scholarly journals Selection and Characterization of Escherichia coliVariants Capable of Growth on an Otherwise Toxic Tryptophan Analogue

2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (18) ◽  
pp. 5414-5425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie M. Bacher ◽  
Andrew D. Ellington

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli isolates that were tolerant of incorporation of high proportions of 4-fluorotryptophan were evolved by serial growth. The resultant strain still preferred tryptophan for growth but showed improved growth relative to the parental strain on other tryptophan analogues. Evolved clones fully substituted fluorotryptophan for tryptophan in their proteomes within the limits of mass spectral and amino acid analyses. Of the genes sequenced, many genes were found to be unaltered in the evolved strain; however, three genes encoding enzymes involved in tryptophan uptake and utilization were altered: the aromatic amino acid permease (aroP) and tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase (trpS) contained several amino acid substitutions, and the tyrosine repressor (tyrR) had a nonsense mutation. While kinetic analysis of the tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase suggests discrimination against 4-fluorotryptophan, an analysis of the incorporation and growth patterns of the evolved bacteria suggest that other mutations also aid in the adaptation to the tryptophan analogue. These results suggest that the incorporation of unnatural amino acids into organismal proteomes may be possible but that extensive evolution may be required to reoptimize proteins and metabolism to accommodate such analogues.

Amino Acids ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas L. Williams ◽  
Debra J. Iskandar ◽  
Alexander R. Nödling ◽  
Yurong Tan ◽  
Louis Y. P. Luk ◽  
...  

AbstractGenetic code expansion is a powerful technique for site-specific incorporation of an unnatural amino acid into a protein of interest. This technique relies on an orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair and has enabled incorporation of over 100 different unnatural amino acids into ribosomally synthesized proteins in cells. Pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) and its cognate tRNA from Methanosarcina species are arguably the most widely used orthogonal pair. Here, we investigated whether beneficial effect in unnatural amino acid incorporation caused by N-terminal mutations in PylRS of one species is transferable to PylRS of another species. It was shown that conserved mutations on the N-terminal domain of MmPylRS improved the unnatural amino acid incorporation efficiency up to five folds. As MbPylRS shares high sequence identity to MmPylRS, and the two homologs are often used interchangeably, we examined incorporation of five unnatural amino acids by four MbPylRS variants at two temperatures. Our results indicate that the beneficial N-terminal mutations in MmPylRS did not improve unnatural amino acid incorporation efficiency by MbPylRS. Knowledge from this work contributes to our understanding of PylRS homologs which are needed to improve the technique of genetic code expansion in the future.


1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Piérard ◽  
P Jacobs ◽  
D Gheysen ◽  
M Hoylaerts ◽  
A Cravador ◽  
...  

In order to produce plasminogen activators (PA) more specific and more active than their natural counterparts, we designed recombinant genes encoding mutant forms of urokinase (u-PA) and chimaeric molecules combining fragments of tissue type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and of u-PA. The following constructs have been realized : 1°) u-PA where amino acids Arg156 and Lys158 have been replaced by Thr. The purpose of this approach was to obtain a prourokinase molecule displaying similar properties as the natural single chain urokinase (scu-PA) but resistant to the cleavage by plasmin ; 2°) u-PA where the second cleavage site, Lys135-Lys136, was also eliminated either by replacing amino acid 132 to amino acid 147 by a shorter link (Ser-Thr) as found in t-PA, or by replacing the two lysines by glutamine residues. The resulting molecules correspond thus to completely uncleavable scu-PA forms ; 3°) an hybrid composed of the finger domain of t-PA and of the B-chain of u-PA ; 4°) an hybrid made of the A-chain of t-PA and of the B-chain of u-PA ; 5°) an hybrid where the kringle 2 of t-PA has been inserted between the kringle domain and the B-chain of u-PA. The last three constructs have been made to confer the fibrin binding specificity of t-PA to the B-chain of u-PA.All recombinant DNAs were introduced, via an expression vector, into R1610 and CosI cells. Secretion of the recombinant products was monitored by ELISA and activities were assayed in an immobilized system involving a monoclonal antibody (AAU2) raised against 33K u-PA, plasminogen and the specific chromogenic substrate S2251. In this assay, all recombinant products, except the plasmin resistant (156-158) scu-PA, showed apparent specific activities comparable to the activity of natural two-chain u-PA. Potential interest of these new plasminogen activators in therapy will be discussed and further characterization of the new molecules will-be presented.


2004 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 5315-5322 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril ◽  
Eric Altermann ◽  
Rebecca L. Hoover-Fitzula ◽  
Raul J. Cano ◽  
Todd R. Klaenhammer

ABSTRACT Amino acid decarboxylation-antiporter reactions are one of the most important systems for maintaining intracellular pH between physiological limits under acid stress. We analyzed the Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM complete genome sequence and selected four open reading frames with similarities to genes involved with decarboxylation reactions involved in acid tolerance in several microorganisms. Putative genes encoding an ornithine decarboxylase, an amino acid permease, a glutamate γ-aminobutyrate antiporter, and a transcriptional regulator were disrupted by insertional inactivation. The ability of L. acidophilus to survive low-pH conditions, such as those encountered in the stomach or fermented dairy foods, was investigated and compared to the abilities of early- and late-stationary-phase cells of the mutants by challenging them with a variety of acidic conditions. All of the integrants were more sensitive to low pH than the parental strain. Interestingly, each integrant also exhibited an adaptive acid response during logarithmic growth, indicating that multiple mechanisms are present and orchestrated in L. acidophilus in response to acid challenge.


Parasitology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 134 (14) ◽  
pp. 1989-1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. TACHIBANA ◽  
X.-J. CHENG ◽  
S. KOBAYASHI ◽  
Y. OKADA ◽  
J. ITOH ◽  
...  

SUMMARYWe have recently identified 2 surface proteins inEntamoeba histolyticaas intermediate subunits of galactose- andN-acetyl-D-galactosamine-inhibitable lectin (EhIgl1 and EhIgl2); these proteins both contain multiple CXXC motifs. Here, we report the molecular characterization of the corresponding proteins inEntamoeba dispar, which is neither pathogenic nor invasive. TwoIglgenes encoding 1110 and 1106 amino acids (EdIgl1 and EdIgl2) were cloned from 2 strains ofE. dispar. The amino acid sequence identities were 79% between EdIgl1 and EdIgl2, 75–76% between EdIgl1 and EhIgl1, and 73–74% between EdIgl2 and EhIgl2. However, all the CXXC motifs were conserved in the EdIgl proteins, suggesting that the fold conferred by this motif is important for function. Comparison of the expression level of theIglgenes by real-time RT-PCR showed 3–5 times higher expression ofEdIgl1compared toEdIgl2. Most EdIgl1 and EdIgl2 proteins were co-localized on the surface and in the cytoplasm of trophozoites, based on confocal microscopy. However, a different localization of EdIgl1 and EdIgl2 in intracellular vacuoles and a different level of phenotypic expression of the two Igls were also observed. These results demonstrate that Igls are important proteins even in non-pathogenic amoeba and that Igl1 and Igl2 may possess different functions.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 6597-6606 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Schmidt ◽  
M N Hall ◽  
A Koller

The macrocyclic lactone FK506 exerts immunosuppressive effects on T lymphocytes by interfering with signal transduction leading to T-cell activation and also inhibits the growth of eukaryotic microorganisms, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We reported previously that an FK506-sensitive target in S. cerevisiae is required for amino acid import and that overexpression of two new genes, TAT1 and TAT2 (formerly called TAP1 and TAP2), confers resistance to the drug. Here we report that TAT1 and TAT2 encode novel members of the yeast amino acid permease family composed of integral membrane proteins that share 30 to 40% identity. TAT1 is the tyrosine high-affinity transporter, which also mediates low-affinity or low-capacity uptake of tryptophan. TAT2 is the tryptophan high-affinity transporter. FK506 does not reduce the levels of TAT1 and TAT2 transcripts, indicating that the inhibition of amino acid transport by the drug is posttranscriptional.


2013 ◽  
Vol 80 (5) ◽  
pp. 1718-1725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaomi Minaba ◽  
Yusuke Kato

ABSTRACTSynthetic biologists construct complex biological circuits by combinations of various genetic parts. Many genetic parts that are orthogonal to one another and are independent of existing cellular processes would be ideal for use in synthetic biology. However, our toolbox is still limited with respect to the bacteriumEscherichia coli, which is important for both research and industrial use. The site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acids is a technique that incorporates unnatural amino acids into proteins using a modified exogenous aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair that is orthogonal to any native pairs in a host and is independent from other cellular functions. Focusing on the orthogonality and independency that are suitable for the genetic parts, we designed novel AND gate and translational switches using the unnatural amino acid 3-iodo-l-tyrosine incorporation system inE. coli. A translational switch was turned on after addition of 3-iodo-l-tyrosine in the culture medium within minutes and allowed tuning of switchability and translational efficiency. As an application, we also constructed a gene expression system that produced large amounts of proteins under induction conditions and exhibited zero-leakage expression under repression conditions. Similar translational switches are expected to be applicable also for eukaryotes such as yeasts, nematodes, insects, mammalian cells, and plants.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. e0006025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Ide Aoki ◽  
Sandra Marcia Muxel ◽  
Ricardo Andrade Zampieri ◽  
Stephanie Maia Acuña ◽  
Juliane Cristina Ribeiro Fernandes ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 1378-1384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kentaro Isotani ◽  
Junji Kurokawa ◽  
Fumiko Suzuki ◽  
Syunsuke Nomoto ◽  
Takashi Negishi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe used the resting-cell reaction to screen approximately 200 microorganisms for biocatalysts which reduce 3-quinuclidinone to optically pure (R)-(−)-3-quinuclidinol.Microbacterium luteolumJCM 9174 was selected as the most suitable organism. The genes encoding the protein products that reduced 3-quinuclidinone were isolated fromM. luteolumJCM 9174. ThebacCgene, which consists of 768 nucleotides corresponding to 255 amino acid residues and is a constituent of the bacilysin synthetic gene cluster, was amplified by PCR based on homology to known genes. Theqnrgene consisted of 759 nucleotides corresponding to 252 amino acid residues. Both enzymes belong to the short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) family. The genes were expressed inEscherichia colias proteins which were His tagged at the N terminus, and the recombinant enzymes were purified and characterized. Both enzymes showed narrow substrate specificity and high stereoselectivity for the reduction of 3-quinuclidinone to (R)-(−)-3-quinuclidinol.


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