scholarly journals Interplay between formation of photosynthetic complexes and expression of genes for iron–sulfur cluster assembly in Rhodobacter sphaeroides?

2020 ◽  
Vol 147 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-48
Author(s):  
Xin Nie ◽  
Andreas Jäger ◽  
Janek Börner ◽  
Gabriele Klug

AbstractFormation of photosynthetic complexes leads to a higher demand for Fe–S clusters. We hypothesized that in the facultative phototrophic alpha-proteobacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides expression of the isc-suf operon for Fe–S cluster formation may be increased under conditions that promote formation of photosynthetic complexes and that, vice versa, lack of the IscR regulator may also affect photosynthesis gene expression. To test this hypothesis, we monitored the activities of the isc-suf sense and anti-sense promoters under different growth conditions and in mutants which are impaired in formation of photosynthetic complexes. We also tested expression of photosynthesis genes in a mutant lacking the IscR regulator. Our results are not in agreement with a co-regulation of the Isc-Suf system and the photosynthetic apparatus at level of transcription. We provide evidence that, coordination of the systems occurs at post-transcriptional levels. Increased levels of isc-suf mRNAs under conditions promoting formation of photosynthetic complexes are due to higher RNA stability.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Nie ◽  
Bernhard Remes ◽  
Gabriele Klug

A multitude of biological functions relies on iron-sulfur clusters. The formation of photosynthetic complexes goes along with an additional demand for iron-sulfur clusters for bacteriochlorophyll synthesis and photosynthetic electron transport. However, photooxidative stress leads to the destruction of iron-sulfur clusters, and the released iron promotes the formation of further reactive oxygen species. A balanced regulation of iron-sulfur cluster synthesis is required to guarantee the supply of this cofactor, on the one hand, but also to limit stress, on the other hand. The phototrophic alpha-proteobacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides harbors a large operon for iron-sulfur cluster assembly comprising the iscRS and suf genes. IscR (iron-sulfur cluster regulator) is an iron-dependent regulator of isc-suf genes and other genes with a role in iron metabolism. We applied reporter gene fusions to identify promoters of the isc-suf operon and studied their activity alone or in combination under different conditions. Gel-retardation assays showed the binding of regulatory proteins to individual promoters. Our results demonstrated that several promoters in a sense and antisense direction influenced isc-suf expression and the binding of the IscR, Irr, and OxyR regulatory proteins to individual promoters. These findings demonstrated a complex regulatory network of several promoters and regulatory proteins that helped to adjust iron-sulfur cluster assembly to changing conditions in Rhodobacter sphaeroides.


2010 ◽  
Vol 432 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wu Wang ◽  
Hao Huang ◽  
Guoqiang Tan ◽  
Fan Si ◽  
Min Liu ◽  
...  

IscA is a key member of the iron–sulfur cluster assembly machinery in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms; however, the physiological function of IscA still remains elusive. In the present paper we report the in vivo evidence demonstrating the iron-binding activity of IscA in Escherichia coli cells. Supplement of exogenous iron (1 μM) in M9 minimal medium is sufficient to maximize the iron binding in IscA expressed in E. coli cells under aerobic growth conditions. In contrast, IscU, an iron–sulfur cluster assembly scaffold protein, or CyaY, a bacterial frataxin homologue, fails to bind any iron in E. coli cells under the same experimental conditions. Interestingly, the strong iron-binding activity of IscA is greatly diminished in E. coli cells under anaerobic growth conditions. Additional studies reveal that oxygen in medium promotes the iron binding in IscA, and that the iron binding in IscA in turn prevents formation of biologically inaccessible ferric hydroxide under aerobic conditions. Consistent with the differential iron-binding activity of IscA under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, we find that IscA and its paralogue SufA are essential for the iron–sulfur cluster assembly in E. coli cells under aerobic growth conditions, but not under anaerobic growth conditions. The results provide in vivo evidence that IscA may act as an iron chaperone for the biogenesis of iron–sulfur clusters in E. coli cells under aerobic conditions.


2008 ◽  
Vol 190 (24) ◽  
pp. 8106-8114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Gomelsky ◽  
Oleg V. Moskvin ◽  
Rachel A. Stenzel ◽  
Denise F. Jones ◽  
Timothy J. Donohue ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In the facultatively phototrophic proteobacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides, formation of the photosynthetic apparatus is oxygen dependent. When oxygen tension decreases, the response regulator PrrA of the global two-component PrrBA system is believed to directly activate transcription of the puf, puh, and puc operons, encoding structural proteins of the photosynthetic complexes, and to indirectly upregulate the photopigment biosynthesis genes bch and crt. Decreased oxygen also results in inactivation of the photosynthesis-specific repressor PpsR, bringing about derepression of the puc, bch, and crt operons. We uncovered a hierarchical relationship between these two regulatory systems, earlier thought to function independently. We also more accurately assessed the spectrum of gene targets of the PrrBA system. First, expression of the appA gene, encoding the PpsR antirepressor, is PrrA dependent, which establishes one level of hierarchical dominance of the PrrBA system over AppA-PpsR. Second, restoration of the appA transcript to the wild-type level is insufficient for rescuing phototrophic growth impairment of the prrA mutant, whereas inactivation of ppsR is sufficient. This suggests that in addition to controlling appA transcription, PrrA affects the activity of the AppA-PpsR system via an as yet unidentified mechanism(s). Third, PrrA directly activates several bch and crt genes, traditionally considered to be the PpsR targets. Therefore, in R. sphaeroides, the global PrrBA system regulates photosynthesis gene expression (i) by rigorous control over the photosynthesis-specific AppA-PpsR regulatory system and (ii) by extensive direct transcription activation of genes encoding structural proteins of photosynthetic complexes as well as genes encoding photopigment biosynthesis enzymes.


2004 ◽  
Vol 279 (19) ◽  
pp. 19705-19711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia C. Dos Santos ◽  
Archer D. Smith ◽  
Jeverson Frazzon ◽  
Valerie L. Cash ◽  
Michael K. Johnson ◽  
...  

The NifU protein is a homodimer that is proposed to provide a molecular scaffold for the assembly of [Fe-S] clusters uniquely destined for the maturation of the nitrogenase catalytic components. There are three domains contained within NifU, with the N-terminal domain exhibiting a high degree of primary sequence similarity to a related family of [Fe-S] cluster biosynthetic scaffolds designated IscU. The C-terminal domain of NifU exhibits sequence similarity to a second family of proposed [Fe-S] cluster biosynthetic scaffolds designated Nfu. Genetic experiments described here involving amino acid substitutions within the N-terminal and C-terminal domains of NifU indicate that both domains can separately participate in nitrogenase-specific [Fe-S] cluster formation, although the N-terminal domain appears to have the dominant function. Thesein vivoexperiments were supported byin vitro[Fe-S] cluster assembly and transfer experiments involving the activation of an apo-form of the nitrogenase Fe protein.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvatore Adinolfi ◽  
Rita Puglisi ◽  
Jason C. Crack ◽  
Clara Iannuzzi ◽  
Fabrizio Dal Piaz ◽  
...  

AbstractIscX (or YfhJ) is a protein of unknown function which takes part in the iron-sulfur cluster assembly machinery, a highly specialised and essential metabolic pathway. IscX binds to iron with low affinity and interacts with IscS, the desulfurase central to cluster assembly. Previous studies have suggested a competition between IscX and CyaY, the bacterial ortholog of frataxin, for the same binding surface of IscS. This competition could suggest a link between the two proteins with a functional significance. Using a hybrid approach, we show here that IscX is a modulator of the inhibitory properties of CyaY: by competing for the same site on IscS, the presence of IscX rescues the rates of enzymatic cluster formation which are inhibited by CyaY. The effect is stronger at low iron concentrations, whereas it becomes negligible at high iron concentrations. These results strongly suggest that iron-sulfur cluster assembly is an exquisite example of an enzymatic process which requires a double regulation under the control of iron as the effector.


2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 3918-3927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laran T. Jensen ◽  
Valeria Cizewski Culotta

ABSTRACT The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains two homologues of bacterial IscA proteins, designated Isa1p and Isa2p. Bacterial IscA is a product of the isc (iron-sulfur cluster) operon and has been suggested to participate in Fe-S cluster formation or repair. To test the function of yeast Isa1p and Isa2p, single or combinatorial disruptions were introduced in ISA1and ISA2. The resultant isaΔ mutants were viable but exhibited a dependency on lysine and glutamate for growth and a respiratory deficiency due to an accumulation of mutations in mitochondrial DNA. As with other yeast genes proposed to function in Fe-S cluster assembly, mitochondrial iron concentration was significantly elevated in the isa mutants, and the activities of the Fe-S cluster-containing enzymes aconitase and succinate dehydrogenase were dramatically reduced. An inspection of Isa-like proteins from bacteria to mammals revealed three invariant cysteine residues, which in the case of Isa1p and Isa2p are essential for function and may be involved in iron binding. As predicted, Isa1p is targeted to the mitochondrial matrix. However, Isa2p is present within the intermembrane space of the mitochondria. Our deletion analyses revealed that Isa2p harbors a bipartite N-terminal leader sequence containing a mitochondrial import signal linked to a second sequence that targets Isa2p to the intermembrane space. Both signals are needed for Isa2p function. A model for the nonredundant roles of Isa1p and Isa2p in delivering iron to sites of the Fe-S cluster assembly is discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven-A. Freibert ◽  
Michal T. Boniecki ◽  
Claudia Stümpfig ◽  
Vinzent Schulz ◽  
Nils Krapoth ◽  
...  

AbstractSynthesis of iron-sulfur (Fe/S) clusters in living cells requires scaffold proteins for both facile synthesis and subsequent transfer of clusters to target apoproteins. The human mitochondrial ISCU2 scaffold protein is part of the core ISC (iron-sulfur cluster assembly) complex that synthesizes a bridging [2Fe-2S] cluster on dimeric ISCU2. Initial iron and sulfur loading onto monomeric ISCU2 have been elucidated biochemically, yet subsequent [2Fe-2S] cluster formation and dimerization of ISCU2 is mechanistically ill-defined. Our structural, biochemical and cell biological experiments now identify a crucial function of the universally conserved N-terminal Tyr35 of ISCU2 for these late reactions. Mixing two, per se non-functional ISCU2 mutant proteins with oppositely charged Asp35 and Lys35 residues, both bound to different cysteine desulfurase complexes NFS1-ISD11-ACP, restores wild-type ISCU2 maturation demonstrating that ionic forces can replace native Tyr-Tyr interactions during dimerization-induced [2Fe-2S] cluster formation. Our studies define the essential mechanistic role of Tyr35 in the reaction cycle of de novo mitochondrial [2Fe-2S] cluster synthesis.


Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1738
Author(s):  
Leszek Rydz ◽  
Maria Wróbel ◽  
Halina Jurkowska

Mitochondria are the key organelles of Fe–S cluster synthesis. They contain the enzyme cysteine desulfurase, a scaffold protein, iron and electron donors, and specific chaperons all required for the formation of Fe–S clusters. The newly formed cluster can be utilized by mitochondrial Fe–S protein synthesis or undergo further transformation. Mitochondrial Fe–S cluster biogenesis components are required in the cytosolic iron–sulfur cluster assembly machinery for cytosolic and nuclear cluster supplies. Clusters that are the key components of Fe–S proteins are vulnerable and prone to degradation whenever exposed to oxidative stress. However, once degraded, the Fe–S cluster can be resynthesized or repaired. It has been proposed that sulfurtransferases, rhodanese, and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase, responsible for sulfur transfer from donor to nucleophilic acceptor, are involved in the Fe–S cluster formation, maturation, or reconstitution. In the present paper, we attempt to sum up our knowledge on the involvement of sulfurtransferases not only in sulfur administration but also in the Fe–S cluster formation in mammals and yeasts, and on reconstitution-damaged cluster or restoration of enzyme’s attenuated activity.


2009 ◽  
Vol 191 (13) ◽  
pp. 4341-4352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesus M. Eraso ◽  
Samuel Kaplan

ABSTRACT In the present study, we show in vitro binding of PrrA, a global regulator in Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1, to the PrrA site 2, within the RSP3361 locus. Specific binding, as shown by competition experiments, requires the phosphorylation of PrrA. The binding affinity of PrrA for site 2 was found to increase 4- to 10-fold when spermidine was added to the binding reaction. The presence of extracellular concentrations of spermidine in growing cultures of R. sphaeroides gave rise to a twofold increase in the expression of the photosynthesis genes pucB and pufB, as well as the RSP3361 gene, under aerobic growth conditions, as shown by the use of lacZ transcriptional fusions, and led to the production of light-harvesting spectral complexes. In addition, we show that negative supercoiling positively regulates the expression of the RSP3361 gene, as well as pucB. We show the importance of supercoiling through an evaluation of the regulation of gene expression in situ by supercoiling, in the case of the former gene, as well as using the DNA gyrase inhibitor novobiocin. We propose that polyamines and DNA supercoiling act synergistically to regulate expression of the RSP3361 gene, partly by affecting the affinity of PrrA binding to the PrrA site 2 within the RSP3361 gene.


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