Sulfur-34S stable isotope labeling of amino acids for quantification (SULAQ34) of proteomic changes in Pseudomonas fluorescens during naphthalene degradation

Systemic long-distance sulfur transport and its role in symbiotic root nodule protein turnover

Sulfur is an essential nutrient for all plants, but also crucial for the nitrogen fixing symbiosis between legumes and rhizobia. Sulfur limitation can hamper nodule development and functioning. Until now, it remained unclear whether sulfate uptake into nodules is local or mainly systemic via the roots, and if long-distance transport from shoots to roots and into nodules occurs. Therefore, this work investigates the systemic regulation of sulfur transportation in the model legume Lotus japonicus by applying stable isotope labeling to a split-root system. Metabolite and protein extraction together with mass spectrometry analyses were conducted to determine the plants molecular phenotype and relative isotope protein abundances. Data show that treatments of varying sulfate concentrations including the absence of sulfate on one side of a nodulated root was not affecting nodule development as long as the other side of the root system was provided with sufficient sulfate. Concentrations of shoot metabolites did not indicate a significant stress response caused by a lack of sulfur. Further, we did not observe any quantitative changes in proteins involved in biological nitrogen fixation in response to the different sulfate treatments. Relative isotope abundance of 34S confirmed a long-distance transport of sulfur from one side of the roots to the other side and into the nodules. Altogether, these results provide evidence for a systemic long-distance transport of sulfur via the upper part of the plant to the nodules suggesting a demand driven sulfur distribution for the maintenance of symbiotic N-fixation.

Advances and perspectives of using stable isotope probing (SIP)-based technologies in contaminant biodegradation

Stable isotope probing (SIP) is a powerful tool to study microbial community structure and function in both nature and engineered environments. Coupling with advanced genomics and other techniques, SIP studies have generated substantial information to allow researchers to draw a clearer picture of what is occurring in complex microbial ecosystems. This review provides an overview of the advances of SIP-based technologies over time, summarizes the status of SIP applications to contaminant biodegradation, provides critical perspectives on ecological interactions within the community, and important factors (controllable and non-controllable) to be considered in SIP experimental designs and data interpretation. Current trend and perspectives of adapting SIP techniques for environmental applications are also discussed.

Proteomic response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa IIPIS-8 during rapid and efficient degradation of naphthalene

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widely distributed in the ecosystem and are of significant concern due to their toxicity and mutagenicity. Bioremediation of PAHs is a popular and benign approach that ameliorates the environment. This study investigated the biodegradation and proteome response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa IIPIS-8 for two-ringed PAH: naphthalene (NAP) to understand proteome alteration during its bioremediation. Rapid biodegradation was observed up to 98 ± 1.26% and 84 ± 1.03%, respectively, for initial concentrations of 100 mg L^-1 and 500 mg L^-1 of NAP. Degradation followed first-order kinetics with rate constants of 0.12 h^-1 and 0.06 h^-1 and half-life (t_1/2) of 5.7 h and 11.3 h, respectively. Additionally, the occurrence of key ring cleavage and linear chain intermediates, 2,3,4,5,6, -pentamethyl acetophenone, 1-octanol 2-butyl, and hexadecanoic acid supported complete NAP degradation. Proteomics study of IIPIS-8 throws light on the impact of protein expression, in which 415 proteins were quantified in sequential windowed acquisition of all theoretical fragment ion mass spectra (SWATH-MS) analysis, of which 97 were found to be significantly up-regulated and 75 were significantly down-regulated by ≥ 2-fold change (p values ≤ 0.05), during the NAP degradation. The study also listed the up-regulation of several enzymes, including oxido-reductases, hydrolases, and catalases, potentially involved in NAP degradation. Overall, differential protein expression, through proteomics study, demonstrated IIPIS-8's capability to efficiently assimilate NAP in their metabolic pathways even in a high concentration of NAP.

Transcriptomic analysis of polyaromatic hydrocarbon degradation by the halophilic fungus Aspergillus sydowii at hypersaline conditions

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are among the most persistent xenobiotic compounds, with high toxicity effects. Mycoremediation with halophilic Aspergillus sydowii was used for their removal from a hypersaline medium (1 M NaCl). A. sydowii metabolized PAHs as sole carbon sources, resulting in the removal of up to 90% for both PAHs [benzo [a] pyrene (BaP) and phenanthrene (Phe)] after 10 days. Elimination of Phe and BaP was almost exclusively due to biotransformation and not adsorption by dead mycelium and did not correlate with the activity of lignin modifying enzymes (LME). Transcriptomes of A. sydowii grown on PAHs, or on glucose as control, both at hypersaline conditions, revealed 170 upregulated and 76 downregulated genes. Upregulated genes were related to starvation, cell wall remodelling, degradation and metabolism of xenobiotics, DNA/RNA metabolism, energy generation, signalling and general stress responses. Changes of LME expression levels were not detected, while the chloroperoxidase gene, possibly related to detoxification processes in fungi, was strongly upregulated. We propose that two parallel metabolic pathways (mitochondrial and cytosolic) are involved in degradation and detoxification of PAHs in A. sydowii resulting in intracellular oxidation of PAHs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive transcriptomic analysis on fungal degradation of PAHs.

Sulfate is transported at significant rates through the symbiosome membrane and is crucial for nitrogenase biosynthesis

Legume-rhizobia symbioses play a major role in food production for an ever growing human population. In this symbiosis, dinitrogen is reduced ("fixed") to ammonia by the rhizobial nitrogenase enzyme complex and is secreted to the plant host cells, whereas dicarboxylic acids derived from photosynthetically produced sucrose are transported into the symbiosomes and serve as respiratory substrates for the bacteroids. The symbiosome membrane contains high levels of SST1 protein, a sulfate transporter. Sulfate is an essential nutrient for all living organisms, but its importance for symbiotic nitrogen fixation and nodule metabolism has long been underestimated. Using chemical imaging, we demonstrate that the bacteroids take up 20-fold more sulfate than the nodule host cells. Furthermore, we show that nitrogenase biosynthesis relies on high levels of imported sulfate, making sulfur as essential as carbon for the regulation and functioning of symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Our findings thus establish the importance of sulfate and its active transport for the plant-microbe interaction that is most relevant for agriculture and soil fertility.

Sulfur-34S and 36S Stable Isotope Labeling of Amino Acids for Quantification (SULAQ34/36) of Proteome Analyses

Quantitative proteome profiling of microorganisms by isotopic labeling of amino acids is still a challenge, because only microorganisms with auxotrophic character are able to embed amino acids into their biomass in a quantitatively correct manner. Here, we describe an isotopic labeling technique (sulfur stable isotope labeling of amino acids for quantification, SULAQ) for the sulfur-containing amino acids cysteine and methionine in a broad range of organisms. The metabolic labeling approach is suitable for gel-based and gel-free protein analysis.

Global proteomic responses of Escherichia coli and evolution of biomarkers under tetracycline stress at acid and alkaline conditions

The global proteomic regulation and the mechanism of biomolecule evolution in acid and alkaline ecosystems triggered by tetracycline, a representative of antibiotics, are not clear. To reveal the related mechanisms, the global responses of Escherichia (E.) coli to tetracycline in acid and alkaline conditions were analyzed using a proteomic approach. The specific phospholipid C16:1ω9c showed a significant decrease between the treatment and control groups. The 77 and 111 upregulated proteins in E. coli in acid and alkaline groups were mainly involved in carbohydrate transport and metabolism and energy metabolism, whereas, the 78 downregulated proteins were related to ribosome and bacterial chemotaxis in the acid group. The 110 downregulated proteins involved in carbon, glycine, serine, threonine, glyoxylate, and dicarboxylate metabolism, biosynthesis of antibiotics, fatty acids, and secondary metabolites in the alkaline group. Protein sequence analysis showed that the respective distribution of phosphorylation, glycosylation, and methylation sites among stable-expressed, upregulated, and downregulated proteins all showed a significant difference. TolC and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (Pck) in E. coli could be biomarkers to reflect tetracycline stress under extreme conditions with high sequence homology in Homo sapiens, implying the potential impact of tetracycline on humans at the network level. Generally, E. coli in the acid group accelerated the highly efficient protection mechanism to defend against tetracycline stress, while E. coli in the alkaline group strongly impaired the protection mechanism. These findings provide important clues to reveal the microbial antibiotic resistance mechanism in E. coli under extreme conditions and perfect the antibiotic usage.

Rice Paddy Nitrospirae Carry and Express Genes Related to Sulfate Respiration: Proposal of the New Genus "Candidatus Sulfobium"

Nitrospirae spp. distantly related to thermophilic, sulfate-reducing Thermodesulfovibrio species are regularly observed in environmental surveys of anoxic marine and freshwater habitats. Here we present a metaproteogenomic analysis of Nitrospirae bacterium Nbg-4 as a representative of this clade. Its genome was assembled from replicated metagenomes of rice paddy soil that was used to grow rice in the presence and absence of gypsum (CaSO₄·2H₂O). Nbg-4 encoded the full pathway of dissimilatory sulfate reduction and showed expression of this pathway in gypsum-amended anoxic bulk soil as revealed by parallel metaproteomics. In addition, Nbg-4 encoded the full pathway of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia (DNRA), with expression of its first step being detected in bulk soil without gypsum amendment. The relative abundances of Nbg-4 were similar under both treatments, indicating that Nbg-4 maintained stable populations while shifting its energy metabolism. Whether Nbg-4 is a strict sulfate reducer or can couple sulfur oxidation to DNRA by operating the pathway of dissimilatory sulfate reduction in reverse could not be resolved. Further genome reconstruction revealed the potential to utilize butyrate, formate, H₂, or acetate as an electron donor; the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway was expressed under both treatments. Comparison to publicly available Nitrospirae genome bins revealed the pathway for dissimilatory sulfate reduction also in related Nitrospirae recovered from groundwater. Subsequent phylogenomics showed that such microorganisms form a novel genus within the Nitrospirae, with Nbg-4 as a representative species. Based on the widespread occurrence of this novel genus, we propose for Nbg-4 the name “Candidatus Sulfobium mesophilum,” gen. nov., sp. nov.

IMPORTANCE Rice paddies are indispensable for the food supply but are a major source of the greenhouse gas methane. If it were not counterbalanced by cryptic sulfur cycling, methane emission from rice paddy fields would be even higher. However, the microorganisms involved in this sulfur cycling are little understood. By using an environmental systems biology approach with Italian rice paddy soil, we could retrieve the population genome of a novel member of the phylum Nitrospirae. This microorganism encoded the full pathway of dissimilatory sulfate reduction and expressed it in anoxic paddy soil under sulfate-enriched conditions. Phylogenomics and comparison to the results of environmental surveys showed that such microorganisms are actually widespread in freshwater and marine environments. At the same time, they represent an undiscovered genus within the little-explored phylum Nitrospirae. Our results will be important for the design of enrichment strategies and postgenomic studies to further understanding of the contribution of these novel Nitrospirae spp. to the global sulfur cycle.

iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analysis of the global response to 17β-estradiol in estrogen-degradation strain Pseudomonas putida SJTE-1

Microorganism degradation is efficient to remove the steroid hormones like 17β-estradiol (E2); but their degradation mechanism and metabolic network to these chemicals are still not very clear. Here the global responses of the estrogen-degradation strain Pseudomonas putida SJTE-1 to 17β-estradiol and glucose were analyzed and compared using the iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantization) strategy combined with LC-MS/MS (liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry). 78 proteins were identified with significant changes in expression; 45 proteins and 33 proteins were up-regulated and down-regulated, respectively. These proteins were mainly involved in the processes of stress response, energy metabolism, transportation, chemotaxis and cell motility, and carbon metabolism, considered probably responding to 17β-estradiol and playing a role in its metabolism. The up-regulated proteins in electron transfer, energy generation and transport systems were thought crucial for efficient uptake, translocation and transformation of 17β-estradiol. The over-expression of carbon metabolism proteins indicated cells may activate related pathway members to utilize 17β-estradiol. Meanwhile, proteins functioning in glucose capture and metabolism were mostly down-regulated. These findings provide important clues to reveal the 17β-estradiol degradation mechanism in P. putida and promote its bioremediation applications.

Label-free quantification reveals major proteomic changes in Pseudomonas putida F1 during the exponential growth phase

The physiological adaptation to stationary growth by Pseudomonas putida F1, a model organism for the degradation of aromatic compounds, was investigated by proteome-wide label-free quantification.The data unveiled that entrance to the stationary phase did not involve an abrupt switch within the P. putida F1 proteome, but rather an ongoing adaptation that started already during the mid-exponential growth phase. The proteomic adaptations involved a clear increase in amino acid degradation capabilities and a loss of transcriptional as well as translational capacity. The final entrance to the stationary phase was accompanied by increased oxidative stress protection, although the stress and stationary sigma factor RpoS increased in abundance already during mid-exponential growth. The results show that it is important to consider significant sample variations when exponentially growing cultures are studied alone or compared across proteomic or transcriptomic literature. All MS data have been deposited in the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD001219 (http://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org/dataset/PXD001219).

Quantitative proteomics in the field of microbiology

Quantitative proteomics has become an indispensable analytical tool for microbial research. Modern microbial proteomics covers a wide range of topics in basic and applied research from in vitro characterization of single organisms to unravel the physiological implications of stress/starvation to description of the proteome content of a cell at a given time. With the techniques available, ranging from classical gel-based procedures to modern MS-based quantitative techniques, including metabolic and chemical labeling, as well as label-free techniques, quantitative proteomics is today highly successful in sophisticated settings of high complexity such as host-pathogen interactions, mixed microbial communities, and microbial metaproteomics. In this review, we will focus on the vast range of techniques practically applied in current research with an introduction of the workflows used for quantitative comparisons, a description of the advantages/disadvantages of the various methods, reference to hallmark publications and presentation of applications in current microbial research.

Analysis of isotopic labeling in peptide fragments by tandem mass spectrometry

Phenotype in multicellular organisms is the consequence of dynamic metabolic events that occur in a spatially dependent fashion. This spatial and temporal complexity presents challenges for investigating metabolism; creating a need for improved methods that effectively probe biochemical events such as amino acid biosynthesis. Isotopic labeling can provide a temporal-spatial recording of metabolic events through, for example, the description of enriched amino acids in the protein pool. Proteins are therefore an important readout of metabolism and can be assessed with modern mass spectrometers. We compared the measurement of isotopic labeling in MS2 spectra obtained from tandem mass spectrometry under either higher energy collision dissociation (HCD) or collision induced dissociation (CID) at varied energy levels. Developing soybean embryos cultured with or without 13C-labeled substrates, and Escherichia coli MG1655 enriched by feeding 7% uniformly labeled glucose served as a source of biological material for protein evaluation. CID with low energies resulted in a disproportionate amount of heavier isotopologues remaining in the precursor isotopic distribution. HCD resulted in fewer quantifiable products; however deviation from predicted distributions were small relative to the CID-based comparisons. Fragment ions have the potential to provide information on the labeling of amino acids in peptides, but our results indicate that without further development the use of this readout in quantitative methods such as metabolic flux analysis is limited.

Quantification of peptide m/z distributions from 13C-labeled cultures with high-resolution mass spectrometry

Isotopic labeling studies of primary metabolism frequently utilize GC/MS to quantify (13)C in protein-hydrolyzed amino acids. During processing some amino acids are degraded, which reduces the size of the measurement set. The advent of high-resolution mass spectrometers provides a tool to assess molecular masses of peptides with great precision and accuracy and computationally infer information about labeling in amino acids. Amino acids that are isotopically labeled during metabolism result in labeled peptides that contain spatial and temporal information that is associated with the biosynthetic origin of the protein. The quantification of isotopic labeling in peptides can therefore provide an assessment of amino acid metabolism that is specific to subcellular, cellular, or temporal conditions. A high-resolution orbital trap was used to quantify isotope labeling in peptides that were obtained from unlabeled and isotopically labeled soybean embryos and Escherichia coli cultures. Standard deviations were determined by estimating the multinomial variance associated with each element of the m/z distribution. Using the estimated variance, quantification of the m/z distribution across multiple scans was achieved by a nonlinear fitting approach. Observed m/z distributions of uniformly labeled E. coli peptides indicated no significant differences between observed and simulated m/z distributions. Alternatively, amino acid m/z distributions obtained from GC/MS were convolved to simulate peptide m/z distributions but resulted in distinct profiles due to the production of protein prior to isotopic labeling. The results indicate that peptide mass isotopologue measurements faithfully represent mass distributions, are suitable for quantification of isotope-labeling-based studies, and provide additional information over existing methods.