ENZYMES OF THE PYRIMIDINE PATHWAY IN ESCHERICHIA COLI. I. SYNTHESIS BY CELLS AND SPHEROPLASTS

Unveiling the membrane bound dihydroorotate: Quinone oxidoreductase from Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen and one of the most frequent causes for community acquired and nosocomial bacterial infections. Even so, its energy metabolism is still under explored and its respiratory enzymes have been vastly overlooked. In this work, we unveil the dihydroorotate:quinone oxidoreductase (DHOQO) from S. aureus, the first example of a DHOQO from a Gram-positive organism. This protein was shown to be a FMN containing menaquinone reducing enzyme, presenting a Michaelis-Menten behaviour towards the two substrates, which was inhibited by Brequinar, Leflunomide, Lapachol, HQNO, Atovaquone and TFFA with different degrees of effectiveness. Deletion of the DHOQO coding gene (Δdhoqo) led to lower bacterial growth rates, and effected in cell morphology and metabolism, most importantly in the pyrimidine biosynthesis, here systematized for S. aureus MW2 for the first time. This work unveils the existence of a functional DHOQO in the respiratory chain of the pathogenic bacterium S. aureus, enlarging the understanding of its energy metabolism.

Investigating the amino acid sequences of membrane bound dihydroorotate:quinone oxidoreductases (DHOQOs): Structural and functional implications

Dihydroorotate:quinone oxidoreductases (DHOQOs) are membrane bound enzymes responsible for oxidizing dihydroorotate (DHO) to orotate with concomitant reduction of quinone to quinol. They have FMN as prosthetic group and are part of the monotopic quinone reductase superfamily. These enzymes are also members of the dihydroorotate dehydrogenases (DHODHs) family, which besides membrane bound DHOQOs, class 2, includes soluble enzymes which reduce either NAD⁺ or fumarate, class 1. As key enzymes in both the de novo pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway as well as in the energetic metabolism, inhibitors of DHOQOs have been investigated as leads for therapeutics in cancer, immunological disorders and bacterial/viral infections. This work is a thorough bioinformatic approach on the structural conservation and taxonomic distribution of DHOQOs. We explored previously established structural/functional hallmarks of these enzymes, while searching for uncharacterized common elements. We also discuss the cellular role of DHOQOs and organize the identified protein sequences within six sub-classes 2A to 2F, according to their taxonomic origin and sequence traits. We concluded that DHOQOs are present in Archaea, Eukarya and Bacteria, including the first recognition in Gram-positive organisms. DHOQOs can be the single dihydroorotate dehydrogenase encoded in the genome of a species, or they can coexist with other DHODHs, as the NAD⁺ or fumarate reducing enzymes. Furthermore, we show that the type of catalytic base present in the active site is not an absolute criterium to distinguish between class 1 and class 2 enzymes. We propose the existence of a quinone binding motif ("ExAH") adjacent to a hydrophobic cavity present in the membrane interacting N-terminal domain.

Effects of colistin on surface ultrastructure and nanomechanics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells

Chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients are primarily caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Though difficult to counteract effectively, colistin, an antimicrobial peptide, is proving useful. However, the exact mechanism of action of colistin is not fully understood. In this study, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to evaluate, in a liquid environment, the changes in P. aeruginosa morphology and nanomechanical properties due to exposure to colistin. The results of this work revealed that after 1 h of colistin exposure the ratio of individual bacteria to those found to be arrested in the process of division changed from 1.9 to 0.4 and the length of the cells decreased significantly. Morphologically, it was observed that the bacterial surface changed from a smooth to a wrinkled phenotype after 3 h exposure to colistin. Nanomechanically, in untreated bacteria, the cantilever indented the bacterial surface significantly more than it did after 1 h of colistin treatment (P-value = 0.015). Concurrently, after 2 h of exposure to colistin, a significant increase in the bacterial spring constant was also observed. These results indicate that the antimicrobial peptide colistin prevents bacterial proliferation by repressing cell division. We also found that treatment with colistin caused an increase in the rigidity of the bacterial cell wall while morphologically the cell surface changed from smooth to wrinkled, perhaps due to loss of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) or surface proteins.

ENZYMES OF THE PYRIMIDINE PATHWAY IN ESCHERICHIA COLI. II. INTRACELLULAR LOCALIZATION AND PROPERTIES OF DIHYDROOROTIC DEHYDROGENASE

Taylor, W. Herman (Portland State College, Portland, Ore.), and Mary L. Taylor. Enzymes of the pyrimidine pathway in Escherichia coli. II. Intracellular localization and properties of dihydroorotic dehydrogenase. J. Bacteriol. 88:105-111. 1964.-Intracellular localization of three enzymes of the pyrimidine pathway in Escherichia coli was studied. Dihydroorotic dehydrogenase was found to be associated with the membrane portion of lysed spheroplasts. Centrifugal fractionation of cell-free extracts showed all the dihydroorotic dehydrogenase activity to be associated with large structures, probably cell wall-membrane fragments. In contrast, all orotidylic decarboxylase activity was found in the cytoplasm in both lysed spheroplasts and cell-free extracts. Aspartate transcarbamylase activity appeared to be particulate in repressed cells, but only 25% was particulate in derepressed cells. Dihydroorotic dehydrogenase was shown to be bound to oxidative particles by oxygen uptake and orotate production from dihydroorotate. A ferricyanide reduction assay, suitable for measuring soluble and particulate enzyme, was devised for dihydroorotic dehydrogenase. Soluble dihydroorotic dehydrogenase was prepared by use of deoxycholate. A 20-fold purification of the enzyme compared to whole-cell activity was achieved by ammonium sulfate fractionation of the deoxycholate-soluble enzyme. Although cytochromes were implicated by cyanide inhibition of aerobic orotate production by particles, the purified enzyme appeared to be separated from the cytochromes, as shown by lack of cyanide inhibition in the ferricyanide assay. The purified soluble enzyme did not react in the aerobic assay previously used by others for assay of this enzyme. In contrast to the degradative dihydroorotic dehydrogenases reported by other workers, the biosynthetic dihydroorotic dehydrogenase of E. coli did not link to pyridine nucleotides.

Biosynthetic dihydroorotate dehydrogenase from Lactobacillus bulgaricus

This paper describes the first detailed study on a dihydroorotate dehydrogenase involved in pyrimidine biosynthesis. In most organisms the enzyme is membrane-bound; however, a soluble dihydroorotate dehydrogenase was produced in relatively high levels when the anaerobe, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, was released from repression. The enzyme was purified 213-fold over derepressed levels with a 39% recovery of enzyme units. The enzyme showed only one minor protein contaminant when analyzed by polyacrylamide electrophoresis. It was characterized as a flavoprotein containing only flavine mononucleotide as the prosthetic group. Molecular weight estimations by gel filtration gave a value of approximately 55,000, which is one-half that of the degradative enzyme described by others. During aerobic oxidation of dihydroorotate, the rates of oxygen consumption, orotate formation, and hydrogen peroxide formation were equal, as would be expected in a flavoprotein-catalyzed reaction. The enzymatic activity with ferricyanide as acceptor was optimum around pH 7.7. The stimulation of enzymatic activity over a wide pH range by ammonium sulfate was attributed to an effect on the maximum velocity of the reaction. As analyzed by polyacrylamide electrophoresis, inactivation of the enzyme by visible light resulted in the appearance of a second protein band with lowered specific activity. The purified enzyme used redox dyes, oxygen, or cytochrome c as electron acceptors but was not active with pyridine nucleotides. Flavine adenine dinucleotide has been implicated at the active site for pyridine nucleotide reduction in the degradative enzyme. The biosynthetic enzyme lacks this flavine and the associated activity.