Purification and regulatory properties of the oxaloacetate decarboxylase of Acetobacter xylinum

The PEP-pyruvate-oxaloacetate node: variation at the heart of metabolism

At the junction between the glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle-as well as various other metabolic pathways-lies the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP)-pyruvate-oxaloacetate node (PPO-node). These three metabolites form the core of a network involving at least eleven different types of enzymes, each with numerous subtypes. Obviously, no single organism maintains each of these eleven enzymes; instead, different organisms possess different subsets in their PPO-node, which results in a remarkable degree of variation, despite connecting such deeply conserved metabolic pathways as the glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. The PPO-node enzymes play a crucial role in cellular energetics, with most of them involved in (de)phosphorylation of nucleotide phosphates, while those responsible for malate conversion are important redox enzymes. Variations in PPO-node therefore reflect the different energetic niches that organisms can occupy. In this review, we give an overview of the biochemistry of these eleven PPO-node enzymes. We attempt to highlight the variation that exists, both in PPO-node compositions, as well as in the roles that the enzymes can have within those different settings, through various recent discoveries in both bacteria and archaea that reveal deviations from canonical functions.

Reconstruction, verification and in-silico analysis of a genome-scale metabolic model of bacterial cellulose producing Komagataeibacter xylinus

In this study, a comprehensive genome-scale metabolic network of Komagataeibacter xylinus as the model microorganism was reconstructed based on genome annotation, for better understanding of metabolic growth and biosynthesis of bacterial cellulose (BC). The reconstructed network included 640 genes, 783 metabolic reactions and 865 metabolites. The model was completely successful to predict the lack of growth under anaerobic conditions. Model validation by the data for the growth of acetic acid bacteria with ethanol-limited chemostat cultures showed that there is a good agreement for the O₂ and CO₂ fluxes with actual growth conditions. Then the model was used to forecast the simultaneous production of BC and by-products. The obtained data showed that the rate of BC production is consistent with experimental data with an accuracy of 93.7%. Finally, the study of flux balance analysis (FBA) data showed that the pentose phosphate pathway and the TCA cycle play an important role in growth-promoting metabolism in K. xylinus and have a close relationship with BC biosynthesis. By integrating this model with various metabolic engineering and systems biology tools in the future, it is possible to overcome the common challenges in the large-scale BC production, such as low yield and productivity.

Glycolysis without pyruvate kinase in Clostridium thermocellum

The metabolism of Clostridium thermocellum is notable in that it assimilates sugar via the EMP pathway but does not possess a pyruvate kinase enzyme. In the wild type organism, there are three proposed pathways for conversion of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to pyruvate, which differ in their cofactor usage. One path uses pyruvate phosphate dikinase (PPDK), another pathway uses the combined activities of PEP carboxykinase (PEPCK) and oxaloacetate decarboxylase (ODC). Yet another pathway, the malate shunt, uses the combined activities of PEPCK, malate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme. First we showed that there is no flux through the ODC pathway by enzyme assay. Flux through the remaining two pathways (PPDK and malate shunt) was determined by dynamic ¹³C labeling. In the wild-type strain, the malate shunt accounts for about 33±2% of the flux to pyruvate, with the remainder via the PPDK pathway. Deletion of the ppdk gene resulted in a redirection of all pyruvate flux through the malate shunt. This provides the first direct evidence of the in-vivo function of the malate shunt.

Revealing differences in metabolic flux distributions between a mutant strain and its parent strain Gluconacetobacter xylinus CGMCC 2955

A better understanding of metabolic fluxes is important for manipulating microbial metabolism toward desired end products, or away from undesirable by-products. A mutant strain, Gluconacetobacter xylinus AX2-16, was obtained by combined chemical mutation of the parent strain (G. xylinus CGMCC 2955) using DEC (diethyl sulfate) and LiCl. The highest bacterial cellulose production for this mutant was obtained at about 11.75 g/L, which was an increase of 62% compared with that by the parent strain. In contrast, gluconic acid (the main byproduct) concentration was only 5.71 g/L for mutant strain, which was 55.7% lower than that of parent strain. Metabolic flux analysis indicated that 40.1% of the carbon source was transformed to bacterial cellulose in mutant strain, compared with 24.2% for parent strain. Only 32.7% and 4.0% of the carbon source were converted into gluconic acid and acetic acid in mutant strain, compared with 58.5% and 9.5% of that in parent strain. In addition, a higher flux of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle was obtained in mutant strain (57.0%) compared with parent strain (17.0%). It was also indicated from the flux analysis that more ATP was produced in mutant strain from pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) and TCA cycle. The enzymatic activity of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), which is one of the key enzymes in TCA cycle, was 1.65-fold higher in mutant strain than that in parent strain at the end of culture. It was further validated by the measurement of ATPase that 3.53–6.41 fold higher enzymatic activity was obtained from mutant strain compared with parent strain.

Crystal structures of Cg1458 reveal a catalytic lid domain and a common catalytic mechanism for the FAH family

Cg1458 was recently characterized as a novel soluble oxaloacetate decarboxylase. However, sequence alignment identified that Cg1458 has no similarity with other oxaloacetate decarboxylases and instead belongs to the FAH (fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase) family. Differences in the function of Cg1458 and other FAH proteins may suggest a different catalytic mechanism. To help elucidate the catalytic mechanism of Cg1458, crystal structures of Cg1458 in both the open and closed conformations have been determined for the first time up to a resolution of 1.9 Å (1 Å=0.1 nm) and 2.0 Å respectively. Comparison of both structures and detailed biochemical studies confirmed the presence of a catalytic lid domain which is missing in the native enzyme structure. In this lid domain, a glutamic acid-histidine dyad was found to be critical in mediating enzymatic catalysis. On the basis of structural modelling and comparison, as well as large-scale sequence alignment studies, we further determined that the catalytic mechanism of Cg1458 is actually through a glutamic acid-histidine-water triad, and this catalytic triad is common among FAH family proteins that catalyse the cleavage of the C-C bond of the substrate. Two sequence motifs, HxxE and Hxx…xxE have been identified as the basis for this mechanism.

Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of Cg1458: a novel oxaloacetate decarboxylase from Corynebacterium glutamicum

Oxaloacetate decarboxylase catalyses the decarboxylation of oxaloacetate to pyruvate and CO(2). Recently, the Corynebacterium glutamicum gene product Cg1458 was determined to be a soluble oxaloacetate decarboxylase. To elucidate the mechanism of oxaloacetate decarboxylation by Cg1458, recombinant Cg1458 was purified and crystallized. The best crystal was grown from 0.2 M MgCl(2), 0.1 M Bis-Tris pH 6.0, 25%(w/v) polyethylene glycol 3350 using the hanging-drop method. The crystals belonged to space group P4(3)2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 124.1, c = 73.6 Å. The crystals are most likely to contain a dimer in the asymmetric unit, with a V(M) value of 2.27 Å(3) Da(-1). A full data set was collected at 1.9 Å resolution using synchrotron radiation on beamline BL17U of SSRF, Shanghai, China. Structure-solution attempts by molecular replacement were successful with PDB entries 3qdf or 2dfu as the template.

Genetic and functional analysis of the soluble oxaloacetate decarboxylase from Corynebacterium glutamicum

Soluble, divalent cation-dependent oxaloacetate decarboxylases (ODx) catalyze the irreversible decarboxylation of oxaloacetate to pyruvate and CO(2). Although these enzymes have been characterized in different microorganisms, the genes that encode them have not been identified, and their functions have been only poorly analyzed so far. In this study, we purified a soluble ODx from wild-type C. glutamicum about 65-fold and used matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) analysis and peptide mass fingerprinting for identification of the corresponding odx gene. Inactivation and overexpression of odx led to an absence of ODx activity and to a 30-fold increase in ODx specific activity, respectively; these findings unequivocally confirmed that this gene encodes a soluble ODx. Transcriptional analysis of odx indicated that there is a leaderless transcript that is organized in an operon together with a putative S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase gene. Biochemical analysis of ODx revealed that the molecular mass of the native enzyme is about 62 +/- 1 kDa and that the enzyme is composed of two approximately 29-kDa homodimeric subunits and has a K(m) for oxaloacetate of 1.4 mM and a V(max) of 201 micromol of oxaloacetate converted per min per mg of protein, resulting in a k(cat) of 104 s(-1). Introduction of plasmid-borne odx into a pyruvate kinase-deficient C. glutamicum strain restored growth of this mutant on acetate, indicating that a high level of ODx activity redirects the carbon flux from oxaloacetate to pyruvate in vivo. Consistently, overexpression of the odx gene in an L-lysine-producing strain of C. glutamicum led to accumulation of less L-lysine. However, inactivation of the odx gene did not improve L-lysine production under the conditions tested.

The PEP-pyruvate-oxaloacetate node as the switch point for carbon flux distribution in bacteria

In many organisms, metabolite interconversion at the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP)-pyruvate-oxaloacetate node involves a structurally entangled set of reactions that interconnects the major pathways of carbon metabolism and thus, is responsible for the distribution of the carbon flux among catabolism, anabolism and energy supply of the cell. While sugar catabolism proceeds mainly via oxidative or non-oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA, anaplerosis and the initial steps of gluconeogenesis are accomplished by C3- (PEP- and/or pyruvate-) carboxylation and C4- (oxaloacetate- and/or malate-) decarboxylation, respectively. In contrast to the relatively uniform central metabolic pathways in bacteria, the set of enzymes at the PEP-pyruvate-oxaloacetate node represents a surprising diversity of reactions. Variable combinations are used in different bacteria and the question of the significance of all these reactions for growth and for biotechnological fermentation processes arises. This review summarizes what is known about the enzymes and the metabolic fluxes at the PEP-pyruvate-oxaloacetate node in bacteria, with a particular focus on the C3-carboxylation and C4-decarboxylation reactions in Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Corynebacterium glutamicum. We discuss the activities of the enzymes, their regulation and their specific contribution to growth under a given condition or to biotechnological metabolite production. The present knowledge unequivocally reveals the PEP-pyruvate-oxaloacetate nodes of bacteria to be a fascinating target of metabolic engineering in order to achieve optimized metabolite production.

Metabolic consequences of altered phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity in Corynebacterium glutamicum reveal anaplerotic regulation mechanisms in vivo

Corynebacterium glutamicum possesses high in vivo activity of the gluconeogenic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCk) during growth on glucose, resulting together with anaplerotic carboxylation reactions in a PEP/pyruvate/oxaloacetate substrate cycle. The present study investigated the changes in intracellular fluxes and metabolite concentrations that are caused by altered PEPCk activity in L-lysine-producing C. glutamicum MH20-22B, applying a recently developed (13)C labeling-based strategy for anaplerotic flux resolution and quantification. Abolition of PEPCk activity by deletion of the respective pck gene resulted in increased intracellular concentrations of oxaloacetate L-aspartate, alpha-ketoglutarate, pyruvate, and L-lysine and in a 60% enhanced flux toward L-lysine biosynthesis, whereas increasing the PEPCk activity by pck overexpression had opposite effects. The results of the combined measurements of enzyme activities, in vivo fluxes, and metabolite concentrations were exploited to elucidate the in vivo regulation of anaplerotic reactions in C. glutamicum, and implications for the metabolic engineering of amino-acid-producing strains are discussed.

Detailed reaction mechanism of macrophomate synthase. Extraordinary enzyme catalyzing five-step transformation from 2-pyrones to benzoates

Macrophomate synthase from the fungus Macrophoma commelinae IFO 9570 is a Mg(II)-dependent dimeric enzyme that catalyzes an extraordinary, complex five-step chemical transformation from 2-pyrone and oxalacetate to benzoate involving decarboxylation, C-C bond formation, and dehydration. The catalytic mechanism of the whole pathway was investigated in three separate chemical steps. In the first decarboxylation step, the enzyme loses oxalacetate decarboxylation activity upon incubation with EDTA. Activity is fully restored by addition of Mg(II) and is not restored with other divalent metal cations. The dissociation constant of 0.93 x 10(-)(7) for Mg(II) and atomic absorption analysis established a 1:1 stoichiometric complex. Inhibition of pyruvate formation with 2-pyrone revealed that the actual product in the first step is a pyruvate enolate, which undergoes C-C bond formation in the presence of 2-pyrone. Incubation of substrate analogs provided aberrant adducts that were produced via C-C bond formation and rearrangement. This strongly indicates that the second step is two C-C bond formations, affording a bicyclic intermediate. Based on the stereospecificity, involvement of a Diels-Alder reaction at the second step is proposed. Incubation of the stereospecifically deuterium-labeled malate with 2-pyrones in the presence of malate dehydrogenase provided information for the stereochemical course of the reaction catalyzed by macrophomate synthase, indicating that the first decarboxylation provides pyruvate (Z)-[3-(2)H]enolate and that dehydration at the final step occurs with anti-elimination accompanied by concomitant decarboxylation. Examination of kinetic parameters in the individual steps suggests that the third step is the rate-determining step of the overall transformation.

Affinity labeling of oxaloacetate decarboxylase by novel dichlorotriazine linked alpha-ketoacids

The 4-aminophenyloxanilic acid and beta-mercaptopyruvic acid linked to the reactive diclorotriazine ring, were studied as active site-direct affinity labels towards oxaloacetate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.3, OXAD). Oxaloacetate decarboxylase when incubated with 4-aminophenyloxanilic-diclorotriazine (APOD) or beta-mercaptopyruvic-diclorotriazine (MPD) at pH 7.0 and 25 degrees C shows a time-dependent and concentration-dependent loss of enzyme activity. The inhibition was irreversible and activity cannot be recovered either by extensive dialysis or gel-filtration chromatography. The enzyme inactivation following the Kitz & Wilson kinetics for time-dependent irreversible inhibition. The observed rate of enzyme inactivation (k(obs)) exhibits a non-linear dependence on APOD or MPD concentration with maximum rate of inactivation (k3) of 0.013 min(-1) and 0.0046 min(-1) and K(D) equal to 20.3 and 156 microM respectively. The inactivation of oxaloacetate decarboxylase by APOD and MPD is competitively inhibited by OXAD substrate and inhibitors, such as oxaloacetate, ADP and oxalic acid whereas Mn+2 enhances the rate of inactivation. The rate of inactivation of OXAD by APOD shows a pH dependence with an inflection point at 6.8, indicating a possible histidine derivatization by the label. These results show that APOD and MPD demonstrate the characteristics of an active-site probe towards the oxaloacetate binding site of oxaloacetate decarboxylase.

Purification and properties of oxaloacetate decarboxylase from Corynebacterium glutamicum

Oxaloacetate (OAA) decarboxylase (E.C. 4.1.1.3) was isolated from Corynebacterium glutamicum. In five steps the enzyme was purified 300-fold to apparent homogeneity. The molecular mass estimated by gel filtration was 118 +/- 6 kDa. SDS-PAGE showed a single subunit of 31.7 KDa, indicating an alpha 4 subunit structure for the native enzyme. The enzyme catalyzed the decarboxylation of OAA to pyruvate and CO2, but no other alpha-ketoacids were used as substrate. The cation Mn2+ was required for full activity, but could be substituted by Mg2+, CO2+, Ni2+ and Ca2+. Monovalent ions like Na+, K+ or NH4+ were not required for activity. The enzyme was inhibited by Cu2+, Zn2+, ADP, coenzyme A and succinate. Avidin did not inhibit the enzyme activity, indicating that biotin is not involved in decarboxylation of OAA. Analysis of the kinetic properties revealed a Km for OAA of 2.1 mM and a Km of 1.2 mM for Mn2+. The Vmax was 158 mumol of OAA converted per min per mg of protein, which corresponds to an apparent kcat of 311 s-1.

Cellulose biosynthesis and function in bacteria

The current model of cellulose biogenesis in plants, as well as bacteria, holds that the membranous cellulose synthase complex polymerizes glucose moieties from UDP-Glc into beta-1,4-glucan chains which give rise to rigid crystalline fibrils upon extrusion at the outer surface of the cell. The distinct arrangement and degree of association of the polymerizing enzyme units presumably govern extracellular chain assembly in addition to the pattern and width of cellulose fibril deposition. Most evident for Acetobacter xylinum, polymerization and assembly appear to be tightly coupled. To date, only bacteria have been effectively studied at the biochemical and genetic levels. In A. xylinum, the cellulose synthase, composed of at least two structurally similar but functionally distinct subunits, is subject to a multicomponent regulatory system. Regulation is based on the novel nucleotide cyclic diguanylic acid, a positive allosteric effector, and the regulatory enzymes maintaining its intracellular turnover: diguanylate cyclase and Ca2(+)-sensitive bis-(3',5')-cyclic diguanylic acid (c-di-GMP) phosphodiesterase. Four genes have been isolated from A. xylinum which constitute the operon for cellulose synthesis. The second gene encodes the catalytic subunit of cellulose synthase; the functions of the other three gene products are still unknown. Exclusively an extracellular product, bacterial cellulose appears to fulfill diverse biological roles within the natural habitat, conferring mechanical, chemical, and physiological protection in A. xylinum and Sarcina ventriculi or facilitating cell adhesion during symbiotic or infectious interactions in Rhizobium and Agrobacterium species. A. xylinum is proving to be most amenable for industrial purposes, allowing the unique features of bacterial cellulose to be exploited for novel product applications.

Tight linkage of glnA and a putative regulatory gene in Rhizobium leguminosarum

Rhizobium leguminosarum, biovar viceae, strain RCC1001 contains two glutamine synthetase activities, GSI and GSII. We report here the identification of glnA, the structural gene for GSI. A 2 kb fragment of DNA was shown to complement the Gln- phenotype of Klebsiella pneumoniae glnA mutant strains. DNA sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame (ORF) of 469 codons specifying a polypeptide of 52,040 daltons. Its deduced amino acid sequence was found to be highly homologous to other glutamine synthetase sequences. This ORF was expressed in Escherichia coli minicells and the corresponding polypeptide reacted with an antiserum raised against GSI. Upstream of glnA we found an ORF of 111 codons (ORF111) preceded by the consensus sequence for an ntrA-dependent promoter. Minicells experiments showed a protein band, with a molecular weight in good agreement with that (10,469) deduced from the nucleotide sequence. On the basis of homology studies we discuss the possibility that the product of ORF111 is equivalent to the PII protein of E. coli and plays a similar role in regulation of nitrogen metabolism.

Characterization of a membrane-bound biotin-containing enzyme: oxaloacetate decarboxylase from Klebsiella aerogenes

Oxaloacetate decarboxylase from Klebsiella aerogenes is firmly bound to the cytoplasmic membrane, from which it can be solubilized with nonionic detergents. The solubilized enzyme behaved like the membrane-bound enzyme with respect to its inhibition by avidin and to the requirement of sodium ions for catalytic activity. The decarboxylase was purified 4.5-fold over the solubilized membrane extract by conventional means. Dodecyl-sulfate disc-gel electrophoretic analysis indicated that the enzyme consists of polypeptides of a single size. The molecular weight of these polypeptides is 68000. Radioactive biotin was incorporated specifically into these polypeptide chains upon growth of the bacteria in the presence of the radioactive vitamin. Biotin as the prosthetic group of oxaloacetate decarboxylase is now firmly established. The enzyme in the absence of detergent occurs in a highly aggregated form which elutes in the exclusion volume of a Biogel A 1.5 m column. The reported inhibition of oxaloacetate decarboxylase by citrate could not be repeated. On the other hand oxalate, 2-oxomalonate and glyoxylate proved to be very potent inhibitors of the decarboxylase. The stereochemical course of the oxaloacetate decarboxylation reaction was determined starting from stereospecifically labelled malates, which by malate dehydrogenase and oxaloacetate decarboxylase were converted to chiral pyruvates. The chirality of these pyruvates was analysed via their conversion to acetates and malates by determining the extent of tritium retention upon incubation of the latter with fumarase. It was found that oxaloacetate decarboxylation occurs stereospecifically with retention of configuration.