Bacillus subtilis pur operon expression and regulation

Efficient production of guanosine in Escherichia coli by combinatorial metabolic engineering

BACKGROUND

Guanosine is a purine nucleoside that is widely used as a raw material for food additives and pharmaceutical products. Microbial fermentation is the main production method of guanosine. However, the guanosine-producing strains possess multiple metabolic pathway interactions and complex regulatory mechanisms. The lack of strains with efficiently producing-guanosine greatly limited industrial application.

RESULTS

We attempted to efficiently produce guanosine in Escherichia coli using systematic metabolic engineering. First, we overexpressed the purine synthesis pathway from Bacillus subtilis and the prs gene, and deleted three genes involved in guanosine catabolism to increase guanosine accumulation. Subsequently, we attenuated purA expression and eliminated feedback and transcription dual inhibition. Then, we modified the metabolic flux of the glycolysis and Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathways and performed redox cofactors rebalancing. Finally, transporter engineering and enhancing the guanosine synthesis pathway further increased the guanosine titre to 134.9 mg/L. After 72 h of the fed-batch fermentation in shake-flask, the guanosine titre achieved 289.8 mg/L.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results reveal that the guanosine synthesis pathway was successfully optimized by combinatorial metabolic engineering, which could be applicable to the efficient synthesis of other nucleoside products.

Tale of Twin Bifunctional Second Messenger (p)ppGpp Synthetases and Their Function in Mycobacteria

M. tuberculosis, an etiological agent of tuberculosis, requires a long treatment regimen due to its ability to respond to stress and persist inside the host. The second messenger (p)ppGpp-mediated stress response plays a critical role in such long-term survival, persistence, and antibiotic tolerance which may also lead to the emergence of multiple drug resistance. In mycobacteria, (pp)pGpp molecules are synthesized predominantly by two bifunctional enzymes-long RSH-Rel and short SAS-RelZ. The long RSH-Rel is a major (p)ppGpp synthetase and hydrolase. How it switches its activity from synthesis to hydrolysis remains unclear. RelMtb mutant has been reported to be defective in biofilm formation, cell wall function, and persister cell formation. The survival of such mutants has also been observed to be compromised in infection models. In M. smegmatis, short SAS-RelZ has RNase HII activity in addition to (pp)Gpp synthesis activity. The RNase HII function of RelZ has been implicated in resolving replication-transcription conflicts by degrading R-loops. However, the mechanism and regulatory aspects of such a regulation remain elusive. In this article, we have discussed (p)ppGpp metabolism and its role in managing the stress response network of mycobacteria, which is responsible for long-term survival inside the host, making it an important therapeutic target.

In silico-guided metabolic engineering of Bacillus subtilis for efficient biosynthesis of purine nucleosides by blocking the key backflow nodes

Background

Purine nucleosides play essential roles in cellular physiological processes and have a wide range of applications in the fields of antitumor/antiviral drugs and food. However, microbial overproduction of purine nucleosides by de novo metabolic engineering remains a great challenge due to their strict and complex regulatory machinery involved in biosynthetic pathways.

Results

In this study, we designed an in silico-guided strategy for overproducing purine nucleosides based on a genome-scale metabolic network model in Bacillus subtilis. The metabolic flux was analyzed to predict two key backflow nodes, Drm (purine nucleotides toward PPP) and YwjH (PPP–EMP), to resolve the competitive relationship between biomass and purine nucleotide synthesis. In terms of the purine synthesis pathway, the first backflow node Drm was inactivated to block the degradation of purine nucleotides, which greatly increased the inosine production to 13.98–14.47 g/L without affecting cell growth. Furthermore, releasing feedback inhibition of the purine operon by promoter replacement enhanced the accumulation of purine nucleotides. In terms of the central carbon metabolic pathways, the deletion of the second backflow node YwjH and overexpression of Zwf were combined to increase inosine production to 22.01 ± 1.18 g/L by enhancing the metabolic flow of PPP. By switching on the flux node of the glucose-6-phosphate to PPP or EMP, the final inosine engineered strain produced up to 25.81 ± 1.23 g/L inosine by a pgi-based metabolic switch with a yield of 0.126 mol/mol glucose, a productivity of 0.358 g/L/h and a synthesis rate of 0.088 mmol/gDW/h, representing the highest yield in de novo engineered inosine bacteria. Under the guidance of this in silico-designed strategy, a general chassis bacterium was generated, for the first time, to efficiently synthesize inosine, adenosine, guanosine, IMP and GMP, which provides sufficient precursors for the synthesis of various purine intermediates.

Conclusions

Our study reveals that in silico-guided metabolic engineering successfully optimized the purine synthesis pathway by exploring efficient targets, which could be applied as a superior strategy for efficient biosynthesis of biotechnological products.

Global metabolic regulation in Vibrio parahaemolyticus under polymyxin B stimulation

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is responsible for infection diseases of people who consume the contaminated seafood, but its metabolic regulation profile in response to colistin, the last treatment option for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, remains unclear. In this study, the metabolic regulation profile of V. parahaemolyticus ATCC33846 under polymyxin B stimulation has been investigated. V. parahaemolyticus exposed to polymyxin B resulted in 4597 differentially transcribed genes, including 673 significantly up-regulated genes and 569 significantly down-regulated genes. In V. parahaemolyticus under polymyxin B stimulation, the cellular antioxidant systems to prevent bacteria from oxidant stress was activated, the synthesis of some nonessential macromolecules was reduced, and the assembly and modification of lipopolysaccharide and peptidoglycan to resist the attack from other antibiotics were promoted. These findings provide new insights into polymyxin B-related stress response in V. parahaemolyticus which should be useful for developing novel drugs for infection.

Novel (p)ppGpp0 suppressor mutations reveal an unexpected link between methionine catabolism and GTP synthesis in Bacillus subtilis

In bacteria, guanosine (penta)tetra-phosphate ([p]ppGpp) is essential for controlling intracellular metabolism that is needed to adapt to environmental changes, such as amino acid starvation. The (p)ppGpp⁰ strain of Bacillus subtilis, which lacks (p)ppGpp synthetase, is unable to form colonies on minimal medium. Here, we found suppressor mutations in the (p)ppGpp⁰ strain, in the purine nucleotide biosynthesis genes, prs, purF and rpoB/C, which encode RNA polymerase core enzymes. In comparing our work with prior studies of ppGpp⁰ suppressors, we discovered that methionine addition masks the suppression on minimal medium, especially of rpoB/C mutations. Furthermore, methionine addition increases intracellular GTP in rpoB suppressor and this effect is decreased by inhibiting GTP biosynthesis, indicating that methionine addition activated GTP biosynthesis and inhibited growth under amino acid starvation conditions in (p)ppGpp⁰ backgrounds. Furthermore, we propose that the increase in intracellular GTP levels induced by methionine is due to methionine derivatives that increase the activity of the de novo GTP biosynthesis enzyme, GuaB. Our study sheds light on the potential relationship between GTP homeostasis and methionine metabolism, which may be the key to adapting to environmental changes.

Structures of two aptamers with differing ligand specificity reveal ruggedness in the functional landscape of RNA

Two classes of riboswitches related to the ykkC guanidine-I riboswitch bind phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP) and guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp). Here we report the co-crystal structure of the PRPP aptamer and its ligand. We also report the structure of the G96A point mutant that prefers ppGpp over PRPP with a dramatic 40,000-fold switch in specificity. The ends of the aptamer form a helix that is not present in the guanidine aptamer and is involved in the expression platform. In the mutant, the base of ppGpp replaces G96 in three-dimensional space. This disrupts the S-turn, which is a primary structural feature of the ykkC RNA motif. These dramatic differences in ligand specificity are achieved with minimal mutations. ykkC aptamers are therefore a prime example of an RNA fold with a rugged fitness landscape. The ease with which the ykkC aptamer acquires new specificity represents a striking case of evolvability in RNA.

Phosphoribosyl Diphosphate (PRPP): Biosynthesis, Enzymology, Utilization, and Metabolic Significance

Phosphoribosyl diphosphate (PRPP) is an important intermediate in cellular metabolism. PRPP is synthesized by PRPP synthase, as follows: ribose 5-phosphate + ATP → PRPP + AMP. PRPP is ubiquitously found in living organisms and is used in substitution reactions with the formation of glycosidic bonds. PRPP is utilized in the biosynthesis of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides, the amino acids histidine and tryptophan, the cofactors NAD and tetrahydromethanopterin, arabinosyl monophosphodecaprenol, and certain aminoglycoside antibiotics. The participation of PRPP in each of these metabolic pathways is reviewed. Central to the metabolism of PRPP is PRPP synthase, which has been studied from all kingdoms of life by classical mechanistic procedures. The results of these analyses are unified with recent progress in molecular enzymology and the elucidation of the three-dimensional structures of PRPP synthases from eubacteria, archaea, and humans. The structures and mechanisms of catalysis of the five diphosphoryltransferases are compared, as are those of selected enzymes of diphosphoryl transfer, phosphoryl transfer, and nucleotidyl transfer reactions. PRPP is used as a substrate by a large number phosphoribosyltransferases. The protein structures and reaction mechanisms of these phosphoribosyltransferases vary and demonstrate the versatility of PRPP as an intermediate in cellular physiology. PRPP synthases appear to have originated from a phosphoribosyltransferase during evolution, as demonstrated by phylogenetic analysis. PRPP, furthermore, is an effector molecule of purine and pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis, either by binding to PurR or PyrR regulatory proteins or as an allosteric activator of carbamoylphosphate synthetase. Genetic analyses have disclosed a number of mutants altered in the PRPP synthase-specifying genes in humans as well as bacterial species.

Direct regulation of GTP homeostasis by (p)ppGpp: a critical component of viability and stress resistance

Cells constantly adjust their metabolism in response to environmental conditions, yet major mechanisms underlying survival remain poorly understood. We discover a posttranscriptional mechanism that integrates starvation response with GTP homeostasis to allow survival, enacted by the nucleotide (p)ppGpp, a key player in bacterial stress response and persistence. We reveal that (p)ppGpp activates global metabolic changes upon starvation, allowing survival by regulating GTP. Combining metabolomics with biochemical demonstrations, we find that (p)ppGpp directly inhibits the activities of multiple GTP biosynthesis enzymes. This inhibition results in robust and rapid GTP regulation in Bacillus subtilis, which we demonstrate is essential to maintaining GTP levels within a range that supports viability even in the absence of starvation. Correspondingly, without (p)ppGpp, gross GTP dysregulation occurs, revealing a vital housekeeping function of (p)ppGpp; in fact, loss of (p)ppGpp results in death from rising GTP, a severe and previously unknown consequence of GTP dysfunction.

Role of purine biosynthesis in Bacillus anthracis pathogenesis and virulence

Bacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax, is a spore-forming, Gram-positive bacterium and a category A biothreat agent. Screening of a library of transposon-mutagenized B. anthracis spores identified a mutant displaying an altered phenotype that harbored a mutated gene encoding the purine biosynthetic enzyme PurH. PurH is a bifunctional protein that catalyzes the final steps in the biosynthesis of the purine IMP. We constructed and characterized defined purH mutants of the virulent B. anthracis Ames strain. The virulence of the purH mutants was assessed in guinea pigs, mice, and rabbits. The spores of the purH mutants were as virulent as wild-type spores in mouse intranasal and rabbit subcutaneous infection models but were partially attenuated in a mouse intraperitoneal model. In contrast, the purH mutant spores were highly attenuated in guinea pigs regardless of the administration route. The reduced virulence in guinea pigs was not due solely to a germination defect, since both bacilli and toxins were detected in vivo, suggesting that the significant attenuation was associated with a growth defect in vivo. We hypothesize that an intact purine biosynthetic pathway is required for the virulence of B. anthracis in guinea pigs.

Protein preparation, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies of Bacillus subtilis glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase

Glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase (GART) catalyzes the transfer of a formyl group from formyl tetrahydrofolate (FTHF) to glycinamide ribonucleotide (GAR), which is an essential step in the de novo synthesis pathway of purines. In Bacillus subtilis, GART is encoded by the gene purN. In order to study the structure and function of B. subtilis GART, the purN gene was amplified, cloned into an expression vector and expressed in soluble form in Escherichia coli. The protein was purified to homogeneity and crystals suitable for X-ray data collection were obtained. These crystals diffracted to 2.5 A resolution and belonged to space group P3(1)21, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 95.5, c = 64.0 A.

The entire organization of transcription units on the Bacillus subtilis genome

Background

In the post-genomic era, comprehension of cellular processes and systems requires global and non-targeted approaches to handle vast amounts of biological information.

Results

The present study predicts transcription units (TUs) in Bacillus subtilis, based on an integrated approach involving DNA sequence and transcriptome analyses. First, co-expressed gene clusters are predicted by calculating the Pearson correlation coefficients of adjacent genes for all the genes in a series that are transcribed in the same direction with no intervening gene transcribed in the opposite direction. Transcription factor (TF) binding sites are then predicted by detecting statistically significant TF binding sequences on the genome using a position weight matrix. This matrix is a convenient way to identify sites that are more highly conserved than others in the entire genome because any sequence that differs from a consensus sequence has a lower score. We identify genes regulated by each of the TFs by comparing gene expression between wild-type and TF mutants using a one-sided test. By applying the integrated approach to 11 σ factors and 17 TFs of B. subtilis, we are able to identify fewer candidates for genes regulated by the TFs than were identified using any single approach, and also detect the known TUs efficiently.

Conclusion

This integrated approach is, therefore, an efficient tool for narrowing searches for candidate genes regulated by TFs, identifying TUs, and estimating roles of the σ factors and TFs in cellular processes and functions of genes composing the TUs.

Lack of relationship between purine biosynthesis and vancomycin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus: a cautionary tale for microarray interpretation

Previous microarray data (E. Mongodin, J. Finan, M. W. Climo, A. Rosato, S. Gill, and G. L. Archer, J. Bacteriol. 185:4638-4643, 2003) noted an association in two vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) strains between high-level, passage-induced vancomycin resistance, a marked increase in the transcription of purine biosynthetic genes, and mutation of the putative purine regulator purR. Initial studies to report on the possible association between vancomycin resistance and alterations in purine metabolism in one of these strains (VP-32) confirmed, by Western analysis, an increase in the translation of PurH and PurM, two purine pathway enzymes. In addition, PurR was identified, by knockout and complementation in a vancomycin-susceptible strain, as a repressor of the purine biosynthetic operon in S. aureus, and the PurR missense mutation was shown to inactivate the repressor. However, despite the apparent relationship between increased purine biosynthesis and increased vancomycin resistance in VP-32, neither the addition of exogenous purines to a defined growth medium nor the truncation or inactivation of purR improved the growth of vancomycin-susceptible S. aureus in the presence of vancomycin. Furthermore, the passage of additional vancomycin-susceptible and VISA strains to high-level vancomycin resistance occurred without changes in cellular purine metabolism or mutation of purR despite the development of thickened cell walls in passaged strains. Thus, we could confirm neither a role for altered purine metabolism in the development of vancomycin resistance nor its requirement for the maintenance of a thickened cell wall. The failure of biochemical and physiological studies to support the association between transcription and phenotype initially found in careful microarray studies emphasizes the importance of follow-up investigations to confirm microarray observations.

Uracil salvage pathway in Lactobacillus plantarum: Transcription and genetic studies

The uracil salvage pathway in Lactobacillus plantarum was demonstrated to be dependent on the upp-pyrP gene cluster. PyrP was the only high-affinity uracil transporter since a pyrP mutant no longer incorporated low concentrations of radioactively labeled uracil and had increased resistance to the toxic uracil analogue 5-fluorouracil. The upp gene encoded a uracil phosphoribosyltransferase (UPRT) enzyme catalyzing the conversion of uracil and 5-phosphoribosyl-alpha-1-pyrophosphate to UMP and pyrophosphate. Analysis of mutants revealed that UPRT is a major cell supplier of UMP synthesized from uracil provided by preformed nucleic acid degradation. In a mutant selection study, seven independent upp mutants were isolated and all were found to excrete low amounts of pyrimidines to the growth medium. Pyrimidine-dependent transcription regulation of the biosynthetic pyrimidine pyrR1-B-C-Aa1-Ab1-D-F-E operon was impaired in the upp mutants. Despite the fact that upp and pyrP are positioned next to each other on the chromosome, they are not cotranscribed. Whereas pyrP is expressed as a monocistronic message, the upp gene is part of the lp_2376-glyA-upp operon. The lp_2376 gene encodes a putative protein that belongs to the conserved protein family of translation modulators such as Sua5, YciO, and YrdC. The glyA gene encodes a putative hydroxymethyltransferase involved in C1 unit charging of tetrahydrofolate, which is required in the biosynthesis of thymidylate, pantothenate, and purines. Unlike upp transcription, pyrP transcription is regulated by exogenous pyrimidine availability, most likely by the same mechanism of transcription attenuation as that of the pyr operon.

Nucleotide mutations in purA gene and pur operon promoter discovered in guanosine- and inosine-producing Bacillus subtilis strains

The promoter region of the pur operon, which contains 12 genes for inosine monophosphate biosynthesis from phosphoribosylpyrophosphate, and the purA gene, encoding the adenylosuccinate synthetase, were compared among wild-type and three purine-producing Bacillus subtilis strains. A single nucleotide deletion at position 55 (relative to translation start site) in purA gene was found in a high inosine-producing strain and in a high guanosine-producing strain, which correlates with the absence of adenylosuccinate synthetase activity in these strains. Within the pur operon promoter of high guanosine-producing strain, in addition to a single nucleotide deletion in PurBox1 and a single nucleotide substitution in PurBox2, there were 4 substitutions in the flanking region of the PurBoxes and 32 nucleotide mutations in the 5' untranslated region. These mutations may explain the purine accumulation in purine-producing strains and be helpful to the rational design of high-yield recombinant strains.

Mutations in PurBox1 of the Bacillus subtilis pur operon control site affect adenine-regulated expression in vivo

Transcription of the Bacillus subtilis pur operon is regulated by a purine repressor (PurR)-DNA control site interaction. The pur operon control site has two PurBoxes that are required for high-affinity PurR binding. An upstream, strong-binding PurBox1 is at position -81 to -68 relative to the transcription start site and a downstream weak-binding PurBox2 is at position -49 to -36. We constructed three PurBox1 mutations and the effects on binding of PurR to the control region in vitro and on regulation of pur operon expression in vivo were investigated. The mutations significantly reduced the binding of PurR to control region DNA. In strains with G-75A, G-75T and a five bp deletion (delta5) pur operon repression was defective in vivo. In addition in vivo PurR titration was used to confirm that sequences flanking PurBox1 and PurBox2 are required for PurR binding to the puroperon control site.

Functional dissection of the Bacillus subtilis pur operator site

Bacillus subtilis PurR represses transcription of several genes involved in purine synthesis, metabolism, and transport and cofactor synthesis. PurR binds specifically to DNAs containing an inverted repeat of a 14-nucleotide "PurBox" located in the upstream control regions of genes in the PurR regulon. Further biochemical investigation of the interaction of PurR with a series of shortened upstream DNA fragments of the pur operon determined the minimum length and specificity elements of the operator. The relative affinities of the two PurBoxes differ significantly, such that upstream PurBox1 (-81 to -68 relative to the transcription start site) is designated "strong" and downstream PurBox2 (-49 to -36) is designated "weak." Two PurBoxes are required for high-affinity PurR binding, and one of these must be strong. The shortest DNA construct with high affinity for PurR is a 74-bp perfect palindrome in which weak PurBox2 and its flanking sequences are replaced by strong PurBox1 and flanking sequences. Two PurR dimers bind to this symmetric construct. Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP), the effector molecule that reduces affinity of PurR for DNA, requires one weak PurBox in the DNA construct to inhibit PurR binding. PRPP binds, as expected, to a PRPP-motif in PurR. A tracks outside the central conserved CGAA sequence of the PurBox may facilitate DNA bending, leading to a proposal for strong and weak designations of PurBoxes in the control regions of other genes regulated by PurR.

The purine repressor of Bacillus subtilis: a novel combination of domains adapted for transcription regulation

The purine repressor from Bacillus subtilis, PurR, represses transcription from a number of genes with functions in the synthesis, transport, and metabolism of purines. The 2.2-A crystal structure of PurR reveals a two-domain protein organized as a dimer. The larger C-terminal domain belongs to the PRT structural family, in accord with a sequence motif for binding the inducer phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP). The PRT domain is fused to a smaller N-terminal domain that belongs to the winged-helix family of DNA binding proteins. A positively charged surface on the winged-helix domain likely binds specific DNA sequences in the recognition site. A second positively charged surface surrounds the PRPP site at the opposite end of the PurR dimer. Conserved amino acids in the sequences of PurR homologs in 21 gram-positive bacteria cluster on the proposed recognition surface of the winged-helix domain and around the PRPP binding site at the opposite end of the molecule, supporting a common function of DNA and PRPP binding for all of the proteins. The structure supports a binding mechanism in which extended regions of DNA interact with extensive protein surface. Unlike most PRT proteins, which are phosphoribosyltransferases (PRTases), PurR lacks catalytic activity. This is explained by a tyrosine side chain that blocks the site for a nucleophile cosubstrate in PRTases. Thus, B. subtilis has adapted an enzyme fold to serve as an effector-binding domain and has used it in a novel combination with the DNA-binding winged-helix domain as a repressor of purine genes.

Identification of a novel mycobacterial transcriptional regulator and its involvement in growth rate dependence and stringent control

A novel transcriptional regulator has been identified in the 400-bp upstream region of the guaA gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv that promotes the expression of lacZ gene in Mycobacterium smegmatis mc(2)155 and M. tuberculosis H37Rv but not in Escherichia coli DH5alpha. PCR-mediated deletion mutagenesis and cloning identified a 120-bp fragment upstream from the guaA gene to be the actual regulator. Primer extension analysis mapped the transcription start site to be the first 'G' residue of the translation start codon GTG of the guaA gene. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed strong binding of M. smegmatis RNA polymerase holoenzyme to the 400-bp fragment that expresses lacZ in mycobacterial species and a weak binding to the 280-bp fragment that expresses only in E. coli DH5alpha. Both promoter recombinants revealed varied response in the presence of purine nucleotides and exhibited down-regulation when subjected to amino acid starvation.

The yexA gene product is required for phosphoribosylformylglycinamidine synthetase activity in Bacillus subtilis

The yexA gene encodes an 84 amino acid reading frame; in Bacillus subtilis it is positioned between the purC and purQ genes of the purine biosynthetic operon. Disruption of yexA resulted in a purine-auxotrophic phenotype. When yexA was expressed in trans it was able to complement a yexA mutation. Growth experiments and enzyme analysis of yexA mutant strains revealed a defective phosphoribosylformylglycinamidine synthetase (FGAM synthetase). In the organisms in which FGAM synthetase has been studied a single polypeptide is responsible for activity. In some organisms two separate genes - in B. subtilis the purL and purQ genes - encode polypeptides with similarity to the N-terminal and the C-terminal region, respectively, of the single-polypeptide FGAM synthetase. Thus, active FGAM synthetase in B. subtilis requires the yexA gene product in addition to the purL and purQ gene products. Open reading frames with sequence similarity to yexA are found in other Gram-positive organisms, in a cyanobacterium and in methanogenic archaea. The designation purS is proposed for this novel function in purine biosynthesis in B. subtilis.

A role for a highly conserved protein of unknown function in regulation of Bacillus subtilis purA by the purine repressor

Regulation of the purine biosynthetic gene purA was examined by using a transcriptional fusion to a luciferase reporter gene. Transcription was repressed about 10-fold by the addition of adenine and increased approximately 4.5-fold by the addition of guanosine. This regulation is mediated by a purine repressor (PurR). In a purR mutant, basal expression was increased 10-fold, and there was no further stimulation by guanosine or repression by adenine. An open reading frame, yabJ, immediately downstream from purR was found to have a role in the repression of purA by adenine. Repression by adenine was perturbed in a purR+ yabJ mutant, although guanosine regulation was retained. Mutations in the PurR PRPP binding motif abolished guanosine regulation in the yabJ mutant. Thus, PRPP appears to be required for upregulation by guanosine. The amino acid sequence of YabJ is homologous to the YER057c/YjgF protein family of unknown function.

The use of gene clusters to infer functional coupling

Previously, we presented evidence that it is possible to predict functional coupling between genes based on conservation of gene clusters between genomes. With the rapid increase in the availability of prokaryotic sequence data, it has become possible to verify and apply the technique. In this paper, we extend our characterization of the parameters that determine the utility of the approach, and we generalize the approach in a way that supports detection of common classes of functionally coupled genes (e.g., transport and signal transduction clusters). Now that the analysis includes over 30 complete or nearly complete genomes, it has become clear that this approach will play a significant role in supporting efforts to assign functionality to the remaining uncharacterized genes in sequenced genomes.

Activation control of pur gene expression in Lactococcus lactis: proposal for a consensus activator binding sequence based on deletion analysis and site-directed mutagenesis of purC and purD promoter regions

A comparison of the purC and purD upstream regions from Lactococcus lactis revealed the presence of a conserved ACCGAACAAT decanucleotide sequence located precisely between -79 and -70 nucleotides upstream from the transcriptional start sites. Both promoters have well-defined -10 regions but lack sequences resembling -35 regions for sigma70 promoters. Fusion studies indicated the importance of the conserved sequence in purine-mediated regulation. Adjacent to the conserved sequence in purC is a second and similar region required for high-level expression of the gene. A consensus PurBox sequence (AWWWCCGAACWWT) could be proposed for the three regions. By site-directed mutagenesis we found that mutation of the central G in the PurBox sequence to C resulted in low levels of transcription and the loss of purine-mediated regulation at the purC and purD promoters. Deletion analysis also showed that the nucleotides before the central CCGAAC core in the PurBox sequence are important. All results support the idea that purC and purD transcription is regulated by a transcriptional activator binding to the PurBox sequence.

Regulators of aerobic and anaerobic respiration in Bacillus subtilis

Two Bacillus subtilis genes, designated resD and resE, encode proteins that are similar to those of two-component signal transduction systems and play a regulatory role in respiration. The overlapping resD-resE genes are transcribed during vegetative growth from a very weak promoter directly upstream of resD. They are also part of a larger operon that includes three upstream genes, resABC (formerly orfX14, -15, and -16), the expression of which is strongly induced postexponentially. ResD is required for the expression of the following genes: resA, ctaA (required for heme A synthesis), and the petCBD operon (encoding subunits of the cytochrome bf complex). The resABC genes are essential genes which encode products with similarity to cytochrome c biogenesis proteins. resD null mutations are more deleterious to the cell than those of resE. resD mutant phenotypes, directly related to respiratory function, include streptomycin resistance, lack of production of aa3 or caa3 terminal oxidases, acid accumulation when grown with glucose as a carbon source, and loss of ability to grow anaerobically on a medium containing nitrate. A resD mutation also affected sporulation, carbon source utilization, and Pho regulon regulation. The data presented here support an activation role for ResD, and to a lesser extent ResE, in global regulation of aerobic and anaerobic respiration i B.subtilis.

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase gene regulation in Bacillus subtilis

In this review, we summarize progress on the regulation of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase genes in Bacillus subtilis. Most of the genes encoding this set of enzymes in B subtilis are members of a large family of Gram-positive genes and operons controlled by a novel antitermination mechanism that uses their cognate uncharged tRNA as the effector. A subset of these genes is, in addition, likely to be controlled at the level of mRNA processing and degradation. We describe the key experiments leading to these conclusions.

Identification of the Bacillus subtilis pur operon repressor

Transcription of the Bacillus subtilis pur operon is repressed in response to a signal of excess adenine. We have purified the repressor protein and have identified, cloned, and overexpressed the purR regulatory gene that controls transcription initiation of the operon. B. subtilis purR encodes a 62-kDa homodimer that binds to the pur operon control region. The PurR binding site which overlaps the promoter encompasses approximately 110 bp. The protein-DNA interaction is inhibited by 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate. A mutation that deletes the repressor binding site or one that disrupts purR abolishes binding activity in vitro and repression of transcription in vivo in response to the excess adenine signal. These results lead to a model in which an excess-adenine signal is transmitted to PurR via the 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate pool. In addition, purR is autoregulated. There is no structural or mechanistic similarity between the B. subtilis and Escherichia coli purine repressors.

Five Listeria monocytogenes genes preferentially expressed in infected mammalian cells: plcA, purH, purD, pyrE and an arginine ABC transporter gene, arpJ

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterial pathogen that multiplies within the cytosol of eukaryotic cells. To identify Listeria genes with preferentially intracellular expression (pic genes), a library of Tn917-lac insertion mutants was screened for transcriptional fusions to lacZ with higher expression inside a macrophage-like cell line than in a rich broth medium. Five pic genes with up to 100-fold induction inside cells were identified. Three of them (purH, purD and pyrE) were involved in nucleotide biosynthesis. One was part of an operon encoding an ABC (ATP-binding cassette) transporter for arginine. The corresponding mutants were not affected in intracellular growth, cell-to-cell spread or virulence, except for the transporter mutant, whose LD50 after intravenous infection of mice was twofold higher than the wild-type. The fifth gene was plcA, a previously identified virulence gene that encodes a phosphatidylinositol-phospholipase C, and is cotranscribed with prfA, a gene encoding a pleiotropic transcriptional activator of known virulence genes. Although plcA expression is known to depend on PrfA, a prfA promoter-lacZ fusion was highly expressed both inside and outside cells. Furthermore, in the presence of cellobiose, a disaccharide recently shown to repress plcA and hly expression, plcA and hly mRNA levels were dramatically reduced without any decrease in the monocistronic prfA mRNA levels. These results demonstrate that virulence gene activation does not depend only on prfA transcript accumulation.

Cloning and sequence of Bacillus subtilis purA and guaA, involved in the conversion of IMP to AMP and GMP

Bacillus subtilis genes purA, encoding adenylosuccinate synthetase, and guaA, coding for GMP synthetase, appear to be lethal when cloned in multicopy plasmids in Escherichia coli. The nucleotide sequences of purA and guaA were determined from a series of gene fragments isolated by polymerase chain reaction amplification, library screening, and plasmid rescue techniques. Identifications were based on amino acid sequence alignments with enzymes from other organisms. Comparison of the 5'-flanking regions of purA and guaA with the pur operon suggests similarities in mechanisms for gene regulation. Nucleotide sequences are now available for all genes involved in the 14-step pathway for de novo purine nucleotide synthesis in B. subtilis.

Separate promoters direct expression of phoAIII, a member of the Bacillus subtilis alkaline phosphatase multigene family, during phosphate starvation and sporulation

Alkaline phosphatase (APase) expression can be induced in Bacillus subtilis by phosphate starvation or by sporulation. We have recently shown that there are multiple APase structural genes contributing to the total alkaline phosphatase expression in B. subtilis. The expression of the alkaline phosphatase III gene (phoAIII) was analysed under both phosphate-starvation induction and sporulation induction conditions. phoAII is transcribed from two promoter regions, PV and PS. The PV promoter initiated transcription 37 bp before the translation initiation codon and was used to transcribe phoAIII during phosphate-starvation induction in vegetative cells. The PS promoter initiated transcription 119 bp before the translation initiation codon and was used during sporulation induction. Genes which have previously been shown to affect total vegatative APase, pho regulon genes phoP, phoR and phoS, affected expression of phoAIII during phosphate starvation. Genes known to affect expression of total sporulation APase, i.e. spoIIA, spoIIG and spoIIE, affected phoAIII expression during sporulation induction. Our data show that one member of the APase multigene family, phoAIII, contributes to the total APase expression both during phosphate-starvation induction and sporulation induction, and that the mechanism of regulation includes two promoters, each requiring different regulatory genes.

Orientation of genes in the Bacillus subtilis chromosome

The orientation of 96 genes on the Bacillus subtilis chromosome was deduced by the analysis of published data. Of these genes, 91 were found to be oriented so that their promoters were proximal to the chromosomal replication origin and their transcription termini to the replication terminus. Transcription of these genes would therefore be co-directional with replication. This chromosomal organization is consistent with the hypothesis advanced for Escherichia coli that bacteria avoid head-on collisions between RNA polymerase and DNA replication proteins by the appropriate orientation of their transcription units.