Glutamyl-tRNA synthetase from Thermus thermophilus HB8. Molecular cloning of the gltX gene and crystallization of the overproduced protein

Structure of crystalline D-Tyr-tRNA(Tyr) deacylase. A representative of a new class of tRNA-dependent hydrolases

Cell growth inhibition by several d-amino acids can be explained by an in vivo production of d-aminoacyl-tRNA molecules. Escherichia coli and yeast cells express an enzyme, d-Tyr-tRNA(Tyr) deacylase, capable of recycling such d-aminoacyl-tRNA molecules into free tRNA and d-amino acid. Accordingly, upon inactivation of the genes of the above deacylases, the toxicity of d-amino acids increases. Orthologs of the deacylase are found in many cells. In this study, the crystallographic structure of dimeric E. coli d-Tyr-tRNA(Tyr) deacylase at 1.55 A resolution is reported. The structure corresponds to a beta-barrel closed on one side by a beta-sheet lid. This barrel results from the assembly of the two subunits. Analysis of the structure in relation with sequence homologies in the orthologous family suggests the location of the active sites at the carboxy end of the beta-strands. The solved structure markedly differs from those of all other documented tRNA-dependent hydrolases.

Thermostable repair enzyme for oxidative DNA damage from extremely thermophilic bacterium, Thermus thermophilus HB8

The mutM (fpg) gene, which encodes a DNA glycosylase that excises an oxidatively damaged form of guanine, was cloned from an extremely thermophilic bacterium, Thermus thermophilus HB8. Its nucleotide sequence encoded a 266 amino acid protein with a molecular mass of approximately 30 kDa. Its predicted amino acid sequence showed 42% identity with the Escherichia coli protein. The amino acid residues Cys, Asn, Gln and Met, known to be chemically unstable at high temperatures, were decreased in number in T.thermophilus MutM protein compared to those of the E.coli one, whereas the number of Pro residues, considered to increase protein stability, was increased. The T.thermophilus mutM gene complemented the mutability of the E.coli mutM mutY double mutant, suggesting that T. thermophilus MutM protein was active in E.coli. The T.thermophilus MutM protein was overproduced in E.coli and then purified to homogeneity. Size-exclusion chromatography indicated that T. thermophilus MutM protein exists as a more compact monomer than the E.coli MutM protein in solution. Circular dichroism measurements indicated that the alpha-helical content of the protein was approximately 30%. Thermus thermophilus MutM protein was stable up to 75 degrees C at neutral pH, and between pH 5 and 11 and in the presence of up to 4 M urea at 25 degrees C. Denaturation analysis of T.thermophilus MutM protein in the presence of urea suggested that the protein had at least two domains, with estimated stabilities of 8.6 and 16.2 kcal/mol-1, respectively. Thermus thermophilus MutM protein showed 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase activity in vitro at both low and high temperatures.

An example of non-conservation of oligomeric structure in prokaryotic aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Biochemical and structural properties of glycyl-tRNA synthetase from Thermus thermophilus

Glycyl-tRNA synthetase (Gly-tRNA synthetase) from Thermus thermophilus was purified to homogeneity and with high yield using a five-step purification procedure in amounts sufficient to solve its crystallographic structure [Logan, D.T., Mazauric, M.-H., Kern, D. & Moras, D. (1995) EMBO J. 14, 4156-4167]. Molecular-mass determinations of the native and denatured protein indicate an oligomeric structure of the alpha 2 type consistent with that found for eukaryotic Gly-tRNA synthetases (yeast and Bombyx mori), but different from that of Gly-tRNA synthetases from mesophilic prokaryotes (Escherichia coli and Bacillus brevis) which are alpha 2 beta 2 tetramers. N-terminal sequencing of the polypeptide chain reveals significant identity, reaching 50% with those of the eukaryotic enzymes (B. mori, Homo sapiens, yeast and Caenorhabditis elegans) but no significant identity was found with both alpha and beta chains of the prokaryotic enzymes (E. coli, Haemophilus influenzae and Coxiella burnetii) albeit the enzyme is deprived of the N-terminal extension characterizing eukaryotic synthetases. Thus, the thermophilic Gly-tRNA synthetase combines strong structural homologies of eukaryotic Gly-tRNA synthetases with a feature of prokaryotic synthetases. Heat-stability measurements show that this synthetase keeps its ATP-PPi exchange and aminoacylation activities up to 70 degrees C. Glycyladenylate strongly protects the enzyme against thermal inactivation at higher temperatures. Unexpectedly, tRNA(Gly) does not induce protection. Cross-aminoacylations reveal that the thermophilic Gly-tRNA synthetase charges heterologous E. coli tRNA(gly(GCC)) and tRNA(Gly(GCC)) and yeast tRNA(Gly(GCC)) as efficiently as T. thermophilus tRNA(Gly). All these aminoacylation reactions are characterized by similar activation energies as deduced from Arrhenius plots. Therefore, contrary to the E. coli and H. sapiens Gly-tRNA synthetases, the prokaryotic thermophilic enzyme does not possess a strict species specificity. The results are discussed in the context of the three-dimensional structure of the synthetase and in the view of the particular evolution of the glycinylation systems.

Asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase from Thermus thermophilus HB8. Sequence of the gene and crystallization of the enzyme expressed in Escherichia coli

The gene for the asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase, a class IIb enzyme, from the extreme thermophile Thermus thermophilus HB8 has been cloned and sequenced. Sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame that codes for a protein of 438 amino acid residues (50875 Da). Codon usage in the asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase gene (asnS) is similar to the characteristic usage in the genes for proteins from bacteria of the genus Thermus, and the G+C content in the third position of the codons is as high as 94%. The amino acid sequence of asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase from T. thermophilus shows high similarity with other bacterial asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase sequences (30-55% identity). By expression of the T. thermophilus asnS gene in Escherichia coli, the thermostable enzyme was overproduced and purified to homogeneity by heat treatment and two chromatography steps. The protein obtained is remarkably thermostable and retains 50% of its initial tRNA aminoacylation activity after 1 h of incubation at 90 degrees C or 21 h at 85 degrees C. Crystals of the enzyme were obtained from polyethylene glycol 6000 solutions by vapour diffusion techniques. The crystals diffract X-rays beyond 2.8 A.

Widespread use of the glu-tRNAGln transamidation pathway among bacteria. A member of the alpha purple bacteria lacks glutaminyl-trna synthetase

The expression of the Rhizobium meliloti glutamyl-tRNA synthetase gene in Escherichia coli under the control of a trc promoter results in a toxic effect upon isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside induction, which is probably caused by a misacylation activity. To further investigate this unexpected result, we looked at the pathway of Gln-tRNAGln formation in R. meliloti. No glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase activity has been found in R. meliloti crude extract, but we detected a specific aminotransferase activity that changes Glu-tRNAGln to Gln-tRNAGln. Our results show that R. meliloti, a member of the alpha-subdivision of the purple bacteria, is the first Gram-negative bacteria reported to use a transamidation pathway for Gln-tRNAGln synthesis. A phylogenetic analysis of the contemporary glutamyl-tRNA synthetase and glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase amino acid sequences reveals that a close evolutionary relationship exists between R. meliloti and yeast mitochondrial glutamyl-tRNA synthetases, which is consistent with an origin of mitochondria in the alpha-subdivision of Gram-negative purple bacteria. A 256-amino acid open reading frame closely related to bacterial glutamyl-tRNA synthetases, which probably originates from a glutamyl-tRNA synthetase gene duplication, was found in the 4-min region of the E. coli chromosome. We suggest that this open reading frame is a relic of an ancient transamidation pathway that occurred in an E. coli ancestor before the horizontal transfer of a eukaryotic glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase (Lamour, V., Quevillon, S., Diriong, S., N'Guyen, V. C., Lipinski, M., and Mirande, M.(1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 91, 8670-8674) and that it favored its stable acquisition. From these observations, a revisited model for the evolution of the contemporary glutamyl-tRNA synthetases and glutaminyl-tRNA synthetases that differs from the generally accepted model for the evolution of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases is proposed.

Identification of the gltX gene encoding glutamyl-tRNA synthetase from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum

The gltX gene encoding glutamyl-tRNA synthetase from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum has been cloned, sequenced, and identified. The gene is located immediately downstream of idsA in an operon containing at least three additional ORFs. The deduced protein sequence from gltX contains conserved regions (HIGH and KMSKS) indicative of a class I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase.

Mapping of 61 genes on the refined physical map of the chromosome of Thermus thermophilus HB27 and comparison of genome organization with that of T. thermophilus HB8

We have constructed refined physical maps of the chromosome (1 center dot 82 Mb) and the large plasmid pTT27 (250 kb) of Thermus thermophilus HB27. A total of 49 cleavage sites with five restriction enzymes, EcoRI, SspI, MunI, EcoRV and ClaI, were determined on the maps. The location of 61 genes was determined by using as probes 64 genes cloned from T. thermophilus or other Thermus strains. Comparison of the genomic organization of the chromosomes of T. thermophilus HB27 and HB8 revealed that they were basically identical, but some genes were located in different regions. Among 32 genes whose locations were determined on both the HB27 and the HB8 chromosomes, the copy number of rpsL-rpsG-fus-tufA, the locations of glyS, pol, and one copy of nusG-rplK-rplA were different. The IS1000 sequence was located only in one region on the HB27 chromosome. In contrast, IS1000 sequences were scattered over four regions on the chromosome of HB8. As each region in which glyS, pol, or one copy of nusG-rplK-rplA are present also contained IS1000 in HB8, it is suggested that IS1000 may play an important role in genomic rearrangements in Thermus strains.

Crystallization of threonyl-tRNA synthetase from Thermus thermophilus and preliminary crystallographic data

Threonyl-tRNA synthetase from Thermus thermophilus (ttTRS) has been overproduced in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized in solutions containing ammonium sulfate and glycerol. The crystals grew in the orthorhombic space group C222(1) with unit cell dimensions a = 119.5 A, b = 120.0 A, c = 317.5 A. The asymmetric unit is constituted of two monomers and the crystals contain 66% solvent. This paper reports the first crystals of ttTRS and preliminary crystallographic results since the presumed crystals of ttTRS described in a previous paper [1] were crystals of aspartyl-tRNA synthetase [2].

Separation of heat-stable proteins from Thermus thermophilus HB8 by two-dimensional electrophoresis

Thermostable proteins from Thermus thermophilus HB8, an extremely thermophilic bacterium, were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. About 1200 spots were detected with silver staining on the gel between pH 3 and 10. According to the genome size of T. thermophilus, we consider that more than half of the proteins in the cell are visualized on a two-dimensional gel. Using comigrated standard marker proteins, the molecular weight and isoelectric point of each protein spot were calculated. The average molecular weight and isoelectric point values were estimated to be 30 000 and 5.2, respectively. The average size and isoelectric point of detected protein from T. thermophilus were smaller and more acidic than those from Escherichia coli. After the protein spots had been electroblotted onto a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane and stained with Coomassie Brilliant Blue, the N-terminal amino acid sequences were determined for about twenty protein spots. Few proteins had blocked N-termini. Some spots were identified as proteins whose sequences had been reported previously from T. thermophilus. Others had amino acid sequences homologous with those of various proteins from other organisms. The amino acid sequence information of this report will be useful for obtaining stable proteins and for identifying open reading frames determined from the genome DNA sequence. Considering its small genome size and protein stability, T. thermophilus will be an excellent candidate for studying the molecular biology of an autotrophic living cell at the atomic level.

Architectures of class-defining and specific domains of glutamyl-tRNA synthetase

The crystal structure of a class I aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetase, glutamyl-tRNA synthetase (GluRS) from Thermus thermophilus, was solved and refined at 2.5 A resolution. The amino-terminal half of GluRS shows a geometrical similarity with that of Escherichia coli glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase (GlnRS) of the same subclass in class I, comprising the class I-specific Rossmann fold domain and the intervening subclass-specific alpha/beta domain. These domains were found to have two GluRS-specific, secondary-structure insertions, which then participated in the specific recognition of the D and acceptor stems of tRNA(Glu) as indicated by mutagenesis analyses based on the docking properties of GluRS and tRNA. In striking contrast to the beta-barrel structure of the GlnRS carboxyl-terminal half, the GluRS carboxyl-terminal half displayed an all-alpha-helix architecture, an alpha-helix cage, and mutagenesis analyses indicated that it had a role in the anticodon recognition.

Evolution of the Glx-tRNA synthetase family: the glutaminyl enzyme as a case of horizontal gene transfer

An important step ensuring the fidelity in protein biosynthesis is the aminoacylation of tRNAs by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. The accuracy of this process rests on a family of 20 enzymes, one for each amino acid. One exception is the formation of Gln-tRNA(Gln) that can be accomplished by two different pathways: aminoacylation of tRNA(Gln) with Gln by glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase (GlnRS; EC 6.1.1.18) or transamidation of Glu from Glu-tRNA(Gln) mischarged by glutamyl-tRNA synthetase (GluRS; EC 6.1.1.17). The latter pathway is widespread among bacteria and organelles that, accordingly, lack GlnRS. However, some bacterial species, such as Escherichia coli, do possess a GlnRS activity, which is responsible for Gln-tRNA(Gln) formation. In the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells, both GluRS and GlnRS activities can be detected. To gain more insight into the evolutionary relationship between GluRS and GlnRS enzyme species, we have now isolated and characterized a human cDNA encoding GlnRS. The deduced amino acid sequence shows a strong similarity with other known GlnRSs and with eukaryotic GluRSs. A molecular phylogenetic analysis was conducted on the 14 GlxRS (GluRS or GlnRS) sequences available to date. Our data suggest that bacterial GlnRS has a eukaryotic origin and was acquired by a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer.

The ribosomal protein S8 from Thermus thermophilus VK1. Sequencing of the gene, overexpression of the protein in Escherichia coli and interaction with rRNA

The gene of the ribosomal protein S8 from Thermus thermophilus VK1 has been isolated from a genomic library by hybridization of an oligonucleotide coding for the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the protein, amplified by PCR and sequenced. Nucleotide sequence reveals an open reading frame coding for a protein of 138 amino acid residues (M(r) 15,839). The codon usage shows that 94% of the codons possess G or C in the third position, and agrees with the preferential usage of codons of high G+C content in the bacteria of the genus Thermus. The amino acid sequence of the protein shows 48% identity with the protein from Escherichia coli. Ribosomal protein S8 from T. thermophilus has been expressed in E. coli under the control of the T7 promoter and purified to homogeneity by heat treatment of the extract followed by cation-exchange chromatography. Conditions were defined in which T. thermophilus protein S8 binds specifically an homologous 16S rRNA fragment containing the putative S8 binding site with an apparent association constant of 5 x 10(7) M-1. The overexpressed protein binds the rRNA with the same affinity as that extracted from T. thermophilus, indicating that the thermophilic protein is correctly folded in E. coli. The specificity of this binding is dependent on the ionic strength. The protein S8 from T. thermophilus recognizes the E. coli rRNA binding sites as efficiently as the S8 protein from E. coli. This result agrees with sequence comparisons of the S8 binding site on the small subunit rRNA from E. coli and from T. thermophilus, showing strong similarities in the regions involved in the interaction. It suggests that the structural features responsible for the recognition are conserved in the mesophilic and thermophilic eubacteria, despite structural peculiarities in the thermophilic partners conferring thermostability.

Overexpression of genes of an extreme thermophile Thermus thermophilus, in Escherichia coli cells

The 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase gene from an extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus, was not expressed in Escherichia coli unless a palindromic structure around the ribosome binding site was eliminated or a leader open reading frame was introduced into the upstream flanking region of the gene. This report suggests a way to increase the expression of this gene, with a high G+C content, in E. coli.