Antigenic relatedness between the spiralins of Spiroplasma citri and Spiroplasma melliferum

Purification and characterization of the major lipoprotein (P28) of Spiroplasma apis

The plasma membrane of Spiroplasma apis contains a 28-kDa major protein (P28), like other spiroplasmas which also possess a main 26- to 28-kDa membrane polypeptide, called spiralin. In the work described here, we have developed a simple and efficient method for the purification of P28 of this mollicute, a wall-less eubacteria. Proteins were first selectively extracted from the isolated membrane with the mild detergents (i) sodium N-lauroylsarcosinate (Sarkosyl) and (ii) 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylamonio]-1-propyl sulfonate (Chaps) and subjected to size-exclusion HPLC in the presence of Chaps. The P28-enriched fraction was thereafter subjected to the second chromatographic step involving cation exchange HPLC in the presence of the same detergent. P28 was purified at the milligram level (yield, 40%). Metabolite labeling with [14C]palmitic acid and chemical analysis of P28 indicated that it is covalently modified by two O-ester-bound fatty acids and one amide-linked chain and contains a S-glycerylcysteine at the N-terminus. By charge-shift electrophoresis, Triton X-114 phase separation, and growth inhibition tests it was shown that P28 is a typical amphiphilic protein exposed, at least partly, at the cell surface. Together, our data provided evidence that P28 is a "classical" lipoprotein (i.e., triacylated) like the members of the spiralin family.

Mollicutes-wall-less bacteria with internal cytoskeletons

The structure and motility of the Mollicutes (Spiroplasma, Mycoplasma, and Acholeplasma) are briefly reviewed. The data are presented from the perspective of prokaryotic and eukaryotic motors, cytoskeletons, and cell motility. The Mollicutes are eubacteria derived from Clostridia by regressive evolution and genome reduction to produce the smallest and simplest free-living and self-replicating cells. Structurally, the Mollicutes are characterized by a complete lack of a cell wall and the presence of an internal cytoskeleton. Spiroplasma, which are helical cells with a flat, ribbon-like cytoskeleton, are amenable to structural and geometrical analysis. Motility and shape changes can be explained and modeled by the cytoskeleton acting as a linear motor.

Effect of natural amphipathic peptides on viability, membrane potential, cell shape and motility of mollicutes

The antibiotic activity of ten amphipathic peptides was investigated in six species of mollicutes belonging to the genera Acholeplasma, Mycoplasma and Spiroplasma. A. laidlawii was the most sensitive and M. mycoides subsp. mycoides SC the most resistant. Animal defence peptides (cecropins A and P1, and magainin 2) proved to be less potent than bee-venom mellitin and most of the peptides produced by bacteria (globomycin, gramicidin S, surfactin and valinomycin) or fungi (alamethicin). Gramicidin S was by far the most active peptide, with minimal inhibitory concentrations ranging from 2 to 50 nM. Alamethicin, gramicidin S, mellitin and surfactin had a cidal effect, whilst cecropins, globomycin, magainin 2, polymyxin B and valinomycin proved to be static. The peptides altered the membrane potential of spiroplasma cells with a potency independent of their linear or cyclic structure. However, globomycin depolarized the plasma membrane only weakly, whilst polymyxin B, in order to be active, required prior hyperpolarization of the membrane. The peptides also induced the loss of cell motility and helicity in spiroplasmas, suggesting that motility and cell shape in these bacteria are coupled to the transmembrane electrochemical gradient. Globomycin, an inhibitor of signal-peptidase II, prevented the growth of spiroplasmas, M. gallisepticum, and M. genitalium, but not that of A. laidlawii and M. mycoides subsp. mycoides SC, although the latter also synthesized membrane lipoproteins. Inhibition of spiralin processing by globomycin was demonstrated in S. citri and S. melliferum, with a more pronounced effect in the second species.

Spiralin polymorphism in strains of Spiroplasma citri is not due to differences in posttranslational palmitoylation

Spiralin is defined as the major membrane protein of the helical mollicute Spiroplasma citri. According to the S. citri strain used, spiralin shows polymorphism in its electrophoretic mobility. The spiralin gene sequences of eight S. citri strains were determined by direct sequencing of the PCR-amplified genes. All spiralins were found to be 241 amino acids long, except for the spiralin of strain Palmyre, which is 242 amino acids long. The molecular masses calculated from these sequences did not explain the differences observed in the electrophoretic mobilities. In all of the spiralins examined, the first 24 N-terminal amino acids were conserved, including a cysteine at position 24, and had the features of typical signal peptides of procaryotic lipoproteins. When S. citri strains were grown in the presence of [3H]palmitic acid, at least 10 proteins, including spiralin, became labeled. In the presence of globomycin, a lipoprotein signal peptidase inhibitor in eubacteria, apparently unprocessed spiralin could be detected. Formic acid hydrolysis of the [3H]palmitic acid-labeled spiralins of four representative S. citri strains yielded two peptide fragments for each spiralin, as expected from the gene sequence. On fragment was [3H]palmitic acid labeled, and it had almost the same electrophoretic mobility irrespective of the spiralins used. Samples of the unlabeled peptide fragments from the four representative strains had slightly different electrophoretic mobilities (delta Da approximately equal to 800 Da); however, these were much smaller than those of the whole spiralins before formic acid hydrolysis (delta Da approximately equal to 8,000 Da). These results suggest that spiralin polymorphism in S. citri is not due to differences in posttranslational modification by palmitic acid and is certainly a structural property of the whole protein or could result from an unidentified posttranslational modification of spiralin.

Conformation, pore-forming activity, and antigenicity of synthetic peptide analogues of a spiralin putative amphipathic alpha helix

Current models depict spiralin as a bitopic transmembrane protein with the transbilayer domain being an amphipathic alpha helix. However, though secondary structure prediction methods suggest a helical conformation for the hypothetical transmembrane segment of spiralin, no potential transmembrane helices could be detected in this protein using the method of Von Heijne (Von Heijne, G. (1992) J. Mol. Biol. 225, 487-494). Therefore, we have reconsidered the spiralin topological model by investigating the properties of the chemically synthesized peptides SM-BC3 (LNAVNTYATLAKAVLDAIQN-NH2) and SC-R8A2 (LNAVNTYATLASAVLEAIKN-NH2), corresponding to the hypothetical transmembrane segments of spiralins of two distinct spiroplasma species. The hydrophobic moment plot method suggests that these spiralin amino acid stretches are class G amphipathic alpha helices (i.e., helices localized on the surface of a globular protein domain). Circular dichroism spectra showed that both peptides have little ordered structure in aqueous solutions but adopt a mainly helical conformation in the presence of 25% trifluoroethanol or in detergent micelles (up to 74% alpha helix). Both peptides formed concentration- and voltage-dependent pores in planar lipid bilayers with a unitary conductance of 130 pS in 1 M KCl and with mean numbers of monomers per conducting aggregates of 6 for SC-R8A2 and 9 for SM-BC3. However, the two peptides displayed a haemolytic activity only at high concentrations (> 250 microM) and reacted with antibodies raised against membrane-bound spiralin. Together with previously published results, these data suggest that spiralin is a monotopic membrane protein anchored at the surface of the spiroplasma cell and that the 20-residue amphipathic segment is most probably a class G helix containing a B-cell epitope.

Polypeptide cartography of Spiroplasma taiwanense

Spiroplasma taiwanense is the first member of the Class Mollicutes to be subjected to polypeptide cartography using computerized image analysis. The small genome size characteristic of this group was shown to code for low numbers of polypeptides when compared to other bacterial species. Silver-stained two-dimensional electrophoresis gels, following separation by either isoelectric focusing and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (ISO-DALT) or nonequilibrium pH gradient electrophoresis (NEPHGE), were used to create databases from 10 and 6 gels, respectively, for each technique and produced, respectively, 263 and 287 replicated spots. Polypeptides were mapped with respect to molecular mass and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase carbamylation standards. Of interest was the unexpectedly high percentage (50.2%) of the total normalised optical intensity associated with all 263 spots detected by ISO-DALT electrophoresis, having been contributed by just 29 dominant protein spots. These 29 polypeptides are to be given priority in microsequencing and microanalysis aimed at their identification.

Cloning and expression of two Pasteurella multocida genes in Escherichia coli

A library of cloned Pasteurella multocida (toxigenic strain 9222, serotype D2) genomic sequences was constructed in Escherichia coli by incorporating TaqI digestion fragments into the plasmid vector pUC19. Immunological screening with antibodies directed against porin H, the major protein of the P multocida outer membrane, allowed the identification of a recombinant plasmid containing a 2.9-kbp DNA insert. This plasmid encoded the synthesis of two polypeptides, p25 (25 kDa) and p28 (28 kDa) which were detected in the different compartments of the E coli transformant. The peptide p25 was more abundant in the periplasm whereas p28 was mainly found in the cell envelope and in the cytosol. Immunological analysis indicates that p25, in contrast to p28, is antigenically related to porin H of P multocida. The expression in E coli of the gene encoding p28 was enhanced by induction of the lac promoter.