Incorporation of deoxycytidine into deoxyribonucleic acid deoxycytidylate in Lactobacillus acidophilus R-26

Incorporation characteristics of exogenous 15N-labeled thymidine, deoxyadenosine, deoxyguanosine and deoxycytidine into bacterial DNA

Bacterial production has been often estimated from DNA synthesis rates by using tritium-labeled thymidine. Some bacteria species cannot incorporate extracellular thymidine into their DNA, suggesting their biomass production might be overlooked when using the conventional method. In the present study, to evaluate appropriateness of deoxyribonucleosides for evaluating bacterial production of natural bacterial communities from the viewpoint of DNA synthesis, incorporation rates of four deoxyribonucleosides (thymidine, deoxyadenosine, deoxyguanosine and deoxycytidine) labeled by nitrogen stable isotope (¹⁵N) into bacterial DNA were examined in both ocean (Sagami Bay) and freshwater (Lake Kasumigaura) ecosystems in July 2015 and January 2016. In most stations in Sagami Bay and Lake Kasumigaura, we found that incorporation rates of deoxyguanosine were the highest among those of the four deoxyribonucleosides, and the incorporation rate of deoxyguanosine was approximately 2.5 times higher than that of thymidine. Whereas, incorporation rates of deoxyadenosine and deoxycytidine were 0.9 and 0.2 times higher than that of thymidine. These results clearly suggest that the numbers of bacterial species which can incorporate exogenous deoxyguanosine into their DNA are relatively greater as compared to the other deoxyribonucleosides, and measurement of bacterial production using deoxyguanosine more likely reflects larger numbers of bacterial species productions.

Life on the salvage path: the deoxynucleoside kinase of Lactobacillus acidophilus R-26

In Lactobacillus acidophilus R-26, the synthesis of DNA precursor deoxynucleotides occurs exclusively by salvage of deoxynucleosides, beginning with phosphorylation by four deoxynucleoside kinases. Subunits bearing three of these activities are uniquely organized into two heterodimers, deoxyadenosine/deoxycytidine kinase (dAK/dCK) and deoxyadenosine/deoxyguanosine kinase (dAK/dGK), which, along with a distinct deoxythymidine kinase (TK), catalyze the parallel first committed steps of dNTP biosynthesis. Whereas TK is common to most prokaryotes (and eukaryotes), the other three activities that are the emphasis of this review are quite unusual in bacteria. Each activity is regulated in cis by its homologous end-product (dNTP) which is understood to act as a multisubstrate inhibitor capable of binding to both nucleoside and phosphate subsites. Conversely, the inactive dAK subunit is progressively activated by 1) association with a dGK or dCK subunit and 2) the conformationally driven heterotropic affect of dGuo or dCyd bound to the opposing subunit. Limited proteolysis has proven to be a powerful probe of conformational states. Further indication of conformational or structural differences between dAK and dGK (or dCK) is that the former follows an ordered kinetic path, while dGK or dCK exhibits rapid-equilibrium random kinetics. The multi-substrate behavior of end-product binding provides a convenient new diagnostic tool for distinguishing kinetic mechanisms. Tandem dak-dgk genes have been cloned from Lactobacillus DNA and expressed in Escherichia coli as dAK/dGK, utilizing the associated promoter. Sequence alignments reveal 65% identity in their DNA and 61% in their derived amino acid sequences. Encoded N-terminal sequences are identical for the first 18 residues, and both subunits share conserved sequences in common with adenylate kinase and viral TK. A more unusual conserved element, which appears to play a role in the activation of dAK, resembles the G2 loop of p21 ras. Remarkably, no homologous gene(s) for the dAK/dCK pair could be found. Comparisons of amino acid sequences, isoelectric pHs and subunit masses strongly indicated that native dCK and dGK are identical in sequence, except at their extreme N-termini (M-IVL for dCK and -TVIVL for dGK), suggesting that processing of a common precursor occurs in Lactobacillus. Accordingly, deletion of codons 2 and 3 from dgk resulted in the expression of dAK/dCK in the E. coli host; its kinetic properties are indistinguishable from those of native dAK/dCK. Subcloning the dgk or engineered dck gene resulted in expression of active dGK or dCK homodimers, each with a virtually unchanged Km toward its primary deoxynucleoside. However, in common with human dCK, dCK (or dGK) homodimer exhibits secondary activities with much larger Kms towards dAdo and dGuo (or dCyd). dCTP (or dGTP) is the best inhibitor of all three activities of the respective homodimer. Fully active heterodimers can be reconstituted simply by mixing a homodimer with independently expressed (inactive) dAK.