Chromosome Segregation Proteins as Coordinators of Cell Cycle in Response to Environmental Conditions

Chromosome segregation is a crucial stage of the cell cycle. In general, proteins involved in this process are DNA-binding proteins, and in most bacteria, ParA and ParB are the main players; however, some bacteria manage this process by employing other proteins, such as condensins. The dynamic interaction between ParA and ParB drives movement and exerts positioning of the chromosomal origin of replication (oriC) within the cell. In addition, both ParA and ParB were shown to interact with the other proteins, including those involved in cell division or cell elongation. The significance of these interactions for the progression of the cell cycle is currently under investigation. Remarkably, DNA binding by ParA and ParB as well as their interactions with protein partners conceivably may be modulated by intra- and extracellular conditions. This notion provokes the question of whether chromosome segregation can be regarded as a regulatory stage of the cell cycle. To address this question, we discuss how environmental conditions affect chromosome segregation and how segregation proteins influence other cell cycle processes.

Stress-inducible NHEJ in bacteria: function in DNA repair and acquisition of heterologous DNA

DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) in bacteria can be repaired by non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ), a two-component system relying on Ku and LigD. While performing a genetic characterization of NHEJ in Sinorhizobium meliloti, a representative of bacterial species encoding several Ku and LigD orthologues, we found that at least two distinct functional NHEJ repair pathways co-exist: one is dependent on Ku2 and LigD2, while the other depends on Ku3, Ku4 and LigD4. Whereas Ku2 likely acts as canonical bacterial Ku homodimers, genetic evidences suggest that Ku3-Ku4 form eukaryotic-like heterodimers. Strikingly, we found that the efficiency of both NHEJ systems increases under stress conditions, including heat and nutrient starvation. We found that this stimulation results from the transcriptional up-regulation of the ku and/or ligD genes, and that some of these genes are controlled by the general stress response regulator RpoE2. Finally, we provided evidence that NHEJ not only repairs DSBs, but can also capture heterologous DNA fragments into genomic breaks. Our data therefore suggest that NHEJ could participate to horizontal gene transfer from distantly related species, bypassing the need of homology to integrate exogenous DNA. This supports the hypothesis that NHEJ contributes to evolution and adaptation of bacteria under adverse environmental conditions.

A highly processive actinobacterial topoisomerase I - thoughts on Streptomyces' demand for an enzyme with a unique C-terminal domain

Topoisomerase I (TopA) is an essential enzyme that is required to remove excess negative supercoils from chromosomal DNA. Actinobacteria encode unusual TopA homologues with a unique C-terminal domain that contains lysine repeats and confers high enzyme processivity. Interestingly, the longest stretch of lysine repeats was identified in TopA from Streptomyces, environmental bacteria that undergo complex differentiation and produce a plethora of secondary metabolites. In this review, we aim to discuss potential advantages of the lysine repeats in Streptomyces TopA. We speculate that the chromosome organization, transcriptional regulation and lifestyle of these species demand a highly processive but also fine-tuneable relaxase. We hypothesize that the unique TopA provides flexible control of chromosomal topology and globally regulates gene expression.

Post-translational Protein Acetylation: An Elegant Mechanism for Bacteria to Dynamically Regulate Metabolic Functions

Post-translational modifications (PTM) decorate proteins to provide functional heterogeneity to an existing proteome. The large number of known PTMs highlights the many ways that cells can modify their proteins to respond to diverse stimuli. Recently, PTMs have begun to receive increased interest because new sensitive proteomics workflows and structural methodologies now allow researchers to obtain large-scale, in-depth and unbiased information concerning PTM type and site localization. However, few PTMs have been extensively assessed for functional consequences, leaving a large knowledge gap concerning the inner workings of the cell. Here, we review understanding of N-𝜀-lysine acetylation in bacteria, a PTM that was largely ignored in bacteria until a decade ago. Acetylation is a modification that can dramatically change the function of a protein through alteration of its properties, including hydrophobicity, solubility, and surface properties, all of which may influence protein conformation and interactions with substrates, cofactors and other macromolecules. Most bacteria carry genes predicted to encode the lysine acetyltransferases and lysine deacetylases that add and remove acetylations, respectively. Many bacteria also exhibit acetylation activities that do not depend on an enzyme, but instead on direct transfer of acetyl groups from the central metabolites acetyl coenzyme A or acetyl phosphate. Regardless of mechanism, most central metabolic enzymes possess lysines that are acetylated in a regulated fashion and many of these regulated sites are conserved across the spectrum of bacterial phylogeny. The interconnectedness of acetylation and central metabolism suggests that acetylation may be a response to nutrient availability or the energy status of the cell. However, this and other hypotheses related to acetylation remain untested.

Bacterial NHEJ: a never ending story

Double-strand breaks (DSBs) are the most detrimental DNA damage encountered by bacterial cells. DBSs can be repaired by homologous recombination thanks to the availability of an intact DNA template or by Non-Homologous End Joining (NHEJ) when no intact template is available. Bacterial NHEJ is performed by sets of proteins of growing complexity from Bacillus subtilis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis to Streptomyces and Sinorhizobium meliloti. Here, we discuss the contribution of these models to the understanding of the bacterial NHEJ repair mechanism as well as the involvement of NHEJ partners in other DNA repair pathways. The importance of NHEJ and of its complexity is discussed in the perspective of regulation through the biological cycle of the bacteria and in response to environmental stimuli. Finally, we consider the role of NHEJ in genome evolution, notably in horizontal gene transfer.

Role of Acetyltransferase PG1842 in Gingipain Biogenesis in Porphyromonas gingivalis

Porphyromonas gingivalis, the major etiologic agent in adult periodontitis, produces large amounts of proteases that are important for its survival and pathogenesis. The activation/maturation of gingipains, the major proteases, in P. gingivalis involves a complex network of processes which are not yet fully understood. VimA, a putative acetyltransferase and virulence-modulating protein in P. gingivalis, is known to be involved in gingipain biogenesis. P. gingivalis FLL92, a vimA-defective isogenic mutant (vimA::ermF-ermAM) showed late-onset gingipain activity at stationary phase, indicating the likelihood of a complementary functional VimA homolog in that growth phase. This study aimed to identify a functional homolog(s) that may activate the gingipains in the absence of VimA at stationary phase. A bioinformatics analysis showed five putative GCN5-related N-acetyltransferases (GNAT) encoded in the P. gingivalis genome that are structurally related to VimA. Allelic exchange mutagenesis was used to make deletion mutants for these acetyltransferases in the P. gingivalis vimA-defective mutant FLL102 (ΔvimA::ermF) genetic background. One of the mutants, designated P. gingivalis FLL126 (ΔvimA-ΔPG1842), did not show any late-onset gingipain activity at stationary phase compared to that of the parent strain P. gingivalis FLL102. A Western blot analysis of stationary-phase extracellular fractions with antigingipain antibodies showed immunoreactive bands that were similar in size to those for the progingipain species present only in the ΔvimA-ΔPG1842 isogenic mutant. Both recombinant VimA and PG1842 proteins acetylated Y230, K247, and K248 residues in the pro-RgpB substrate. Collectively, these findings indicate that PG1842 may play a significant role in the activation/maturation of gingipains in P. gingivalis IMPORTANCE Gingipain proteases are key virulence factors secreted by Porphyromonas gingivalis that cause periodontal tissue damage and the degradation of the host immune system proteins. Gingipains are translated as an inactive zymogen to restrict intracellular proteolytic activity before secretion. Posttranslational processing converts the inactive proenzyme to a catalytically active protease. Gingipain biogenesis, including its secretion and activation, is a complex process which is still not fully understood. One recent study identified acetylated lysine residues in the three gingipains RgpA, RgpB, and Kgp, thus indicating a role for acetylation in gingipain biogenesis. Here, we show that the acetyltransferases VimA and PG1842 can acetylate the pro-RgpB gingipain species. These findings further indicate that acetylation is a potential mechanism in the gingipain activation/maturation pathway in P. gingivalis.

NuRD subunit MTA1 interacts with the DNA non-homologous end joining Ku complex in cancer cells

Metastasis-associated antigen 1 (MTA1) is a chromatin modifier mediating DNA modification and gene expression. Ku70/Ku80 complex has been reported to be essential in DNA damage response. In an effort to explore the MTA1 interactome, we captured the Ku70/Ku80 complex with two specific MTA1 antibodies in a colon cancer cell line. We first validated the in vitro interaction between MTA1 and the Ku complex by co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) analyses in cell lysate, showing that the interaction occurred mainly at the nucleus, but also existed in the cytoplasm at a lower level. We further visualized and confirmed their in vivo interaction using proximity ligation assay (PLA), which, in line with the in vitro analysis, also demonstrated a vast majority of interaction plots in the nucleus and a small number in the cytoplasm. We previously demonstrated that MTA1 distributed dynamically and periodically during the cell cycle. Here, through fluorescent colocalization, we found that MTA1 and Ku proteins colocalized well in the nucleus at interphase and moved synchronously from prophase to anaphase. Interestingly, at the time of telophase, when MTA1 was reported to re-enter the nucleus, they were separated and moved non-synchronously. Moreover, using in situ PLA, we visualized that the interaction occurred at both interphase and mitosis. At interphase, they interacted mainly in the nucleus, but during mitosis, they interact at the periphery of chromosomes. We also showed that MTA1 correlated well with Ku in both the cancerous and normal tissues, and that they cooperated in UV-induced DNA damage response. Collectively, our data uncover a specific interaction between MTA1 and Ku complex at both the nucleus and cytoplasm, and across the whole cell cycle. We therefore propose a potential functional crosstalk between NuRD and Ku complexes, the two most fundamental function units in cells, via physical interaction.

MTA1 interacts with Ku complex mainly in the nucleus at interphase and surrounding the chromosome during mitosis.

Nε- and O-Acetylation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Lineage 7 and Lineage 4 Strains: Proteins Involved in Bioenergetics, Virulence, and Antimicrobial Resistance Are Acetylated

Increasing evidence demonstrates that lysine acetylation is involved in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) virulence and pathogenesis. However, previous investigations in Mtb have only monitored acetylation at lysine residues using selected reference strains. We analyzed the global N_ε- and O-acetylation of three Mtb isolates: two lineage 7 clinical isolates and the lineage 4 H37Rv reference strain. Quantitative acetylome analysis resulted in identification of 2490 class-I acetylation sites, 2349 O-acetylation and 141 N_ε-acetylation sites, derived from 953 unique proteins. Mtb O-acetylation was thereby significantly more abundant than N_ε-acetylation. The acetylated proteins were found to be involved in central metabolism, translation, stress responses, and antimicrobial drug resistance. Notably, 261 acetylation sites on 165 proteins were differentially regulated between lineage 7 and lineage 4 strains. A total of 257 acetylation sites on 161 proteins were hypoacetylated in lineage 7 strains. These proteins are involved in Mtb growth, virulence, bioenergetics, host-pathogen interactions, and stress responses. This study provides the first global analysis of O-acetylated proteins in Mtb. This quantitative acetylome data expand the current understanding regarding the nature and diversity of acetylated proteins in Mtb and open a new avenue of research for exploring the role of protein acetylation in Mtb physiology.

Regulation, Function, and Detection of Protein Acetylation in Bacteria

N^ε-Lysine acetylation is now recognized as an abundant posttranslational modification (PTM) that influences many essential biological pathways. Advancements in mass spectrometry-based proteomics have led to the discovery that bacteria contain hundreds of acetylated proteins, contrary to the prior notion of acetylation events being rare in bacteria. Although the mechanisms that regulate protein acetylation are still not fully defined, it is understood that this modification is finely tuned via both enzymatic and nonenzymatic mechanisms. The opposing actions of Gcn5-related N-acetyltransferases (GNATs) and deacetylases, including sirtuins, provide the enzymatic control of lysine acetylation. A nonenzymatic mechanism of acetylation has also been demonstrated and proven to be prominent in bacteria, as well as in mitochondria. The functional consequences of the vast majority of the identified acetylation sites remain unknown. From studies in mammalian systems, acetylation of critical lysine residues was shown to impact protein function by altering its structure, subcellular localization, and interactions. It is becoming apparent that the same diversity of functions can be found in bacteria. Here, we review current knowledge of the mechanisms and the functional consequences of acetylation in bacteria. Additionally, we discuss the methods available for detecting acetylation sites, including quantitative mass spectrometry-based methods, which promise to promote this field of research. We conclude with possible future directions and broader implications of the study of protein acetylation in bacteria.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium marinum non-homologous end-joining proteins can function together to join DNA ends in Escherichia coli

Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium smegmatis express a Ku protein and a DNA ligase D and are able to repair DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) by non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). This pathway protects against DNA damage when bacteria are in stationary phase. Mycobacterium marinum is a member of this mycobacterium family and like M. tuberculosis is pathogenic. M. marinum lives in water, forms biofilms and infects fish and frogs. M. marinum is a biosafety level 2 (BSL2) organism as it can infect humans, although infections are limited to the skin. M. marinum is accepted as a model to study mycobacterial pathogenesis, as M. marinum and M. tuberculosis are genetically closely related and have similar mechanisms of survival and persistence inside macrophage. The aim of this study was to determine whether M. marinum could be used as a model to understand M. tuberculosis NHEJ repair. We identified and cloned the M. marinum genes encoding NHEJ proteins and generated E. coli strains that express the M. marinum Ku (Mm-Ku) and ligase D (Mm-Lig) individually or together (LHmKumLig strain) from expression vectors integrated at phage attachment sites in the genome. We demonstrated that Mm-Ku and Mm-Lig are both required to re-circularize Cla I-linearized plasmid DNA in E. coli. We compared repair of strain LHmKumLig with that of an E. coli strain (BWKuLig#2) expressing the M. tuberculosis Ku (Mt-Ku) and ligase D (Mt-Lig), and found that LHmKumLig performed 3.5 times more repair and repair was more accurate than BWKuLig#2. By expressing the Mm-Ku with the Mt-Lig, or the Mt-Ku with the Mm-Lig in E. coli, we have shown that the NHEJ proteins from M. marinum and M. tuberculosis can function together to join DNA DSBs. NHEJ repair is therefore conserved between the two species. Consequently, M. marinum is a good model to study NHEJ repair during mycobacterial pathogenesis.

Lysine acetylation regulates the activity of Escherichia coli pyridoxine 5'-phosphate oxidase

Nɛ-lysine acetylation is one of the most abundant post-translational modifications in eukaryote and prokaryote. Protein acetylome of Escherichia coli has been screened using mass spectrometry (MS) technology, and many acetylated proteins have been identified, including the pyridoxine 5'-phosphate oxidase (EcPNPOx), but the biological roles played by lysine acetylation in EcPNPOx still remain unknown. In this study, EcPNPOx was firstly overexpressed and purified, and two acetylated lysine residues were identified by the subsequent liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Site-directed mutagenesis analysis demonstrated that acetylated lysine residues play important roles in the enzymatic activity and enzymatic properties of the protein. EcPNPOx could be non-enzymatically acetylated by acetyl-phosphate and deacetylated by CobB in vitro. Furthermore, enzymatic activities of acetylated and deacetylated EcPNPOx were compared in vitro, and results showed that acetylation led to a decrease of its enzymatic activity, which could be rescued by CobB deacetylation. Taken together, our data suggest that CobB modulates the enzymatic activity of EcPNPOx in vitro.

A glimpse into the modulation of post-translational modifications of human-colonizing bacteria

Protein post-translational modifications (PTMs) are a key bacterial feature that holds the capability to modulate protein function and responses to environmental cues. Until recently, their role in the regulation of prokaryotic systems has been largely neglected. However, the latest developments in mass spectrometry-based proteomics have allowed an unparalleled identification and quantification of proteins and peptides that undergo PTMs in bacteria, including in species which directly or indirectly affect human health. Herein, we address this issue by carrying out the largest and most comprehensive global pooling and comparison of PTM peptides and proteins from bacterial species performed to date. Data was collected from 91 studies relating to PTM bacterial peptides or proteins identified by mass spectrometry-based methods. The present analysis revealed that there was a considerable overlap between PTMs across species, especially between acetylation and other PTMs, particularly succinylation. Phylogenetically closer species may present more overlapping phosphoproteomes, but environmental triggers also contribute to this proximity. PTMs among bacteria were found to be extremely versatile and diverse, meaning that the same protein may undergo a wide variety of different modifications across several species, but it could also suffer different modifications within the same species.