scholarly journals Identification and In Vivo Functional Analysis by Gene Disruption of ctnA, an Activator Gene Involved in Citrinin Biosynthesis in Monascus purpureus

2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (16) ◽  
pp. 5097-5103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeo Shimizu ◽  
Hiroshi Kinoshita ◽  
Takuya Nihira
Keyword(s):  
Polyketide Synthase ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
Monascus Purpureus ◽  
Pcr Analysis ◽  
Binding Motif ◽  
Acid Protein ◽  
Flanking Region ◽  
Secondary Fungal Metabolite ◽  
Amino Acid Protein

ABSTRACT Citrinin, a secondary fungal metabolite of polyketide origin, is moderately nephrotoxic to vertebrates, including humans. From the red-pigment producer Monascus purpureus, a 21-kbp region flanking pksCT, which encodes citrinin polyketide synthase, was cloned. Four open reading frames (ORFs) (orf1, orf2, orf3, and orf4) in the 5′-flanking region and one ORF (orf5) in the 3′-flanking region were identified in the vicinity of pksCT. orf1 to orf5 encode a homolog of a dehydrogenase (similarity, 46%), a regulator (similarity, 38%), an oxygenase (similarity, 41%), an oxidoreductase (similarity, 26%), and a transporter (similarity, 58%), respectively. orf2 (2,006 bp with four introns) encodes a 576-amino-acid protein containing a typical Zn(II)2Cys6 DNA binding motif at the N terminus and was designated ctnA. Although reverse transcriptase PCR analysis revealed that all of these ORFs, except for orf1, were transcribed with pksCT under citrinin production conditions, the disruption of ctnA caused large decreases in the transcription of pksCT and orf5, together with reduction of citrinin production to barely detectable levels, suggesting that these two genes are under control of the ctnA product. Complementation of the ctnA disruptant with intact ctnA on an autonomously replicating plasmid restored both transcription and citrinin production, indicating that CtnA is a major activator of citrinin biosynthesis.

scholarly journals Polyketide Synthase Gene Responsible for Citrinin Biosynthesis in Monascus purpureus

2005 ◽  
Vol 71 (7) ◽  
pp. 3453-3457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeo Shimizu ◽  
Hiroshi Kinoshita ◽  
Shinji Ishihara ◽  
Kanae Sakai ◽  
Shiro Nagai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polyketide Synthase ◽  
Acyl Carrier Protein ◽  
Monascus Purpureus ◽  
Degenerate Primers ◽  
Fermentation Products ◽  
Gram Positive Bacteria ◽  
Acid Protein ◽  
Polyketide Synthase Gene ◽  
Ketosynthase Domain ◽  
Amino Acid Protein

ABSTRACT Citrinin produced by Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Monascus species is a polyketide compound that has nephrotoxic activity in mammals and is bactericidal toward gram-positive bacteria. To avoid the risk of citrinin contamination in other fermentation products produced by Monascus purpureus, knowledge of the citrinin biosynthetic genes is needed so that citrinin-nonproducing strains can be generated. We cloned a polyketide synthase (PKS) gene from M. purpureus with degenerate primers designed to amplify the conserved region of a ketosynthase domain of a fungal PKS. A 13-kb genomic DNA fragment was identified that contained a full-length PKS gene (pksCT) of 7,838 bp with a single 56-bp intron. pksCT encodes a 2,593-amino-acid protein that contains putative domains for ketosynthase, acyltransferase, acyl carrier protein (ACP), and a rare methyltransferase. There was no obvious thioesterase domain, which usually is downstream of the ACP domain in multi-aromatic-ring PKSs. pksCT transcription was correlated with citrinin production, suggesting that the pksCT gene product was involved in citrinin biosynthesis. Homologous recombination between the wild-type allele and a truncated disruption construct resulted in a pksCT-disrupted strain of M. purpureus. The disruptant did not produce citrinin, but a pksCT revertant generated by successive endogenous recombination events in the pksCT disruptant restored citrinin production, indicating that pksCT encoded the PKS responsible for citrinin biosynthesis in M. purpureus.

scholarly journals LASS3 (longevity assurance homologue 3) is a mainly testis-specific (dihydro)ceramide synthase with relatively broad substrate specificity

2006 ◽  
Vol 398 (3) ◽  
pp. 531-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukiko Mizutani ◽  
Akio Kihara ◽  
Yasuyuki Igarashi
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Substrate Specificity ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Fatty Acyl ◽  
Ceramide Synthase ◽  
Broad Substrate Specificity ◽  
Acid Protein ◽  
Amino Acid Protein

The LASS (longevity assurance homologue) family members are highly conserved from yeasts to mammals. Five mouse and human LASS family members, namely LASS1, LASS2, LASS4, LASS5 and LASS6, have been identified and characterized. In the present study we cloned two transcriptional variants of hitherto-uncharacterized mouse LASS3 cDNA, which encode a 384-amino-acid protein (LASS3) and a 419-amino-acid protein (LASS3-long). In vivo, [3H]dihydrosphingosine labelling and electrospray-ionization MS revealed that overproduction of either LASS3 isoform results in increases in several ceramide species, with some preference toward those having middle- to long-chain-fatty acyl-CoAs. A similar substrate preference was observed in an in vitro (dihydro)ceramide synthase assay. These results indicate that LASS3 possesses (dihydro)ceramide synthesis activity with relatively broad substrate specificity. We also found that, except for a weak display in skin, LASS3 mRNA expression is limited almost solely to testis, implying that LASS3 plays an important role in this gland.

scholarly journals Identification and Analysis of Genes Involved in Anaerobic Toluene Metabolism by Strain T1: Putative Role of a Glycine Free Radical

1998 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 1650-1656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter W. Coschigano ◽  
Thomas S. Wehrman ◽  
L. Y. Young
Keyword(s):  
Free Radical ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Molecular Mass ◽  
Cysteine Residue ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Pyruvate Formate Lyase ◽  
Calculated Molecular Mass ◽  
Acid Protein ◽  
Amino Acid Protein

ABSTRACT The denitrifying strain T1 is able to grow with toluene serving as its sole carbon source. Two mutants which have defects in this toluene utilization pathway have been characterized. A clone has been isolated, and subclones which contain tutD and tutE, two genes in the T1 toluene metabolic pathway, have been generated. ThetutD gene codes for an 864-amino-acid protein with a calculated molecular mass of 97,600 Da. The tutE gene codes for a 375-amino-acid protein with a calculated molecular mass of 41,300 Da. Two additional small open reading frames have been identified, but their role is not known. The TutE protein has homology to pyruvate formate-lyase activating enzymes. The TutD protein has homology to pyruvate formate-lyase enzymes, including a conserved cysteine residue at the active site and a conserved glycine residue that is activated to a free radical in this enzyme. Site-directed mutagenesis of these two conserved amino acids shows that they are also essential for the function of TutD.

scholarly journals Translational induction of ATF4 during integrated stress response requires noncanonical initiation factors eIF2D and DENR

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepika Vasudevan ◽  
Sarah D. Neuman ◽  
Amy Yang ◽  
Lea Lough ◽  
Brian Brown ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Er Stress ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
Binding Motif ◽  
Integrated Stress Response ◽  
Developmental Defects ◽  
Initiation Factors

Abstract The Integrated Stress Response (ISR) helps metazoan cells adapt to cellular stress by limiting the availability of initiator methionyl-tRNA for translation. Such limiting conditions paradoxically stimulate the translation of ATF4 mRNA through a regulatory 5′ leader sequence with multiple upstream Open Reading Frames (uORFs), thereby activating stress-responsive gene expression. Here, we report the identification of two critical regulators of such ATF4 induction, the noncanonical initiation factors eIF2D and DENR. Loss of eIF2D and DENR in Drosophila results in increased vulnerability to amino acid deprivation, susceptibility to retinal degeneration caused by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and developmental defects similar to ATF4 mutants. eIF2D requires its RNA-binding motif for regulation of 5′ leader-mediated ATF4 translation. Consistently, eIF2D and DENR deficient human cells show impaired ATF4 protein induction in response to ER stress. Altogether, our findings indicate that eIF2D and DENR are critical mediators of ATF4 translational induction and stress responses in vivo.

scholarly journals Saccharomyces cerevisiae Nip7p is required for efficient 60S ribosome subunit biogenesis.

1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 5001-5015 ◽  
Author(s):  
N I Zanchin ◽  
P Roberts ◽  
A DeSilva ◽  
F Sherman ◽  
D S Goldfarb
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
Growth Defect ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Protein Fusion ◽  
Acid Protein ◽  
Conserved Gene ◽  
Green Fluorescent

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae temperature-sensitive (ts) allele nip7-1 exhibits phenotypes associated with defects in the translation apparatus, including hypersensitivity to paromomycin and accumulation of halfmer polysomes. The cloned NIP7+ gene complemented the nip7-1 ts growth defect, the paromomycin hypersensitivity, and the halfmer defect. NIP7 encodes a 181-amino-acid protein (21 kDa) with homology to predicted products of open reading frames from humans, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Arabidopsis thaliana, indicating that Nip7p function is evolutionarily conserved. Gene disruption analysis demonstrated that NIP7 is essential for growth. A fraction of Nip7p cosedimented through sucrose gradients with free 60S ribosomal subunits but not with 80S monosomes or polysomal ribosomes, indicating that it is not a ribosomal protein. Nip7p was found evenly distributed throughout the cytoplasm and nucleus by indirect immunofluorescence; however, in vivo localization of a Nip7p-green fluorescent protein fusion protein revealed that a significant amount of Nip7p is present inside the nucleus, most probably in the nucleolus. Depletion of Nip7-1p resulted in a decrease in protein synthesis rates, accumulation of halfmers, reduced levels of 60S subunits, and, ultimately, cessation of growth. Nip7-1p-depleted cells showed defective pre-rRNA processing, including accumulation of the 35S rRNA precursor, presence of a 23S aberrant precursor, decreased 20S pre-rRNA levels, and accumulation of 27S pre-rRNA. Delayed processing of 27S pre-rRNA appeared to be the cause of reduced synthesis of 25S rRNA relative to 18S rRNA, which may be responsible for the deficit of 60S subunits in these cells.

scholarly journals Genetic Localization and Molecular Characterization of the nonS Gene Required for Macrotetrolide Biosynthesis inStreptomyces griseus DSM40695

2000 ◽  
Vol 44 (7) ◽  
pp. 1809-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wyatt C. Smith ◽  
Longkuan Xiang ◽  
Ben Shen
Keyword(s):  
Polyketide Synthase ◽  
Isotope Labeling ◽  
Streptomyces Griseus ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Cyclic Polyethers ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Reading Frames

ABSTRACT The macrotetrolides are a family of cyclic polyethers derived from tetramerization, in a stereospecific fashion, of the enantiomeric nonactic acid (NA) and its homologs. Isotope labeling experiments established that NA is of polyketide origin, and biochemical investigations demonstrated that 2-methyl-6,8-dihydroxynon-2E-enoic acid can be converted into NA by a cell-free preparation from Streptomyces lividans that expresses nonS. These results lead to the hypothesis that macrotetrolide biosynthesis involves a pair of enantiospecific polyketide pathways. In this work, a 55-kb contiguous DNA region was cloned from Streptomyces griseus DSM40695, a 6.3-kb fragment of which was sequenced to reveal five open reading frames, including the previously reported nonR andnonS genes. Inactivation of nonS in vivo completely abolished macrotetrolide production. Complementation of thenonS mutant by the expression of nonS intrans fully restored its macrotetrolide production ability, with a distribution of individual macrotetrolides similar to that for the wild-type producer. In contrast, fermentation of thenonS mutant in the presence of exogenous (±)-NA resulted in the production of nonactin, monactin, and dinactin but not in the production of trinactin and tetranactin. These results prove the direct involvement of nonS in macrotetrolide biosynthesis. The difference in macrotetrolide production between in vivo complementation of the nonS mutant by the plasmid-borne nonSgene and fermentation of the nonS mutant in the presence of exogenously added (±)-NA suggests that NonS catalyzes the formation of (−)-NA and its homologs, supporting the existence of a pair of enantiospecific polyketide pathways for macrotetrolide biosynthesis inS. griseus. The latter should provide a model that can be used to study the mechanism by which polyketide synthase controls stereochemistry during polyketide biosynthesis.

scholarly journals Genome of Staphylococcal Phage K: a New Lineage of Myoviridae Infecting Gram-Positive Bacteria with a Low G+C Content

2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (9) ◽  
pp. 2862-2871 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. O'Flaherty ◽  
A. Coffey ◽  
R. Edwards ◽  
W. Meaney ◽  
G. F. Fitzgerald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Restriction Enzymes ◽  
Rnase H ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
The Other ◽  
Gram Positive Bacteria ◽  
Acid Protein ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Highly Virulent ◽  
Reading Frames ◽  
Amino Acid Protein

ABSTRACT Phage K is a polyvalent phage of the Myoviridae family which is active against a wide range of staphylococci. Phage genome sequencing revealed a linear DNA genome of 127,395 bp, which carries 118 putative open reading frames. The genome is organized in a modular form, encoding modules for lysis, structural proteins, DNA replication, and transcription. Interestingly, the structural module shows high homology to the structural module from Listeria phage A511, suggesting intergenus horizontal transfer. In addition, phage K exhibits the potential to encode proteins necessary for its own replisome, including DNA ligase, primase, helicase, polymerase, RNase H, and DNA binding proteins. Phage K has a complete absence of GATC sites, making it insensitive to restriction enzymes which cleave this sequence. Three introns (lys-I1, pol-I2, and pol-I3) encoding putative endonucleases were located in the genome. Two of these (pol-I2 and pol-I3) were found to interrupt the DNA polymerase gene, while the other (lys-I1) interrupts the lysin gene. Two of the introns encode putative proteins with homology to HNH endonucleases, whereas the other encodes a 270-amino-acid protein which contains two zinc fingers (CX2CX22CX2C and CX2CX23CX2C). The availability of the genome of this highly virulent phage, which is active against infective staphylococci, should provide new insights into the biology and evolution of large broad-spectrum polyvalent phages.

scholarly journals A mouse Fas-associated protein with homology to the human Mort1/FADD protein is essential for Fas-induced apoptosis.

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 2756-2763 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Zhang ◽  
A Winoto
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Cell Surface Receptor ◽  
Mouse Cdna ◽  
Acid Protein ◽  
Surface Receptor ◽  
Induced Apoptosis ◽  
Necrosis Factor ◽  
Amino Acid Protein

The Fas cell surface receptor belongs to the tumor necrosis factor receptor family and can initiate apoptosis in a variety of cell types. Using the Fas cytoplasmic domain as bait in a yeast two-hybrid screening, we isolated a mouse cDNA encoding a 205-amino-acid protein. Its predicted protein sequence shows 68% identity and 80% similarity with the sequence of recently described human Mort/FADD. This protein, most likely the mouse homolog of human FADD, associates with Fas in vivo only upon the induction of cell death. A fraction of this protein is highly phosphorylated at serine/threonine residues, with both phosphorylated and unphosphorylated forms being capable of binding to FAS. Stable expression of a truncated form of the Mort/FADD protein protects cells from Fas-mediated apoptosis by interfering with the wild-type protein-Fas interaction. Thus, mouse Mort/FADD is an essential downstream component that mediates Fas-induced apoptosis.

scholarly journals A Novel Rb- and p300-Binding Protein Inhibits Transactivation by MyoD

2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (23) ◽  
pp. 8903-8915 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Robb MacLellan ◽  
G. Xiao ◽  
M. Abdellatif ◽  
Michael D. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Binding Motif ◽  
Tissue Specific ◽  
Yeast Two Hybrid System ◽  
C Terminus ◽  
Acid Protein ◽  
P300 Binding ◽  
Amino Acid Protein ◽  
Novel Protein

ABSTRACT The retinoblastoma protein (Rb) regulates both the cell cycle and tissue-specific transcription, by modulating the activity of factors that associate with its A-B and C pockets. In skeletal muscle, Rb has been reported to regulate irreversible cell cycle exit and muscle-specific transcription. To identify factors interacting with Rb in muscle cells, we utilized the yeast two-hybrid system, using the A-B and C pockets of Rb as bait. A novel protein we have designated E1A-like inhibitor of differentiation 1 (EID-1), was the predominant Rb-binding clone isolated. It is preferentially expressed in adult cardiac and skeletal muscle and encodes a 187-amino-acid protein, with a classic Rb-binding motif (LXCXE) in its C terminus. Overexpression of EID-1 in skeletal muscle inhibited tissue-specific transcription. Repression of skeletal muscle-restricted genes was mediated by a block to transactivation by MyoD independent of G1 exit and, surprisingly, was potentiated by a mutation that prevents EID-1 binding to Rb. Inhibition of MyoD may be explained by EID-1's ability to bind and inhibit p300's histone acetylase activity, an essential MyoD coactivator. Thus, EID-1 binds both Rb and p300 and is a novel repressor of MyoD function.

scholarly journals Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 3: Complete Nucleotide Sequence and Characterization of the Human Tax3 Protein

2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (19) ◽  
pp. 9876-9888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Calattini ◽  
Sébastien Alain Chevalier ◽  
Renan Duprez ◽  
Philippe Afonso ◽  
Alain Froment ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
Virus Type ◽  
Mutational Analysis ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Amino Acid Level ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
Binding Motif ◽  
Human T Cell ◽  
Type 3

ABSTRACT We and others have recently uncovered the existence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 3 (HTLV-3), the third member of the HTLV family. We have now sequenced the full-length HTLV-3Pyl43 provirus. As expected, HTLV-3Pyl43 contains open reading frames corresponding to the gag, pol, env, tax, and rex genes. Interestingly, its long terminal repeat (LTR) includes only two Tax-responsive elements, as is the case for type 3 simian T-cell lymphotropic viruses (STLV-3). Phylogenetic analyses reveal that HTLV-3Pyl43 is closely related to central African STLV-3. Unexpectedly, the proximal pX region of HTLV-3Pyl43 lacks 366 bp compared to its STLV-3 counterpart. Because of this deletion, the previously described RorfII sequence is lacking. At the amino acid level, Tax3Pyl43 displays strong similarities with HTLV-1 Tax, including the sequence of a PDZ class I binding motif. In transient-transfection assays, Tax3Pyl43 activates the transcriptions from HTLV-3, HTLV-1, and HTLV-2 LTRs. Mutational analysis indicates that two functional domains (M22 and M47) important for transactivation through the CREB/ATF or NF-κB pathway are similar but not identical in Tax1 and Tax3Pyl43. We also show that Tax3Pyl43 transactivates the human interleukin-8 and Bcl-XL promoters through the induction of the NF-κB pathway. On the other hand, Tax3Pyl43 represses the transcriptional activity of the p53 tumor suppressor protein as well as the c-Myb promoter. Altogether, these results demonstrate that although HTLV-3 and HTLV-1 have only 60% identity, Tax3Pyl43 is functionally closely related to the transforming protein Tax1 and suggest that HTLV-3, like HTLV-1, might be pathogenic in vivo.

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