0000000000343992
AUTHOR
Jan Schirawski
Expression of the succinate dehydrogenase genes (sdhCAB) from the facultatively anaerobic paenibacillus macerans during aerobic growth
Paenibacillus (formerly Bacillus) macerans is capable of succinate oxidation under oxic conditions and fumarate reduction under anoxic conditions. The reactions are catalyzed by different enzymes, succinate dehydrogenase (Sdh) and fumarate reductase (Frd). The genes encoding Sdh (sdhCAB) were analyzed. The gene products of sdhA and sdhB were similar to the subunits of known Sdh and Frd enzymes. The hydrophobic subunit SdhC showed close sequence similarity to the class of Sdh/Frd enzymes containing diheme cytochrome b. From the sdhCAB gene cluster two transcripts were produced, one comprising sdhCAB, the other sdhAB. The transcripts were found only during aerobic growth, and the amount was d…
Availability of O 2 as a Substrate in the Cytoplasm of Bacteria under Aerobic and Microaerobic Conditions
ABSTRACT The growth rates of Pseudomonas putida KT2442 and mt-2 on benzoate, 4-hydroxybenzoate, or 4-methylbenzoate showed an exponential decrease with decreasing oxygen tensions (partial O 2 tension [pO 2 ] values). The oxygen tensions resulting in half-maximal growth rates were in the range of 7 to 8 mbar of O 2 (corresponding to 7 to 8 μM O 2 ) (1 bar = 10 5 Pa) for aromatic compounds, compared to 1 to 2 mbar for nonaromatic compounds like glucose or succinate. The decrease in the growth rates coincided with excretion of catechol or protocatechuate, suggesting that the activity of the corresponding oxygenases became limiting. The experiments directly establish that under aerobic and micr…
O2-sensing and O2-dependent gene regulation in facultatively anaerobic bacteria.
Availability of O2 is one of the most important regulatory signals in facultatively anaerobic bacteria. Various two- or one-component sensor/regulator systems control the expression of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism in response to O2. Most of the sensor proteins contain heme or Fe as cofactors that interact with O2 either by binding or by a redox reaction. The ArcA/ArcB regulator of aerobic metabolism in Escherichia coli may use a different sensory mechanism. In two-component regulators, the sensor is located in the cytoplasmic membrane, whereas one-component regulators are located in the cytoplasm. Under most conditions, O2 can readily reach the cytoplasm and could provide the signal in …
Menaquinone-dependent succinate dehydrogenase of bacteria catalyzes reversed electron transport driven by the proton potential.
Succinate dehydrogenases from bacteria and archaea using menaquinone (MK) as an electron acceptor (succinate/menaquinone oxidoreductases) contain, or are predicted to contain, two heme-B groups in the membrane-anchoring protein(s), located close to opposite sides of the membrane. All succinate/ubiquinone oxidoreductases, however, contain only one heme-B molecule. In Bacillus subtilis and other bacteria that use MK as the respiratory quinone, the succinate oxidase activity (succinate-->O2), and the succinate/menaquinone oxidoreductase activity were specifically inhibited by uncoupler (CCCP, carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone) or by agents dissipating the membrane potential (valinomycin…
The oxygen-responsive transcriptional regulator FNR ofEscherichia coli : the search for signals and reactions
The FNR (fumarate and nitrate reductase regulation) protein of Escherichia coli is an oxygen-responsive transcriptional regulator required for the switch from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism. In the absence of oxygen, FNR changes from the inactive to the active state. The sensory and the regulatory functions reside in separate domains of FNR. The sensory domain contains a Fe-S cluster, which is of the [4Fe-4S]2+ type under anaerobic conditions. It is suggested that oxygen is supplied to the cytoplasmic FNR by diffusion and inactivates FNR by direct interaction. Reactivation under anoxic conditions requires cellular reductants. In vitro, the Fe-S cluster is converted to a [3Fe-4S]+ or a [2Fe…
Insights from the genome of the biotrophic fungal plant pathogen Ustilago maydis.
Ustilago maydis is a ubiquitous pathogen of maize and a well-established model organism for the study of plant-microbe interactions. This basidiomycete fungus does not use aggressive virulence strategies to kill its host. U. maydis belongs to the group of biotrophic parasites (the smuts) that depend on living tissue for proliferation and development. Here we report the genome sequence for a member of this economically important group of biotrophic fungi. The 20.5-million-base U. maydis genome assembly contains 6,902 predicted protein-encoding genes and lacks pathogenicity signatures found in the genomes of aggressive pathogenic fungi, for example a battery of cell-wall-degrading enzymes. Ho…
Oxygen regulated gene expression in facultatively anaerobic bacteria
In facultatively anaerobic bacteria such as Escherichia coli, oxygen and other electron acceptors fundamentally influence catabolic and anabolic pathways. E. coli is able to grow aerobically by respiration and in the absence of O2 by anaerobic respiration with nitrate, nitrite, fumarate, dimethylsulfoxide and trimethylamine N-oxide as acceptors or by fermentation. The expression of the various catabolic pathways occurs according to a hierarchy with 3 or 4 levels. Aerobic respiration at the highest level is followed by nitrate respiration (level 2), anaerobic respiration with the other acceptors (level 3) and fermentation. In other bacteria, different regulatory cascades with other underlyin…
The fnr Gene of Bacillus licheniformis and the Cysteine Ligands of the C-Terminal FeS Cluster
Many of the O2-responsive gene regulators of bacteria are members of the fumarate nitrate reductase-cyclic AMP receptor protein family of transcriptional regulators (12, 13, 15, 17) with predicted structures similar to those of the cyclic AMP receptor protein (11). The Fnr (stands for fumarate nitrate reductase regulator) protein from Escherichia coli (FnrEc) controls the expression of a variety of genes, mainly of anaerobic respiration and metabolism (5, 13). It contains a N-terminal cluster of three essential cysteine residues which are supposed to bind together with Cys122 a [4Fe 4S]2+ cluster which is required for O2 sensing (4, 7, 8, 10, 16). A wide variety of gram-negative bacteria co…
Anaerobic respiration of Bacillus macerans with fumarate, TMAO, nitrate and nitrite and regulation of the pathways by oxygen and nitrate
In Bacillus macerans, anaerobic respiratory pathways and the regulation of facultatively anaerobic catabolism by electron acceptors were analysed. In addition to fermentative growth, B. macerans was able to grow anaerobically by fumarate, trimethylamine N-oxide, nitrate, and nitrite respiration with glycerol as donor. During growth by fumarate respiration, a membrane-bound fumarate reductase was present that was different from succinate dehydrogenase. The end product of nitrate and nitrite respiration was ammonia. No N2 or NO and only traces of N2O could be detected. O2 repressed the activity of nitrate and fumarate reductases and the fermentation of glucose, presumably at the transcription…