Role of the precorrin 6-X reductase gene in cobamide biosynthesis in Methanococcus maripaludis

Skin-associated Corynebacterium amycolatum shares cobamides

The underlying interactions that occur to maintain skin microbiome composition, function, and overall skin health are largely unknown. Often, these types of interactions are mediated by microbial metabolites. Cobamides, the vitamin B12 family of cofactors, are essential for metabolism in many bacteria, but are only synthesized by a small fraction of prokaryotes, including certain skin-associated species. Therefore, we hypothesize that cobamide sharing mediates skin community dynamics. Preliminary work predicts that several skin-associated Corynebacterium species encode de novo cobamide biosynthesis and that their abundance is associated with skin microbiome diversity. Here, we show that commensal Corynebacterium amycolatum produces cobamides and that this synthesis can be tuned by cobalt limitation. To demonstrate cobamide sharing by C. amycolatum, we employed a co-culture assay using an E. coli cobamide auxotroph and show that C. amycolatum produces sufficient cobamides to support E. coli growth, both in liquid co-culture and when separated spatially on solid medium. We also generated a C. amycolatum non-cobamide-producing strain (cob-) using UV mutagenesis that contains mutated cobamide biosynthesis genes cobK and cobO and confirm that disruption of cobamide biosynthesis abolishes support of E. coli growth through cobamide sharing. Our study provides a unique model to study metabolite sharing by microorganisms, which will be critical for understanding the fundamental interactions that occur within complex microbiomes and for developing approaches to target the human microbiota for health advances.

De Novo Cobalamin Biosynthesis, Transport, and Assimilation and Cobalamin-Mediated Regulation of Methionine Biosynthesis in Mycobacterium smegmatis

Alterations in cobalamin-dependent metabolism have marked the evolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis into a human pathogen. However, the role(s) of cobalamin in mycobacterial physiology remain poorly understood.

Cobalamin is an essential cofactor in all domains of life, yet its biosynthesis is restricted to some bacteria and archaea. Mycobacterium smegmatis, an environmental saprophyte frequently used as surrogate for the obligate human pathogen M. tuberculosis, carries approximately 30 genes predicted to be involved in de novo cobalamin biosynthesis. M. smegmatis also encodes multiple cobalamin-dependent enzymes, including MetH, a methionine synthase that catalyzes the final reaction in methionine biosynthesis. In addition to metH, M. smegmatis possesses a cobalamin-independent methionine synthase, metE, suggesting that enzyme use—MetH versus MetE—is regulated by cobalamin availability. Consistent with this notion, we previously described a cobalamin-sensing riboswitch controlling metE expression in M. tuberculosis. Here, we apply a targeted mass spectrometry-based approach to confirm de novo cobalamin biosynthesis in M. smegmatis during aerobic growth in vitro. We also demonstrate that M. smegmatis can transport and assimilate exogenous cyanocobalamin (CNCbl; also known as vitamin B₁₂) and its precursor, dicyanocobinamide ([CN]₂Cbi). However, the uptake of CNCbl and (CN)₂Cbi in this organism is restricted and seems dependent on the conditional essentiality of the cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase. Using gene and protein expression analyses combined with single-cell growth kinetics and live-cell time-lapse microscopy, we show that transcription and translation of metE are strongly attenuated by endogenous cobalamin. These results support the inference that metH essentiality in M. smegmatis results from riboswitch-mediated repression of MetE expression. Moreover, differences observed in cobalamin-dependent metabolism between M. smegmatis and M. tuberculosis provide some insight into the selective pressures which might have shaped mycobacterial metabolism for pathogenicity.

IMPORTANCE Alterations in cobalamin-dependent metabolism have marked the evolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis into a human pathogen. However, the role(s) of cobalamin in mycobacterial physiology remains poorly understood. Using the nonpathogenic saprophyte M. smegmatis, we investigated the production of cobalamin, transport and assimilation of cobalamin precursors, and the role of cobalamin in regulating methionine biosynthesis. We confirm constitutive de novo cobalamin biosynthesis in M. smegmatis, in contrast with M. tuberculosis, which appears to lack de novo cobalamin biosynthetic capacity. We also show that uptake of cyanocobalamin (vitamin B₁₂) and its precursors is restricted in M. smegmatis, apparently depending on the cofactor requirements of the cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase. These observations establish M. smegmatis as an informative foil to elucidate key metabolic adaptations enabling mycobacterial pathogenicity.

Biosynthesis and Use of Cobalamin (B12)

This review summarizes research performed over the last 23 years on the genetics, enzyme structures and functions, and regulation of the expression of the genes encoding functions involved in adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl, or coenzyme B12) biosynthesis. It also discusses the role of coenzyme B12 in the physiology of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2 and Escherichia coli. John Roth's seminal contributions to the field of coenzyme B12 biosynthesis research brought the power of classical and molecular genetic, biochemical, and structural approaches to bear on the extremely challenging problem of dissecting the steps of what has turned out to be one of the most complex biosynthetic pathways known. In E. coli and serovar Typhimurium, uro'gen III represents the first branch point in the pathway, where the routes for cobalamin and siroheme synthesis diverge from that for heme synthesis. The cobalamin biosynthetic pathway in P. denitrificans was the first to be elucidated, but it was soon realized that there are at least two routes for cobalamin biosynthesis, representing aerobic and anaerobic variations. The expression of the AdoCbl biosynthetic operon is complex and is modulated at different levels. At the transcriptional level, a sensor response regulator protein activates the transcription of the operon in response to 1,2-Pdl in the environment. Serovar Typhimurium and E. coli use ethanolamine as a source of carbon, nitrogen, and energy. In addition, and unlike E. coli, serovar Typhimurium can also grow on 1,2-Pdl as the sole source of carbon and energy.

Genomic and proteomic characterization of "Candidatus Nitrosopelagicus brevis": an ammonia-oxidizing archaeon from the open ocean

Thaumarchaeota are among the most abundant microbial cells in the ocean, but difficulty in cultivating marine Thaumarchaeota has hindered investigation into the physiological and evolutionary basis of their success. We report here a closed genome assembled from a highly enriched culture of the ammonia-oxidizing pelagic thaumarchaeon CN25, originating from the open ocean. The CN25 genome exhibits strong evidence of genome streamlining, including a 1.23-Mbp genome, a high coding density, and a low number of paralogous genes. Proteomic analysis recovered nearly 70% of the predicted proteins encoded by the genome, demonstrating that a high fraction of the genome is translated. In contrast to other minimal marine microbes that acquire, rather than synthesize, cofactors, CN25 encodes and expresses near-complete biosynthetic pathways for multiple vitamins. Metagenomic fragment recruitment indicated the presence of DNA sequences >90% identical to the CN25 genome throughout the oligotrophic ocean. We propose the provisional name "Candidatus Nitrosopelagicus brevis" str. CN25 for this minimalist marine thaumarchaeon and suggest it as a potential model system for understanding archaeal adaptation to the open ocean.

Tryptophan auxotrophs were obtained by random transposon insertions in the Methanococcus maripaludis tryptophan operon

Methanococcus maripaludis is an anaerobic, methane-producing archaeon that utilizes H(2) or formate for the reduction of CO(2) to methane. Tryptophan auxotrophs were constructed by in vitro insertions of the Tn5 transposon into the tryptophan operon, followed by transformation into M. maripaludis. This method could serve for rapid insertions into large cloned DNA regions.

Community genomic and proteomic analyses of chemoautotrophic iron-oxidizing "Leptospirillum rubarum" (Group II) and "Leptospirillum ferrodiazotrophum" (Group III) bacteria in acid mine drainage biofilms

We analyzed near-complete population (composite) genomic sequences for coexisting acidophilic iron-oxidizing Leptospirillum group II and III bacteria (phylum Nitrospirae) and an extrachromosomal plasmid from a Richmond Mine, Iron Mountain, CA, acid mine drainage biofilm. Community proteomic analysis of the genomically characterized sample and two other biofilms identified 64.6% and 44.9% of the predicted proteins of Leptospirillum groups II and III, respectively, and 20% of the predicted plasmid proteins. The bacteria share 92% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity and >60% of their genes, including integrated plasmid-like regions. The extrachromosomal plasmid carries conjugation genes with detectable sequence similarity to genes in the integrated conjugative plasmid, but only those on the extrachromosomal element were identified by proteomics. Both bacterial groups have genes for community-essential functions, including carbon fixation and biosynthesis of vitamins, fatty acids, and biopolymers (including cellulose); proteomic analyses reveal these activities. Both Leptospirillum types have multiple pathways for osmotic protection. Although both are motile, signal transduction and methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins are more abundant in Leptospirillum group III, consistent with its distribution in gradients within biofilms. Interestingly, Leptospirillum group II uses a methyl-dependent and Leptospirillum group III a methyl-independent response pathway. Although only Leptospirillum group III can fix nitrogen, these proteins were not identified by proteomics. The abundances of core proteins are similar in all communities, but the abundance levels of unique and shared proteins of unknown function vary. Some proteins unique to one organism were highly expressed and may be key to the functional and ecological differentiation of Leptospirillum groups II and III.