scholarly journals The nucleotide pGpp acts as a third alarmone in Bacillus, with functions distinct from those of (p) ppGpp

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Yang ◽  
Brent W. Anderson ◽  
Asan Turdiev ◽  
Husan Turdiev ◽  
David M. Stevenson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Purine Biosynthesis ◽  
Ribosome Assembly ◽  
Bacterial Cells ◽  
Purine Nucleotide ◽  
Nucleotide Biosynthesis ◽  
Competitive Fitness ◽  
Guanosine Tetraphosphate ◽  
Growth Recovery ◽  
Physiological Relevance ◽  
And Function

Abstract The alarmone nucleotides guanosine tetraphosphate and pentaphosphate, commonly referred to as (p)ppGpp, regulate bacterial responses to nutritional and other stresses. There is evidence for potential existence of a third alarmone, guanosine-5′-monophosphate-3′-diphosphate (pGpp), with less-clear functions. Here, we demonstrate the presence of pGpp in bacterial cells, and perform a comprehensive screening to identify proteins that interact respectively with pGpp, ppGpp and pppGpp in Bacillus species. Both ppGpp and pppGpp interact with proteins involved in inhibition of purine nucleotide biosynthesis and with GTPases that control ribosome assembly or activity. By contrast, pGpp interacts with purine biosynthesis proteins but not with the GTPases. In addition, we show that hydrolase NahA (also known as YvcI) efficiently produces pGpp by hydrolyzing (p)ppGpp, thus modulating alarmone composition and function. Deletion of nahA leads to reduction of pGpp levels, increased (p)ppGpp levels, slower growth recovery from nutrient downshift, and loss of competitive fitness. Our results support the existence and physiological relevance of pGpp as a third alarmone, with functions that can be distinct from those of (p)ppGpp.

scholarly journals The influence of ammonia on purine and pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis in rat liver and brain in vitro

1978 ◽  
Vol 172 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen D. Skaper ◽  
William E. O'Brien ◽  
Irwin A. Schafer
Keyword(s):  
De Novo ◽  
Liver Homogenate ◽  
Purine Biosynthesis ◽  
Purine Nucleotide ◽  
Carbamoyl Phosphate ◽  
Phosphoribosyl Pyrophosphate ◽  
Nucleotide Synthesis ◽  
Nucleotide Biosynthesis ◽  
Pyrimidine Nucleotide

1. The effect of ammonia on purine and pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis was studied in rat liver and brain in vitro. The incorporation of NaH14CO3 into acid-soluble uridine nucleotide (UMP) in liver homogenates and minces was increased 2.5–4-fold on incubation with 10mm-NH4Cl plus N-acetyl-l-glutamate, but not with either compound alone. 2. The incorporation of NaH14CO3 into orotic acid was increased 3–4-fold in liver homogenate with NH4Cl plus acetylglutamate. 3. The 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate content of liver homogenate was decreased by 50% after incubation for 10min with 10mm-NH4Cl plus acetylglutamate. 4. Concomitant with this decrease in free phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate was a 40–50% decrease in the rates of purine nucleotide synthesis, both de novo and from the preformed base. 5. Subcellular fractionation of liver indicated that the effects of NH4Cl plus acetylglutamate on pyrimidine and purine biosynthesis required a mitochondrial fraction. This effect of NH4Cl plus acetylglutamate could be duplicated in a mitochondria-free liver fraction with carbamoyl phosphate. 6. A similar series of experiments carried out with rat brain demonstrated a significant, though considerably smaller, effect on UMP synthesis de novo and purine base reutilization. 7. These data indicate that excessive amounts of ammonia may interfere with purine nucleotide biosynthesis by stimulating production of carbamoyl phosphate through the mitochondrial synthetase, with the excess carbamoyl phosphate in turn increasing pyrimidine nucleotide synthesis de novo and diminishing the phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate available for purine biosynthesis.

scholarly journals De novo purine nucleotide biosynthesis mediated by amidophosphoribosyl transferase is required for conidiation and essential for the successful host colonization of Magnaporthe oryzae

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osakina Aron ◽  
Min Wang ◽  
Jiayuan Guo ◽  
Jagero Frankline Otieno ◽  
Qussai Zuriegat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Pathogens ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Host Cells ◽  
Purine Biosynthesis ◽  
Pcr Analysis ◽  
Pathogenicity Test ◽  
Purine Nucleotide ◽  
In Planta ◽  
Host Colonization ◽  
Nucleotide Biosynthesis

Amidophosphoribosyl transferase catalyzes the first step of the purine nucleotide biosynthesis by converting 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate into 5-phosphoribosyl-1-amine. In this study, we identified and characterized the functions of MoAde4, an ortholog of yeast Ade4 in the rice blast fungus. MoAde4 is a 537-amino acid protein containing the GATase_6 and pribosyltran domains. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed MoADE4 transcripts were highly expressed during conidiation, early-infection, and late-infection stages of the fungus. Disruption of MoADE4 gene resulted in ΔMoade4 mutant exhibiting adenine, adenosine, and hypoxanthine auxotrophy on MM. Conidia quantification assays showed ΔMoade4 mutant was significantly reduced in sporulation. The conidia of ΔMoade4 mutant could still form appressoria but mostly failed to penetrate the rice cuticle. Pathogenicity test showed ΔMoade4 was completely nonpathogenic on rice and barley leaves which was attributed by failure of its infectious hyphae to colonize the host cells. The ΔMoade4 was defective in induction of strong host immunity and had its purine transporter genes repressed during in planta infection. Addition of exogenous adenine partially rescued conidiation and pathogenicity defects of the ΔMoade4 mutant on the barley and rice leaves. Localization assays showed that MoAde4 is located in the cytoplasm. Taken together, our results demonstrate that purine biosynthesis orchestrated by MoAde4 is required for fungal development, conidiation, more importantly, we found it to be essential for fungal pathogenicity not because of the appressorial formation, but appressorium penetration and host colonization during the plant infection of M. oryzae. Thus this findings suggests that purine biosynthesis could act as an important target for combating recalcitrant plant fungal pathogens.

scholarly journals Ubiquitin and Ubiquitin-Like Proteins and Domains in Ribosome Production and Function: Chance or Necessity?

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 4359
Author(s):  
Sara Martín-Villanueva ◽  
Gabriel Gutiérrez ◽  
Dieter Kressler ◽  
Jesús de la Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Ribosomal Proteins ◽  
Ribosome Biogenesis ◽  
Ribosome Assembly ◽  
Cellular Processes ◽  
Substrate Protein ◽  
Precursor Proteins ◽  
Assembly Factors ◽  
Ubiquitin Moiety ◽  
And Function

Ubiquitin is a small protein that is highly conserved throughout eukaryotes. It operates as a reversible post-translational modifier through a process known as ubiquitination, which involves the addition of one or several ubiquitin moieties to a substrate protein. These modifications mark proteins for proteasome-dependent degradation or alter their localization or activity in a variety of cellular processes. In most eukaryotes, ubiquitin is generated by the proteolytic cleavage of precursor proteins in which it is fused either to itself, constituting a polyubiquitin precursor, or as a single N-terminal moiety to ribosomal proteins, which are practically invariably eL40 and eS31. Herein, we summarize the contribution of the ubiquitin moiety within precursors of ribosomal proteins to ribosome biogenesis and function and discuss the biological relevance of having maintained the explicit fusion to eL40 and eS31 during evolution. There are other ubiquitin-like proteins, which also work as post-translational modifiers, among them the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO). Both ubiquitin and SUMO are able to modify ribosome assembly factors and ribosomal proteins to regulate ribosome biogenesis and function. Strikingly, ubiquitin-like domains are also found within two ribosome assembly factors; hence, the functional role of these proteins will also be highlighted.

Biology of bone marrow-derived endothelial cell precursors

2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (1) ◽  
pp. H1-H18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina C. Schatteman ◽  
Martine Dunnwald ◽  
Chunhua Jiao
Keyword(s):  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Endothelial Cell ◽  
Marrow Cell ◽  
Tumor Type ◽  
Physiological Relevance ◽  
Bone Marrow Derived Cells ◽  
And Function ◽  
Endothelial Nitric Oxide ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Endothelial Precursors

Over the past decade, the old idea that the bone marrow contains endothelial cell precursors has become an area of renewed interest. While some still believe that there are no endothelial precursors in the blood, even among those who do, there is no consensus as to what they are or what they do. In this review, we describe the problems in identifying endothelial cells and conclude that expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase may be the most reliable antigenic indicator of the phenotype. The evidence for two different classes of endothelial precursors is also presented. We suggest that, though there is no single endothelial cell precursor, we may be able to use these phenotypic variations to our advantage in better understanding their biology. We also discuss how a variety of genetic, epigenetic, and methodological differences can account for the seemingly contradictory findings on the physiological relevance of bone marrow-derived precursors in normal vascular maintenance and in response to injury. Data on the impact of tumor type and location on the contribution of bone marrow-derived cells to the tumor vasculature are also presented. These data provide hope that we may ultimately be able to predict those tumors in which bone marrow-derived cells will have a significant contribution and design therapies accordingly. Finally, factors that regulate bone marrow cell recruitment to and function in the endothelium are beginning to be identified, and several of these, including stromal derived factor 1, monocyte chemoattractant factor-1, and vascular endothelial growth factor are discussed.

scholarly journals Disruption of de novo purine biosynthesis in Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf0-1 leads to reduced biofilm formation and a reduction in cell size of surface-attached but not planktonic cells

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiro Yoshioka ◽  
Peter D Newell
Keyword(s):  
Pseudomonas Fluorescens ◽  
Cell Size ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Purine Biosynthesis ◽  
Model Organisms ◽  
Purine Nucleotides ◽  
Surface Attachment ◽  
Nucleotide Biosynthesis ◽  
Mutant Cells

Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf0-1 is one of the model organisms for biofilm research. Our previous transposon mutagenesis study suggested a requirement for the de novo purine nucleotide biosynthesis pathway for biofilm formation by this organism. This study was performed to verify that observation and investigate the basis for the defects in biofilm formation shown by purine biosynthesis mutants. Constructing deletion mutations in 8 genes in this pathway, we found that they all showed reductions in biofilm formation that could be partly or completely restored by nucleotide supplementation or genetic complementation. We demonstrated that, despite a reduction in biofilm formation, more viable mutant cells were recovered from the surface-attached population than from the planktonic phase under conditions of purine deprivation. Analyses using scanning electron microscopy revealed that the surface-attached mutant cells were 25~30% shorter in length than WT, which partly explains the reduced biomass in the mutant biofilms. The laser diffraction particle analyses confirmed this finding, and further indicated that the WT biofilm cells were smaller than their planktonic counterparts. The defects in biofilm formation and reductions in cell size shown by the mutants were fully recovered upon adenine or hypoxanthine supplementation, indicating that the purine shortages caused reductions in cell size. Our results are consistent with surface attachment serving as a survival strategy during nutrient deprivation, and indicate that changes in the cell size may be a natural response of P. fluorescens to growth on a surface. Finally, cell sizes in WT biofilms became slightly smaller in the presence of exogenous adenine than in its absence. Our findings suggest that purine nucleotides or related metabolites may influence the regulation of cell size in this bacterium.

scholarly journals ppGpp negatively impacts ribosome assembly affecting growth and antimicrobial tolerance in Gram-positive bacteria

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (12) ◽  
pp. E1710-E1719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca M. Corrigan ◽  
Lauren E. Bellows ◽  
Alison Wood ◽  
Angelika Gründling
Keyword(s):  
Stringent Response ◽  
Ribosome Assembly ◽  
Bacterial Survival ◽  
Positive Bacterium ◽  
Gram Positive ◽  
Guanosine Tetraphosphate ◽  
Target Proteins ◽  
Gram Positive Bacteria ◽  
Ribosome Inactivation

The stringent response is a survival mechanism used by bacteria to deal with stress. It is coordinated by the nucleotides guanosine tetraphosphate and pentaphosphate [(p)ppGpp], which interact with target proteins to promote bacterial survival. Although this response has been well characterized in proteobacteria, very little is known about the effectors of this signaling system in Gram-positive species. Here, we report on the identification of seven target proteins for the stringent response nucleotides in the Gram-positive bacteriumStaphylococcus aureus. We demonstrate that the GTP synthesis enzymes HprT and Gmk bind with a high affinity, leading to an inhibition of GTP production. In addition, we identified five putative GTPases—RsgA, RbgA, Era, HflX, and ObgE—as (p)ppGpp target proteins. We show that RsgA, RbgA, Era, and HflX are functional GTPases and that their activity is promoted in the presence of ribosomes but strongly inhibited by the stringent response nucleotides. By characterizing the function of RsgA in vivo, we ascertain that this protein is involved in ribosome assembly, with anrsgAdeletion strain, or a strain inactivated for GTPase activity, displaying decreased growth, a decrease in the amount of mature 70S ribosomes, and an increased level of tolerance to antimicrobials. We additionally demonstrate that the interaction of ppGpp with cellular GTPases is not unique to the staphylococci, as homologs fromBacillus subtilisandEnterococcus faecalisretain this ability. Taken together, this study reveals ribosome inactivation as a previously unidentified mechanism through which the stringent response functions in Gram-positive bacteria.

scholarly journals MPST but not CSE is the primary regulator of hydrogen sulfide production and function in the coronary artery

2016 ◽  
Vol 310 (1) ◽  
pp. H71-H79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie M. Kuo ◽  
Dae Hee Kim ◽  
Sandeep Jandu ◽  
Yehudit Bergman ◽  
Siqi Tan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Sulfide ◽  
Coronary Artery ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Human Coronary Artery ◽  
Sodium Hydrosulfide ◽  
Physiological Relevance ◽  
Hydrogen Sulfide Production ◽  
And Function

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has emerged as an important gasotransmitter in the vasculature. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that H2S contributes to coronary vasoregulation and evaluated the physiological relevance of two sources of H2S, namely, cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE) and 3-mercaptypyruvate sulfertransferase (MPST). MPST was detected in human coronary artery endothelial cells as well as rat and mouse coronary artery; CSE was not detected in the coronary vasculature. Rat coronary artery homogenates produced H2S through the MPST pathway but not the CSE pathway in vitro. In vivo coronary vasorelaxation response was similar in CSE knockout mice, wild-type mice (WT), and WT mice treated with the CSE inhibitor propargylglycine, suggesting that CSE-produced H2S does not have a significant role in coronary vasoregulation in vivo. Ex vivo, the MPST substrate 3-mercaptopyruvate (3-MP) and H2S donor sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS) elicited similar coronary vasoreactivity responses. Pyruvate did not have any effects on vasoreactivity. The vasoactive effect of H2S appeared to be nitric oxide (NO) dependent: H2S induced coronary vasoconstriction in the presence of NO and vasorelaxation in its absence. Maximal endothelial-dependent relaxation was intact after 3-MP and NaHS induced an increase in preconstriction tone, suggesting that endothelial NO synthase activity was not significantly inhibited. In vitro, H2S reacted with NO, which may, in part explain the vasoconstrictive effects of 3-MP and NaHS. Taken together, these data show that MPST rather than CSE generates H2S in coronary artery, mediating its effects through direct modulation of NO. This has important implications for H2S-based therapy in healthy and diseased coronary arteries.

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