New insights into the structure of the reaction centre from Blastochloris viridis: evolution in the laboratory

2012 ◽  
Vol 442 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksander W. Roszak ◽  
Vladimíra Moulisová ◽  
Adhie D. P. Reksodipuro ◽  
Alastair T. Gardiner ◽  
Ritsuko Fujii ◽  
...  

Newly determined crystal structures of the photosynthetic RC (reaction centre) from two substrains of the non-sulfur purple bacterium Blastochloris viridis strain DSM 133, together with analysis of their gene sequences, has revealed intraspecies evolutionary changes over a period of 14 years. Over 100 point mutations were identified between these two substrains in the four genes encoding the protein subunits of the RC, of which approximately one-fifth resulted in a total of 16 amino acid changes. The most interesting difference was in the M subunit where the change from a leucine residue to glycine in the carotenoid-binding pocket allowed NS5 (1,2-dihydroneurosporene) to adopt a more sterically favoured conformation, similar to the carotenoid conformation found in other related RCs. The results of the present study, together with a high rate of mutations in laboratory bacterial cultures described recently, suggest that bacteria evolve faster than has been generally recognized. The possibility that amino acid changes occur within protein sequences, without exhibiting any immediately observable phenotype, should be taken into account in studies that involve long-term continuous growth of pure bacterial cultures. The Blc. viridis RC is often studied with sophisticated biophysical techniques and changes such as those described here may well affect their outcome. In other words, there is a danger that laboratory-to-laboratory variation could well be due to different groups not realising that they are actually working with slightly different proteins. A way around this problem is suggested.

2011 ◽  
Vol 66 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 627-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivanka Nikolova ◽  
Angel S. Galabov ◽  
Rumena Petkova ◽  
Stoyan Chakarov ◽  
Boris Atanasov

Disoxaril inhibits enterovirus replication by binding to the hydrophobic pocket within the VP1 coat protein, thus stabilizing the virion and blocking its uncoating. Disoxaril-resistant (RES) mutants of the Coxsackie virus B1 (CVB1/RES) were derived from the wild disoxaril- sensitive (SOF) strain (CVB1/SOF) using a selection approach. A disoxaril-dependent (DEP) mutant (CVB1/DEP) was obtained following nine consecutive passages of the disoxaril- resistant mutant in the presence of disoxaril. Phenotypic characteristics of the disoxaril mutants were investigated. A timing-of-addition study of the CVB1/DEP replication demonstrated that in the absence of disoxaril the virus particle assembly stopped. VP1 RNA sequences of disoxaril mutants were compared with the existing Gen Bank CVB1 reference structure. The amino acid sequence of a large VP1 196 - 258 peptide (disoxaril-binding region) of CVB1/RES was significantly different from that of the CVB1/SOF. Crucially important changes in CVB1/RES were two point mutations, M213H and F237L, both in the ligand-binding pocket. The sequence analysis of the CVB1/DEP showed some reversion to CVB1/SOF. The amino acid sequences of the three VP1 proteins are presented


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Grech-Baran ◽  
Kamil Witek ◽  
Jaroslaw Poznanski ◽  
Anna Grupa-Urbanska ◽  
Tadeusz Malinowski ◽  
...  

Potyviruses are the largest group of plant RNA viruses, causing significant losses in many crops. Among them, potato virus Y (PVY) is particularly important, and enhances the severity of infections by other viruses. The Rysto gene confers PVY resistance and encodes a TIR-NLR intracellular immune receptors that recognizes PVY coat protein (CP). To define a minimal CP fragment sensed by Rysto, we created a series of truncated CP variants and expressed these CP derivatives in Rysto transgenic plants. Deletions that affect the 149 amino acid CP core region lose the ability to trigger Rysto-dependent defence activation. Furthermore, point mutations in the amino acid residues Ser126, Arg157, and Asp201 of the highly conserved RNA-binding pocket of potyviral CP, reduce or abolish Rysto-dependent responses, demonstrating that appropriate folding of the CP core is required for Rysto-mediated recognition. Consistent with these data, we found Rysto recognises CPs of various viruses that share a similar core region, but not those lacking it. Finally, we demonstrated that Rysto provides immunity to plum pox virus and turnip mosaic virus, demonstrating its wide range of applications in disease-resistant crop engineering. In parallel, we showed that CP triggered Rysto activation is SAG101- but not PAD4- or SA- level dependent. Our findings shed new light on how R proteins can detect viruses by sensing highly conserved structural patterns.


1974 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 250-261
Author(s):  
D.F. Carr ◽  
J. Ganczarczyk

Abstract Activated sludge samples from two Toronto sewage treatment plants were subjected to the extraction of exocellular material by means of 9 different methods suggested for this purpose. Some of those methods, originally developed for pure bacterial cultures, were modified for the application to activated sludge. The amount of exocellular material obtained varied for Lakeview sludges from 0.4 to 3.2% of their dry volatile solids, and for Humber sludges from 0.3 to 5.3%. It has been found that extractions by the use of sulphuric acid, high-speed centrifugation and sodium hydroxide, were not suitable for the studied material. Especially surprising was the ineffectiveness of high-speed centrifugation to yield any measurable amounts of extract. The boiling water extraction is recommended for further studies on activated sludge exocellular material. The material extracted from activated sludge is very complex in nature. Generally more polysaccharide than protein was extracted, but the remaining volatile material may form up to 70% of the dry weight.


2000 ◽  
Vol 44 (8) ◽  
pp. 2207-2210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Maggi Solcà ◽  
Marco Valerio Bernasconi ◽  
Jean-Claude Piffaretti

ABSTRACT The rdxA gene of 30 independently isolatedHelicobacter pylori strains was sequenced. A comparison of the rdxA sequences revealed a higher percentage of amino acid substitutions in the corresponding protein than in other housekeeping genes. Out of 122 point mutations, 41 were missense and 4 were nonsense. A resistant strain with a nucleotide insertion in therdxA sequence was also found. With the exception of the point mutations and the insertion generating a stop signal, no particular nucleotide mutation or amino acid substitution could be associated to metronidazole resistance. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis of the 30 nucleotide sequences did not demonstrate specific clusters associated with the resistance phenotype.


2014 ◽  
Vol 95 (5) ◽  
pp. 1033-1042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanca García-Barreno ◽  
Teresa Delgado ◽  
Sonia Benito ◽  
Inmaculada Casas ◽  
Francisco Pozo ◽  
...  

Murine hybridomas producing neutralizing mAbs specific to the pandemic influenza virus A/California/07/2009 haemagglutinin (HA) were isolated. These antibodies recognized at least two different but overlapping new epitopes that were conserved in the HA of most Spanish pandemic isolates. However, one of these isolates (A/Extremadura/RR6530/2010) lacked reactivity with the mAbs and carried two unique mutations in the HA head (S88Y and K136N) that were required simultaneously to eliminate reactivity with the murine antibodies. This unusual requirement directly illustrates the phenomenon of enhanced antigenic change proposed previously for the accumulation of simultaneous amino acid substitutions at antigenic sites of the influenza A virus HA during virus evolution (Shih et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 104 , 6283–6288, 2007). The changes found in the A/Extremadura/RR6530/2010 HA were not found in escape mutants selected in vitro with one of the mAbs, which contained instead nearby single amino acid changes in the HA head. Thus, either single or double point mutations may similarly alter epitopes of the new antigenic site identified in this work in the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus HA. Moreover, this site is relevant for the human antibody response, as shown by competition of mAbs and human post-infection sera for virus binding. The results are discussed in the context of the HA antigenic structure and challenges posed for identification of sequence changes with possible antigenic impact during virus surveillance.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1001 ◽  
pp. 162-170
Author(s):  
Radmila Kučerová ◽  
Tomáš Sezima ◽  
Eugen Sikora ◽  
Ivana Truxová ◽  
Lucie Kučerová ◽  
...  

The aim of this research is to reduce the quantities of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the samples of non-hygienized sewage sludge via laboratory biodegradation. Pure bacterial cultures of Pseudomonas putida, Rhodococcus sp. and their mixture in 1:1 proportion have been used. The laboratory experiment lasted for 28 days and the acquired values were compared with Decree 294/2005 Coll. The obtained results imply that biodegradation of such contaminated samples is practicable. Using the bacterial mixture, over 85 % Σ of PCBs were degraded, and applying Rhodococcus sp. as much as 95.86 % of the original concentration of PAHs were removed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natascia Vedovato ◽  
David C. Gadsby

Interactions of the three transported Na ions with the Na/K pump remain incompletely understood. Na/K pump crystal structures show that the extended C terminus of the Na,K–adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) α subunit directly contacts transmembrane helices. Deletion of the last five residues (KETYY in almost all Na/K pumps) markedly lowered the apparent affinity for Na activation of pump phosphorylation from ATP, a reflection of cytoplasmic Na affinity for forming the occluded E1P(Na3) conformation. ATPase assays further suggested that C-terminal truncations also interfere with low affinity Na interactions, which are attributable to extracellular effects. Because extracellular Na ions traverse part of the membrane’s electric field to reach their binding sites in the Na/K pump, their movements generate currents that can be monitored with high resolution. We report here electrical measurements to examine how Na/K pump interactions with extracellular Na ions are influenced by C-terminal truncations. We deleted the last two (YY) or five (KESYY) residues in Xenopus laevis α1 Na/K pumps made ouabain resistant by either of two kinds of point mutations and measured their currents as 10-mM ouabain–sensitive currents in Xenopus oocytes after silencing endogenous Xenopus Na/K pumps with 1 µM ouabain. We found the low affinity inhibitory influence of extracellular Na on outward Na/K pump current at negative voltages to be impaired in all of the C-terminally truncated pumps. Correspondingly, voltage jump–induced transient charge movements that reflect pump interactions with extracellular Na ions were strongly shifted to more negative potentials; this signals a several-fold reduction of the apparent affinity for extracellular Na in the truncated pumps. Parallel lowering of Na affinity on both sides of the membrane argues that the C-terminal contacts provide important stabilization of the occluded E1P(Na3) conformation, regardless of the route of Na ion entry into the binding pocket. Gating measurements of palytoxin-opened Na/K pump channels additionally imply that the C-terminal contacts also help stabilize pump conformations with occluded K ions.


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