The ATPase activity of an ‘essential’ Bacillus subtilis enzyme, YdiB, is required for its cellular function and is modulated by oligomerization

Microbiology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 155 (3) ◽  
pp. 944-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna C. Karst ◽  
Anne-Emmanuelle Foucher ◽  
Tracey L. Campbell ◽  
Anne-Marie Di Guilmi ◽  
David Stroebel ◽  
...  

Characterization of ‘unknown’ proteins is one of the challenges of the post-genomic era. Here, we report a study of Bacillus subtilis YdiB, which belongs to an uncharted class of bacterial P-loop ATPases. Precise deletion of the ydiB gene yielded a mutant with much reduced growth rate compared to the wild-type strain. In vitro, purified YdiB was in equilibrium among different forms, monomers, dimers and oligomers, and this equilibrium was strongly affected by salts; high concentrations of NaCl favoured the monomeric over the oligomeric form of the enzyme. Interestingly, the ATPase activity of the monomer was about three times higher than that of the oligomer, and the monomer showed a K m of about 60 μM for ATP and a V max of about 10 nmol min−1 (mg protein)−1 (k cat ∼10 h−1). This low ATPase activity was shown to be specific to YdiB because mutation of an invariant lysine residue in the P-loop motif (K41A) strongly attenuated this rate. This mutant was unable to restore a normal growth phenotype when introduced into a conditional knockout strain for ydiB, showing that the ATPase activity of YdiB is required for the in vivo function of the protein. Oligomerization was also observed with the purified YjeE from Escherichia coli, a YdiB orthologue, suggesting that this property is shared by all members of this family of ATPases. Importantly, dimers of YdiB were also observed in a B. subtilis extract, or when stabilized by formaldehyde cross-linking for YjeE from E. coli, suggesting that oligomerization might regulate the function of this new class of proteins in vivo.

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 523-536
Author(s):  
Essam S. Soliman ◽  
Rania T. Hamad ◽  
Mona S. Abdallah

Background and Aim: Probiotics improve intestinal balance through bacterial antagonism and competitive exclusion. This study aimed to investigate the in vitro antimicrobial activity, as well as the in vivo preventive, immunological, productive, and histopathological modifications produced by probiotic Bacillus subtilis. Materials and Methods: The in vitro antimicrobial activities of B. subtilis (5×106 CFU/g; 0.5, 1.0*, 1.5, and 2.0 g/L) were tested against Escherichia coli O157: H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, Candida albicans, and Trichophyton mentagrophytes after exposure times of 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 h using minimal inhibitory concentration procedures. A total of 320 1-day-old female Ross broiler chickens were divided into five groups. Four out of the five groups were supplemented with 0.5, 1.0*, 1.5, and 2.0 g/L probiotic B. subtilis from the age of 1 day old. Supplemented 14-day-old broiler chickens were challenged with only E. coli O157: H7 (4.5×1012 CFU/mL) and S. Typhimurium (1.2×107 CFU/mL). A total of 2461 samples (256 microbial-probiotic mixtures, 315 sera, 315 duodenal swabs, and 1575 organs) were collected. Results: The in vitro results revealed highly significant (p<0.001) killing rates at all-time points in 2.0 g/L B. subtilis: 99.9%, 90.0%, 95.6%, and 98.8% against E. coli, S. Typhimurium, C. albicans, and T. mentagrophytes, respectively. Broilers supplemented with 1.5 and 2.0 g/L B. subtilis revealed highly significant increases (p<0.01) in body weights, weight gains, carcass weights, edible organs' weights, immune organs' weights, biochemical profile, and immunoglobulin concentrations, as well as highly significant declines (p<0.01) in total bacterial, Enterobacteriaceae, and Salmonella counts. Histopathological photomicrographs revealed pronounced improvements and near-normal pictures of the livers and hearts of broilers with lymphoid hyperplasia in the bursa of Fabricius, thymus, and spleen after supplementation with 2.0 g/L B. subtilis. Conclusion: The studies revealed that 1.5-2.0 g of probiotic B. subtilis at a concentration of 5×106 CFU/g/L water was able to improve performance, enhance immunity, and tissue architecture, and produce direct antimicrobial actions.


1997 ◽  
Vol 200 (7) ◽  
pp. 1125-1131
Author(s):  
R Ingermann ◽  
D Bencic ◽  
J Herman

Nucleated red cells in the nonpregnant garter snake (Thamnophis elegans) contain relatively high concentrations of nucleoside triphosphate (NTP), largely in the form of ATP, which is found at concentrations of approximately 10 mmol l-1 relative to cell volume and 15 mmol l-1 relative to cell water. During pregnancy, levels of NTP in adult red cells rise by approximately 50 % concomitant with an increase in blood progesterone level. The stability of the NTP pool within these red cells was assessed by maintaining cells in vitro at 20 &deg;C, without exogenous nutrients, and in the presence and absence of the metabolic inhibitors iodoacetate and/or cyanide. After 96 h, NTP levels in adult red cells not exposed to the inhibitors had decreased by only approximately 10 %, while in the presence of both inhibitors NTP levels had fallen by less than 50 %. Red cell NTP levels were not affected by acute exposure to high concentrations of progesterone either in vivo or in vitro. NTP levels were much more labile when the cells were maintained in vitro at either low or high pH. Maintenance of red cells at pH 6.0 for 24 h resulted in a decrease in NTP levels of approximately 50 % and at pH 10.0 the levels fell by approximately 80 %, while buffers containing only ATP caused no detectable degradation. Incubation at low or high pH promoted some cell swelling; however, the magnitude of the decreases in intracellular NTP concentration prompted by these pH levels could not be mimicked by incubation of red cells in hypotonic buffer. Total nonspecific ATPase activity at pH 6.0 was approximately 55 % greater than that at pH 7.4, while at pH 10.0 it was approximately 6 % of that at pH 7.4. The pH-dependent decrease in intracellular NTP levels cannot, therefore, be due to stimulation of ATPase activity, at least not at high pH. Overall, the data are consistent with the hypothesis that an appreciable portion of the NTP within these cells is compartmentalized in a stable, but pH-sensitive, pool sequestered from intracellular ATP-hydrolyzing processes.


2000 ◽  
Vol 348 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg P. MÜLLER ◽  
Jörg OZEGOWSKI ◽  
Stefan VETTERMANN ◽  
Jelto SWAVING ◽  
Karel H. M. VAN WELY ◽  
...  

CsaA from the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis has been identified previously as a suppressor of the growth and protein-export defect of Escherichia coli secA(Ts) mutants. CsaA has chaperone-like activities in vivo and in vitro. To examine the role of CsaA in protein export in B. subtilis, expression of the csaA gene was repressed. While export of most proteins remained unaffected, export of at least two proteins was significantly reduced upon CsaA depletion. CsaA co-immunoprecipitates and co-purifies with the SecA proteins of E. coli and B. subtilis, and binds the B. subtilis preprotein prePhoB. Purified CsaA stimulates the translocation of prePhoB into E. coli membrane vesicles bearing the B. subtilis translocase, whereas it interferes with the SecB-mediated translocation of proOmpA into membrane vesicles of E. coli. The specific interaction with the SecA translocation ATPase and preproteins suggests that CsaA acts as a chaperone that promotes the export of a subset of preproteins in B. subtilis.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinlei Zhao ◽  
Shahista Nisa ◽  
Michael S. Donnenberg

AbstractType IV pili (T4Ps) are multifunctional protein fibers found in many bacteria and archaea. All T4P systems have an extension ATPase, which provides the energy required to push structural subunits out of the membrane. We previously reported that the BfpD T4P ATPase from enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) has the expected hexameric structure and ATPase activity, the latter enhanced by the presence of the N-terminal cytoplasmic domains of its partner proteins BfpC and BfpE. In this study, we further investigated the kinetics of the BfpD ATPase. Despite high purity of the proteins, the reported enhanced ATPase activity was found to be from (an) ATPase(s) contaminating the N-BfpC preparation. Furthermore, although two mutations in highly conserved bfpD sites led to loss of function in vivo, the purified mutant proteins retained some ATPase activity, albeit less than the wild-type protein. Therefore, the observed ATPase activity of BfpD was also affected by (a) contaminating ATPase(s). Expression of the mutant bfpD alleles did not interfere with BfpD function in bacteria that also expressed wild-type BfpD. However, a similar mutation of bfpF, which encodes the retraction ATPase, blocked the function of wild-type BfpF when both were present. These results highlight similarities and differences in function and activity of T4P extension and retraction ATPases in EPEC.


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (7) ◽  
pp. 2118-2123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitsuhiro Itaya ◽  
Akira Omori ◽  
Shigenori Kanaya ◽  
Robert J. Crouch ◽  
Teruo Tanaka ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Two genes encoding functional RNase H (EC 3.1.26.4 ) were isolated from a gram-positive bacterium, Bacillus subtilis 168. Two DNA clones exhibiting RNase H activities both in vivo and in vitro were obtained from a B. subtilis DNA library. One (28.2 kDa) revealed high similarity to Escherichia coli RNase HII, encoded by the rnhB gene. The other (33.9 kDa) was designated rnhC and encodes B. subtilisRNase HIII. The B. subtilis genome has anrnhA homologue, the product of which has not yet shown RNase H activity. Analyses of all three B. subtilis genes revealed that rnhB andrnhC cannot be simultaneously inactivated. This observation indicated that in B. subtilis both thernhB and rnhC products are involved in certain essential cellular processes that are different from those suggested by E. coli rnh mutation studies. Sequence conservation between the rnhB and rnhC genes implies that both originated from a single ancestral RNase H gene. The roles of bacterial RNase H may be indicated by the singlernhC homologue in the small genome ofMycoplasma species.


2015 ◽  
Vol 197 (11) ◽  
pp. 1952-1962 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine A. Black ◽  
Patricia C. Dos Santos

ABSTRACTThe 2-thiouridine (s2U) modification of the wobble position in glutamate, glutamine, and lysine tRNA molecules serves to stabilize the anticodon structure, improving ribosomal binding and overall efficiency of the translational process. Biosynthesis of s2U inEscherichia colirequires a cysteine desulfurase (IscS), a thiouridylase (MnmA), and five intermediate sulfur-relay enzymes (TusABCDE). TheE. coliMnmA adenylates and subsequently thiolates tRNA to form the s2U modification.Bacillus subtilislacks IscS and the intermediate sulfur relay proteins, yet its genome contains a cysteine desulfurase gene,yrvO, directly adjacent tomnmA. The genomic synteny ofyrvOandmnmAcombined with the absence of the Tus proteins indicated a potential functionality of these proteins in s2U formation. Here, we provide evidence that theB. subtilisYrvO and MnmA are sufficient for s2U biosynthesis. A conditionalB. subtilisknockout strain showed that s2U abundance correlates with MnmA expression, andin vivocomplementation studies inE. coliIscS- or MnmA-deficient strains revealed the competency of these proteins in s2U biosynthesis.In vitroexperiments demonstrated s2U formation by YrvO and MnmA, and kinetic analysis established a partnership between theB. subtilisproteins that is contingent upon the presence of ATP. Furthermore, we observed that the slow-growth phenotype ofE. coliΔiscSand ΔmnmAstrains associated with s2U depletion is recovered byB. subtilis yrvOandmnmA. These results support the proposal that the involvement of a devoted cysteine desulfurase, YrvO, in s2U synthesis bypasses the need for a complex biosynthetic pathway by direct sulfur transfer to MnmA.IMPORTANCEThe 2-thiouridine (s2U) modification of the wobble position in glutamate, glutamine, and lysine tRNA is conserved in all three domains of life and stabilizes the anticodon structure, thus guaranteeing fidelity in translation. The biosynthesis of s2U inEscherichia colirequires seven proteins: the cysteine desulfurase IscS, the thiouridylase MnmA, and five intermediate sulfur-relay enzymes (TusABCDE).Bacillus subtilisand most Gram-positive bacteria lack a complete set of biosynthetic components. Interestingly, themnmAcoding sequence is located adjacent toyrvO, encoding a cysteine desulfurase. In this work, we provide evidence that theB. subtilisYrvO is able to transfer sulfur directly to MnmA. Both proteins are sufficient for s2U biosynthesis in a pathway independent of the one used inE. coli.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Knust ◽  
Peter L. Graumann

Abstract Objective Structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) proteins are key players in chromosome dynamics in all types of organisms. The so-called condensin subfamily is essential for chromosome condensation in eukaryotic cells, as is the bacterial SMC complex (called MukBEF in Escherichia coli). We expressed the Bacillus subtilis Smc protein and its two complex partners ScpA and ScpB in E. coli cells, and monitored effects on chromosome compaction by DNA staining of live cells using epifluorescence microscopy. Data description We show that expression of BsSmc leads to strong chromosome compaction, while expression of ScpAB does not show any effect. Chromosome compaction by Smc was also found for mutant versions lacking ATP binding or ability for head engagement, and was counteracted by concomitant expression of ScpAB. Our findings show that the SMC complex can act as autonomous condensation system in a heterologous bacterial host system, for which neither ATP binding nor ATP hydrolysis are required. Our investigation suggests that the negative effect on compaction activity of Smc exerted by ScpAB in vivo does not involve an effect on ATPase activity, but more likely a stabilization of the engagement of head domains, which in turn may affect ATPase activity.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (14) ◽  
pp. 4774-4781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Schmidt ◽  
Dmitri A. Ryjenkov ◽  
Mark Gomelsky

ABSTRACT The EAL domain (also known as domain of unknown function 2 or DUF2) is a ubiquitous signal transduction protein domain in the Bacteria. Its involvement in hydrolysis of the novel second messenger cyclic dimeric GMP (c-di-GMP) was demonstrated in vivo but not in vitro. The EAL domain-containing protein Dos from Escherichia coli was reported to hydrolyze cyclic AMP (cAMP), implying that EAL domains have different substrate specificities. To investigate the biochemical activity of EAL, the E. coli EAL domain-containing protein YahA and its individual EAL domain were overexpressed, purified, and characterized in vitro. Both full-length YahA and the EAL domain hydrolyzed c-di-GMP into linear dimeric GMP, providing the first biochemical evidence that the EAL domain is sufficient for phosphodiesterase activity. This activity was c-di-GMP specific, optimal at alkaline pH, dependent on Mg2+ or Mn2+, strongly inhibited by Ca2+, and independent of protein oligomerization. Linear dimeric GMP was shown to be 5′pGpG. The EAL domain from Dos was overexpressed, purified, and found to function as a c-di-GMP-specific phosphodiesterase, not as a cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase, in contrast to previous reports. The EAL domains can hydrolyze 5′pGpG into GMP, however, very slowly, thus implying that this activity is irrelevant in vivo. Therefore, c-di-GMP is the exclusive substrate of EAL. Multiple-sequence alignment revealed two groups of EAL domains hypothesized to correspond to enzymatically active and inactive domains. The domains in the latter group have mutations in residues conserved in the active domains. The enzymatic inactivity of EAL domains may explain their coexistence with GGDEF domains in proteins possessing c-di-GMP synthase (diguanulate cyclase) activity.


1998 ◽  
Vol 180 (9) ◽  
pp. 2395-2401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz Narberhaus ◽  
Michael Kowarik ◽  
Christoph Beck ◽  
Hauke Hennecke

ABSTRACT Expression of the dnaKJ andgroESL 1 heat shock operons ofBradyrhizobium japonicum depends on a ς32-like transcription factor. Three such factors (RpoH1, RpoH2, and RpoH3) have previously been identified in this organism. We report here that they direct transcription from some but not all ς32-type promoters when the respective rpoH genes are expressed inEscherichia coli. All three RpoH factors were purified as soluble C-terminally histidine-tagged proteins, although the bulk of overproduced RpoH3 was insoluble. The purified proteins were recognized by an anti-E. coli ς32 serum. While RpoH1 and RpoH2 productively interacted with E. coli core RNA polymerase and produced E. coli groE transcript in vitro, RpoH3 was unable to do so.B. japonicum core RNA polymerase was prepared and reconstituted with the RpoH proteins. Again, RpoH1 and RpoH2 were active, and they initiated transcription at theB. japonicum groESL 1 and dnaKJpromoters. In all cases, the in vitro start site was shown to be identical to the start site determined in vivo. Promoter competition experiments revealed that the B. japonicum dnaKJ andgroESL 1 promoters were suboptimal for transcription by RpoH1- or RpoH2-containing RNA polymerase from B. japonicum. In a mixture of different templates, the E. coli groESL promoter was preferred over any other promoter. Differences were observed in the specificities of both sigma factors toward B. japonicum rpoH-dependent promoters. We conclude that the primary function of RpoH2is to supply the cell with DnaKJ under normal growth conditions whereas RpoH1 is responsible mainly for increasing the level of GroESL1 after a heat shock.


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (19) ◽  
pp. 6053-6062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Sciochetti ◽  
Patrick J. Piggot ◽  
David J. Sherratt ◽  
Garry Blakely

ABSTRACT The Bacillus subtilis ripX gene encodes a protein that has 37 and 44% identity with the XerC and XerD site-specific recombinases of Escherichia coli. XerC and XerD are hypothesized to act in concert at the dif site to resolve dimeric chromosomes formed by recombination during replication. Cultures of ripX mutants contained a subpopulation of unequal-size cells held together in long chains. The chains included anucleate cells and cells with aberrantly dense or diffuse nucleoids, indicating a chromosome partitioning failure. This result is consistent with RipX having a role in the resolution of chromosome dimers inB. subtilis. Spores contain a single uninitiated chromosome, and analysis of germinated, outgrowing spores showed that the placement of FtsZ rings and septa is affected in ripXstrains by the first division after the initiation of germination. The introduction of a recA mutation into ripXstrains resulted in only slight modifications of the ripXphenotype, suggesting that chromosome dimers can form in a RecA-independent manner in B. subtilis. In addition to RipX, the CodV protein of B. subtilis shows extensive similarity to XerC and XerD. The RipX and CodV proteins were shown to bind in vitro to DNA containing the E. coli dif site. Together they functioned efficiently in vitro to catalyze site-specific cleavage of an artificial Holliday junction containing adif site. Inactivation of codV alone did not cause a discernible change in phenotype, and it is speculated that RipX can substitute for CodV in vivo.


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