An Escherichia coli mutant deficient in pyruvate oxidase activity due to altered phospholipid activation of the enzyme

The pyruvate oxidase (pyruvate:ferricytochrome b(1) oxidoreductase, EC 1.2.2.2) of Escherichia coli is markedly activated by phospholipids in vitro. To test the physiological relevance of this activation, we isolated an E. coli mutant producing an oxidase that is deficient in activation by (and binding to) phospholipids. The mutant oxidase could be fully activated by a specific proteolytic cleavage, indicating that the catalytic site is normal. The mutant enzyme functions poorly in vivo, indicating that activation of the oxidase by phospholipids plays an important physiological role.

Diversity in enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductases

The enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (ENR) is the last enzyme in the fatty acid elongation cycle. Unlike most enzymes in this essential pathway, ENR displays an unusual diversity among organisms. The growing interest in ENRs is mainly due to the fact that a variety of both synthetic and natural antibacterial compounds are shown to specifically target their activity. The primary anti-tuberculosis drug, isoniazid, and the broadly used antibacterial compound, triclosan, both target this enzyme. In this review, we discuss the diversity of ENRs, and their inhibitors in the light of current research progress.

Bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis: targets for antibacterial drug discovery

The increase in drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria has created an urgent demand for new antibiotics. Among the more attractive targets for the development of new antibacterial compounds are the enzymes of fatty acid biosynthesis. Although a number of potent inhibitors of microbial fatty acid biosynthesis have been discovered, few of these are clinically useful drugs. Several of these fatty acid biosynthesis inhibitors have potential as lead compounds in the development of new antibacterials. This review encompasses the known inhibitors and prospective targets for new antibacterials.

Crystallization and rhenium MAD phasing of the acyl-homoserinelactone synthase EsaI

Acyl-homoserine-L-lactones (AHLs) are diffusible chemical signals that are required for virulence of many Gram-negative bacteria. AHLs are produced by AHL synthases from two substrates, S-adenosyl-L-methionine and acyl-acyl carrier protein. The AHL synthase EsaI, which is homologous to the AHL synthases from other pathogenic bacterial species, has been crystallized in the primitive tetragonal space group P4(3), with unit-cell parameters a = b = 66.40, c = 47.33 A. The structure was solved by multiple-wavelength anomalous diffraction with a novel use of the rhenium anomalous signal. The rhenium-containing structure has been refined to a resolution of 2.5 A and the perrhenate ion binding sites and liganding residues have been identified.

The C-terminal domain of biotin protein ligase from E. coli is required for catalytic activity

Biotin protein ligase of Escherichia coli, the BirA protein, catalyses the covalent attachment of the biotin prosthetic group to a specific lysine of the biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP) subunit of acetyl-CoA carboxylase. BirA also functions to repress the biotin biosynthetic operon and synthesizes its own corepressor, biotinyl-5'-AMP, the catalytic intermediate in the biotinylation reaction. We have previously identified two charge substitution mutants in BCCP, E119K, and E147K that are poorly biotinylated by BirA. Here we used site-directed mutagenesis to investigate residues in BirA that may interact with E119 or E147 in BCCP. None of the complementary charge substitution mutations at selected residues in BirA restored activity to wild-type levels when assayed with our BCCP mutant substrates. However, a BirA variant, in which K277 of the C-terminal domain was substituted with Glu, had significantly higher activity with E119K BCCP than did wild-type BirA. No function has been identified previously for the BirA C-terminal domain, which is distinct from the central domain thought to contain the ATP binding site and is known to contain the biotin binding site. Kinetic analysis of several purified mutant enzymes indicated that a single amino acid substitution within the C-terminal domain (R317E) and located some distance from the presumptive ATP binding site resulted in a 25-fold decrease in the affinity for ATP. Our data indicate that the C-terminal domain of BirA is essential for the catalytic activity of the enzyme and contributes to the interaction with ATP and the protein substrate, the BCCP biotin domain.

The biotinyl domain of Escherichia coli acetyl-CoA carboxylase. Evidence that the "thumb" structure id essential and that the domain functions as a dimer

Biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP) is the small biotinylated subunit of Escherichia coli acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), the enzyme that catalyzes the first committed step of fatty acid synthesis. Similar proteins are found in other bacteria and in chloroplasts. E. coli BCCP is a member of a large family of protein domains modified by covalent attachment of biotin to a specific lysine residue. However, the BCCP biotinyl domain differs from many of these proteins in that an eight-amino acid residue insertion is present upstream of the biotinylated lysine. X-ray crystallographic and multidimensional NMR studies show that these residues constitute a structure that has the appearance of an extended thumb that protrudes from the otherwise highly symmetrical domain structure. I report that expression of two mutant BCCPs lacking the thumb residues fails to restore growth and fatty acid synthesis to a temperature-sensitive E. coli strain that lacks BCCP when grown at nonpermissive temperature. Alignment of BCCPs from various organisms shows that only two of the eight thumb residues are strictly conserved, and amino acid substitution of either residue results in proteins giving only weak growth of the temperature-sensitive E. coli strain. Therefore, the thumb structure is essential for the function of BCCP in the ACC reaction and provides a useful motif for distinguishing the biotinylated proteins of multisubunit ACCs from those of enzymes catalyzing other biotin-dependent reactions. An unexpected result was that expression of a mutant BCCP in which the biotinylated lysine residue was substituted with cysteine was able to partially restore growth and fatty acid synthesis to the temperature-sensitive E. coli strain. This complementation was shown to be specific to BCCPs having native structure (excepting the biotinylated lysine) and is interpreted in terms of dimerization of the BCCP biotinyl domain during the ACC reaction.

Escherichia coli FadR positively regulates transcription of the fabB fatty acid biosynthetic gene

In Escherichia coli expression of the genes of fatty acid degradation (fad) is negatively regulated at the transcriptional level by FadR protein. In contrast the unsaturated fatty acid biosynthetic gene, fabA, is positively regulated by FadR. We report that fabB, a second unsaturated fatty acid biosynthetic gene, is also positively regulated by FadR. Genomic array studies that compared global transcriptional differences between wild-type and fadR-null mutant strains, as well as in cultures of each strain grown in the presence of exogenous oleic acid, indicated that expression of fabB was regulated in a manner very similar to that of fabA expression. A series of genetic and biochemical tests confirmed these observations. Strains containing both fabB and fadR mutant alleles were constructed and shown to exhibit synthetic lethal phenotypes, similar to those observed in fabA fadR mutants. A fadR strain was hypersensitive to cerulenin, an antibiotic that at low concentrations specifically targets the FabB protein. A transcriptional fusion of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) to the fabB promoter produces lower levels of CAT protein in a strain lacking functional FadR. The ability of a putative FadR binding site within the fabB promoter to form a complex with purified FadR protein was determined by a gel mobility shift assay. These experiments demonstrate that expression of fabB is positively regulated by FadR.

Function of Escherichia coli biotin carboxylase requires catalytic activity of both subunits of the homodimer

Biotin carboxylase catalyzes the ATP-dependent carboxylation of biotin and is one component of the multienzyme complex acetyl-CoA carboxylase that catalyzes the first committed step in fatty acid synthesis. The Escherichia coli biotin carboxylase is readily isolated from the other components of the acetyl-CoA carboxylase complex such that enzymatic activity is retained. The three-dimensional structure of biotin carboxylase, determined by x-ray crystallography, demonstrated that the enzyme is a homodimer consisting of two active sites in which each subunit contains a complete active site. To understand how each subunit contributes to the overall function of biotin carboxylase, we made hybrid molecules in which one subunit had a wild-type active site, and the other subunit contained an active site mutation known to significantly affect the activity of the enzyme. One of the two genes encoded a poly-histidine tag at its N terminus, whereas the other gene had an N-terminal FLAG epitope tag. The two genes were assembled into a mini-operon that was induced to give high level expression of both enzymes. "Hybrid" dimers composed of one subunit with a wild-type active site and a second subunit having a mutant active site were obtained by sequential chromatographic steps on columns of immobilized nickel chelate and anti-FLAG affinity matrices. In vitro kinetic studies of biotin carboxylase dimers in which both subunits were wild type revealed that the presence of the N-terminal tags did not alter the activity of the enzyme. However, kinetic assays of hybrid dimer biotin carboxylase molecules in which one subunit had an active site mutation (R292A, N290A, K238Q, or E288K) and the other subunit had a wild-type active site resulted in 39-, 28-, 94-, and 285-fold decreases in the activity of these enzymes, respectively. The dominant negative effects of these mutant subunits were also detected in vivo by monitoring the rate of fatty acid biosynthesis by [(14)C]acetate labeling of cellular lipids. Expression of the mutant biotin carboxylase genes from an inducible arabinose promoter resulted in a significantly reduced rate of fatty acid synthesis relative to the same strain that expressed the wild type gene. Thus, both the in vitro and in vivo data indicate that both subunits of biotin carboxylase are required for activity and that the two subunits must be in communication during enzyme function.

Lipoic acid metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana: cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding lipoyltransferase

Lipoic acid is an essential coenzyme required for activity of several key enzyme complexes, such as the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, in the central metabolism. In these complexes, lipoic acid must be covalently attached to one of the component proteins for it to have biological activity. We report the cloning and characterization of Arabidopsis thaliana LIP2 cDNA for lipoyltransferase that catalyzes the transfer of the lipoyl group from lipoyl-acyl carrier protein to lipoate-dependent enzymes. This cDNA was shown to code for lipoyltransferase by its ability to complement an Escherichia coli lipB null mutant lacking lipoyltransferase activity. The expressed enzyme in the E. coli mutant efficiently complemented the activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, but less efficiently than that of 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of LIP2 with those of E. coli and yeast lipoyltransferases showed a marked sequence similarity and the presence of a leader sequence presumably required for import into mitochondria. Southern and northern hybridization analyses suggest that LIP2 is a single-copy gene and is expressed as an mRNA of 860 nt in leaves. Western blot analysis with an antibody against lipoyltransferase demonstrated that a 29 kDa form of lipoyltransferase is located in the mitochondrial compartment of A. thaliana.

Mutational analysis of protein substrate presentation in the post-translational attachment of biotin to biotin domains

Biotinylation in vivo is an extremely selective post-translational event where the enzyme biotin protein ligase (BPL) catalyzes the covalent attachment of biotin to one specific and conserved lysine residue of biotin-dependent enzymes. The biotin-accepting lysine, present in a conserved Met-Lys-Met motif, resides in a structured domain that functions as the BPL substrate. We have employed phage display coupled with a genetic selection to identify determinants of the biotin domain (yPC-104) of yeast pyruvate carboxylase 1 (residues 1075-1178) required for interaction with BPL. Mutants isolated using this strategy were analyzed by in vivo biotinylation assays performed at both 30 degrees C and 37 degrees C. The temperature-sensitive substrates were reasoned to have structural mutations, leading to compromised conformations at the higher temperature. This interpretation was supplemented by molecular modeling of yPC-104, since these mutants mapped to residues involved in defining the structure of the biotin domain. In contrast, substitution of the Met residue N-terminal to the target lysine with either Val or Thr produced mutations that were temperature-insensitive in the in vivo assay. Furthermore, these two mutant proteins and wild-type yPC-104 showed identical susceptibility to trypsin, consistent with these substitutions having no structural effect. Kinetic analysis of enzymatic biotinylation using purified Met --> Thr/Val mutant proteins with both yeast and Escherichia coli BPLs revealed that these substitutions had a strong effect upon K(m) values but not k(cat). The Met --> Thr mutant was a poor substrate for both BPLs, whereas the Met --> Val substitution was a poor substrate for bacterial BPL but had only a 2-fold lower affinity for yeast BPL than the wild-type peptide. Our data suggest that substitution of Thr or Val for the Met N-terminal of the biotinyl-Lys results in mutants specifically compromised in their interaction with BPL.

Inhibition of Escherichia coli acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase by acyl-acyl carrier protein

Escherichia coli acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC), the first enzyme of the fatty acid biosynthetic pathway, is inhibited by acylated derivatives of acyl carrier protein (ACP). ACP lacking an acyl moiety does not inhibit ACC. Acylated derivatives of ACP having chain lengths of 6 to 20 carbon atoms were similarly inhibitory at physiologically relevant concentrations. The observed feedback inhibition was specific to the protein moiety, as shown by the inability of the palmitoyl thioester of spinach ACP I to inhibit ACC.

Conversion of Escherichia coli pyruvate oxidase to an 'alpha-ketobutyrate oxidase'

Escherichia coli pyruvate oxidase (PoxB), a lipid-activated homotetrameric enzyme, is active on both pyruvate and 2-oxobutanoate ('alpha-ketobutyrate'), although pyruvate is the favoured substrate. By localized random mutagenesis of residues chosen on the basis of a modelled active site, we obtained several PoxB enzymes that had a markedly decreased activity with the natural substrate, pyruvate, but retained full activity with 2-oxobutanoate. In each of these mutant proteins Val-380 had been replaced with a smaller residue, namely alanine, glycine or serine. One of these, PoxB V380A/L253F, was shown to lack detectable pyruvate oxidase activity in vivo; this protein was purified, studied and found to have a 6-fold increase in K(m) for pyruvate and a 10-fold lower V(max) with this substrate. In contrast, the mutant had essentially normal kinetic constants with 2-oxobutanoate. The altered substrate specificity was reflected in a decreased rate of pyruvate binding to the latent conformer of the mutant protein owing to the V380A mutation. The L253F mutation alone had no effect on PoxB activity, although it increased the activity of proteins carrying substitutions at residue 380, as it did that of the wild-type protein. The properties of the V380A/L253F protein provide new insights into the mode of substrate binding and the unusual activation properties of this enzyme.

Escherichia coli LipA is a lipoyl synthase: in vitro biosynthesis of lipoylated pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from octanoyl-acyl carrier protein

The Escherichia coli lipA gene product has been genetically linked to carbon-sulfur bond formation in lipoic acid biosynthesis [Vanden Boom, T. J., Reed, K. E., and Cronan, J. E., Jr. (1991) J. Bacteriol. 173, 6411-6420], although in vitro lipoate biosynthesis with LipA has never been observed. In this study, the lipA gene and a hexahistidine tagged lipA construct (LipA-His) were overexpressed in E. coli as soluble proteins. The proteins were purified as a mixture of monomeric and dimeric species that contain approximately four iron atoms per LipA polypeptide and a similar amount of acid-labile sulfide. Electron paramagnetic resonance and electronic absorbance spectroscopy indicate that the proteins contain a mixture of [3Fe-4S] and [4Fe-4S] cluster states. Reduction with sodium dithionite results in small quantities of an S = 1/2 [4Fe-4S](1+) cluster with the majority of the protein containing a species consistent with an S = 0 [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster. LipA was assayed for lipoate or lipoyl-ACP formation using E. coli lipoate-protein ligase A (LplA) or lipoyl-[acyl-carrier-protein]-protein-N-lipoyltransferase (LipB), respectively, to lipoylate apo-pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (apo-PDC) [Jordan, S. W., and Cronan, J. E. (1997) Methods Enzymol. 279, 176-183]. When sodium dithionite-reduced LipA was incubated with octanoyl-ACP, LipB, apo-PDC, and S-adenosyl methionine (AdoMet), lipoylated PDC was formed. As shown by this assay, octanoic acid is not a substrate for LipA. Confirmation that LipA catalyzes formation of lipoyl groups from octanoyl-ACP was obtained by MALDI mass spectrometry of a recombinant PDC lipoyl-binding domain that had been lipoylated in a LipA reaction. These results provide information about the mechanism of LipA catalysis and place LipA within the family of iron-sulfur proteins that utilize AdoMet for radical-based chemistry.

Overproduction of acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity increases the rate of fatty acid biosynthesis in Escherichia coli

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) catalyzes the first committed step of the fatty acid synthetic pathway. Although ACC has often been proposed to be a major rate-controlling enzyme of this pathway, no direct tests of this proposal in vivo have been reported. We have tested this proposal in Escherichia coli. The genes encoding the four subunits of E. coli ACC were cloned in a single plasmid under the control of a bacteriophage T7 promoter. Upon induction of gene expression, the four ACC subunits were overproduced in equimolar amounts. Overproduction of the proteins resulted in greatly increased ACC activity with a concomitant increase in the intracellular level of malonyl-CoA. The effects of ACC overexpression on the rate of fatty acid synthesis were examined in the presence of a thioesterase, which provided a metabolic sink for fatty acid overproduction. Under these conditions ACC overproduction resulted in a 6-fold increase in the rate of fatty acid synthesis.

Metabolic instability of Escherichia coli cyclopropane fatty acid synthase is due to RpoH-dependent proteolysis

Cyclopropane fatty acids (CFAs) are generally synthesized as bacterial cultures enter stationary phase. In Escherichia coli, the onset of CFA synthesis results from increased transcription of cfa, the gene encoding CFA synthase. However, the increased level of CFA synthase activity is transient; the activity quickly declines to the basal level. We report that the loss of CFA activity is due to proteolytic degradation dependent on expression of the heat shock regulon. CFA synthase degradation is unaffected by mutations in the lon, clpP, and groEL genes or by depletion of the intracellular ATP pools. It seems likely that CFA synthase is the target of an unidentified energy-independent heat shock regulon protease. This seems to be the first example of heat shock-dependent degradation of a normal biosynthetic enzyme.

Holo-(acyl carrier protein) synthase and phosphopantetheinyl transfer in Escherichia coli

Holo-(acyl carrier protein) synthase (AcpS) post-translationally modifies apoacyl carrier protein (apoACP) via transfer of 4'-phosphopantetheine from coenzyme A (CoA) to the conserved serine 36 gamma-OH of apoACP. The resulting holo-acyl carrier protein (holo-ACP) is then active as the central coenzyme of fatty acid biosynthesis. The acpS gene has previously been identified and shown to be essential for Escherichia coli growth. Earlier mutagenic studies isolated the E. coli MP4 strain, whose elevated growth requirement for CoA was ascribed to a deficiency in holoACP synthesis. Sequencing of the acpS gene from the E. coli MP4 strain (denoted acpS1) showed that the AcpS1 protein contains a G4D mutation. AcpS1 exhibited a approximately 5-fold reduction in its catalytic efficiency when compared with wild type AcpS, accounting for the E. coli MP4 strain phenotype. It is shown that a conditional acpS mutant accumulates apoACP in vivo under nonpermissive conditions in a manner similar to the E. coli MP4 strain. In addition, it is demonstrated that the gene product, YhhU, of a previously identified E. coli open reading frame can completely suppress the acpS conditional, lethal phenotype upon overexpression of the protein, suggesting that YhhU may be involved in an alternative pathway for phosphopantetheinyl transfer and holoACP synthesis in E. coli.

In vivo enzymatic protein biotinylation

Biotin is biologically active only when protein-bound and is covalently attached to a class of important metabolic enzymes, the biotin carboxylases and decarboxylases. Biotinylation is a relatively rare modification, with between one and five biotinylated protein species found in different organisms. We discuss the mechanism and structures involved in this extraordinarily specific protein modification and its exploitation in tagging recombinant proteins.

Acylhomoserine lactone synthase activity of the Vibrio fischeri AinS protein

Acylhomoserine lactones, which serve as quorum-sensing signals in gram-negative bacteria, are produced by members of the LuxI family of synthases. LuxI is a Vibrio fischeri enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone from an acyl-acyl carrier protein and S-adenosylmethionine. Another V. fischeri gene, ainS, directs the synthesis of N-octanoylhomoserine lactone. The AinS protein shows no significant sequence similarity with LuxI family members, but it does show sequence similarity with the Vibrio harveyi LuxM protein. The luxM gene is required for the synthesis of N-(3-hydroxybutyryl)-L-homoserine lactone. To gain insights about whether AinS and LuxM represent a second family of acylhomoserine lactone synthases, we have purified AinS as a maltose-binding protein (MBP) fusion protein. The purified MBP-AinS fusion protein catalyzed the synthesis of N-octanoylhomoserine lactone from S-adenosylmethionine and either octanoyl-acyl carrier protein or, to a lesser extent, octanoyl coenzyme A. With the exception that octanoyl coenzyme A served as an acyl substrate for the MBP-AinS fusion protein, the substrates for and reaction kinetics of the MBP-AinS fusion protein were similar to those of the several LuxI family members previously studied. We conclude that AinS is an acylhomoserine lactone synthase and that it represents a second family of such enzymes.

The enzymatic biotinylation of proteins: a post-translational modification of exceptional specificity

Biotin is a coenzyme essential to all life forms. The vitamin has biological activity only when covalently attached to certain key metabolic enzymes. Most organisms have only one enzyme for attachment of biotin to other proteins and the sequences of these proteins and their substrate proteins are strongly conserved throughout nature. Structures of both the biotin ligase and the biotin carrier protein domain from Escherichia coli have been determined. These, together with mutational analyses of biotinylated proteins, are beginning to elucidate the exceptional specificity of this protein modification.

Processing of the N termini of nascent polypeptide chains requires deformylation prior to methionine removal

N-formyl-methionine termini are formed in the initiation reaction of bacterial protein synthesis and processed during elongation of the nascent polypeptide chain. We report that the formyl group must be removed before the methionine residue can be cleaved by methionine aminopeptidase. This has long been implicitly assumed, but that assumption was based on inconclusive data and was in apparent conflict with more recently published data. We demonstrate that the Salmonella typhimurium methionine aminopeptidase is totally inactive on an N-formyl-methionyl peptide in vitro, and present a detailed characterization of the substrate specificity of this key enzyme by use of a very sensitive and quantitative assay. Finally, a reporter protein expressed in a strain lacking peptide deformylase was shown to retain the formyl group confirming the physiological role of the deformylase.

Membrane cyclopropane fatty acid content is a major factor in acid resistance of Escherichia coli

Cyclopropane fatty acid (CFA) formation is a post-synthetic modification of the lipid bilayer that occurs as cultures of Escherichia coli and many other bacteria enter stationary phase. We report the first distinct phenotype for this membrane modification; early stationary phase cultures of strains lacking CFA (as a result of a null mutation in the cfa gene) are abnormally sensitive to killing by a rapid shift from neutral pH to pH 3. This sensitivity to acid shock is dependent on CFA itself because resistance to acid shock is restored to cfa mutant strains by incorporation of CFAs from the growth medium or by introduction of a functional cfa gene on a plasmid. The synthesis of CFA depends in part on the RpoS sigma factor, but the role of RpoS in resistance to acid shock involves additional factors because strains with null mutations in both cfa and rpoS are more sensitive to acid shock than either single mutant strain. Exponential phase cultures of E. coli are much more sensitive to acid shock than stationary phase cultures, but survival is greatly increased if the exponential phase cultures are exposed to moderately acid conditions (pH 5) before shift to pH 3. We show that exposure to moderately acid conditions gives a marked increase in cfa transcription. The efficiency of the survival of acid shock is extremely strain dependent, even among putative wild-type strains. Much, but not all, of this variability can be explained by the partially or totally defective RpoS alleles carried by many strains.

Solution structures of apo and holo biotinyl domains from acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase of Escherichia coli determined by triple-resonance nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

A subgene encoding the 87 C-terminal amino acids of the biotinyl carboxy carrier protein (BCCP) from the acetyl CoA carboxylase of Escherichia coli was overexpressed and the apoprotein biotinylated in vitro. The structures of both the apo and holo forms of the biotinyl domain were determined by means of multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. That of the holo domain was well-defined, except for the 10 N-terminal residues, which form part of the flexible linker between the biotinyl and subunit-binding domains of BCCP. In agreement with X-ray crystallographic studies [Athappilly, F. K., and Hendrickson, W. A. (1995) Structure 3, 1407-1419], the structure comprises a flattened beta-barrel composed of two four-stranded beta-sheets with a 2-fold axis of quasi-symmetry and the biotinyl-lysine residue displayed in an exposed beta-turn on the side of the protein opposite from the N- and C-terminal residues. The biotin group is immobilized on the protein surface, with the ureido ring held down by interactions with a protruding polypeptide "thumb" formed by residues 94-101. However, at the site of carboxylation, no evidence could be found in solution for the predicted hydrogen bond between the main chain O of Thr94 and the ureido HN1'. The structure of the apo domain is essentially identical, although the packing of side chains is more favorable in the holo domain, and this may be reflected in differences in the dynamics of the two forms. The thumb region appears to be lacking in almost all other biotinyl domain sequences, and it may be that the immobilization of the biotinyl-lysine residue in the biotinyl domain of BCCP is an unusual requirement, needed for the catalytic reaction of acetyl CoA carboxylase.

Acyl homoserine-lactone quorum-sensing signal generation

Acyl homoserine lactones (acyl-HSLs) are important intercellular signaling molecules used by many bacteria to monitor their population density in quorum-sensing control of gene expression. These signals are synthesized by members of the LuxI family of proteins. To understand the mechanism of acyl-HSL synthesis we have purified the Pseudomonas aeruginosa RhlI protein and analyzed the kinetics of acyl-HSL synthesis by this enzyme. Purified RhlI catalyzes the synthesis of acyl-HSLs from acyl-acyl carrier proteins and S-adenosylmethionine. An analysis of the patterns of product inhibition indicated that RhlI catalyzes signal synthesis by a sequential, ordered reaction mechanism in which S-adenosylmethionine binds to RhlI as the initial step in the enzymatic mechanism. Because pathogenic bacteria such as P. aeruginosa use acyl-HSL signals to regulate virulence genes, an understanding of the mechanism of signal synthesis and identification of inhibitors of signal synthesis has implications for development of quorum sensing-targeted antivirulence molecules.

Molecular biology of biotin attachment to proteins

Enzymatic attachment of biotin to proteins requires the interaction of a distinct domain of the acceptor protein (the "biotin domain") with the enzyme, biotin protein ligase, that catalyzes this essential and rare post-translational modification. Both biotin domains and biotin protein ligases are very strongly conserved throughout biology. This review concerns the protein structures and mechanisms involved in the covalent attachment of biotin to proteins.

Isolation from genomic DNA of sequences binding specific regulatory proteins by the acceleration of protein electrophoretic mobility upon DNA binding

We report an efficient and flexible in vitro method for the isolation of genomic DNA sequences that are the binding targets of a given DNA binding protein. This method takes advantage of the fact that binding of a protein to a DNA molecule generally increases the rate of migration of the protein in nondenaturing gel electrophoresis. By the use of a radioactively labeled DNA-binding protein and nonradioactive DNA coupled with PCR amplification from gel slices, we show that specific binding sites can be isolated from Escherichia coli genomic DNA. We have applied this method to isolate a binding site for FadR, a global regulator of fatty acid metabolism in E. coli. We have also isolated a second binding site for BirA, the biotin operon repressor/biotin ligase, from the E. coli genome that has a very low binding efficiency compared with the bio operator region.

Molecular recognition in a post-translational modification of exceptional specificity. Mutants of the biotinylated domain of acetyl-CoA carboxylase defective in recognition by biotin protein ligase

We have used localized mutagenesis of the biotin domain of the Escherichia coli biotin carboxyl carrier protein coupled with a genetic selection to identify regions of the domain having a role in interactions with the modifying enzyme, biotin protein ligase. We purified several singly substituted mutant biotin domains that showed reduced biotinylation in vivo and characterized these proteins in vitro. This approach has allowed us to distinguish putative biotin protein ligase interaction mutations from structurally defective proteins. Two mutant proteins with glutamate to lysine substitutions (at residues 119 or 147) behaved as authentic ligase interaction mutants. The E119K protein was virtually inactive as a substrate for biotin protein ligase, whereas the E147K protein could be biotinylated, albeit poorly. Neither substitution affected the overall structure of the domain, assayed by disulfide dimer formation and trypsin resistance. Substitutions of the highly conserved glycine residues at positions 133 and 143 or at a key hydrophobic core residue, Val-146, gave structurally unstable proteins.

Effect of ppGpp on Escherichia coli cyclopropane fatty acid synthesis is mediated through the RpoS sigma factor (sigmaS)

Strains of Escherichia coli carrying mutations at the relA locus are deficient in cyclopropane fatty acid (CFA) synthesis, a phospholipid modification that occurs as cultures enter stationary phase. RelA protein catalyzes the synthesis of guanosine-3',5'-bisdiphosphate (ppGpp); therefore, ppGpp was a putative direct regulator of CFA synthesis. The nucleotide could act by increasing either the activity or the amount of CFA synthase, the enzyme catalyzing the lipid modification. We report that the effect of RelA on CFA synthesis is indirect. In vitro and in vivo experiments show no direct interaction between ppGpp and CFA synthase activity. The relA effect is due to ppGpp-engendered stimulation of the synthesis of the alternative sigma factor, RpoS, which is required for function of one of the two promoters responsible for expression of CFA synthase.

Overproduction of a functional fatty acid biosynthetic enzyme blocks fatty acid synthesis in Escherichia coli

beta-Ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) synthetase II (KAS II) is one of three Escherichia coli isozymes that catalyze the elongation of growing fatty acid chains by condensation of acyl-ACP with malonyl-ACP. Overexpression of this enzyme has been found to be extremely toxic to E. coli, much more so than overproduction of either of the other KAS isozymes, KAS I or KAS III. The immediate effect of KAS II overproduction is the cessation of phospholipid synthesis, and this inhibition is specifically due to the blockage of fatty acid synthesis. To determine the cause of this inhibition, we examined the intracellular pools of ACP, coenzyme A (CoA), and their acyl thioesters. Although no significant changes were detected in the acyl-ACP pools, the CoA pools were dramatically altered by KAS II overproduction. Malonyl-CoA increased to about 40% of the total cellular CoA pool upon KAS II overproduction from a steady-state level of around 0.5% in the absence of KAS II overproduction. This finding indicated that the conversion of malonyl-CoA to fatty acids had been blocked and could be explained if either the conversion of malonyl-CoA to malonyl-ACP and/or the elongation reactions of fatty acid synthesis had been blocked. Overproduction of malonyl-CoA:ACP transacylase, the enzyme catalyzing the conversion of malonyl-CoA to malonyl-ACP, partially relieved the toxicity of KAS II overproduction, consistent with a model in which high levels of KAS II blocks access of the other KAS isozymes to malonyl-CoA:ACP transacylase.

FadR, transcriptional co-ordination of metabolic expediency

FadR is an Escherichia coli transcriptional regulator that optimizes fatty acid metabolism in response to exogenously added fatty acids. Many bacteria grow well on long-chain fatty acids as sole carbon source, but at the expense of consuming a useful structural material. Exogenous fatty acids are readily incorporated into membrane phospholipids in place of the acyl chains synthesized by the organism, and phospholipids composed of any of a large variety of exogenously derived acyl chains make biologically functional membranes. It would be wasteful for bacteria to degrade fatty acids to acetyl-CoA and then use this acetyl-CoA to synthesize the same (or functionally equivalent) fatty acids for phospholipid synthesis. This line of reasoning suggests that bacteria might shut down endogenous fatty acid synthesis on the addition of long-chain fatty acids to the growth medium. Moreover, this shutdown could be closely coupled to fatty acid degradation, such that a bacterial cell would use a portion of the exogenous fatty acid for phospholipid synthesis while degrading the remainder to acetyl-CoA. To a degree, the bacterium could both have its cake (the acyl chains for phospholipid synthesis) and eat it (to form acetyl-CoA). This scenario turns out to be true in E. coli. The key player in this regulatory gambit is FadR, a transcription factor that acts both as a repressor of the fatty acid degradation and as an activator of fatty acid biosynthesis.

Transcriptional analysis of essential genes of the Escherichia coli fatty acid biosynthesis gene cluster by functional replacement with the analogous Salmonella typhimurium gene cluster

The genes encoding several key fatty acid biosynthetic enzymes (called the fab cluster) are clustered in the order plsX-fabH-fabD-fabG-acpP-fabF at min 24 of the Escherichia coli chromosome. A difficulty in analysis of the fab cluster by the polar allele duplication approach (Y. Zhang and J. E. Cronan, Jr., J. Bacteriol. 178:3614-3620, 1996) is that several of these genes are essential for the growth of E. coli. We overcame this complication by use of the fab gene cluster of Salmonella typhimurium, a close relative of E. coli, to provide functions necessary for growth. The S. typhimurium fab cluster was isolated by complementation of an E. coli fabD mutant and was found to encode proteins with > 94% homology to those of E. coli. However, the S. typhimurium sequences cannot recombine with the E. coli sequences required to direct polar allele duplication via homologous recombination. Using this approach, we found that although approximately 60% of the plsX transcripts initiate at promoters located far upstream and include the upstream rpmF ribosomal protein gene, a promoter located upstream of the plsX coding sequence (probably within the upstream gene, rpmF) is sufficient for normal growth. We have also found that the fabG gene is obligatorily cotranscribed with upstream genes. Insertion of a transcription terminator cassette (omega-Cm cassette) between the fabD and fabG genes of the E. coli chromosome abolished fabG transcription and blocked cell growth, thus providing the first indication that fabG is an essential gene. Insertion of the omega-Cm cassette between fabH and fabD caused greatly decreased transcription of the fabD and fabG genes and slower cellular growth, indicating that fabD has only a weak promoter(s).

In vivo evidence that S-adenosylmethionine and fatty acid synthesis intermediates are the substrates for the LuxI family of autoinducer synthases

Many gram-negative bacteria synthesize N-acyl homoserine lactone autoinducer molecules as quorum-sensing signals which act as cell density-dependent regulators of gene expression. We have investigated the in vivo source of the acyl chain and homoserine lactone components of the autoinducer synthesized by the LuxI homolog, TraI. In Escherichia coli, synthesis of N-(3-oxooctanoyl)homoserine lactone by TraI was unaffected in a fadD mutant blocked in beta-oxidative fatty acid degradation. Also, conditions known to induce the fad regulon did not increase autoinducer synthesis. In contrast, cerulenin and diazoborine, specific inhibitors of fatty acid synthesis, both blocked autoinducer synthesis even in a strain dependent on beta-oxidative fatty acid degradation for growth. These data provide the first in vivo evidence that the acyl chains in autoinducers synthesized by LuxI-family synthases are derived from acyl-acyl carrier protein substrates rather than acyl coenzyme A substrates. Also, we show that decreased levels of intracellular S-adenosylmethionine caused by expression of bacteriophage T3 S-adenosylmethionine hydrolase result in a marked reduction in autoinducer synthesis, thus providing direct in vivo evidence that the homoserine lactone ring of LuxI-family autoinducers is derived from S-adenosylmethionine.

A Bacillus subtilis gene induced by cold shock encodes a membrane phospholipid desaturase

Bacillus subtilis grown at 37 degrees C synthesizes saturated fatty acids with only traces of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs). However, when cultures growing at 37 degrees C are transferred to 20 degrees C, UFA synthesis is induced. We report the identification and characterization of the gene encoding the fatty acid desaturase of B. subtilis. This gene, called des, was isolated by complementation of Escherichia coli strains with mutations in either of two different genes of UFA synthesis. The des gene encodes a polypeptide of 352 amino acid residues containing the three conserved histidine cluster motifs and two putative membrane-spanning domains characteristic of the membrane-bound desaturases of plants and cyanobacteria. Expression of the des gene in E. coli resulted in desaturation of palmitic acid moieties of the membrane phospholipids to give the novel mono-UFA cis-5-hexadecenoic acid, indicating that the B. subtilis des gene product is a delta5 acyl-lipid desaturase. The des gene was disrupted, and the resulting null mutant strains were unable to synthesize UFAs upon a shift to low growth temperatures. The des null mutant strain grew as well as its congenic parent at 20 or 37 degrees C but showed severely reduced survival during stationary phase. Analysis of operon fusions in which the des promoter directed the synthesis of a lacZ reporter gene showed that des expression is repressed at 37 degrees C, but a shift of cultures from 37 to 20 degrees C resulted in a 10- to 15-fold increase in transcription. This is the first report of a membrane phospholipid desaturase in a nonphotosynthetic organism and the first direct evidence for cold induction of a desaturase.

Cyclopropane ring formation in membrane lipids of bacteria

It has been known for several decades that cyclopropane fatty acids (CFAs) occur in the phospholipids of many species of bacteria. CFAs are formed by the addition of a methylene group, derived from the methyl group of S-adenosylmethionine, across the carbon-carbon double bond of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs). The C1 transfer does not involve free fatty acids or intermediates of phospholipid biosynthesis but, rather, mature phospholipid molecules already incorporated into membrane bilayers. Furthermore, CFAs are typically produced at the onset of the stationary phase in bacterial cultures. CFA formation can thus be considered a conditional, postsynthetic modification of bacterial membrane lipid bilayers. This modification is noteworthy in several respects. It is catalyzed by a soluble enzyme, although one of the substrates, the UFA double bond, is normally sequestered deep within the hydrophobic interior of the phospholipid bilayer. The enzyme, CFA synthase, discriminates between phospholipid vesicles containing only saturated fatty acids and those containing UFAs; it exhibits no affinity for vesicles of the former composition. These and other properties imply that topologically novel protein-lipid interactions occur in the biosynthesis of CFAs. The timing and extent of the UFA-to-CFA conversion in batch cultures and the widespread distribution of CFA synthesis among bacteria would seem to suggest an important physiological role for this phenomenon, yet its rationale remains unclear despite experimental tests of a variety of hypotheses. Manipulation of the CFA synthase of Escherichia coli by genetic methods has nevertheless provided valuable insight into the physiology of CFA formation. It has identified the CFA synthase gene as one of several rpoS-regulated genes of E. coli and has provided for the construction of strains in which proposed cellular functions of CFAs can be properly evaluated. Cloning and manipulation of the CFA synthase structural gene have also enabled this novel but extremely unstable enzyme to be purified and analyzed in molecular terms and have led to the identification of mechanistically related enzymes in clinically important bacterial pathogens.

Covalent modification of an exposed surface turn alters the global conformation of the biotin carrier domain of Escherichia coli acetyl-CoA carboxylase

We have studied the apo (unbiotinylated) and holo (biotinylated) forms of BCCP87, an 87-residue COOH-terminal peptide comprising the biotin carrier domain of the biotin carboxyl carrier protein subunit of Escherichia coli acetyl-CoA carboxylase. The apo protein spontaneously formed disulfide-linked dimers and was modified readily by sulfhydryl reagents, whereas the holo protein remained monomeric and was unreactive toward sulfhydryl reagents unless a protein denaturant was present. These data indicated that the single cysteine residue of the domain (Cys-116) was much more reactive in the apo form of the protein. Incubation of apoBCCP87 with biotin ligase for different times, followed by reaction with fluorescein-5-maleimide, clearly showed that the loss of Cys-116 reactivity was the result of modification with biotin. In addition, reaction of Cys-116 with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) showed that apoBCCP87 denatured at lower urea concentrations than holoBCCP87. We also found that apoBCCP87 was at least 10-fold more sensitive than the holo form to proteolysis by a range of proteases. Identification of the cleavage sites indicated that the differences in protease sensitivity could not be attributed to shielding of susceptible bonds by the biotin moiety of the holo protein. These data indicate that a conformational change accompanies biotinylation of the biotin domain. Thus, modification of a beta-turn protruding from the protein surface results in alteration of the overall structure of this protein domain.

Sulfhydryl chemistry detects three conformations of the lipid binding region of Escherichia coli pyruvate oxidase

Site-specific disulfide cross-linking experiments detected a conformational change within the C-terminal segment of Escherichia coli pyruvate oxidase (PoxB), a lipid-activated homotetrameric enzyme, upon substrate binding [Chang, Y.-Y., & Cronan, J. E., Jr. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 7896-7901]. The C-terminal lipid binding regions were cross-linked only in the presence of the substrate, pyruvate, and the thiamine pyrophosphate cofactor, indicating close proximity of a pair of C termini. We have now systematically substituted cysteine at 18 additional amino acid positions within the C-terminal region to obtain a panel of 21 proteins each having a single residue changed to cysteine. These proteins have been studied by disulfide cross-linking and by accessibility of the cysteine side chain to a variety of sulfhydryl agents. In the absence of pyruvate, the cysteine residues of the modified PoxB proteins failed to form disulfide bonds, generally failed to react with a large and rigid hydrophilic sulfhydryl reagent, 4-acetamido-4'-[(iodoacetyl)amino]stilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (IASD), and in some cases reacted weakly with a smaller more hydrophobic reagent, N-ethylmaleimide. Therefore, in this conformation, the C termini appear fixed in a rigid environment having limited exposure to solvent. In the presence of pyruvate, all of the C-terminal cysteine residues (except the two most distal from the C terminus) reacted with both sulfhydryl reagents and readily formed disulfide cross-linked species, indicating conversion to a structure having a high degree of conformational freedom. In the presence of lipid activators, Triton X-100 or dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol, a subset of the cysteine-substituted proteins no longer reacted with the membrane-impermeable IASD reagent, indicating penetration of these protein segments into the lipid micelles. For most of the proteins, similar extents of disulfide formation were seen upon addition of an oxidizing agent in the presence or absence of lipid activators. An exception was PoxB D560C which was much more readily cross-linked in the presence of lipid. Moreover, a subset of PoxB proteins that cross-linked to lower extents in the presence of lipids was found. The behavior of these proteins provides strong support for the model in which two C termini associate to form the functional lipid binding domain. These data are discussed in terms of three distinct PoxB conformers and the known crystal structure of a highly related protein.

A new metabolic link. The acyl carrier protein of lipid synthesis donates lipoic acid to the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in Escherichia coli and mitochondria

Lipoic acid is an essential enzyme cofactor that requires covalent attachment to its cognate proteins to confer biological activity. The major lipoylated proteins are highly conserved enzymes of central metabolism, the pyruvate and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complexes. The classical lipoate ligase uses ATP to activate the lipoate carboxyl group followed by attachment of the cofactor to a specific subunit of each dehydrogenase complex, and it was assumed that all lipoate attachment proceeded by this mechanism. However, our previous work indicated that Escherichia coli could form lipoylated proteins in the absence of detectable ATP-dependent ligase activity raising the possibility of a class of enzyme that attaches lipoate to the dehydrogenase complexes by a different mechanism. We now report that E. coli and mitochondria contain lipoate transferases that use lipoyl-acyl carrier protein as the lipoate donor. This finding demonstrates a direct link between fatty acid synthesis and lipoate attachment and also provides the first direct demonstration of a role for the enigmatic acyl carrier proteins of mitochondria.

Detecting and characterizing N-acyl-homoserine lactone signal molecules by thin-layer chromatography

Many Gram-negative bacteria regulate gene expression in response to their population size by sensing the level of acyl-homoserine lactone signal molecules which they produce and liberate to the environment. We have developed an assay for these signals that couples separation by thin-layer chromatography with detection using Agrobacterium tumefaciens harboring lacZ fused to a gene that is regulated by autoinduction. With the exception of N-butanoyl-L-homoserine lactone, the reporter detected acyl-homoserine lactones with 3-oxo-, 3-hydroxy-, and 3-unsubstituted side chains of all lengths tested. The intensity of the response was proportional to the amount of the signal molecule chromatographed. Each of the 3-oxo- and the 3-unsubstituted derivatives migrated with a unique mobility. Using the assay, we showed that some bacteria produce as many as five detectable signal molecules. Structures could be assigned tentatively on the basis of mobility and spot shape. The dominant species produced by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci chromatographed with the properties of N-(3-oxohexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone, a structure that was confirmed by mass spectrometry. An isolate of Pseudomonas fluorescens produced five detectable species, three of which had novel chromatographic properties. These were identified as the 3-hydroxy- forms of N-hexanoyl-, N-octanoyl-, and N-decanoyl-L-homoserine lactone. The assay can be used to screen cultures of bacteria for acyl-homoserine lactones, for quantifying the amounts of these molecules produced, and as an analytical and preparative aid in determining the structures of these signal molecules.

In vivo evidence that acyl coenzyme A regulates DNA binding by the Escherichia coli FadR global transcription factor

In vitro experiments point to fatty acyl coenzymes A (acyl-CoAs) rather than unesterified fatty acids as the small-molecule ligands regulating DNA binding by the FadR protein of Escherichia coli. To provide an in vivo test of this specificity, unesterified fatty acids were generated within the cellular cytosol. These fatty acids were found to be efficient modulators of FadR action only when the acids could be converted to acyl-CoAs.

Generation of cell-to-cell signals in quorum sensing: acyl homoserine lactone synthase activity of a purified Vibrio fischeri LuxI protein

Many bacteria use acyl homoserine lactone signals to monitor cell density in a type of gene regulation termed quorum sensing and response. Synthesis of these signals is directed by homologs of the luxi gene of Vibrio fischeri. This communication resolves two critical issues concerning the synthesis of the V. fischeri signal. (i) The luxI product is directly involved in signal synthesis-the protein is an acyl homoserine lactone synthase; and (ii) the substrates for acyl homoserine lactone synthesis are not amino acids from biosynthetic pathways or fatty acid degradation products, but rather they are S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) and an acylated acyl carrier protein (ACP) from the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway. We purified a maltose binding protein-LuxI fusion polypeptide and showed that, when provided with the appropriate substrates, it catalyzes the synthesis of an acyl homoserine lactone. In V. fischeri, luxi directs the synthesis of N-(3-oxohexanoyl) homoserine lactone and hexanoyl homoserine lactone. The purified maltose binding protein-LuxI fusion protein catalyzes the synthesis of hexanoyl homoserine lactone from hexanoyl-ACP and SAM. There is a high level of specificity for hexanoyl-ACP over ACPs with differing acyl group lengths, and hexanoyl homoserine lactone was not synthesized when SAM was replaced with other amino acids, such as methionine, S-adenosylhomocysteine, homoserine, or homoserine lactone, or when hexanoyl-SAM was provided as the substrate. This provides direct evidence that the LuxI protein is an auto-inducer synthase that catalyzes the formation of an amide bond between SAM and a fatty acyl-ACP and then catalyzes the formation of the acyl homoserine lactone from the acyl-SAM intermediate.

Bacillus subtilis acyl carrier protein is encoded in a cluster of lipid biosynthesis genes

A cluster of Bacillus subtilis fatty acid synthetic genes was isolated by complementation of an Escherichia coli fabD mutant encoding a thermosensitive malonyl coenzyme A-acyl carrier protein transacylase. The B. subtilis genomic segment contains genes that encode three fatty acid synthetic proteins, malonyl coenzyme A-acyl carrier protein transacylase (fabD), 3-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (fabG), and the N-terminal 14 amino acid residues of acyl carrier protein (acpP). Also present is a sequence that encodes a homolog of E. coli plsX, a gene that plays a poorly understood role in phospholipid synthesis. The B. subtilis plsX gene weakly complemented an E. coli plsX mutant. The order of genes in the cluster is plsX fabD fabG acpP, the same order found in E. coli, except that in E. coli the fabH gene lies between plsX and fabD. The absence of fabH in the B. subtilis cluster is consistent with the different fatty acid compositions of the two organisms. The amino acid sequence of B. subtilis acyl carrier protein was obtained by sequencing the purified protein, and the sequence obtained strongly resembled that of E. coli acyl carrier protein, except that most of the protein retained the initiating methionine residue. The B. subtilis fab cluster was mapped to the 135 to 145 degrees region of the chromosome.

An isoleucine to valine substitution in Escherichia coli acyl carrier protein results in a functional protein of decreased molecular radius at elevated pH

Escherichia coli acyl carrier protein (ACP) has been reported to exist in at least two distinct conformers in solution. A novel form of ACP having an increased electrophoretic mobility on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was noted previously during work on beta-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein synthase II (fabF) mutants of E. coli (Jackowski, S., and Rock, C. O.(1987) J. Bacteriol. 169, 1469-1473). These workers reported that the increased electrophoretic mobility of the ACP from fabF strains occurred irrespective of prosthetic group attachment or the state of acylation of the prosthetic group. Since these workers were unable to detect a difference between the amino acid sequence of the ACP from the fabF mutants and that of wild type ACP, they suggested that the increased electrophoretic mobility was due to an unknown post-translational modification of the polypeptide chain. We have reinvestigated these mutants and report that the increased electrophoretic mobility is due to a mutation within the gene (acpP) that encodes ACP. This mutation results in substitution of isoleucine for valine 43 of ACP. Site-directed mutagenesis of a synthetic ACP gene demonstrated that the amino acid substitution at residue 43 is the cause of the increased electrophoretic mobility. Gel filtration experiments indicated that the increased electrophoretic mobility results from the more compact structure of V43I ACP at high pH. The altered residue lies within the ACP region of greatest conformational lability, and thus the V43I substitution may shift the equilibrium toward the more compact conformation(s). The disulfide-linked dimer of V43I ACP was readily formed and had an electrophoretic migration greater than the dimer of wild type ACP, suggesting that formation of ACP.ACP dimers does not require structural deformation of the protein.

Biotinylation in vivo as a sensitive indicator of protein secretion and membrane protein insertion

Escherichia coli biotin ligase is a cytoplasmic protein which specifically biotinylates the biotin-accepting domains from a variety of organisms. This in vivo biotinylation can be used as a sensitive signal to study protein secretion and membrane protein insertion. When the biotin-accepting domain from the 1.3S subunit of Propionibacterium shermanii transcarboxylase (PSBT) is translationally fused to the periplasmic proteins alkaline phosphatase and maltose-binding protein, there is little or no biotinylation of PSBT in wild-type E. coli. Inhibition of SecA with sodium azide and mutations in SecB, SecD, and SecF, all of which slow down protein secretion, result in biotinylation of PSBT. When PSBT is fused to the E. coli inner membrane protein MalF, it acts as a topological marker: fusions to cytoplasmic domains of MalF are biotinylated, and fusions to periplasmic domains are generally not biotinylated. If SecA is inhibited by sodium azide or if the SecE in the cell is depleted, then the insertion of the MalF second periplasmic domain is slowed down enough that PSBT fusions in this part of the protein become biotinylated. Compared with other protein fusions that have been used to study protein translocation, PSBT fusions have the advantage that they can be used to study the rate of the insertion process.

Polar allele duplication for transcriptional analysis of consecutive essential genes: application to a cluster of Escherichia coli fatty acid biosynthetic genes

The genes encoding acyl carrier protein and several key fatty acid biosynthetic enzymes are clustered at min 24 of the Escherichia coli chromosome. This cluster of genes is not transcribed as a classical operon, but rather multiple promoters are present and each gene is cotranscribed with at least one other gene. Transcripts specific for single genes ar also present. Transcription of acpP, the gene encoding acyl carrier protein, has been studied in detail. The acpP gene was shown to be transcribed from at least two different promoters by Northern (RNA) blot, primer extension, and deletion analyses, and the major promoter was mapped. We tested whether multiple promoters are necessary to produce acyl carrier protein by use of a new method whereby a transcriptional terminator was integrated into the chromosome upstream of the intact acpP gene. By use of this method (called polar allele duplication), we demonstrate that the promoter located immediately upstream of the coding sequence is sufficient for synthesis of this very abundant protein.

The apparent coupling between synthesis and posttranslational modification of Escherichia coli acyl carrier protein is due to inhibition of amino acid biosynthesis

Acyl carrier protein (ACP) is modified on serine 36 by the covalent posttranslational attachment of 4'-phosphopantetheine from coenzyme A (CoA), and this modification is required for lipid biosynthesis. Jackowski and Rock (J. Biol. Chem 258:15186-15191, 1983) reported that upon depletion of the CoA pool by starvation for a CoA precursor, no accumulation of the unmodified form of ACP (apo-ACP) was detected. We report that this lack of apo-ACP accumulation results from decreased translation of the acpP mRNAs because of the limitation of the synthesis of glutamate and other amino acids made directly from tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates.

Polymorphism of the yeast pyruvate carboxylase 2 gene and protein: effects on protein biotinylation

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae there are two isoenzymes of pyruvate carboxylase (Pyc) encoded by separate genes designated PYC1 and PYC2. We report the isolation and sequencing of a PYC2 gene, and the localization of both genes on the physical map of S. cerevisiae. Comparison with the previously reported sequence [Stucka, Dequin, Salmon and Gancedo (1991) Mol. Gen. Genet. 229, 307-315] revealed significant differences within the open reading frame. The most notable difference was near the 3' end, where we found a single base deletion reducing the open reading frame by 15 bases. We have confirmed the C-terminus of Pyc2 encoded by the gene isolated here by expressing and purifying an 86-amino-acid biotin-domain peptide. In addition, we investigated the effects of the two changes in the Pyc2 biotin domain (K1155R substitution and Q1178P/five-amino-acid extension) on the extent of biotinylation in vivo by Escherichia coli biotin ligase, and compared the biotinylation of peptides containing these changes with that of two different-length Pyc1 biotin-domain peptides. The K1155R substitution had very little effect on biotinylation, but the five-amino-acid C-terminal extension to Pyc2 and the N-terminal extension to Pycl both improved biotinylation in vivo.

The genes encoding the biotin carboxyl carrier protein and biotin carboxylase subunits of Bacillus subtilis acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase, the first enzyme of fatty acid synthesis

The genes encoding two subunits of acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase, biotin carboxyl carrier protein, and biotin carboxylase have been cloned from Bacillus subtilis. DNA sequencing and RNA blot hybridization studies indicated that the B. subtilis accB homolog which encodes biotin carboxyl carrier protein, is part of an operon that includes accC, the gene encoding the biotin carboxylase subunit of acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase.

Synthesis of sn-glycerol 3-phosphate, a key precursor of membrane lipids, in Bacillus subtilis

The Bacillus subtilis gpsA gene was cloned by complementation of an Escherichia coli gpsA strain auxotrophic for sn-glycerol 3-phosphate. The gene was sequenced and found to encode an NAD(P)H-dependent dihydroxyacetone phosphate reductase with a deduced molecular mass of 39.5 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence showed strong conservation with that of the E. coli homolog and to other procaryotic and eucaryotic dihydroxyacetone phosphate reductases. The physical location of gpsA on the B. subtilis chromosome was at about 200 degrees. Disruption of the chromosomal gpsA gene yielded B. subtilis strains auxotrophic for glycerol, indicating that the gpsA gene product is responsible for synthesis of the sn-glycerol 3-phosphate required for phospholipid synthesis. We also found that transformation of the classical B. subtilis glycerol auxotrophs with a gpsA-containing genomic fragment yielded transformants that grew in the absence of glycerol. In agreement with prior work, our attempts to determine the reductase activity in B. subtilis extracts were unsuccessful. However, expression of the B. subtilis gpsA gene in E. coli gave reductase activity that was only slightly inhibited by sn-glycerol 3-phosphate. Since the E. coli GpsA dihydroxyacetone phosphate reductase is very sensitive to allosteric inhibition by sn-glycerol 3-phosphate, these results indicate that the B. subtilis gpsA-encoded reductase differs from that of E. coli. It seems that B. subtilis regulates sn-glycerol 3-phosphate synthesis at the level of gene expression rather than through the E. coli mechanism of strong allosteric inhibition of an enzyme produced in excess.