Regulation of nitrogenase activity by covalent modification in Chromatium vinosum

Nitrogenase in Chromatium vinosum was rapidly, but reversibly inhibited by NH ₄ ⁺ . Activity of the Fe protin component of nitrogenase required both Mn²⁺ and activating enzyme. Activating enzyme from Rhodospirillum rubrum could replace Chromatium chromatophores in activating the Chromatium Fe protein, and conversely, a protein fraction prepared from Chromatium chromatophores was effective in activating R. rubrum Fe protein. Inactive Chromatium Fe protein contained a peptide covalently modified by a phosphate-containing molecule, which migrated the same in SDS-polyacrylamide gels as the modified subunit of R. rubrum Fe protein. In sum, these observations suggest that Chromatium nitrogenase activity is regulated by a covalent modification of the Fe protein in a manner similar to that of R. rubrum.Abbreviation HEPES N-2-hydroxyethyl piperazine-N-2-ethanesulfonic acid     

Contiguous organization of nitrogenase genes in a heterocystous cyanobacterium

The organization of the three structural nitrogen fixation (nif) genes that encode nitrogenase (nif K and nif D) and nitrogenase reductase (nif H) have been examined in a number of cyanobacteria. Hybridization of Anabaena 7120 nif gene probes to restriction endonuclease-digested genomic DNA has shown (a) that cyanobacteria incapable of N₂ fixation have no regions of DNA with significant homology to the three nif probes, (b) that Pseudanabaena sp., a nonheterocystous cyanobacterium, has a contiguous nif KDH gene cluster, and (c) that in contrast with other heterocystous cyanobacteria, Fischerella sp. has a contiguous nif KDH gene cluster.     

Compartmentalisation of nitrogenase in a non-heterocystous cyanobacterium: Trichodesmium contortum

Abstract In Trichodesmium contortum , nitrogenase was detected in only a limited number (about 10%) of microscopically distinguishable, consecutively arranged cells in central regions of the trichomes. Cells with nitrogenase also contained the photosystem II associated pigment phycoerythrin. These cells were not distinguishable from other cells on a structural basis, but were clearly visible at low magnification microscopy as all in the zone were more compact and shorter than those on either side. The compartmentalisation of nitrogenase into a chain of cells and in a possibly photosynthetic environment represents a previously undescribed phenomenon. The nitrogenase containing cells apparently perform the O₂ protective function of heterocysts yet are different in several aspects.     

Characterization of genes for a second Mo-dependent nitrogenase in the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis.

Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413 is a filamentous heterocystous cyanobacterium that fixes nitrogen under a variety of environmental conditions. Under aerobic growth conditions, nitrogen fixation depends upon differentiation of heterocysts and expression of either a Mo-dependent nitrogenase or a V-dependent nitrogenase in those specialized cells. Under anaerobic conditions, a second Mo-dependent nitrogenase gene cluster, nifII, was expressed in vegetative cells long before heterocysts formed. A strain carrying a mutant gene in the nifII cluster did not fix nitrogen under anaerobic conditions until after heterocysts differentiated. The nifII cluster was similar in organization to the nifI cluster that is expressed in heterocysts and that includes nifBSUHDKENXW as well as three open reading frames that are conserved in both cyanobacterial nif clusters.     

Immunological characterization of nitrogenase in the filamentous non-heterocystous cyanobacterium Oscillatoria limosa

The filamentous non-heterocystous cyanobacterium Oscillatoria limosa was subjected to Western blot analyses using two antisera raised against the small subunit (Fe-protein) of the nitrogenase complex. Two polypeptides were recognized in nitrogen-fixing cultures irrespective of the antiserum used while no bands were detectable in nitrate-grown cultures. The apparent molecular weights of the two polypeptides were approximately 40.5 and 39.5 kDa respectively, with the former, probably an inactive form, dominating. In situ immunogold electron microscopy was used to reveal the cellular and subcellular localization on the Fe-protein. All cells of the trichomes of nitrogen-fixing O. limosa showed a dense label. The label was homogeneously distributed throughout the cytoplasm including the thylakoid area. Nitrate-grown cultures contained a very low label.Abbreviations SDS sodium dodecyl sulfate - PAGE polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis This study was supported by the Swedish Natural Science Research Counsil and the M. and M. Wallenberg Fund (to B. Bergman). We are grateful to Dr. S. Nordlund (University of Stockholm, Sweden) for providing us with the antiserum of Rhodospirillum rubrum nitrogenase and to Drs. S. Reich and P. Böger (University of Konstanz, FRG) for the antiserum of Anabaena variabilis. Skilful technical assistence by K. Östlund and E. Danielsson is gratefully acknowledged. We would also like to thank M. Villbrandt (University of Oldenburg, FRG) for providing cultures of Oscillatoria limosa and Dr. P. Lindblad for valuable discussions and suggestions.To whom correspondence should be addressed.     

Reversible covalent modification of DNA

The reaction of bromomethylbenzoyl esters of choline and dimethylaminoethanol with DNA and model compounds led predominantly to phosphotriester formation. In model compounds the phosphotriester formation was verified by uv spectrometry. The bromomethylbenzoyl cationic esters reacted with DNA at room temperature at neutral pH values. The amount of the reagent chromophores was assessed semiquantitatively by spectrophotometry. The maximum binding appeared to be stoichiometric, i.e., one residue per phosphorus. The binding of one mole of reagent per phosphorus was confirmed by electron spectroscopic measurements of the phosphorus atom electron emission of maximally modified DNA. The modified DNA showed altered CD spectra indicating that the reagent chromophores are arranged in an orderly fashion affording a strong (Δ_? > 4), positive, apparently extrinsic CD band at ~240 nm; a double helical array is proposed. The introduced chromophores were readily removed by heat treatment or by treatment with nucleophiles at neutral pH values at moderate temperatures (<37 °C); no measurable fraction of the DNA became dialyzable. A decrease in viscosity accompanied the reversal, indicative of some chain breaking. The modified DNA's show higher T_m values than the native DNA and some display a higher and some a lower degree of cooperativity in their melting curves. No chemically detectable amounts of base alkylation, depurination, or depyrimidination were found when dialyzates of treated DNA and hydrolyzed samples of modified DNA were examined. However, presumptive evidence for some base alkylation by these novel alkylating agents was found utilizing Salmonella typhimurium tester strains sensitive to reversion by alkylation. No comparable binding of benzoylcholine, a nonalkylating analogue, by DNA was seen under conditions utilized here.     

Molybdenum independence of nitrogenase component synthesis in the non-heterocystous cyanobacterium Plectonema.

The cyanobacterium Plectonema boryanum (IU 594-UTEX 594) fixes N2 only in the absence of combined N and of O2. We induced nitrogenase by transfer to anaerobic N-free medium and studied the effect of Mo starvation on nitrogenase activity and synthesis. Activity was first detected within 3 h after transfer by the acetylene reduction assay in controls, increasing for at least 25 h. Cells grown on nitrate and Mo and then transferred to N-free, Mo-free medium produced 8% of the control nitrogenase activity. Addition of W to the Mo-free medium reduced the activity to 0.5%. Under both Mo starvation conditions, nitrogenase protein components were synthesized. Component II of the cyanobacterial enzyme was detected by in vitro complementation with Mo-containing component I from Klebsiella pneumoniae or Azotobacter vinelandii but not Clostridium pasteurianum. Component I activity was restored by addition of Mo to cultures in which new enzyme synthesis was blocked by chloramphenicol. Acidified extracts of Plectonema induced in Mo-containing medium contained the Fe-Mo cofactor required to activate extracts of the Azotobacter mutant UW45 in vitro, but they did not activate extracts of Mo-starved Plectonema. Analysis of 35SO4(2-)-labeled proteins by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis suggested that Mo is required for the conversion of a high-molecular-weight precursor to component I in Plectonema.     

Arrangement of nitrogenase structural genes in an aerobic filamentous nonheterocystous cyanobacterium.

Members of the marine filamentous, nonheterocystous cyanobacterial genus Trichodesmium not only are capable of fixing nitrogen aerobically in the light but when grown under a light-dark cycle will fix nitrogen only during the light phase. In this study, we constructed a restriction map of the structural nitrogen fixation genes (nifHDK) in Trichodesmium sp. strain NIBB 1067. We found that the organization of the nif genes in Trichodesmium sp. strain NIBB 1067 is contiguous, as found in other nonheterocystous cyanobacteria and in heterocysts. Furthermore, the nif gene arrangement was identical when the cultures were grown with combined nitrogen or under nitrogen-fixing conditions. Therefore, no gene rearrangements occur, such as those that occur during the development of heterocysts in heterocystous species.     

Effect of lead on nitrogenase and enzymes of nitrogen assimilation in a cyanobacterium Nostoc muscorum.

Lead decreased the growth rates, total cell mass, heterocyst frequency, total cell protein, nitrogenase activity, glutamine synthetase (GS) and glutamate synthase (GOGAT) activities in N:muscorum. However, lead at 0.01 and 10 micrograms ml-1 conc. enhanced nitrogenase as well as GS activity of the cells. On transfer to excess lead (100 micrograms ml-1), nitrogenase and GS activities ceased almost after 24 hr in the cyanobacterium. It is deduced that lead has a two step effect on stimulation and inhibition of metabolic activity at 0.01 and 10 micrograms ml-1 concentration and 0.1 and 100 micrograms ml-1 concentration respectively indicating a close interaction between nitrogen fixation and GS activity. However, GOGAT activity is an exception to this two step stimulation and inhibition process.     

Characterization of genes for an alternative nitrogenase in the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis.

Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413 is a heterotrophic, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium that has been reported to fix nitrogen and reduce acetylene to ethane in the absence of molybdenum. DNA from this strain hybridized well at low stringency to the nitrogenase 2 (vnfDGK) genes of Azotobacter vinelandii. The hybridizing region was cloned from a lambda EMBL3 genomic library of A. variabilis, mapped, and sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequences of the vnfD and vnfK genes of A. variabilis showed only about 56% similarity to the nifDK genes of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 but were 76 to 86% similar to the anfDK or vnfDK genes of A. vinelandii. The organization of the vnf gene cluster in A. variabilis was similar to that of A. vinelandii. However, in A. variabilis, the vnfG gene was fused to vnfD; hence, this gene is designated vnfDG. A vnfH gene was not contiguous with the vnfDG gene and has not yet been identified. A mutant strain, in which a neomycin resistance cassette was inserted into the vnf cluster, grew well in a medium lacking a source of fixed nitrogen in the presence of molybdenum but grew poorly when vanadium replaced molybdenum. In contrast, the parent strain grew equally well in media containing either molybdenum or vanadium. The vnf genes were transcribed in the absence of molybdenum, with or without vanadium. The vnf gene cluster did not hybridize to chromosomal DNA from Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 or from the heterotrophic strains, Nostoc sp. strain Mac and Nostoc sp. strain ATCC 29150. A hybridizing ClaI fragment very similar in size to the A. variabilis ClaI fragment was present in DNA isolated from several independent, cultured isolates of Anabaena sp. from the Azolla symbiosis.     

Correlation between nitrogenase and glutamine synthetase expression in the cyanobacterium Anabaena cylindrical

Distribution pattern and levels of nitrogenase (EC 1.7.99.2) and glutamine synthetase (GS, EC 6.3.1.2) were studied in N₂-, NO₃^? and NH₄⁺ grown Anabaena cylindrica (CCAP 1403/2a) using immunogold electron microscopy. In N₂- and NO₃^? grown cultures, heterocysts were formed and nitrogenase activity was present. The nitrogenase antigen appeared within the heterocysts only and showed an even distribution. The level of nitrogenase protein in the heterocysts was identical with both nitrogen sources. In NO₃^? grown cells the 30% reduction in the nitrogenase activity was due to a corresponding decrease in the heterocyst frequency and not to a repressed nitrogenase synthesis. In NH₄^? grown cells, the nitrogenase activity was almost zero and new heterocysts were formed to a very low extent. The heterocysts found showed practically no nitrogenase protein throughout the cytoplasm, although some label occurred at the periphery of the heterocyst. This demonstrates that heterocyst differentiation and nitrogenase expression are not necessarily correlated and that while NH₄⁺ caused repression of both heterocyst and nitrogenase synthesis, NO₃^? caused inhibition of heterocyst differentiation only. The glutamine synthetase protein label was found throughout the vegetative cells and the heterocysts of all three cultures. The relative level of the GS antigen varied in the heterocysts depending on the nitrogen source, whereas the GS level was similar in all vegetative cells. In N₂- and NO₃⁺ grown cells, where nitrogenase was expressed, the GS level was ca 100% higher in the heterocysts compared to vegetative cells. In NH₄⁺ grown cells, where nitrogenase was repressed, the GS level was similar in the two cell types. The enhanced level of GS expressed in heterocysts of N₂ and NO₃^? grown cultures apparently is related to nitrogenase expression and has a role in assimilation of N₂derived ammonia.     

Evidence for direct repression of nitrogenase by ammonia in the cyanobacterium Anabaena cylindrica

The nitrogenase activity of the cyanobacterium Anabaena cylindrica was repressed upon addition of ammonium salts after preincubation in the presence of a concentration of L-methionine-DL-sulfoximine sufficient to totally inhibit glutamine synthetase. Repression was also observed when urea was added to cells in the presence of the glutamine synthetase inhibitor. Measurements of ammonia concentrations were made in each case and provided evidence that ammonia itself is a primary regulator of nitrogenase levels in A. cylindrica.     

Purification and properties of nitrogenase from the cyanobacterium, Anabaena cylindrica.

The nitrogenase complex was isolated from nitrogen-starved cultures of Anabaema cylindrica. Sodium dithionite, photochemically reduced ferredoxin, and NADPH were found to be effective election donors to nitro genase in crude extracts whereas hydrogen and pyruvate were not. The Km for acetylene in vivo is ten-fold higher than the Km in vitro, whereas this pattern does not hold for the non-heterocystous cyanobacterium, Plectonema boryanum. This indicates that at least one mechanism of oxygen protection in vivo involves a gas diffusion barrier presented by the heterocyst cell wall. The Mo-Fe component was purified to homogeneity. Its molecular weight (220,000), subunit composition, isoelectric point (4.8), Mo, Fe, and S2- content (2, 20 and 20 mol/mol component), and amino acid composition indicate that this component has similar properties to Mo-Fe-containing components isolated from other bacterial sources. The isolated components from A. cylindrica were found to cross-react, to varying degrees, with components isolated from Azotobacter vinelandii, Rhodospirillum rubrum, and P. boryanum.     

Cross-linking of nitrogenase components. Structure and activity of the covalent complex

The nitrogenase complex from Azotobacter vinelandii is composed of the MoFe protein (Av1), an alpha 2 beta 2 tetramer, and the Fe protein (Av2), a gamma 2 dimer. During turnover of the enzyme, electrons are transferred from Av2 to Av1 in parallel with the hydrolysis of MgATP. Using the cross-linking reagent, 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide, we have identified some of the properties of the complex between the two components. The cross-linking reaction was highly specific yielding a single apparent Mr = 97,000 protein. The amount of cross-linked product was essentially independent of whether MgATP or MgADP were in the reaction. Also, the amount was maximum at high ratios of Av2 to Av1. The Mr = 97,000 protein was characterized by amino acid analysis and Edman degradation and was found to be consistent with a 1:1 complex of an Av2 gamma subunit and an Av1 beta subunit (the amino terminal serine subunit). The complex was no longer active in the nitrogenase reaction which supports, but does not prove, the requirement for dissociation of the complex after each electron transferred. Nitrogenase activity and cross-linking were inhibited in an identical way by NaCl, which suggests that electrostatic forces are critical to the formation of the electron transfer complex.     

Control of acetyl-CoA carboxylase by covalent modification

Summary In this review, various experiments which establish the occurrence of covalent modification mechanisms, both in vivo and in vitro, in the control of acetyl-CoA carboxylase have been presented. It is interesting to note that phosphorylation of the carboxylase results in disaggregation of the active species. These studies indicate that aggregation and disaggregation of the enzyme are involved in the control of carboxylase activity. Our covalent modification mechanism and the allosteric control mechanism share a common ground in that both mechanisms affect the equilibrium between protomers and polymers of the enzyme. However, it is clear that the allosteric control mechanism cannot functon alone under normal physiological conditions. Covalent modification of the carboxylase is prerequiste for efficient functioning of the allosteric mechanism.There are many aspects of the regulation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase which require further clarification. However, it is now established that short-term control of acetyl-CoA carboxylase involves the covalent modification mechanism.This research was supported by a grant from National Institutes of Health (AM 12865).This is Journal Paper No. 7701 from Purdue Agriculture Experiment Station.     

Tuning the responsiveness of a sensory receptor via covalent modification.

Down-regulation or adaptation of receptors is an essential part of the chemotaxis mechanism to sense gradients. Using localized mutagenesis it is shown that the covalent modification of the receptors makes a slight change in the binding constant (factor of 2) which is far too small to explain the adaptation. The modification does, however, alter the signaling dramatically, an increasing tumbling signal being correlated with increased covalent modification. Responses in the two extreme cases, namely, completely unmodified and completely modified receptor, occur at attractant concentrations separated by 2 orders of magnitude. Amidation of the regulatory glutamate residues causes essentially the same signaling change as methylation. Thus, adaptation in chemotaxis is due to modulation of the receptor's signaling properties, not its affinity for the chemoeffector.     

Sites of covalent modification in Trg, a sensory transducer of Escherichia coli

The Trg protein mediates chemotactic response of Escherichia coli to the attractants ribose and galactose. Like other transducers, Trg is a transmembrane protein that undergoes post-translational covalent modification. The modifications are hydrolysis (deamidation) of certain glutamine side chains to create glutamate residues and methylation of specific glutamates to form carboxyl methyl esters. Analysis of radiolabeled, tryptic peptides by high performance liquid chromatography and gas-phase sequencing allowed direct identification of the modified residues of Trg. The protein has 5 methyl-accepting residues. Four, at positions 304, 310, 311, and 318, are contained in a 23-residue tryptic peptide ending in lysine. The fifth, at position 500, is within a 25-residue tryptic peptide ending in arginine. At two sites, 311 and 318, glutamines are deamidated to create methyl-accepting glutamates. There is not a required order of modification among the sites. However, there is a substantial preference for methylation on the arginine peptide and, among sites on the lysine peptide, for the middle pair. Comparison of sequences surrounding modified residues identified in this work for Trg and previously for Tsr and Tar suggests a consensus sequence for methyl-accepting sites of Ala/Ser-Xaa-Xaa-Glu-Glu*-Xaa-Ala/OH-Ala-OH/Ala, where OH signifies Ser or Thr and the asterick marks the site of modification.