scholarly journals A cell-based ribozyme reporter system employing a chromosomally-integrated 5′ exonuclease gene

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aiyada Aroonsri ◽  
Jindaporn Kongsee ◽  
Jeremy David Gunawan ◽  
Daniel Abidin Aubry ◽  
Philip James Shaw

Abstract Background Bioinformatic genome surveys indicate that self-cleaving ribonucleic acids (ribozymes) appear to be widespread among all domains of life, although the functions of only a small number have been validated by biochemical methods. Alternatively, cell-based reporter gene assays can be used to validate ribozyme function. However, reporter activity can be confounded by phenomena unrelated to ribozyme-mediated cleavage of RNA. Results We established a ribozyme reporter system in Escherichia coli in which a significant reduction of reporter activity is manifest when an active ribozyme sequence is fused to the reporter gene and the expression of a foreign Bacillus subtilis RNaseJ1 5′ exonuclease is induced from a chromosomally-integrated gene in the same cell. Conclusions The reporter system could be useful for validating ribozyme function in candidate sequences identified from bioinformatics.

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.


2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 845-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Machleidt ◽  
Pamela Whitney ◽  
Kun Bi

Reporter assays are widely used in research and drug discovery for analysis of signaling pathways in a cell-based format. Traditionally, reporter gene assays are run in a single-parameter mode, interrogating only 1 pathway per sample. To enable more complex assay formats for pathway analysis, the authors developed a multiplexed reporter cell-based assay that combines optical encoding with a β-lactamase reporter gene readout. The optical encoding is achieved by peptide-mediated delivery of quantum dots into reporter cell lines. Using different quantum dots, the authors were able to simultaneously analyze multiple signaling pathways in the same sample using fluorescence microscopy or flow cytometry. They selected 3 β-lactamase reporter cell lines for the analysis of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) induced signaling to perform proof-of-principle experiments. The analysis demonstrates that this multiplexed assay allows the reliable detection of ligand-specific activation patterns as well as pathway-specific inhibitors. This method provides a template for the development of novel assay designs that enable the analysis of complex signaling networks involving multiple signaling pathways as well as cell-specific pathways in heterotypic cell models. ( Journal of Biomolecular Screening 2009:845-852)


Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Brochu ◽  
Émilie-Vlachos Breton ◽  
Marc Drolet

Type 1A topoisomerases (topos) are the only topos that bind single-stranded DNA and the only ones found in all cells of the three domains of life. Two subfamilies, topo I and topo III, are present in bacteria. Topo I, found in all of them, relaxes negative supercoiling, while topo III acts as a decatenase in replication. However, recent results suggest that they can also act as back-up for each other. Because they are ubiquitous, type 1A enzymes are expected to be essential for cell viability. Single topA (topo I) and topB (topo III) null mutants of Escherichia coli are viable, but for topA only with compensatory mutations. Double topA topB null mutants were initially believed to be non-viable. However, in two independent studies, results of next generation sequencing (NGS) have recently shown that double topA topB null mutants of Bacillus subtilis and E. coli are viable when they carry parC parE gene amplifications. These genes encode the two subunits of topo IV, the main cellular decatenase. Here, we discuss the essential functions of bacterial type 1A topos in the context of this observation and new results showing their involvement in preventing unregulated replication from R-loops.


Planta Medica ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 75 (09) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Vogl ◽  
P Picker ◽  
N Fakhrudin ◽  
A Atanasov ◽  
E Heiß ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 354-364
Author(s):  
A. N. Irkitova ◽  
A. V. Grebenshchikova ◽  
A. V. Matsyura

<p>An important link in solving the problem of healthy food is the intensification of the livestock, poultry and fish farming, which is possible only in the adoption and rigorous implementation of the concept of rational feeding of animals. In the implementation of this concept required is the application of probiotic preparations. Currently, there is an increased interest in spore probiotics. In many ways, this can be explained by the fact that they use no vegetative forms of the bacilli and their spores. This property provides spore probiotics a number of advantages: they are not whimsical, easily could be selected, cultivated, and dried. Moreover, they are resistant to various factors and could remain viable during a long period. One of the most famous spore microorganisms, which are widely used in agriculture, is <em>Bacillus subtilis</em>. Among the requirements imposed to probiotic microorganisms is mandatory – antagonistic activity to pathogenic and conditional-pathogenic microflora. The article presents the results of the analysis of antagonistic activity of collection strains of <em>B. subtilis</em>, and strains isolated from commercial preparations. We studied the antagonistic activity on agar and liquid nutrient medias to trigger different antagonism mechanisms of <em>B. subtilis</em>. On agar media, we applied three diffusion methods: perpendicular bands, agar blocks, agar wells. We also applied the method of co-incubating the test culture (<em>Escherichia coli</em>) and the antagonist (or its supernatant) in the nutrient broth. Our results demonstrated that all our explored strains of <em>B. subtilis</em> have antimicrobial activity against a wild strain of <em>E. coli</em>, but to varying degrees. We identified strains of <em>B. subtilis</em> with the highest antagonistic effect that can be recommended for inclusion in microbial preparations for agriculture.</p><p><em><br /></em><em></em></p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 665-679
Author(s):  
Alok K. Srivastava ◽  
Lokesh K. Pandey

Background: [1, 3, 4]oxadiazolenone core containing chalcones and nucleosides were synthesized by Claisen-Schmidt condensation of a variety of benzaldehyde derivatives, obtained from oxidation of substituted 5-(3/6 substituted-4-Methylphenyl)-1, 3, 4-oxadiazole-2(3H)-one and various substituted acetophenone. The resultant chalcones were coupled with penta-O-acetylglucopyranose followed by deacetylation to get [1, 3, 4] oxadiazolenone core containing chalcones and nucleosides. Various analytical techniques viz IR, NMR, LC-MS and elemental analysis were used to confirm the structure of the synthesised compounds.The compounds were targeted against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli for antibacterial activity and Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum for antifungal activity. Methods: A mixture of Acid hydrazides (3.0 mmol) and N, Nʹ- carbonyl diimidazole (3.3 mmol) in 15 mL of dioxane was refluxed to afford substituted [1, 3, 4]-oxadiazole-2(3H)-one. The resulted [1, 3, 4]- oxadiazole-2(3H)-one (1.42 mmol) was oxidized with Chromyl chloride (1.5 mL) in 20 mL of carbon tetra chloride and condensed with acetophenones (1.42 mmol) to get chalcones 4. The equimolar ratio of obtained chalcones 4 and β -D-1,2,3,4,6- penta-O-acetylglucopyranose in presence of iodine was refluxed to get nucleosides 5. The [1, 3, 4] oxadiazolenone core containing chalcones 4 and nucleosides 5 were tested to determined minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value with the experimental procedure of Benson using disc-diffusion method. All compounds were tested at concentration of 5 mg/mL, 2.5 mg/mL, 1.25 mg/mL, 0.62 mg/mL, 0.31 mg/mL and 0.15 mg/mL for antifungal activity against three strains of pathogenic fungi Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus), Aspergillus niger (A. niger) and Fusarium oxysporum (F. oxysporum) and for antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacterium: Escherichia coli (E. coli), and two Gram-positive bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Bacillus subtilis(B. subtilis). Result: The chalcones 4 and nucleosides 5 were screened for antibacterial activity against E. coli, S. aureus and B. subtilis whereas antifungal activity against A. flavus, A. niger and F. oxysporum. Compounds 4a-t showed good antibacterial activity whereas compounds 5a-t containing glucose moiety showed better activity against fungi. The glucose moiety of compounds 5 helps to enter into the cell wall of fungi and control the cell growth. Conclusion: Chalcones 4 and nucleosides 5 incorporating [1, 3, 4] oxadiazolenone core were synthesized and characterized by various spectral techniques and elemental analysis. These compounds were evaluated for their antifungal activity against three fungi; viz. A. flavus, A. niger and F. oxysporum. In addition to this, synthesized compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against gram negative bacteria E. Coli and gram positive bacteria S. aureus, B. subtilis. Compounds 4a-t showed good antibacterial activity whereas 5a-t showed better activity against fungi.


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