scholarly journals Iron-Dependent Cytochrome c1 Expression Is Mediated by the Status of Heme in Bradyrhizobium japonicum

2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (15) ◽  
pp. 5084-5089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Gao ◽  
Mark R. O'Brian

ABSTRACT The heme prosthetic group of heme proteins contains iron, which can be a limiting nutrient. Here, we show that cytochrome c 1 protein from Bradyrhizobium japonicum was strongly affected by the iron status, with low expression in cells grown under iron limitation. This control was not affected in mutants encoding the iron regulator Irr or Fur. Furthermore, cytochrome c 1 mRNA was not influenced by the iron status, suggesting control at a posttranscriptional step. Cytochrome c 1 protein levels were very low in mutants defective in the genes encoding δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) synthase and ferrochelatase, enzymes that catalyze the first and final steps of the heme biosynthetic pathway, respectively. Iron-dependent cytochrome c 1 expression was restored in the ALA synthase mutant by supplementation of the medium with the heme precursor ALA. Supplementation with heme resulted in high levels of cytochrome c 1 protein in the wild type and in both mutants, but expression was no longer iron dependent. Cytochrome c 1 is synthesized as a protein precursor fused with cytochrome b. A plasmid-borne construct encoding only cytochrome c 1 was expressed in an iron- and heme-dependent manner similar to that of the wild-type gene, indicating that control by those effectors is not linked to posttranslational processing of the fusion protein. Mutation of the cytochrome c 1 cysteines involved in covalent binding to heme nearly abolished immunodetectable protein. Thus, defects in heme synthesis or heme binding abrogate cytochrome c 1 accumulation, apparently due to protein degradation. We suggest that iron-dependent cytochrome c 1 expression is mediated by heme availability for heme protein formation

2013 ◽  
Vol 79 (13) ◽  
pp. 4048-4055 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai-Bo Jiang ◽  
Hui-Min Cheng ◽  
Kun-Shan Gao ◽  
Bao-Sheng Qiu

ABSTRACTCyanobacteria are important players in the global carbon cycle, accounting for approximately 25% of global CO2fixation. Their CO2-concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) are thought to play a key role in cyanobacterial calcification, but the mechanisms are not completely understood. InSynechocystissp. strain PCC 6803, a single Ca2+/H+exchanger (Slr1336) controls the Ca2+/H+exchange reaction. We knocked out the exchanger and investigated the effects on cyanobacterial calcification and CCMs. Inactivation ofslr1336significantly increased the calcification rate and decreased the zeta potential, indicating a relatively stronger Ca2+-binding ability. Some genes encoding CCM-related components showed increased expression levels, including thecmpAgene, which encodes the Ca2+-dependent HCO3−transporter BCT1. The transcript level ofcmpAin the mutant was 30 times that in wild type. A Western blot analysis further confirmed that protein levels of CmpA were higher in the mutant than the wild type. Measurements of inorganic carbon fluxes and O2evolution proved that both the net HCO3−uptake rate and the BCT1 transporter supported photosynthetic rate in theslr1336mutant were significantly higher than in the wild type. This would cause the mutant cells to liberate more OH−ions out of the cell and stimulate CaCO3precipitation in the microenvironment. We conclude that the mutation of the Ca2+/H+exchanger inSynechocystispromoted the cyanobacterial calcification process by upregulating CCMs, especially the BCT1 HCO3−transporter. These results shed new light on the mechanism by which CCM-facilitated photosynthesis promotes cyanobacterial calcification.


2010 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 745-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd C. Hoopman ◽  
Wei Liu ◽  
Stephanie N. Joslin ◽  
Christine Pybus ◽  
Chad A. Brautigam ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTMoraxella catarrhalisis subjected to oxidative stress from both internal and environmental sources. A previous study (C. D. Pericone, K. Overweg, P. W. Hermans, and J. N. Weiser, Infect. Immun.68:3990-3997, 2000) indicated that a wild-type strain ofM. catarrhaliswas very resistant to killing by exogenous hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The gene encoding OxyR, a LysR family transcriptional regulator, was identified and inactivated inM. catarrhalisstrain O35E, resulting in an increase in sensitivity to killing by H2O2in disk diffusion assays and a concomitant aerobic serial dilution effect. Genes encoding a predicted catalase (KatA) and an alkyl hydroperoxidase (AhpCF) showed dose-dependent upregulation in wild-type cells exposed to H2O2. DNA microarray and real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) analyses identifiedM. catarrhalisgenes whose expression was affected by oxidative stress in an OxyR-dependent manner. Testing ofM. catarrhalisO35EkatAandahpCmutants for their abilities to scavenge exogenous H2O2showed that the KatA catalase was responsible for most of this activity in the wild-type parent strain. The introduction of the same mutations intoM. catarrhalisstrain ETSU-4 showed that the growth of a ETSU-4katAmutant was markedly inhibited by the addition of 50 mM H2O2but that this mutant could still form a biofilm equivalent to that produced by its wild-type parent strain.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
José Francisco Cruz-Pérez ◽  
Roxana Lara-Oueilhe ◽  
Cynthia Marcos-Jiménez ◽  
Ricardo Cuatlayotl-Olarte ◽  
María Luisa Xiqui-Vázquez ◽  
...  

AbstractThe plant growth-promoting bacterium Azospirillum brasilense contains several genes encoding proteins involved in the biosynthesis and degradation of the second messenger cyclic-di-GMP, which may control key bacterial functions, such as biofilm formation and motility. Here, we analysed the function and expression of the cdgD gene, encoding a multidomain protein that includes GGDEF-EAL domains and CHASE and PAS domains. An insertional cdgD gene mutant was constructed, and analysis of biofilm and extracellular polymeric substance production, as well as the motility phenotype indicated that cdgD encoded a functional diguanylate protein. These results were correlated with a reduced overall cellular concentration of cyclic-di-GMP in the mutant over 48 h compared with that observed in the wild-type strain, which was recovered in the complemented strain. In addition, cdgD gene expression was measured in cells growing under planktonic or biofilm conditions, and differential expression was observed when KNO3 or NH4Cl was added to the minimal medium as a nitrogen source. The transcriptional fusion of the cdgD promoter with the gene encoding the autofluorescent mCherry protein indicated that the cdgD gene was expressed both under abiotic conditions and in association with wheat roots. Reduced colonization of wheat roots was observed for the mutant compared with the wild-type strain grown in the same soil conditions. The Azospirillum-plant association begins with the motility of the bacterium towards the plant rhizosphere followed by the adsorption and adherence of these bacteria to plant roots. Therefore, it is important to study the genes that contribute to this initial interaction of the bacterium with its host plant.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maik Hintze ◽  
Sebastian Griesing ◽  
Marion Michels ◽  
Birgit Blanck ◽  
Lena Wischhof ◽  
...  

AbstractWe investigated the contribution of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), a key regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis, in supporting hair growth. We report that pelage abnormalities developed during hair follicle (HF) morphogenesis in Harlequin (Hq) mutant mice. Fragility of the hair cortex was associated with decreased expression of genes encoding structural hair proteins, though key transcriptional regulators of HF development were expressed at normal levels. Notably, Aifm1 (R200 del) knockin males and Aifm1(R200 del)/Hq females showed minor hair defects, despite substantially reduced AIF levels. Furthermore, we cloned the integrated ecotropic provirus of the Aifm1Hq allele. We found that its overexpression in wild-type keratinocyte cell lines led to down-regulation of HF-specific Krt84 and Krtap3-3 genes without altering Aifm1 or epidermal Krt5 expression. Together, our findings imply that pelage paucity in Hq mutant mice is mechanistically linked to severe AIF deficiency and is associated with the expression of retroviral elements that might potentially influence the transcriptional regulation of structural hair proteins.


Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
pp. 761-776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori A Rinckel ◽  
David J Garfinkel

Abstract In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the target site specificity of the retrotransposon Ty1 appears to involve the Ty integration complex recognizing chromatin structures. To determine whether changes in chromatin structure affect Ty1 and Ty2 target site preference, we analyzed Ty transposition at the CAN1 locus in mutants containing altered levels of histone proteins. A Δhta1-htb1 mutant with decreased levels of H2A and H2B histone proteins showed a pattern of Ty1 and Ty2 insertions at CAN1 that was significantly different from that of both the wild-type and a Δhta2-htb2 mutant, which does not have altered histone protein levels. Altered levels of H2A and H2B proteins disrupted a dramatic orientation bias in the CAN1 promoter region. In the wild-type strains, few Ty1 and Ty2 insertions in the promoter region were oriented opposite to the direction of CAN1 transcription. In the Δhta1-htb1 background, however, numerous Ty1 and Ty2 insertions were in the opposite orientation clustered within the TATA region. This altered insertion pattern does not appear to be due to a bias caused by selecting canavanine resistant isolates in the different HTA1-HTB1 backgrounds. Our results suggest that reduced levels of histone proteins alter Ty target site preference and disrupt an asymmetric Ty insertion pattern.


2007 ◽  
Vol 189 (21) ◽  
pp. 7829-7840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina C. Summerfield ◽  
Louis A. Sherman

ABSTRACT We report on differential gene expression in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 after light-dark transitions in wild-type, ΔsigB, and ΔsigD strains. We also studied the effect of day length in the presence of glucose on a ΔsigB ΔsigE mutant. Our results indicated that the absence of SigB or SigD predominately altered gene expression in the dark or in the light, respectively. In the light, approximately 350 genes displayed transcript levels in the ΔsigD strain that were different from those of the wild type, with over 200 of these up-regulated in the mutant. In the dark, removal of SigB altered more than 150 genes, and the levels of 136 of these were increased in the mutant compared to those in the wild type. The removal of both SigB and SigE had a major impact on gene expression under mixotrophic growth conditions and resulted in the inability of cells to grow in the presence of glucose with 8-h light and 16-h dark cycles. Our results indicated the importance of group II σ factors in the global regulation of transcription in this organism and are best explained by using the σ cycle paradigm with the stochastic release model described previously (R. A. Mooney, S. A. Darst, and R. Landick, Mol. Cell 20:335-345, 2005). We combined our results with the total protein levels of the σ factors in the light and dark as calculated previously (S. Imamura, S. Yoshihara, S. Nakano, N. Shiozaki, A. Yamada, K. Tanaka, H. Takahashi, M. Asayama, and M. Shirai, J. Mol. Biol. 325:857-872, 2003; S. Imamura, M. Asayama, H. Takahashi, K. Tanaka, H. Takahashi, and M. Shirai, FEBS Lett. 554:357-362, 2003). Thus, we concluded that the control of global transcription is based on the amount of the various σ factors present and able to bind RNA polymerase.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 3851-3851
Author(s):  
Shan Soe-Lin ◽  
Alex D. Sheftel ◽  
Prem Ponka

Abstract Erythrocytes contain the majority of the body’s iron in the form of heme, a component of the red blood cell pigment hemoglobin. Erythrocytes transport oxygen bound to hemoglobin from the lungs to the tissues, and become progressively more damaged as they age. Macrophages are responsible for the detection and degradation of these senescent red blood cells, and play a central role in the recycling of hemoglobin-derived iron via transferrin to the bone marrow in order for erythropoiesis to occur. This recycling process, and the influence of inflammatory mediators on it, are poorly understood. Nramp1 is a protein expressed within macrophages, and is an iron transporter discovered to be mutated in mice susceptible to tuberculosis and leprosy infections. As Nramp1 localizes to phagosomal membranes following phagocytosis, we speculate that Nramp1 may play a role in the recycling of hemoglobin-derived iron following the internalization of effete erythrocytes. To test this possibility, we have utilized a model of erythrophagocytosis using both Nramp1 replete and deficient RAW264.7 murine macrophages, and macrophages elicited from wild type and Nramp1-knockout 129SV mice. We have found that Nramp1 protein is increased in primary macrophages following internalization of opsonized murine erythrocytes. This increase peaks at 6 hours of erythrocyte exposure, and decreases to baseline levels overnight. Our model of erythrophagocytosis did not induce macrophage activation as no nitric oxide production was observed. This therefore discounts the possibility that inflammatory factors are the cause of the increase in Nramp1 protein levels. Using the fluorescent iron-binding probe, calcein, we monitored changes in the macrophage labile iron pool (LIP) following erythrocyte loading. This transit pool of loosely bound, chelator-accessible iron is thought to reflect the overall iron status of the cell. We have found that, following erythrophagocytosis of opsonized murine erythrocytes, Nramp1-replete RAW264.7 macrophages experience a greater-fold increase in labile iron as compared to Nramp1-deficient macrophages. Furthermore, we have also found that primary peritoneal macrophages elicited from wild type 129SV mice phagocytose more erythrocytes when compared to macrophages elicited from their Nramp1-knockout counterparts. Interestingly, we have also observed that treatment with erythropoietin, the hormone responsible for the promotion of erythrocyte precursor survival and ultimately the increase in red blood cell production, resulted in a modest increase in Nramp1 protein levels. Our observations show distinct differences in iron metabolism between Nramp1 replete and deficient macrophages undergoing erythrophagocytosis. We speculate that Nramp1 may serve to promote a more efficient intracellular transport of iron following red blood cell engulfment.


2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (23) ◽  
pp. 7874-7880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather R. Panek ◽  
Mark R. O'Brian

ABSTRACT Bacteria are exposed to reactive oxygen species from the environment and from those generated by aerobic metabolism. Catalases are heme proteins that detoxify H2O2, and many bacteria contain more than one catalase enzyme. Also, the nonheme peroxidase alkyl hydroperoxide reductase (Ahp) is the major scavenger of endogenous H2O2 in Escherichia coli. Here, we show that aerobically grown Bradyrhizobium japonicum cells express a single catalase activity. Four genes encoding putative catalases in the B. japonicum genome were identified, including a katG homolog encoding a catalase-peroxidase. Deletion of the katG gene resulted in loss of catalase activity in cell extracts and of exogenous H2O2 consumption by whole cells. The katG strain had a severe aerobic growth phenotype but showed improved growth in the absence of O2. By contrast, a B. japonicum ahpCD mutant grew well aerobically and consumed H2O2 at wild-type rates. A heme-deficient hemA mutant expressed about one-third of the KatG activity as the wild type but grew well aerobically and scavenged low concentrations of exogenous H2O2. However, cells of the hemA strain were deficient in consumption of high concentrations of H2O2 and were very sensitive to killing by short exposure to H2O2. In addition, KatG activity did not decrease as a result of mutation of the gene encoding the transcriptional activator OxyR. We conclude that aerobic metabolism produces toxic levels of H2O2 in B. japonicum, which is detoxified primarily by KatG. Furthermore, the katG level sufficient for detoxification does not require OxyR.


2003 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 342-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Caldelari Baumberger ◽  
Nicole Fraefel ◽  
Michael Göttfert ◽  
Hauke Hennecke

A cluster of genes coding for putative plant cell-wall degrading enzymes (i.e., genes for two endoglucanases [gunA and gunA2], one pectinmethylesterase [pme], and one polygalacturonase [pgl]) was identified by sequence similarities in the symbiotic region of the Bradyrhizobium japonicum chromosome. In addition, a systematic screen of the region revealed several genes potentially transcribed by the σ54-RNA polymerase and activated by the transcriptional regulator NifA (i.e., genes for proteins with similarity to outer membrane proteins [id117 and id525] and a citrate carrier [id331 or citA] and one open reading frame without similarity to known proteins [id747]). Expression studies using transcriptional lacZ fusions showed that gunA2 and pgl were strongly induced by the isoflavone genistein in a NodW-dependent manner, suggesting a role of the gene products in early events of the nodulation process; by contrast, gunA and pme expression was very weak in the conditions tested. The gunA2 gene product was purified and was shown to have cellulase activity. β-Galactosidase activity expressed from transcriptional lacZ fusions to id117, id525, and id747 in the wild type and in nifA and rpoN mutant backgrounds confirmed that their transcription was dependent on NifA and σ54. Despite the presence of a -24/-12-type promoter and a NifA binding site upstream of citA, no regulation could be demonstrated in this case. Null mutations introduced in gunA, gunA2, pgl, pme, citA, id117, id525, and id747 did not impair the symbiosis with the host plants.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meg Walsh ◽  
William Casey ◽  
Shane T. Kenny ◽  
Tanja Narancic ◽  
Lars M. Blank ◽  
...  

AbstractPseudomonas putidaKT2440 is known to metabolise glycerol via glycerol-3-phosphate using glycerol kinase an enzyme previously described as critical for glycerol metabolism (1). However, when glycerol kinase was knocked out inP. putidaKT2440 it retained the ability to use glycerol as the sole carbon source, albeit with a much-extended lag period and 2 fold lower final biomass compared to the wild type strain. A metabolomic study identified glycerate as a major and the most abundant intermediate in glycerol metabolism in this mutated strain with levels 21-fold higher than wild type. Erythrose-4-phosphate was detected in the mutant strain, but not in the wild type strain. Glyceraldehyde and glycraldehyde-3-phosphate were detected at similar levels in the mutant strain and the wild type. Transcriptomic studies identified 191 genes that were more than 2-fold upregulated in the mutant compared to the wild type and 175 that were down regulated. The genes involved in short chain length fatty acid metabolism were highly upregulated in the mutant strain. The genes encoding 3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase were 5.8-fold upregulated and thus the gene was cloned, expressed and purified to reveal it can act on glyceraldehyde but not glycerol as a substrate.


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