Mobilization of granulose in Clostridium pasteurianum. Purification and properties of granulose phosphorylase

Rapid activation of glycogen phosphorylase by the endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is associated with misfolding of ER proteins and triggers the unfolded protein response (UPR). The UPR, in turn, helps restore normal ER function. Since fastidious N-linked glycosylation is critical for folding of most ER proteins, this study examined whether metabolic interconversions of precursors used for glycan assembly were controlled by the UPR. Thus, eight enzymes and factors with key roles in hexose phosphate metabolism were assayed in cytoplasmic extracts from primary dermal fibroblasts treated with UPR inducers. Stimulation of only one activity by the UPR was detected, AMP-independent glycogen phosphorylase (GP). GP activation required only 20 min of ER stress, with concurrent decreases in cellular glycogen and elevations of its metabolites Glc-1-P and Glc-6-P. Addition of phosphatase inhibitors to enzyme extracts from unstressed cells mimicked the effect of ER stress on GP activity, suggesting that phosphorylation of GP or a regulatory factor was involved. These data show that the UPR can modulate hexose metabolism in a manner beneficial for protein glycosylation. Since activation of GP appears to occur by a rapid post-translational process, it may be part of a general strategy of ER damage control, preceding the well-known transcription-dependent processes of the UPR that are manifested hours after the occurrence of ER stress.

Kinetic analysis of Clostridium cellulolyticum carbohydrate metabolism: importance of glucose 1-phosphate and glucose 6-phosphate branch points for distribution of carbon fluxes inside and outside cells as revealed by steady-state continuous culture

During the growth of Clostridium cellulolyticum in chemostat cultures with ammonia as the growth-limiting nutrient, as much as 30% of the original cellobiose consumed by C. cellulolyticum was converted to cellotriose, glycogen, and polysaccharides regardless of the specific growth rates. Whereas the specific consumption rate of cellobiose and of the carbon flux through glycolysis increased, the carbon flux through the phosphoglucomutase slowed. The limitation of the path through the phosphoglucomutase had a great effect on the accumulation of glucose 1-phosphate (G1P), the precursor of cellotriose, exopolysaccharides, and glycogen. The specific rates of biosynthesis of these compounds are important since as much as 16.7, 16.0, and 21.4% of the specific rate of cellobiose consumed by the cells could be converted to cellotriose, exopolysaccharides, and glycogen, respectively. With the increase of the carbon flux through glycolysis, the glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) pool decreased, whereas the G1P pool increased. Continuous culture experiments showed that glycogen biosynthesis was associated with rapid growth. The same result was obtained in batch culture, where glycogen biosynthesis reached a maximum during the exponential growth phase. Glycogen synthesis in C. cellulolyticum was also not subject to stimulation by nutrient limitation. Flux analyses demonstrate that G1P and G6P, connected by the phosphoglucomutase reaction, constitute important branch points for the distribution of carbon fluxes inside and outside cells. From this study it appears that the properties of the G1P-G6P branch points have been selected to control excretion of carbon surplus and to dissipate excess energy, whereas the pyruvate-acetyl coenzyme A branch points chiefly regulate the redox balance of the carbon catabolism as was shown previously (E. Guedon et al., J. Bacteriol. 181:3262-3269, 1999).

Accumulation, mobilization and turn-over of glycogen in the blue-green bacterium Anacystis nidulans

1. Accumulation of glycogen up to a constant amount per cell was observed during the postexponential phase of growth, in the presence of an excess of a utilizable carbon source. Cell multiplication was reproducibly controlled by growth of the organism in a nitrogen-limiting medium under photoautotrophic conditions (presence of light, air plus CO2). 2. Temporary starvation, i.e. by removal of light or by the addition to an illuminated culture of DCMU, 3-(3',4'-dichlorophenyl)-1,1'-dimethylurea, a specific inhibitor of photosystem II, lead to a mobilization of glycogen in the cell. Furthermore, Anacystis nidulans, having accumulated glycogen by virtue of preculture under nitrogen-limiting conditions, will resume cell division when the culture medium is complemented with a nitrogen source. The ability of the organism to use glycogen as an endogenous carbon source for growth was observed by addition of a nitrogen source to nitrogen-starving cells and simultaneous removal of CO2. 3. During the period of constant amount of glycogen per cell the reserve polysaccharide was subject to turnover as demonstrated with a pulse chase-labelling technique. The demonstration of a turnover--for the first time with a bacterial species--indicated a strict balance in the relative rate of synthesis and degradation.

1, 4-alpha-Glucan phosphorylase from Klebsiella pneumoniae purification, subunit structure and amino acid composition

1. A 1,4-alpha-glucan phosphorylase from Klebsiella pneumoniae has been purified about 80-fold with an over-all yield greater than 35%. The purified enzyme has been shown to be homogeneous by gel electrophoresis at different pH-values, by isoelectric focusing, by dodecylsulfate electrophoresis and by ultracentrifugation. 2. The molecular weight of the native enzyme has been determined to be 180 000 by ultra-centrifugation studies, in good agreement with the value of 189 000 estimated by gel permeation chromatography. 3. The enzyme dissociates in the presence of 0.1% dodecylsulfate or 5 M guanidine hydrochloride into polypeptide chains. The molecular weight of these polypeptide chains has been found to be 88 000 by dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and 99 000 by sedimentation equilibrium studies, indicating that the native enzyme is composed of two polypeptide chains. 4. The enzyme contains pyridoxalphosphate with a stoichiometry of two moles per 180 000 g protein, confirming that the 1,4-alpha-glucan phosphorylase from Klebsiella pneumoniae is a dimeric enzyme. 5. The amino acid composition of the enzyme has been determined, and its correspondence to that of 1,4-alpha-glucan phosphorylases from other sources is discussed. 6. The pI of the enzyme has been shown to be 5.3 and its pH-optimum to be about pH 5.9. The enzyme is stable in the range from pH 5.9 to 10.5.