scholarly journals Characterization of the role of copCD in copper uptake and the ‘copper-switch’ in Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b

2017 ◽  
Vol 364 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenyu Gu ◽  
Muhammad Farhan Ul Haque ◽  
Jeremy D. Semrau
2016 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. 1917-1923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenyu Gu ◽  
Muhammad Farhan Ul Haque ◽  
Bipin S. Baral ◽  
Erick A. Turpin ◽  
Nathan L. Bandow ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTMethanobactin, a small modified polypeptide synthesized by methanotrophs for copper uptake, has been found to be chromosomally encoded. The gene encoding the polypeptide precursor of methanobactin,mbnA, is part of a gene cluster that also includes several genes encoding proteins of unknown function (but speculated to be involved in methanobactin formation) as well asmbnT, which encodes a TonB-dependent transporter hypothesized to be responsible for methanobactin uptake. To determine ifmbnTis truly responsible for methanobactin uptake, a knockout was constructed inMethylosinus trichosporiumOB3b using marker exchange mutagenesis. The resultingM. trichosporiummbnT::Gmrmutant was found to be able to produce methanobactin but was unable to internalize it. Further, if this mutant was grown in the presence of copper and exogenous methanobactin, copper uptake was significantly reduced. Expression ofmmoXandpmoA, encoding polypeptides of the soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) and particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO), respectively, also changed significantly when methanobactin was added, which indicates that the mutant was unable to collect copper under these conditions. Copper uptake and gene expression, however, were not affected in wild-typeM. trichosporiumOB3b, indicating that the TonB-dependent transporter encoded bymbnTis responsible for methanobactin uptake and that methanobactin is a key mechanism used by methanotrophs for copper uptake. When thembnT::Gmrmutant was grown under a range of copper concentrations in the absence of methanobactin, however, the phenotype of the mutant was indistinguishable from that of wild-typeM. trichosporiumOB3b, indicating that this methanotroph has multiple mechanisms for copper uptake.


Author(s):  
Philip Dershwitz ◽  
Wenyu Gu ◽  
Julien Roche ◽  
Christina S. Kang-Yun ◽  
Jeremy D. Semrau ◽  
...  

Methanobactins (MBs) are ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) produced by methanotrophs for copper uptake. The post-translational modification that define MBs is the formation of two heterocyclic groups with associated thioamines from X-Cys dipeptide sequences. Both heterocyclic groups in the MB from Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b (MB-OB3b) are oxazolone groups. The precursor gene for MB-OB3b, mbnA , which is part of a gene cluster that contains both annotated and unannotated genes. One of those unannotated genes, mbnC , is found in all MB operons, and in conjunction with mbnB , is reported to be involved in the formation of both heterocyclic groups in all MBs. To determine the function of mbnC , a deletion mutation was constructed in M. trichosporium OB3b, and the MB produced from the Δ mbn C mutant was purified and structurally characterized by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and solution NMR spectroscopy. MB-OB3b from Δ mbn C was missing the C-terminal Met and also found to contain a Pro and a Cys in place of the pyrrolidiny-oxazolone-thioamide group. These results demonstrate MbnC is required for the formation of the C-terminal pyrrolidinyl-oxazolone-thioamide group from the Pro-Cys dipeptide, but not for the formation of the N-terminal 3-methylbutanol-oxazolone-thioamide group from the N-terminal dipeptide Leu-Cys. IMPORTANCE A number of environmental and medical applications have been proposed for MBs, including bioremediation of toxic metals, nanoparticle formation, as well as for the treatment of copper- and iron-related diseases. However, before MBs can be modified and optimized for any specific application, the biosynthetic pathway for MB production must be defined. The discovery that mbnC is involved in the formation of the C-terminal oxazolone group with associated thioamide but not for the formation of the N-terminal oxazolone group with associated thioamide in M. trichosporium OB3b suggests the enzymes responsible for post-translational modification(s) of the two oxazolone groups are not identical.


1993 ◽  
Vol 59 (9) ◽  
pp. 2771-2776 ◽  
Author(s):  
M W Fitch ◽  
D W Graham ◽  
R G Arnold ◽  
S K Agarwal ◽  
P Phelps ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
L. T. Germinario

Understanding the role of metal cluster composition in determining catalytic selectivity and activity is of major interest in heterogeneous catalysis. The electron microscope is well established as a powerful tool for ultrastructural and compositional characterization of support and catalyst. Because the spatial resolution of x-ray microanalysis is defined by the smallest beam diameter into which the required number of electrons can be focused, the dedicated STEM with FEG is the instrument of choice. The main sources of errors in energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDS) are: (1) beam-induced changes in specimen composition, (2) specimen drift, (3) instrumental factors which produce background radiation, and (4) basic statistical limitations which result in the detection of a finite number of x-ray photons. Digital beam techniques have been described for supported single-element metal clusters with spatial resolutions of about 10 nm. However, the detection of spurious characteristic x-rays away from catalyst particles produced images requiring several image processing steps.


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