although active, with k(cat) = 3 s(-)(1) at pH 7.0, 5 degrees C; enzyme-monitored turnover results indicate that the steady-state consists predominantly of an E-FADH(2).NAD(+) species. When the oxidized mutant is reacted anaerobically with 0.9 equiv of NADH/FAD, a clearly biphasic pattern is observed at 450 nm; relatively rapid flavin reduction is followed by reoxidation at 2.6-2.7 s(-)(1) ( approximately k(cat)). Thus replacement of Arg303 with Met leads to an altered peroxidase form in which the rate-limiting step in turnover is the intramolecular transfer of electrons from FADH(2) --> Cys42-SOH. The crystal structure of the R303M peroxidase has been refined at 2.45 A resolution. In addition to eliminating the Arg303 interactions with His10 and Glu14, the mutant exhibits a significant change in the conformation of the Cys42-SOH side chain relative to FAD and His10 in particular. These and other results provide a detailed understanding of Arg303 and its role in the structure and mechanism of this unique flavoprotein peroxidase.

Biotransformations with peroxidases

Enzymes are chiral catalysts and are able to produce optically active molecules from prochiral or racemic substrates by catalytic asymmetric induction. One of the major challenges in organic synthesis is the development of environmentally acceptable chemical processes for the preparation of enantiomerically pure compounds, which are of increasing importance as pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. Enzymes meet this challenge! For example, a variety of peroxidases effectively catalyze numerous selective oxidations of electron-rich substrates, which include the hydroxylation of arenes, the oxyfunctionalizations of phenols and aromatic amines, the epoxidation and halogenation of olefins, the oxygenation of heteroatoms and the enantioselective reduction of racemic hydroperoxides. In this review, we summarize the important advances achieved in the last few years on peroxidase-catalyzed transformations, with major emphasis on preparative applications.

Enterococcus faecalis glutathione reductase: purification, characterization and expression under normal and hyperbaric O2 conditions

Glutathione reductase is found ubiquitously in eukaryotes and Gram-negative bacteria, and plays a significant role in bacterial defense against oxidative stress. Glutathione reductase from the Gram-positive bacterium Enterococcus faecalis was purified to homogeneity using anion exchange, hydrophobic interaction, and affinity chromatography. The homogeneous 49-kDa enzyme contained 1 mol bound FAD per subunit. The determined N-terminal amino acid sequence of the E. faecalis enzyme displays significant identity with glutathione reductases from other Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, as well as yeast and human erythrocyte reductases. The kinetic mechanism is ping-pong, and the determined kinetic parameters exhibited by the E. faecalis glutathione reductase are similar to those found for glutathione reductases from yeast, Escherichia coli, and human erythrocyte. A two-fold increased expression of glutathione reductase activity and a three-fold induction of glutathione peroxidase activity were observed under hyperbaric O2 growth conditions without a corresponding change in the total glutathione and soluble thiol content. The difference in the expression of the enzyme, and its cognate substrate's intracellular concentration, under these conditions suggest that the gene encoding glutathione reductase is responsive to oxygen concentration, but that the genes encoding the glutathione synthesizing enzymes are not linked to an oxygen-sensitive promoter.

ELECTRON TRANSPORT IN BACILLUS POPILLIAE

Pepper, Rollin E. (Michigan State University, East Lansing), and Ralph N. Costilow. Electron transport in Bacillus popilliae. J. Bacteriol. 89:271-276. 1965.-Bacillus popilliae was found to be unique among aerobic microorganisms in that it was deficient in a hydrogen peroxide-scavenging system. Neither catalase nor peroxidase was found. At the same time, a system for producing hydrogen peroxide during oxidation of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH(2)) was consistently present in the soluble fraction of extracts of cells from older cultures. Cells harvested from 9-hr cultures did not produce a significant amount of peroxide. The soluble NADH(2) oxidase was apparently a flavoprotein, since it was stimulated by flavin nucleotides, insensitive to cyanide and azide, and inhibited by Atabrine. Also, difference spectra demonstrated the presence of a reducible flavin in the soluble fraction of cell extracts. The particulate fraction of cell extracts was shown by difference spectra to contain cytochrome b(1); the strong inhibition of NADH(2) oxidation by cyanide, azide, and carbon monoxide indicated that a terminal cytochrome oxidase was also present. This system was also flavin-dependent, since it was strongly inhibited by Atabrine. The specific activity of the NADH(2) oxidase in the particulate fraction was lower in extracts of cells from older cultures than in those from exponentially growing cultures. Cytochrome c was not found in extracts of these cells. It is believed that the increased participation of the hydrogen peroxide-generating NADH(2) oxidase in cells of older cultures may be responsible for the rapid loss in cell viability noted in stationary-phase cultures.

Characterization of the gor gene of the lactic acid bacterium Streptococcus thermophilus CNRZ368

Cloning and characterization of the gor gene of the lactic acid bacterium Streptococcus thermophilus, encoding glutathione reductase, are described in this paper. This enzyme is a part of the enzymatic defences against oxidative stress in eukaryotic cells and in Gram-negative bacteria, but was never found in Gram-positive bacteria before this study. The amino acid sequence shares extensive similarities with glutathione reductases from other organisms, e.g. 62% amino acid identity with Escherichia coli protein. Northern blot analysis and glutathione reductase enzyme assays gave evidence that the gene is expressed in aerobically growing cells.

Cloning, nucleotide sequence, and expression in Escherichia coli of the Bacillus stearothermophilus peroxidase gene (perA)

The gene encoding a thermostable peroxidase was cloned from the chromosomal DNA of Bacillus stearothermophilus IAM11001 in Escherichia coli. The nucleotide sequence of the 3.1-kilobase EcoRI fragment containing the peroxidase gene (perA) and its flanking region was determined. A 2,193-base-pair open reading frame encoding a peroxidase of 731 amino acid residues (Mr, 82,963) was observed. A Shine-Dalgarno sequence was found 9 base pairs upstream from the translational starting site. The deduced amino acid sequence coincides with those of the amino terminus and four peptides derived from the purified peroxidase of B. stearothermophilus IAM11001. E. coli harboring a recombinant plasmid containing perA produced a large amount of thermostable peroxidase which comigrated on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with the B. stearothermophilus peroxidase. The peroxidase of B. stearothermophilus showed 48% homology in the amino acid sequence to the catalase-peroxidase of E. coli.

Relationship between enzyme activities involved in oxygen metabolism and oxygen tolerance in black-pigmented Bacteroides

In this study, the relationship between enzyme activities involved in oxygen metabolism and the degrees of oxygen tolerance in black-pigmented Bacteroides was investigated. All strains of Bacteroides tested possessed the activities of NADH oxidase and superoxide dismutase, whereas the activities of catalase and peroxidases were not detected in the cell-free extracts. There were relatively high correlations between oxygen tolerance and activity of either NADH oxidase or superoxide dismutase. The activity of superoxide dismutase showed a higher correlation with oxygen tolerance than with that of NADH oxidase. Among the species tested, Bacteroides gingivalis showed the highest activities of both the enzymes and was the most tolerant in the presence of oxygen. Furthermore, the activities of these two enzymes increased during aeration of the oxygen-tolerant strain Bacteroides gingivalis 381, but not in the oxygen-sensitive strain Bacteroides denticola ATCC 33185. These results suggest that superoxide dismutase and NADH oxidase might be important for protection of black-pigmented Bacteroides against the toxic effect of oxygen.

A simple method for the rapid determination of the stereospecificity of NAD-dependent dehydrogenases applied to mammalian IMP dehydrogenase and bacterial NADH peroxidase

The stereospecificity of IMP dehydrogenase (IMP:NAD+ oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.205) from two different sources was determined. The enzyme preparations were obtained from murine lymphoblasts and from Escherichia coli. Both enzymes transferred the 2-3H of IMP to the pro-S position of carbon atom C-4 of the nicotinamide ring in NAD. Thus, B-sided stereospecificity is common to the enzyme from two very different species. In addition, the studies described here demonstrate that alcohol dehydrogenase and NADH peroxidase, used as auxiliary enzymes, in combination with a microdistillation procedure, should permit rapid determination of the stereospecificity of any NAD-dependent dehydrogenase for which the appropriate tritiated substrate is available.

Manganese: its acquisition by and function in the lactic acid bacteria

The transition metal manganese is considered to be a minor micronutrient in both pro- and eukaryotes, usually being required from the environment at subnanomolar levels. Until recently, Mn was only known to function in cells as a cofactor for a few enzymatic reactions. A notable exception has been reported in many lactic acid bacterial species which require micromolar medium Mn levels for growth and contain up to 35 mM Mn. These high Mn concentrations are accompanied by the near or complete absence of intracellular iron and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Lacking hemes, Lactobacillus plantarum and related species contain a unique Mn-cofactored catalase as well as millimolar Mn(II) in a nonenzymic complex performing the function of the micromolar superoxide dismutase found in most other aerotolerant cells. The high Mn(II) levels are accumulated via an efficient active transport system and are stored intracellularly in a high molecular weight complex. Study of Lactobacillus plantarum has provided an interesting example of the substitution of Mn for Fe in several of the biological roles of Fe, an alternative mechanism of aerotolerance, and a better understanding of the unique biochemistry of the lactic acid bacteria.

Positive control of a regulon for defenses against oxidative stress and some heat-shock proteins in Salmonella typhimurium

S. typhimurium become resistant to killing by hydrogen peroxide and other oxidants when pretreated with nonlethal levels of hydrogen peroxide. During adaptation to hydrogen peroxide, 30 proteins are induced. Nine are constitutively overexpressed in dominant hydrogen peroxide-resistant oxyR mutants. Mutant oxyR1 is resistant to a variety of oxidizing agents and overexpresses at least five enzyme activities involved in defenses against oxidative damage. Deletions of oxyR are recessive and uninducible by hydrogen peroxide for the nine proteins overexpressed in oxyR1, demonstrating that oxyR is a positive regulatory element. The oxyR1 mutant is also more resistant than the wild-type parent to killing by heat, and it constitutively overexpresses three heat-shock proteins. The oxyR regulatory network is a previously uncharacterized global regulatory system in enteric bacteria.

The Microaerophile SPirillum volutans : Cultivation on Complex Liquid and Solid Media

Spirillum volutans grows only under microaerobic conditions in a peptone-succinate-salts broth, but can grow aerobically when the peptone is replaced by vitamin-free acid-hydrolyzed casein broth. The addition of potassium metabisulfite, norepinephrine, catalase or superoxide dismutase (SOD) permitted aerobic growth in peptone-succinate-salts broth. A combination of catalase and SOD had a synergistic effect. S. volutans lacked catalase and had only a low level of peroxidase activity, but did possess SOD activity (12 to 14 U/mg of protein). The organism was found to be extraordinarily sensitive to exogenous hydrogen peroxide. Illumination of peptone-succinate-salts broth generated hydrogen peroxide and rendered the medium inhibitory to growth. A combination of catalase and SOD prevented this inhibition. Growth of S. volutans on solid media, not previously possible, was accomplished by the use of vitamin-free acid-hydrolyzed casein and peptone-succinate-salts agar media; maximum growth responses were dependent on the following combination of factors: addition of bisulfite, catalase, or SOD, protection of the media from illumination, incubation in a highly humid atmosphere, and incubation under atmospheres of 12% oxygen or less. The results indicate that the microaerophilic nature of S. volutans is attributable largely to the high sensitivity of the organism to exogenous hydrogen peroxide and, to a lesser extent, superoxide radicals occurring in the culture medium.

Oxygen utilization by Lactobacillus plantarum. I. Oxygen consuming reactions

Lactobacillus plantarum (ATCC 8014) cells, grown aerobically on glucose medium, consumed molecular oxygen when incubated with either glucose, D/L-lactate or pyruvate as substrate. Cell extracts catalyzed the oxidation of NADH, D/L-lactate of pyruvate with O2. Per mol O2 2mol of NADH were consumed indicating that O2 was reduced to H2O; reduction proceeded via H2O2 involving a NADH oxidase and a NADH peroxidase. Catalase activity was absent. Pyruvate oxidation with O2 led to the formation of H2O2, lactate oxidation to the formation of H2O. Thus in L. plantarum different mechanisms are available by which molecular oxygen can be used as electron acceptor for oxidation reactions.

Peroxidases produced by the marine sponge Iotrochota birotulata

1. Two peroxidases, differing in ionic character and substrate specificity, have been isolated from the tropical marine sponge Iotrochota birotulata. 2. Both peroxidases catalyze the oxidation of a number of substrates, and one peroxidase possesses a specificity similar to the terrestrial fungal enzyme chloroperoxidase. 3. Based on inhibition studies utilizing sodium azide, potassium cyanide and 8-hydroxyquinoline, it appears that the peroxidases from I. birotulata are haemoprotein complexes. 4. One peroxidase appears to possess subunit structure, and requires bound divalent metal cations for activity.

Superoxide dismutase and oxygen metabolism in Streptococcus faecalis and comparisons with other organisms

Streptococcus faecalis contains a single superoxide dismutase that has been purified to homogeneity with a 55% yield. This enzyme has a molecular weight of 45,000 and is composed of two subunits of equal size. It contains 1.3 atoms of manganese per molecule. Its amino acid composition was determined and is compared with that for the superoxide dismutases from Escherichia coli, Streptococcus mutans, and Mycobacterium lepraemurium. When used as an antigen in rabbits, the S. faecalis enzyme elicited the formation of a precipitating and inhibiting antibody. This antibody cross-reacted with the superoxide dismutase present in another strain of S. faecalis, but neither inhibited nor precipitated the superoxide dismutases in a wide range of other bacteria, including several other streptococci, such as S. pyogenes, S. pneumoniae, and S. lactis. The inhibiting antibody was used to suppress the superoxide dismutase activity present in cell extracts of S. faecalis and thus allow the demonstration that 17% of the total oxygen consumption by such extracts, in the presence of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, was associated with the production of O(2) (-). A variety of bacterial species were surveyed for their content of superoxide dismutases. The iron-containing enzyme was distinguished from the manganese-containing enzyme through the use of H(2)O(2), which inactivates the former more readily than the latter. Some of the bacteria appeared to contain only the iron enzyme, others only the manganese enzyme, and still others both. Indeed, some had multiple, electrophoretically distinct superoxide dismutases in both categories. There was no discernible absolute relationship between the types of superoxide dismutases in a particular organism and their Gram-stain reaction.

Intermolecular complexes between N-methyl-1,4-dihydronicotinamide and flavines. The influence of steric and electronic factors on complex formation and the rate of flavine-dependent dihydronicotinamide dehydrogenation

The reaction of N-methyldihydronicotinamide (NMNH) with flavine analogs saturates at high dihydronicotinamide concentrations. Complex formation between the reactants depends mainly on steric but not on electronic factors. Thus flavine analogs that differ up to 243 mV in their oxidation-reduction potential vary only between 0.09 and 0.17 M in Kd. When the flavine plane becomes blocked by bulky substituents, however, complex stability decreases by more than an order of magnitude. NMNH-flavine complexes show long wave optical absorption. The energy of the long wave transition decreases with increasing oxidation-reduction potential of the flavine as expected for charge transfer complexes. The first-order rate constants of flavine-dependent dihydronicotinamide dehydrogenation increase with increasing oxidation-reduction potential of the flavine but they are almost independent of Kd. The reaction is not subject to general acid-base catalysis. Thus flavine-dependent dihydronicotinamide dehydrogenation may be interpreted to proceed via a charge transfer complex between oxidized flavine and reduced nicotinamide. In the rate-limiting conversion of the charge transfer complex into products hydrogen is transferred directly, the rate being governed by the difference in oxidation-reduction potential between flavine and dihydronicotinamide. An alternative mechanism where the observed charge transfer complex is not on the reaction pathway appears to be improbable but cannot be eliminated.

Flavin-nicotinamide biscoenzymes: models for the interaction between NADH (NADPH) and flavin in flavoenzymes. Reaction rates and physicochemical properties of intermediate species

1. Flavin-nicotinamide biscoenzymes covalently linked by two, three or four methylene groups through positions N(10) of the flavin (Fl) and (N1) of the nicontinamide (Nic) form long-wavelength-absorbing, intramolecular complexes when the flavin part of the molecule is reduced specifically. The energy of the long-wavelength transition is minimal and its intensity maximal for (see journal for formula). 2. The increasing proximity of the positively charged nicotinamide lowers the pK-value of dihydroflavin deprotonation up to 1.7 units and the flavin oxidation-reduction potential becomes more positive up to 116 mV. 3. Specific reduction of the nicotinamide part of the biscoenzymes yields transient, long-wavelength-absorbing complexes. The energy of the long-wavelength transition is minimal and its intensity maximal for the complex (see journal for formula). 4. The rate of intramolecular flavin-dependent dihydronicotinamide dehydrogenation is highest for (see journal for formula), about 3 times slower for (see journal for formula) and 100 times slower for (see journal for formula). 5. The results obtained in this study are consistent with a reaction mechanism that involves formation of a charge transfer complex between reduced nicotinamide and oxidized flavin and rate-limiting heterolytic breakdown into products.

Effect of uncoupling agents and respiratory inhibitors on the growth of Streptococcus agalactiae

2,4-Dinitrophenol, dicoumarol, carbonylcyanide, m-chlorophenyl-hydrazone and pentachlorophenol all depressed aerobic molar growth yields of Streptococcus agalactiae to values equal to, or less than, those supported by substrate level phosphorylation. When the only source of energy was from substrate phosphorylation (anaerobic growth conditions), there was also a severe depression of the molar growth yield by the same four uncoupling agents. These results indicate that the effect of these agents is to uncouple both substrate and oxidative phosphorylation in S. agalactiae. Amytal inhibited glucose utilization, reduced the amount of O(2) used per mole of substrate and reduced the molar cell yield to that supported by substrate phosphorylation. Atebrin inhibited the respiration rate, but final O(2) consumed per mole of substrate was unchanged, and the respiration was coupled to biosynthesis. Rotenone had no effect on respiration, substrate utilization, or on molar growth yields.

Reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide oxidase activity and H2O2 formation of Mycoplasma pneumoniae

Cell-free extracts of Mycoplasma pneumoniae showed two distinct reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH(2)) oxidase activities in the supernatant fraction. By ammonium sulfate fractionation and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, one activity not requiring flavine co-factors was precipitated by 50 to 70% ammonium sulfate concentration and identified with a slower-moving band on acrylamide gel electrophoresis; a second NADH(2) oxidase activity was flavine mononucleotide (FMN) dependent and associated with a more rapidly moving band; it could only be partially precipitated by ammonium sulfate concentrations ranging from 50 to 100%. Studies with alternate electron acceptors indicated the presence of a menadione, a 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol and a very weak ferricyanide oxido-reductase activity, but no cytochrome c oxido-reductase, in the cell-free preparations. The NADH(2) oxidase activities of all fractions were relatively cyanide insensitive and were only minimally inhibited by flavoprotein and other respiratory chain inhibitors. H(2)O(2) formation was negligible unless FMN, but not flavine adenine dinucleotide (FAD), was added to the crude NADH(2) oxidase system; upon fractionation and electrophoresis, the H(2)O(2) formation was associated with the FMN-dependent, more rapidly moving NADH(2) oxidase band. This FMN-dependent NADH(2) oxidase-H(2)O(2) generating system may be a mechanism for the H(2)O(2) formation observed during glucose oxidation in the intact organism.

Soluble electron-transport activities in fresh and aged turnip tissue

A soluble (supernatant) fraction from turnips catalyses the reduction of both FeCN and DCPIP but usually not cytochrome c in the presence of either NADH or NADPH. Slicing and aging turnip tissue induces an increase in these activities as well as the development of an NADH-cytochrome c reductase activity.(NH4)2SO4 and Sephadex fractionation indicated that at least three enzymes were involved: an NADH-cytochrome-c reductase, an NADH-FeCN reductase, and an NAD(P)H-DCPIP and FeCN reductase. While the latter reductase had an acid pH optimum, indicating vacuolar origin, the NADH-cytochrome-c and FeCN reductases both had neutral pH optima, indicating cytoplasmic origin. Characterization of the NADH-specific reductases indicated that NADH-FeCN reductase may be a soluble form of the microsomal membrane NADH dehydrogenase but that NADH-cytochrome-c reductase may be normally soluble and possibly involved in cyanide-sensitive NADH oxidation.The induced development of all three reductases was inhibited by 6-methylpurine, ethionine and cycloheximide, indicating dependence on both RNA and protein synthesis. The inhibition by cycloheximide could be reversed but this reversion required a 20-h washing-out period to be complete.