In vivo phosphorylation of proteins inClostridium sphenoides

Effect of bacteriophage M13 infection on phosphorylation of dnaK protein and other Escherichia coli proteins

1. The effects of infection with the filamentous phage M13 on the phosphorylation of Escherichia coli proteins were studied. Phosphorylated proteins were labeled with [32P]orthophosphate and analyzed by the O'Farrell two-dimensional gel technique and autoradiography. 2. Phage infection was shown to induce significant changes in the pattern of protein phosphorylation. At least eight different proteins were found to be phosphorylated to a larger extent while seven others were, by contrast, much less labeled than in uninfected bacteria. 3. Labeling experiments with [35S]methionine demonstrated that these quantitative changes in protein phosphorylation were not connected, in any case, with changes in the amount of protein synthesized. They rather seemed to result from a variation of the phosphorylating capacity of the relevant protein kinase(s). 4. The individual proteins, whose phosphorylation was affected by phage infection, were characterized by both their molecular mass and isoelectric point. One of them, whose phosphorylation was increased by a factor of 7, was identified as the dnaK protein which is necessary for both cellular and phage DNA replication. 5. The chemical analysis of the phosphorylated moiety of dnaK protein showed that it was modified exclusively at serine residues during normal growth of cells, and mostly at threonine residues after phage infection. These results were discussed in terms of stimulation of the protein activity by phosphorylation.

Characterization of the phosphoproteins of Escherichia coli cells by electrophoretic analysis

The phosphorylated proteins of Escherichia coli, radioactively labeled with [32P]orthophosphate, have been analyzed by the O'Farrell gel technique and autoradiography. The effects of various culture conditions on the pattern of protein phosphorylation have been studied, including growth on different carbon sources in either exponential or stationary phase, treatment of cells with ethanol, heat shock and amino acid starvation. A total number of 128 different phosphoproteins, labeled to a varying extent, have been detected and each of them has been characterized by both its molecular mass and isoelectric point. These proteins are located mainly in the cytosolic fraction of cells, none of them being present within either ribosomes or nucleoids, and only three being associated with membranes. Analysis of their phosphoamino acid content has shown that they are phosphorylated mostly at serine residues and, less frequently, at threonine and tyrosine residues.

Phosphorylation of proteins in Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum

Cell extracts of the thermophile Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum catalyzed the phosphorylation by [gamma-32P]ATP of several endogenous proteins with Mrs between 13,000 and 100,000. Serine and tyrosine were the main acceptors. Distinct substrate proteins were found in the soluble (e.g., proteins p66, p63, and p53 of Mrs 66,000, 63,000, and 53,000, respectively) and particulate (p76 and p30) fractions, both of which contained protein kinase and phosphatase activity. The soluble fraction suppressed the phosphorylation of particulate proteins and contained a protein kinase inhibitor. Phosphorylation of p53 was promoted by 10 microM fructose 1,6-bisphosphate or glucose 1,6-bisphosphate and suppressed by hexose monophosphates, whereas p30 and p13 were suppressed by 5 microM brain (but not spinach) calmodulin. Polyamines, including the "odd" polyamines characteristic of thermophiles, modulated the labeling of most of the phosphoproteins. Apart from p66, all the proteins labeled in vitro were also rapidly labeled in intact cells by 32Pi. Several proteins strongly labeled in vivo were labeled slowly or not at all in vitro.

Covalent modification of citrate lyase ligase from Clostridium sphenoides by phosphorylation/dephosphorylation

Citrate lyase ligase was shown to be present in Clostridium sphenoides actively degrading citrate. In contrast to citrate lyase ligase from C. sporosphaeroides and Streptococcus lactis, the enzyme from C. sphenoides was under stringent regulatory control. The alteration of the kinetic properties of the enzyme after depletion of citrate suggested the presence of two different enzyme species in different phases of growth: active and partially active citrate lyase ligase. These enzymes were purified from in vivo 32P-labeled C. sphenoides cells, which were grown on low-phosphate medium containing 40 mM citrate and 1 mCi [32]orthophosphate. During enzyme purification only the active form of citrate lyase ligase was shown to be radioactively labeled. Growth experiments with 14C-labeled precursors of purines and pyrimidines and subsequent purification of active citrate lyase ligase indicated that the 32P labeling of the enzyme was not due to the incorporation of a nucleotide. Inactivation of the ligase after its treatment with acid phosphatase also suggested that the active form of the enzyme is phosphorylated. Citrate lyase ligase, therefore, is the first known enzyme in an anaerobic bacterium whose activity is modulated by phosphorylation/dephosphorylation.