Phosphohydrolases of a Bacillus subtilis mutant accumulating inosine and hypoxanthine

Identification, Heterologous Expression, and Functional Characterization of Bacillus subtilis YutF, a HAD Superfamily 5'-Nucleotidase with Broad Substrate Specificity

5'-nucleotidases (EC 3.1.3.5) catalyze the hydrolytic dephosphorylation of 5'-ribonucleotides and 5'-deoxyribonucleotides as well as complex nucleotides, such as uridine 5'-diphosphoglucose (UDP-glucose), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide, to their corresponding nucleosides plus phosphate. These enzymes have been found in diverse species in intracellular and membrane-bound, surface-localized forms. Soluble forms of 5'-nucleotidases belong to the ubiquitous haloacid dehalogenase superfamily (HADSF) and have been shown to be involved in the regulation of nucleotide, nucleoside and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺) pools. Despite the important role of 5'-nucleotidases in cellular metabolism, only a few of these enzymes have been characterized in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis, the workhorse industrial microorganism included in the Food and Drug Administration’s GRAS (generally regarded as safe) list. In the present study, we report the identification of a novel 5'-nucleotidase gene from B. subtilis, yutF, which comprises 771 bp encoding a 256-amino-acid protein belonging to the IIA subfamily of the HADSF. The gene product is responsible for the major p-nitrophenyl phosphatase activity in B. subtilis. The yutF gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, and its product fused to a polyhistidine tag was purified and biochemically characterized as a soluble 5'-nucleotidase with broad substrate specificity. The recombinant YutF protein was found to hydrolyze various purine and pyrimidine 5'-nucleotides, showing preference for 5'-nucleoside monophosphates and, specifically, 5'-XMP. Recombinant YutF also exhibited phosphohydrolase activity toward nucleotide precursors, ribose-5-phosphate and 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate. Determination of the kinetic parameters of the enzyme revealed a low substrate specificity (K_m values in the mM concentration range) and modest catalytic efficiencies with respect to substrates. An initial study of the regulation of yutF expression showed that the yutF gene is a component of the yutDEF transcription unit and that YutF overproduction positively influences yutDEF expression.

Accumulation of gene-targeted Bacillus subtilis mutations that enhance fermentative inosine production

In order to test a possible approach to enhance fermentative inosine production by Bacillus subtilis, seven gene-targeted mutations were introduced in the laboratory standard strain168 in a stepwise fashion. The mutations were employed in order to prevent inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP) from being consumed for AMP and GMP synthesis, to minimize inosine degradation, and to expand the intracellular IMP pool. First, the genes for adenylosuccinate synthase (purA) and IMP dehydrogenase (guaB) were inactivated. Second, two genes for purine nucleoside phosphorylase, punA and deoD, were inactivated. Third, to enhance purine nucleotide biosynthesis, the pur operon repressor PurR and the 5'-UTR of the operon, containing the guanine riboswitch, were disrupted. Finally, the -10 sequence of the pur promoter was optimized to elevate its transcription level. The resulting mutant was capable of producing 6 g/L inosine from 30 g/L glucose in culture broth without the detectable by-production of hypoxanthine. This indicates the validity of this approach for the breeding of the next generation of B. subtilis strains for industrial nucleoside production.

Partial nucleotide limitation induces phosphodiesterase I and 5'-nucleotidase in Bacillus subtilis

Changes in the specific activity of enzymes involved in the degradation of RNA and nucleotides were measured in Bacillus subtilis under conditions of guanine deprivation, which initiates sporulation, and uracil deprivation, which does not initiate sporulation. Whereas the specific activities of most of the enzymes studied increased by less than a factor of 3, those of 5'-mononucleotide-producing phosphodiesterase and 5'-nucleotidase increased at least eightfold under both deprivation conditions.

Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis 168. Comparison of alkaline phosphatase from sporulating and vegetative cells

1. The purification of the ;vegetative' alkaline phosphatase of Bacillus subtilis 168 was simplified by ionic elution of the enzyme from intact cells. 2. The enzyme has a molecular weight of about 70000 and treatment of the enzyme with 10mm-hydrochloric acid or 6.0m-guanidine hydrochloride, beta-mercaptoethanol (0.1m) gives rise to enzymically inactive subunits. 3. The amino acid composition of the enzyme was determined. The N-terminal residue determined by the DNS chloride method is glycine. 4. The properties of this enzyme were compared with the ;sporulation' alkaline phosphatase of the same strain. 5. Although the ;sporulation' enzyme differs from the ;vegetative' enzyme in its physiology of appearance and apparent mRNA stability, an examination of properties of the enzymes revealed no differences. 6. The enzyme from both cell forms is bound to the particulate fraction of cell extracts, but can be solubilized by high concentrations of magnesium chloride; removal of the magnesium chloride, by dialysis, results in precipitation of both enzymes. Both enzymes can be removed from intact cells by ionic elution. 7. The ;vegetative' and ;sporulation' enzymes have identical pH optima, K(m) and K(i) values and electrophoretic mobilities in cellulose acetate. 8. Their half-life is 28min at 65 degrees C and their Q(10) is 1.25. 9. The molecular size determined by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 is about 69000. 10. ;Vegetative' and ;sporulation' forms gave precipitin lines that were continuous and non-spurred when tested against antiserum prepared against the ;vegetative' enzyme. 11. The ;sporulation' alkaline phosphatase appears to be associated with stage II of sporulation and appears to be induced by something specifically concerned in sporulation and not by phosphate starvation.

Purine-excreting mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I. Isolation and genetic analysis

Purine-excreting mutants of yeast have been obtained by selecting for (a) adenine-insensitive pigment accumulation in a strain carryingad-2and (b) by isolating prototrophic mutants which crossfeed to an adenine-requiring indicator strain. The first method yielded both auxotrophic and prototrophic mutants. The auxotrophs were assigned toad-12which specifies adenylosuccinate synthetase. The prototrophs were affected by a gene,su-pur, which prevented purine excretion, and the majority of them showed anomalous behaviour of mating-typeaassociated with the mutations causing excretion. Mutants obtained by the second method were allocated to six unlinked genes. Those assigned topur-1topur-5are recessive and affected bysu-pur. pur-6is a complex locus with both dominant and recessive alleles; it is closely linked or allelic tosu-purandad-4. Functional tests involving mutants ofpur-3andpur-6in combination withpur-1andpur-4did not show normal intergenic complementation. The suppressor shows gene-specific dominance/recessiveness. Some metabolic lesions which could give rise to purine excretion are discussed.

The 5'-nucleotidases and cyclic phosphodiesterases (3'-nucleotidases) of the Enterobacteriaceae

All members of the Enterobacteriaceae possess distinct 5'-nucleotidases and cyclic phosphodiesterases (3'-nucleotidases) that can be differentiated from the acid and alkaline phosphatases and the acid sugar hydrolases. The nucleotidases and cyclic phosphodiesterases of the various Enterobacteriaceae are remarkably similar in properties. All of the 5'-nucleotidases hydrolyze 5'-nucleotides, adenosine triphosphate, and uridine diphosphoglucose. Their pH optimum is from 5.7 to 6.1. The cyclic phosphodiesterases hydrolyze 3'-nucleotides, cyclic phosphonucleotides, bis-(p-nitrophenyl)phosphate, and p-nitrophenylphosphate. Their pH optimum is from 7.2 to 7.8. For both enzymes, cobalt showed optimal metal stimulation. An intracellular protein inhibitor for the 5'-nucleotidase is present in all of the Enterobacteriaceae. No inhibitor of cyclic phosphodiesterase activity exists, although hydrolysis of both cyclic phosphonucleotides and 3'-nucleotides is inhibited by ribonucleic acid. Neither of the enzymes is subject to control by phosphate level or by catabolite repression. Of the other bacteria studied, only Haemophilus and Bacillus subtilis contained significant 3'- or 5'-nucleotidase activity.