Membrane association and kinase-like motifs of the RamC protein of Streptomyces coelicolor

The protein RamC is required for the production of the spore-forming cells called aerial hyphae by the filamentous bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor. We showed that RamC, which contains several weakly predicted membrane-spanning sequences, is located exclusively in the S. coelicolor membrane. By constructing site-directed mutants in the cloned ramC gene and complementing a ramC null mutant, we showed that protein kinase-like sequence motifs in the amino-terminal half of the protein are required for function in vivo. These data suggest that RamC is a membrane-associated receptor kinase.     

Structural and genetic analysis of the BldB protein of Streptomyces coelicolor

We have demonstrated that the bldB gene of Streptomyces coelicolor is required for the formation of aerial hyphae and the synthesis of antibiotics. We also found that BldB forms a higher-order complex (most likely a dimer) and that amino acid residues 20 to 78 are important for this interaction. This region is conserved in the BldB family, suggesting that dimer formation may be a common feature of these proteins.     

Structure-based mutagenesis of the malonyl-CoA:acyl carrier protein transacylase from Streptomyces coelicolor

Malonyl-CoA:acyl carrier protein transacylase (MAT) provides acyl-ACP thioesters for the biosynthesis of aromatic polyketides, and thus is the primary gatekeeper of substrate specificity in type II PKS. A recent report described the X-ray crystal structure of the Streptomyces coelicolor MAT and suggested active site residues which may be important for substrate selectivity [Keatinge-Clay, A. T., et al. (2003) Structure 11, 147-154]. Mutants were made to test the proposed roles of these residues, and the enzymes were characterized kinetically with respect to native and non-native substrates. The activity of the MAT was observed to be greatly attenuated in many of the observed mutants; however, the K(m) for malonyl-CoA was only modestly affected. Our results suggest the MAT uses an active site that is rigorously ordered around the acyl-thioester moiety of the acyl-CoA to facilitate rapid and efficient transacylation to an ACP. Our results also suggest that the MAT does not discriminate against alpha-substituted acyl-CoA thioesters solely on the basis of substrate size.     

Functional characterization of Streptomyces coelicolor FtsY

This study indicated that the N-terminus was dispensable for FtsY GTPase activity, and that the N-domain plays an essential role in the GTPase activity of the NG domain. In addition, the S.scoelicolor FtsY was able to restore function in an E. coli mutant. However, its NG domain was unable to play any roles.     

New approach to the genetics of Streptomyces coelicolor

Sermonti, G. (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy), Milena Bandiera, and Isabella Spada-Sermonti. New approach to the genetics of Streptomyces coelicolor. J. Bacteriol. 91:384-392. 1966.-Mixed cultures of complementary auxotrophic strains of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) were preincubated on discs of cellophane on complete medium and were then transferred onto selective media. When one strain was streptomycin-resistant and the other was streptomycin-sensitive, and the transfer medium contained streptomycin, distinct minute tufts of aerial mycelium appeared on the background growth of the mixed culture. They turned out to be heterozygous clones (heteroclones) in which the streptomycin-sensitive allele was, as a rule, missing. The pattern of marker contribution of the streptomycin-sensitive parent to the zygotes was indicative of a continuous structure carrying the hereditary material. A gradual transfer of the donor genome during conjugation was suggested by the progressive completion of the zygotes obtained by increasing preincubation time.     

Glutamate synthesis in Streptomyces coelicolor.

Both glutamate synthase (GOGAT) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) are involved in glutamate synthesis in Streptomyces coelicolor. The highest levels of GDH were seen in extracts of cells grown with high levels of ammonium as the nitrogen source. GOGAT activity was reduced two- to threefold in extracts of cells grown with good sources of glutamate. S. coelicolor mutants deficient in GOGAT (Glt-) required glutamate for growth with L-alanine, asparagine, arginine, or histidine as the nitrogen source but grew like wild-type cells when ammonium, glutamine, or aspartate was the nitrogen source. The glt mutations were tightly linked to hisA1. Mutants deficient in both GOGAT and GDH (Gdh-) required glutamate for growth in all media. The gdh-5 mutation was mapped to the left region of the S. coelicolor chromosomal map, between proA1 and uraA1.     

The role of the novel Fem protein VanK in vancomycin resistance in Streptomyces coelicolor

The non-pathogenic, non-glycopeptide-producing actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor carries a cluster of seven genes (vanSRJKHAX) that confers inducible, high level resistance to vancomycin. The vanK gene has no counterpart in previously characterized vancomycin resistance clusters, yet vanK is required for vancomycin resistance in S. coelicolor. VanK belongs to the Fem family of enzymes, which add the branch amino acid(s) to the stem pentapeptide of peptidoglycan precursors. Upon exposure to vancomycin, the VanRS two-component system switches on expression of all seven van genes, and the VanHAX enzymes reprogram the cell wall such that precursors terminate D-Ala-D-lactate (Lac) rather than D-Ala-D-Ala, thus conferring resistance to vancomycin, which only binds D-Ala-D-Ala-containing precursors. Here we provide biochemical and genetic evidence that VanK is required for vancomycin resistance because the constitutively expressed FemX enzyme, encoded elsewhere on the chromosome, cannot recognize D-Lac-containing precursors as a substrate, whereas VanK can. Consistent with this view, D-Lac-containing precursors carrying the Gly branch are present in the wild type transiently exposed to vancomycin but are undetectable in a vanK mutant treated in the same way. Further, femX null mutants are viable in the presence of vancomycin but die in its absence. Because only VanK can recognize D-Lac-containing precursors, vancomycin-induced expression of VanHAX in a vanK mutant is lethal, and so vanK is required for vancomycin resistance.     

The phosphotransferase system of Streptomyces coelicolor.

We have investigated the crr gene of Streptomyces coelicolor that encodes a homologue of enzyme IIAGlucose of Escherichia coli, which, as a component of the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS) plays a key role in carbon regulation by triggering glucose transport, carbon catabolite repression, and inducer exclusion. As in E. coli, the crr gene of S. coelicolor is genetically associated with the ptsI gene that encodes the general phosphotransferase enzyme I. The gene product IIACrr was overproduced, purified, and polyclonal antibodies were obtained. Western blot analysis revealed that IIACrr is expressed in vivo. The functionality of IIACrr was demonstrated by phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphorylation via enzyme I and the histidine-containing phosphoryl carrier protein HPr. Phosphorylation was abolished when His72, which corresponds to the catalytic histidine of E. coli IIAGlucose, was mutated. The capacity of IIACrr to operate in sugar transport was shown by complementation of the E. coli glucose-PTS. The striking functional resemblance between IIACrr and IIAGlucose was further demonstrated by its ability to confer inducer exclusion of maltose to E. coli. A specific interaction of IIACrr with the maltose permease subunit MalK from Salmonella typhimurium was uncovered by surface plasmon resonance. These data suggest that this IIAGlucose-like protein may be involved in carbon metabolism in S. coelicolor.     

The 20S Proteasome of Streptomyces coelicolor

20S proteasomes were purified from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) and shown to be built from one α-type subunit (PrcA) and one β-type subunit (PrcB). The enzyme displayed chymotrypsin-like activity on synthetic substrates and was sensitive to peptide aldehyde and peptide vinyl sulfone inhibitors and to the Streptomyces metabolite lactacystin. Characterization of the structural genes revealed an operon-like gene organization (prcBA) similar to Rhodococcus and Mycobacterium spp. and showed that the β subunit is encoded with a 53-amino-acid propeptide which is removed during proteasome assembly. The upstream DNA region contains the conserved orf7 and an AAA ATPase gene (arc).     

Characteristics of the surface-located carbohydrate-binding protein CbpC from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)

Streptomyces coelicolor A32 produces a 35.6-kDa carbohydrate-binding protein (named CbpC) in the presence of cellobiose, cellulose or chitin as sole carbon source. The protein was found secreted (a typical signal sequence was present at the N-terminus) and linked to the peptidoglycan layer of the mycelia. At its C-terminal end a putative cell-wall sorting signal was identified, consisting of (1) Streptomyces specific recognition site for a transpeptidase (LAETG instead of generic LPXTP consensus), (2) a hydrophobic region and (3) a tail of positively charged residues. The deletion of this sorting signal abolished the cell-wall attachment because the resulting CbpC-form was found extracellular. After purification this protein was shown to interact strongly with crystalline cellulose; different crystalline chitin-forms were recognised moderately and chitosan not. As demonstrated by analysing further truncated CbpC-forms a glycine-aspartate/serine rich region, which separates the carbohydrate-binding module from the sorting signal, plays an important role in protein stability.     

The helical structure propensity in the first helix of the histidine phosphocarrier protein of Streptomyces coelicolor

The bacterial phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP):sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS), formed by a cascade of several proteins, mediates the uptake and phosphorylation of carbohydrates, and it is also involved in signal transduction. Its uniqueness in bacteria makes the PTS a target for new antibacterial drugs. These drugs can be obtained from peptides or proteins fragments able to interfere the first step of the protein cascade: the phosphorylation of the HPr protein by the enzyme EI. We designed a peptide comprising the active site and the first alpha-helix of HPr of S. coelicolor; we also obtained a fragment of HPr by protein engineering methods, comprising the first forty-eight residues and thus, containing the amino acids of the shorter peptide. Both fragments were disordered in aqueous solution, with a similar percentage of helical structure ( approximately 7 %), and an identical free energy of helix formation. In 40 % TFE, both fragments acquired native-like helical structure, stabilized by non-native hydrophobic interactions, as shown by the 2D-NMR assignments of the shorter peptide, and the presence of similar NOE contacts in both fragments. These findings, with the kinetic results in other members of the HPr family, highlight the importance of short- and long-range interactions during the folding reaction of HPr proteins. Based on the residual helical population, hypothesis about the inhibition capacity of the PTS by both fragments are discussed.     

Intracellular protease activity during the growth of Streptomyces coelicolor

Multiple intracellular proteases were produced by Streptomyces coelicolor throughout growth as surface cultures. Zymography revealed two constitutive, gelatinolytic proteases of approximate molecular masses 32.5 and 36.5 kDa. In addition, transient expression of a large (183.5 kDa) protease preceded aerial mycelium formation and following this, during sporulation, an additional protease of mass 27.5 kDa was produced.     

An essential GTP-binding protein functions as a regulator for differentiation in Streptomyces coelicolor

The Streptomyces coelicolor obg gene, which encodes a putative GTP-binding protein of the Obg/Gtp1 family, was characterized. The obg gene was essential for viability. Introduction of multiple copies of obg into wild-type S. coelicolor suppressed aerial mycelium formation. A single amino acid substitution at any of six positions was introduced into the GTP binding site of Obg, and the mutated proteins were expressed in wild-type cells. Obg^P168 → V exerted a more accentuated suppressive effect on aerial mycelium formation than did the wild-type Obg protein. In contrast, Obg^G171 → A accelerated the development of aerial mycelium. These results show that Obg protein functions as a pivotal regulator for the onset of cell differentiation through its ability to bind GTP. Western analysis revealed that expression of obg is regulated in a growth phase-dependent manner, indicating a sharp decrease just after onset of aerial mycelium development or at the end of vegetative growth. Obg was a membrane-bound protein as determined by immunoelectron microscopy.     

CobB1 deacetylase activity in Streptomyces coelicolor

Silent information regulators are NAD(+)-dependent enzymes that display differential specificity toward acetylated substrates. This report provides first evidence for deacetylation activity of CobB1 in Streptomyces coelicolor. The protein is highly conserved in streptomycetes. The CobB1 protein catalytically removes the acetyl group from acetylated bovine serum albumin. In the absence of NAD+ or when NAD+ was substituted with nicotinamide, deacetylation was stopped. We isolated gene encoding AcetylCoA synthetaseA. The recombinant enzyme produces Acetyl-CoA from acetate. The highest acsA-mRNA level was detected in cells from the exponential phase of growth, and then decreased in transition and stationary phases of growth. Acetylated acsA loses the ability to transfer acetate to CoA. Deacetylation of the enzyme required CobB1, ATP-Mg2, and NAD+. Using specific antibodies against acetylated lys, CobB1, and acsA, we found relationship between level of CobB1 and acetylation of acsA, indicating that CobB1 is involved in regulating the acetylation level of acsA and consequently its activity. It was found that 1-acetyl-tetrahydroxy and 1-acetyl pentahydroxy antraquinone inhibit the deacetylation activity of CobB1.