Structural basis for stereo-specific catalysis in NAD(+)-dependent (R)-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase from Acidaminococcus fermentans

Metabolic Engineering for Effective Synthesis of 2-Hydroxyadipate

Adipic acid is an important monomer in the synthesis of nylon-6,6. In recent years, the biosynthesis of adipic acid has received more and more attention. The pathway with l-lysine as a precursor has potential for adipic acid synthesis, and 2-hydroxyadipate is a key intermediate metabolite in this pathway. In this Letter, the biosynthesis pathway of 2-hydroxyadipate was constructed in Escherichia coli. Through enhancement of precursor synthesis and cofactors regulation, 7.11 g/L of 2-hydroxyadipate was produced in the 5 L bioreactor, which verified the scale-up potential of 2-hydroxyadipate production. Furthermore, 11.1 g/L of 2-hydroxyadipate was produced in the 5 L bioreactor on the basis of potential optimization strategies via transcriptome analysis. This is the first time for the biosynthesis of 2-hydroxyadipate. The results lay a solid foundation for the biosynthesis of adipic acid and the production of bionylon.

Directed Evolution of (R)-2-Hydroxyglutarate Dehydrogenase Improves 2-Oxoadipate Reduction by 2 Orders of Magnitude

Pathway engineering is commonly employed to improve the production of various metabolites but may incur in bottlenecks due to the low catalytic activity of a particular reaction step. The reduction of 2-oxoadipate to (R)-2-hydroxyadipate is a key reaction in metabolic pathways that exploit 2-oxoadipate conversion via α-reduction to produce adipic acid, an industrially important platform chemical. Here, we engineered (R)-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase from Acidaminococcus fermentans (Hgdh) with the aim of improving 2-oxoadipate reduction. Using a combination of computational analysis, saturation mutagenesis, and random mutagenesis, three mutant variants with a 100-fold higher catalytic efficiency were obtained. As revealed by rational analysis of the mutations found in the variants, this improvement could be ascribed to a general synergistic effect where mutation A206V played a key role since it boosted the enzyme’s activity by 4.8-fold. The Hgdh variants with increased activity toward 2-oxoadipate generated within this study pave the way for the bio-based production of adipic acid.

Uncovering a superfamily of nickel-dependent hydroxyacid racemases and epimerases

Isomerization reactions are fundamental in biology. Lactate racemase, which isomerizes L- and D-lactate, is composed of the LarA protein and a nickel-containing cofactor, the nickel-pincer nucleotide (NPN). In this study, we show that LarA is part of a superfamily containing many different enzymes. We overexpressed and purified 13 lactate racemase homologs, incorporated the NPN cofactor, and assayed the isomerization of different substrates guided by gene context analysis. We discovered two malate racemases, one phenyllactate racemase, one α-hydroxyglutarate racemase, two D-gluconate 2-epimerases, and one short-chain aliphatic α-hydroxyacid racemase among the tested enzymes. We solved the structure of a malate racemase apoprotein and used it, along with the previously described structures of lactate racemase holoprotein and D-gluconate epimerase apoprotein, to identify key residues involved in substrate binding. This study demonstrates that the NPN cofactor is used by a diverse superfamily of α-hydroxyacid racemases and epimerases, widely expanding the scope of NPN-dependent enzymes.

Biophysical and Biochemical Characterization of TP0037, a d-Lactate Dehydrogenase, Supports an Acetogenic Energy Conservation Pathway in Treponema pallidum

A longstanding conundrum in Treponema pallidum biology concerns how the spirochete generates sufficient energy to fulfill its complex pathogenesis processes during human syphilitic infection. For decades, it has been assumed that the bacterium relies solely on glucose catabolism (via glycolysis) for generation of its ATP. However, the organism's robust motility, believed to be essential for human tissue invasion and dissemination, would require abundant ATP likely not provided by the parsimony of glycolysis. As such, additional ATP generation, either via a chemiosmotic gradient, substrate-level phosphorylation, or both, likely exists in T. pallidum Along these lines, we have hypothesized that T. pallidum exploits an acetogenic energy conservation pathway that relies on the redox chemistry of flavins. Central to this hypothesis is the apparent existence in T. pallidum of an acetogenic pathway for the conversion of d-lactate to acetate. Herein we have characterized the structural, biophysical, and biochemical properties of the first enzyme (d-lactate dehydrogenase [d-LDH]; TP0037) predicted in this pathway. Binding and enzymatic studies showed that recombinant TP0037 consumed d-lactate and NAD+ to produce pyruvate and NADH. The crystal structure of TP0037 revealed a fold similar to that of other d-acid dehydrogenases; residues in the cofactor-binding and active sites were homologous to those of other known d-LDHs. The crystal structure and solution biophysical experiments revealed the protein's propensity to dimerize, akin to other d-LDHs. This study is the first to elucidate the enzymatic properties of T. pallidum's d-LDH, thereby providing new compelling evidence for a flavin-dependent acetogenic energy conservation (ATP-generating) pathway in T. pallidumIMPORTANCE Because T. pallidum lacks a Krebs cycle and the capability for oxidative phosphorylation, historically it has been difficult to reconcile how the syphilis spirochete generates sufficient ATP to fulfill its energy needs, particularly for its robust motility, solely from glycolysis. We have postulated the existence in T. pallidum of a flavin-dependent acetogenic energy conservation pathway that would generate additional ATP for T. pallidum bioenergetics. In the proposed acetogenic pathway, first d-lactate would be converted to pyruvate. Pyruvate would then be metabolized to acetate in three additional steps, with ATP being generated via substrate-level phosphorylation. This study provides structural, biochemical, and biophysical evidence for the first T. pallidum enzyme in the pathway (TP0037; d-lactate dehydrogenase) requisite for the conversion of d-lactate to pyruvate. The findings represent the first experimental evidence to support a role for an acetogenic energy conservation pathway that would contribute to nonglycolytic ATP production in T. pallidum.

Metabolism the Difficile Way: The Key to the Success of the Pathogen Clostridioides difficile

Strains of Clostridioides difficile cause detrimental diarrheas with thousands of deaths worldwide. The infection process by the Gram-positive, strictly anaerobic gut bacterium is directly related to its unique metabolism, using multiple Stickland-type amino acid fermentation reactions coupled to Rnf complex-mediated sodium/proton gradient formation for ATP generation. Major pathways utilize phenylalanine, leucine, glycine and proline with the formation of 3-phenylproprionate, isocaproate, butyrate, 5-methylcaproate, valerate and 5-aminovalerate. In parallel a versatile sugar catabolism including pyruvate formate-lyase as a central enzyme and an incomplete tricarboxylic acid cycle to prevent unnecessary NADH formation completes the picture. However, a complex gene regulatory network that carefully mediates the continuous adaptation of this metabolism to changing environmental conditions is only partially elucidated. It involves the pleiotropic regulators CodY and SigH, the known carbon metabolism regulator CcpA, the proline regulator PrdR, the iron regulator Fur, the small regulatory RNA CsrA and potentially the NADH-responsive regulator Rex. Here, we describe the current knowledge of the metabolic principles of energy generation by C. difficile and the underlying gene regulatory scenarios.

Diverse allosteric and catalytic functions of tetrameric d-lactate dehydrogenases from three Gram-negative bacteria

NAD-dependent d-lactate dehydrogenases (d-LDHs) reduce pyruvate into d-lactate with oxidation of NADH into NAD⁺. Although non-allosteric d-LDHs from Lactobacilli have been extensively studied, the catalytic properties of allosteric d-LDHs from Gram-negative bacteria except for Escherichia coli remain unknown. We characterized the catalytic properties of d-LDHs from three Gram-negative bacteria, Fusobacterium nucleatum (FNLDH), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PALDH), and E. coli (ECLDH) to gain an insight into allosteric mechanism of d-LDHs. While PALDH and ECLDH exhibited narrow substrate specificities toward pyruvate like usual d-LDHs, FNLDH exhibited a broad substrate specificity toward hydrophobic 2-ketoacids such as 2-ketobutyrate and 2-ketovalerate, the former of which gave a 2-fold higher k_cat/S_0.5 value than pyruvate. Whereas the three enzymes consistently showed hyperbolic shaped pyruvate saturation curves below pH 6.5, FNLDH and ECLDH, and PALDH showed marked positive and negative cooperativity, respectively, in the pyruvate saturation curves above pH 7.5. Oxamate inhibited the catalytic reactions of FNLDH competitively with pyruvate, and the PALDH reaction in a mixed manner at pH 7.0, but markedly enhanced the reactions of the two enzymes at low concentration through canceling of the apparent homotropic cooperativity at pH 8.0, although it constantly inhibited the ECLDH reaction. Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and certain divalent metal ions such as Mg²⁺ also markedly enhanced the reactions of FNLDH and PALDH, but none of them enhanced the reaction of ECLDH. Thus, our study demonstrates that bacterial d-LDHs have highly divergent allosteric and catalytic properties.

Crystal structure and thermodynamic properties of d-lactate dehydrogenase from Lactobacillus jensenii

The thermostable d-lactate dehydrogenase from Lactobacillus jensenii (Ljd-LDH) is a key enzyme in the production of the d-form of lactic acid from pyruvate concomitant with the oxidation of NADH to NAD(+). The polymers of d-lactic acid are used as biodegradable bioplastics. The crystal structures of Ljd-LDH and in complex with NAD(+) were determined at 2.13 and 2.60Å resolutions, respectively. The Ljd-LDH monomer consists of the N-terminal substrate-binding domain and the C-terminal NAD-binding domain. The Ljd-LDH forms a homodimeric structure, and the C-terminal NAD-binding domain mostly enables the dimerization of the enzyme. The NAD cofactor is bound to the GxGxxG NAD-binding motif located between the two domains. Structural comparisons of Ljd-LDH with other d-LDHs reveal that Ljd-LDH has unique amino acid residues at the linker region, which indicates that the open-close dynamics of Ljd-LDH might be different from that of other d-LDHs. Moreover, thermostability experiments showed that the T50(10) value of Ljd-LDH (54.5°C) was much higher than the commercially available d-lactate dehydrogenase (42.7°C). In addition, Ljd-LDH has at least a 7°C higher denaturation temperature compared to commercially available d-LDHs.

Identification and characterization of re-citrate synthase in Syntrophus aciditrophicus

Glutamate is usually synthesized from acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) via citrate, isocitrate, and 2-oxoglutarate. Genome analysis revealed that in Syntrophus aciditrophicus, the gene for Si-citrate synthase is lacking. An alternative pathway starting from the catabolic intermediate glutaconyl-CoA via 2-hydroxyglutarate could be excluded by genomic analysis. On the other hand, a putative gene (SYN_02536; NCBI gene accession no. CP000252.1) annotated as coding for isopropylmalate/citramalate/homocitrate synthase has been shown to share 49% deduced amino acid sequence identity with the gene encoding Re-citrate synthase of Clostridium kluyveri. We cloned and overexpressed this gene in Escherichia coli together with the genes encoding the chaperone GroEL. The recombinant homotetrameric enzyme with a C-terminal Strep-tag (4 × 72,892 Da) was separated from GroEL on a Strep-Tactin column by incubation with ATP, K(+), and Mg(2+). The pure Re-citrate synthase used only acetyl-CoA and oxaloacetate as the substrates. As isolated, the enzyme contained stoichiometric amounts of Ca(2+) (0.9 Ca/73 kDa) but achieved higher specific activities in the presence of Mn(2+) (1.2 U/mg) or Co(2+) (2.0 U/mg). To determine the stereospecificity of the enzyme, [(14)C]citrate was enzymatically synthesized from oxaloacetate and [1-(14)C]acetyl-CoA; the subsequent cleavage by Si-citrate lyase yielded unlabeled acetate and labeled oxaloacetate, demonstrating that the enzyme is a Re-citrate synthase. The production of Re-citrate synthase by S. aciditrophicus grown axenically on crotonate was revealed by synthesis of [(14)C]citrate in a cell extract followed by stereochemical analysis. This result was supported by detection of transcripts of the Re-citrate synthase gene in axenic as well as in syntrophic cultures using quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR).

Structural characterization of a D-isomer specific 2-hydroxyacid dehydrogenase from Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus

Hydroxyacid dehydrogenases, responsible for the stereospecific conversion of 2-keto acids to 2-hydroxyacids in lactic acid producing bacteria, have a range of biotechnology applications including antibiotic synthesis, flavor development in dairy products and the production of valuable synthons. The genome of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus, a member of the heterogeneous group of lactic acid bacteria, encodes multiple hydroxyacid dehydrogenases whose structural and functional properties remain poorly characterized. Here, we report the apo and coenzyme NAD⁺ complexed crystal structures of the L. bulgaricusD-isomer specific 2-hydroxyacid dehydrogenase, D2-HDH. Comparison with closely related members of the NAD-dependent dehydrogenase family reveals that whilst the D2-HDH core fold is structurally conserved, the substrate-binding site has a number of non-canonical features that may influence substrate selection and thus dictate the physiological function of the enzyme.

Substrate specificity of 2-hydroxyglutaryl-CoA dehydratase from Clostridium symbiosum: toward a bio-based production of adipic acid

Expression of six genes from two glutamate fermenting clostridia converted Escherichia coli into a producer of glutaconate from 2-oxoglutarate of the general metabolism (Djurdjevic, I. et al. 2010, Appl. Environ. Microbiol.77, 320-322). The present work examines whether this pathway can also be used to reduce 2-oxoadipate to (R)-2-hydroxyadipic acid and dehydrate its CoA thioester to 2-hexenedioic acid, an unsaturated precursor of the biotechnologically valuable adipic acid (hexanedioic acid). 2-Hydroxyglutaryl-CoA dehydratase from Clostridium symbiosum, the key enzyme of this pathway and a potential radical enzyme, catalyzes the reversible dehydration of (R)-2-hydroxyglutaryl-CoA to (E)-glutaconyl-CoA. Using a spectrophotometric assay and mass spectrometry, it was found that (R)-2-hydroxyadipoyl-CoA, oxalocrotonyl-CoA, muconyl-CoA, and butynedioyl-CoA, but not 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA, served as alternative substrates. Hydration of butynedioyl-CoA most likely led to 2-oxosuccinyl-CoA, which spontaneously hydrolyzed to oxaloacetate and CoASH. The dehydratase is not specific for the CoA-moiety because (R)-2-hydroxyglutaryl-thioesters of N-acetylcysteamine and pantetheine served as almost equal substrates. Whereas the related 2-hydroxyisocaproyl-CoA dehydratase generated the stable and inhibitory 2,4-pentadienoyl-CoA radical, the analogous allylic ketyl radical could not be detected with muconyl-CoA and 2-hydroxyglutaryl-CoA dehydratase. With the exception of (R)-2-hydroxyglutaryl-CoA, all mono-CoA-thioesters of dicarboxylates used in this study were synthesized with glutaconate CoA-transferase from Acidaminococcus fermentans. The now possible conversion of (R)-2-hydroxyadipate via (R)-2-hydroxyadipoyl-CoA and 2-hexenedioyl-CoA to 2-hexenedioate paves the road for a bio-based production of adipic acid.

Production of glutaconic acid in a recombinant Escherichia coli strain

The assembly of six genes that encode enzymes from glutamate-fermenting bacteria converted Escherichia coli into a glutaconate producer when grown anaerobically on a complex medium. The new anaerobic pathway starts with 2-oxoglutarate from general metabolism and proceeds via (R)-2-hydroxyglutarate, (R)-2-hydroxyglutaryl-coenzyme A (CoA), and (E)-glutaconyl-CoA to yield 2.7 ± 0.2 mM (E)-glutaconate in the medium.

Promiscuous anaerobes: new and unconventional metabolism in methanogenic archaea

The development of an oxygenated atmosphere on earth resulted in the polarization of life into two major groups, those that could live in the presence of oxygen and those that could not-the aerobes and the anaerobes. The evolution of aerobes from the earliest anaerobic prokaryotes resulted in a variety of metabolic adaptations. Many of these adaptations center on the need to sustain oxygen-sensitive reactions and cofactors to function in the new oxygen-containing atmosphere. Still other metabolic pathways that were not sensitive to oxygen also diverged. This is likely due to the physical separation of the organisms, based on their ability to live in the presence of oxygen, which allowed for the independent evolution of the pathways. Through the study of metabolic pathways in anaerobes and comparison to the more established pathways from aerobes, insight into metabolic evolution can be gained. This, in turn, can allow for extra- polation to those metabolic pathways occurring in the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA). Some of the unique and uncanonical metabolic pathways that have been identified in the archaea with emphasis on the biochemistry of an obligate anaerobic methanogen, Methanocaldococcus jannaschii are reviewed.

Characterization of (R)-2-hydroxyisocaproate dehydrogenase and a family III coenzyme A transferase involved in reduction of L-leucine to isocaproate by Clostridium difficile

The strictly anaerobic pathogenic bacterium Clostridium difficile occurs in the human gut and is able to thrive from fermentation of leucine. Thereby the amino acid is both oxidized to isovalerate plus CO(2) and reduced to isocaproate. In the reductive branch of this pathway, the dehydration of (R)-2-hydroxyisocaproyl-coenzyme A (CoA) to (E)-2-isocaprenoyl-CoA is probably catalyzed via radical intermediates. The dehydratase requires activation by an ATP-dependent one-electron transfer (J. Kim, D. Darley, and W. Buckel, FEBS J. 272:550-561, 2005). Prior to the dehydration, a dehydrogenase and a CoA transferase are supposed to be involved in the formation of (R)-2-hydroxyisocaproyl-CoA. Deduced amino acid sequences of ldhA and hadA from the genome of C. difficile showed high identities to d-lactate dehydrogenase and family III CoA transferase, respectively. Both putative genes encoding the dehydrogenase and CoA transferase were cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli; the recombinant Strep tag II fusion proteins were purified to homogeneity and characterized. The substrate specificity of the monomeric LdhA (36.5 kDa) indicated that 2-oxoisocaproate (K(m) = 68 muM, k(cat) = 31 s(-1)) and NADH were the native substrates. For the reverse reaction, the enzyme accepted (R)- but not (S)-2-hydroxyisocaproate and therefore was named (R)-2-hydroxyisocaproate dehydrogenase. HadA showed CoA transferase activity with (R)-2-hydroxyisocaproyl-CoA as a donor and isocaproate or (E)-2-isocaprenoate as an acceptor. By site-directed mutagenesis, the conserved D171 was identified as an essential catalytic residue probably involved in the formation of a mixed anhydride with the acyl group of the thioester substrate. However, neither hydroxylamine nor sodium borohydride, both of which are inactivators of the CoA transferase, modified this residue. The dehydrogenase and the CoA transferase fit well into the proposed pathway of leucine reduction to isocaproate.

Sodium ion pumps and hydrogen production in glutamate fermenting anaerobic bacteria

Anaerobic bacteria ferment glutamate via two different pathways to ammonia, carbon dioxide, acetate, butyrate and molecular hydrogen. The coenzyme B12-dependent pathway in Clostridium tetanomorphum via 3-methylaspartate involves pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase and a novel enzyme, a membrane-bound NADH:ferredoxin oxidoreductase. The flavin- and iron-sulfur-containing enzyme probably uses the energy difference between reduced ferredoxin and NADH to generate an electrochemical Na+ gradient, which drives transport processes. The other pathway via 2-hydroxyglutarate in Acidaminococcus fermentans and Fusobacterium nucleatum involves glutaconyl-CoA decarboxylase, which uses the free energy of decarboxylation to generate also an electrochemical Na+ gradient. In the latter two organisms, similar membrane-bound NADH:ferredoxin oxidoreductases have been characterized. We propose that in the hydroxyglutarate pathway these oxidoreductases work in the reverse direction, whereby the reduction of ferredoxin by NADH is driven by the Na+ gradient. The reduced ferredoxin is required for hydrogen production and the activation of radical enzymes. Further examples show that reduced ferredoxin is an agent, whose reducing energy is about 1 ATP 'richer' than that of NADH.