Cloning, sequencing, and expression of the gene encoding 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-oxoglutarate aldolase from Pseudomonas ochraceae NGJ1

A DNA fragment that carried the gene (proA) encoding 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-oxoglutarate aldolase was cloned from the chromosomal DNA of Pseudomonas ochraceae NGJ1, and the coding region was assigned to the nucleotide sequence based on the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the enzyme purified from the organism. The proA gene was 684 bp long, corresponding to a protein of 227 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 24,067 Da. The genes encoding a putative transporter and a 4-oxalomesaconate hydratase were upstream, and a 3'-truncated gene encoding 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylate lactonase was downstream from the proA gene in the same orientation on the DNA fragment. The proA gene product was overproduced in Escherichia coli and briefly purified to homogeneity from the crude extract by a two-step purification. The molecular and catalytic properties of the gene product were similar to those of the P. ochraceae enzyme.     

Role of cysteine residues in 4-oxalomesaconate hydratase from Pseudomonas ochraceae NGJ1

4-Oxalomesaconate hydratase from Pseudomonas ochraceae NGJ1 is unstable in the absence of reducing reagents such as dithiothreitol, and strongly inhibited by 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB). To study the role of cysteine residues in enzyme catalysis, the eight individual cysteine residues of the enzyme were replaced with serine residues by site-directed mutagenesis. The catalytic properties and chemical modification of wild- and mutant type-enzymes by DTNB showed that (i) none of eight cysteine residues was essential for enzyme catalysis; (ii) the inhibition by DTNB was mostly due to modification of Cys-186; (iii) Cys-96 might be another residue reacting with DTNB, and its modification caused an increase in the K(m)-value for 4-oxalomesaconate; (iv) the other six cysteine residues were inaccessible to DTNB, but susceptible to HgCl(2); and (v) only replacement of Cys-186 remarkably improved the stability of the enzyme in the absence of reducing reagent.     

Cloning,Sequencing, and Expression of the Gene Encoding 4-Hydroxy-4-methyl-2-oxoglutarate Aldolase from Pseudomonas ochraceae NGJ1

A DNA fragment that carried the gene (proA) encoding 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-oxoglutarate aldolase was cloned from the chromosomal DNA of Pseudomonas ochraceae NGJ1, and the coding region was assigned to the nucleotide sequence based on the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the enzyme purified from the organism. The proA gene was 684 bp long, corresponding to a protein of 227 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 24,067 Da. The genes encoding a putative transporter and a 4-oxalomesaconate hydratase were upstream, and a 3'-truncated gene encoding 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylate lactonase was downstream from the proA gene in the same orientation on the DNA fragment. The proA gene product was overproduced in Escherichia coli and briefly purified to homogeneity from the crude extract by a two-step purification. The molecular and catalytic properties of the gene product were similar to those of the P. ochraceae enzyme.     

Cloning and characterization of the pnb genes, encoding enzymes for 4-nitrobenzoate catabolism in Pseudomonas putida TW3

Pseudomonas putida strain TW3 is able to metabolize 4-nitrotoluene via 4-nitrobenzoate (4NBen) and 3, 4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (protocatechuate [PCA]) to central metabolites. We have cloned, sequenced, and characterized a 6-kbp fragment of TW3 DNA which contains five genes, two of which encode the enzymes involved in the catabolism of 4NBen to PCA. In order, they encode a 4NBen reductase (PnbA) which is responsible for catalyzing the direct reduction of 4NBen to 4-hydroxylaminobenzoate with the oxidation of 2 mol of NADH per mol of 4NBen, a reductase-like enzyme (Orf1) which appears to have no function in the pathway, a regulator protein (PnbR) of the LysR family, a 4-hydroxylaminobenzoate lyase (PnbB) which catalyzes the conversion of 4-hydroxylaminobenzoate to PCA and ammonium, and a second lyase-like enzyme (Orf2) which is closely associated with pnbB but appears to have no function in the pathway. The central pnbR gene is transcribed in the opposite direction to the other four genes. These genes complete the characterization of the whole pathway of 4-nitrotoluene catabolism to the ring cleavage substrate PCA in P. putida strain TW3.     

Nucleotide sequencing and characterization of the genes encoding benzene oxidation enzymes of Pseudomonas putida.

The nucleotide sequence of the genes from Pseudomonas putida encoding oxidation of benzene to catechol was determined. Five open reading frames were found in the sequence. Four corresponding protein molecules were detected by a DNA-directed in vitro translation system. Escherichia coli cells containing the fragment with the four open reading frames transformed benzene to cis-benzene glycol, which is an intermediate of the oxidation of benzene to catechol. The relation between the product of each cistron and the components of the benzene oxidation enzyme system is discussed.     

Cloning, sequencing, and expression of the Pseudomonas putida protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase genes.

The genes that encode the alpha and beta subunits of protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase (3,4-PCD [EC 1.13.11.3]) were cloned from a Pseudomonas putida (formerly P. aeruginosa) (ATCC 23975) genomic library prepared in lambda phage. Plaques were screened by hybridization with degenerate oligonucleotides designed using known amino acid sequences. A 1.5-kb SmaI fragment from a 15-kb primary clone was subcloned, sequenced, and shown to contain two successive open reading frames, designated pcaH and pcaG, corresponding to the beta and alpha subunits, respectively, of 3,4-PCD. The amino acid sequences deduced from pcaHG matched the chemically determined sequence of 3,4-PCD in all except three positions. Cloning of pcaHG into broad-host-range expression vector pKMY319 allowed high levels of expression in P. putida strains, as well as in Proteus mirabilis after specific induction of the plasmid-encoded nahG promoter with salicylate. The recombinant enzyme was purified and crystallized from P. mirabilis, which lacks an endogenous 3,4-PCD. The physical, spectroscopic, and kinetic properties of the recombinant enzyme were indistinguishable from those of the wild-type enzyme. Moreover, the same transient enzyme intermediates were formed during the catalytic cycle. These studies establish the methodology which will allow mechanistic investigations to be pursued through site-directed mutagenesis of P. putida 3,4-PCD, the only aromatic ring-cleaving dioxygenase for which the three-dimensional structure is known.     

Cloning, expression, and regulation of the Pseudomonas cepacia protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase genes.

The genes for the alpha and beta subunits of the enzyme protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase (EC 1.13.11.3) were cloned from the Pseudomonas cepacia DBO1 chromosome on a 9.5-kilobase-pair PstI fragment into the broad-host-range cloning vector pRO2317. The resultant clone was able to complement protocatechuate 3,4-dioxugenase mutations in P. cepacia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Pseudomonas putida. Expression studies showed that the genes were constitutively expressed and subject to catabolite repression in the heterologous host. Since the cloned genes exhibited normal induction patterns when present in P. cepacia DBO1, it was concluded that induction was subject to negative control. Regulatory studies with P. cepacia wild-type and mutant strains showed that protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase is induced either by protocatechuate or by beta-carboxymuconate. Further studies of P. cepacia DBO1 showed that p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase (EC 1.14.13.2), the preceding enzyme in the pathway, is induced by p-hydroxybenzoate and that beta-carboxymuconate lactonizing enzyme, which catalyzes the reaction following protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase, is induced by both p-hydroxybenzoate and beta-ketoadipate.     

Cloning and sequencing of Pseudomonas genes encoding vanillate demethylase.

A 2,598-base-pair (bp) SalI-HincII DNA fragment has been cloned which codes for vanillate demethylase, the enzyme responsible for the demethylation of vanillate (3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzoate) to protocatechuate (3,4-dihydroxybenzoate). Complementation and insertional inactivation experiments have shown that this fragment carries two genes (vanA and vanB) which are predominantly cotranscribed from a promoter upstream of vanA. Nucleotide sequencing of the SalI-HincII fragment confirmed the genetic data: two open reading frames of 987 and 942 bp were present in the transcribed orientation. These had a very high G + C content in the third base of each codon, which is characteristic of Pseudomonas chromosomal genes. Expression of the genes in Escherichia coli with the T7 RNA polymerase-promoter system gave rise to two polypeptides of 36 and 33 kilodaltons which could be identified by deletion analysis as the products of vanA and vanB, respectively. A search of the protein sequence data bank indicated that the vanB gene product was related to the ferredoxin family.     

Cloning and characterization of chemotaxis genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Two chemotaxis-defective mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, designated PC3 and PC4, were selected by the swarm plate method after N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis. These mutants were not complemented by the P. aeruginosa cheY and cheZ genes, which had been previously cloned (Masduki et al., J. Bacteriol., 177, 948-952, 1995). DNA sequences downstream of the cheY and cheZ genes were able to complement PC3 but not PC4. Sequence analysis of a 9.7-kb region directly downstream of the cheZ gene found three chemotaxis genes, cheA, cheB, and cheW, and seven unknown open reading frames (ORFs). The predicted translation products of the cheA, cheB, and cheW genes showed 33, 36, and 31% amino acid identity with Escherichia coli CheA, CheB, and CheW, respectively. Two of the unknown ORFs, ORF1 and ORF2, encoded putative polypeptides that resembled Bacillus subtilis MotA (40% amino acid identity) and MotB (34% amino acid identity) proteins, respectively. Although P. aeruginosa was found to have proteins similar to the enteric chemotaxis proteins CheA, CheB, CheW, CheY, and CheZ, the gene encoding a CheR homologue did not reside in the chemotaxis gene cluster. The P. aeruginosa cheR gene could be cloned by phenotypic complementation of the PC4 mutant. This gene was located at least 1,800 kb away from the chemotaxis gene cluster and encoded a putative polypeptide that had 32% amino acid identity with E. coli CheR.     

Cloning,nucleotide sequence and characterization of genes encoding naphthalene dioxygenase of Pseudomonas putida strain NCIB9816

We have cloned the naphthalene dioxygenase(ND)-coding genes from Pseudomonas putida strain NCIB9816 based on their ability to convert indole to indigo. The region coding for this enzyme activity was sequenced and three successive open reading frames were found. The corresponding gene products were identified using the T7 polymerase/promoter system. All of them are necessary for the ND activity. A comparison of the ND-coding genes with the ones coding for benzene dioxygenase revealed significant homology which was more pronounced at the nucleotide level than at the amino acid level.     

Molecular characterization of the genes pcaG and pcaH, encoding protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase, which are essential for vanillin catabolism in Pseudomonas sp. strain HR199

Pseudomonas sp. strain HR199 is able to utilize eugenol (4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol), vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde), or protocatechuate as the sole carbon source for growth. Mutants of this strain which were impaired in the catabolism of vanillin but retained the ability to utilize eugenol or protocatechuate were obtained after nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis. One mutant (SK6169) was used as recipient of a Pseudomonas sp. strain HR199 genomic library in cosmid pVK100, and phenotypic complementation was achieved with a 5.8-kbp EcoRI fragment (E58). The amino acid sequences deduced from two corresponding open reading frames (ORF) identified on E58 revealed high degrees of homology to pcaG and pcaH, encoding the two subunits of protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase. Three additional ORF most probably encoded a 4-hydroxybenzoate 3-hydroxylase (PobA) and two putative regulatory proteins, which exhibited homology to PcaQ of Agrobacterium tumefaciens and PobR of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively. Since mutant SK6169 was also complemented by a subfragment of E58 that harbored only pcaH, this mutant was most probably lacking a functional beta subunit of the protocatechuate 3, 4-dioxygenase. Since this mutant was still able to grow on protocatechuate and lacked protocatechuate 4,5-dioxygenase and protocatechuate 2,3-dioxygenase, the degradation had to be catalyzed by different enzymes. Two other mutants (SK6184 and SK6190), which were also impaired in the catabolism of vanillin, were not complemented by fragment E58. Since these mutants accumulated 3-carboxy muconolactone during cultivation on eugenol, they most probably exhibited a defect in a step of the catabolic pathway following the ortho cleavage. Moreover, in these mutants cyclization of 3-carboxymuconic acid seems to occur by a syn absolute stereochemical course, which is normally only observed for cis, cis-muconate lactonization in pseudomonads. In conclusion, vanillin is degraded through the ortho-cleavage pathway in Pseudomonas sp. strain HR199 whereas protocatechuate could also be metabolized via a different pathway in the mutants.     

Cloning and characterization of the genes encoding the haemolysin of Haemophilus ducreyi

We previously identified a heat- and protease-labile haemolytic activity expressed by Haemophilus ducreyi . In order to characterize the haemolysin at the molecular level, genomic DNA from H. ducreyi was probed with haemolysin genes from other Gram-negative organisms. The haemolysin genes of Proteus mirabilis hybridized to H. ducreyi DNA suggesting that the haemolysin of H. ducreyi is related to the Proteus/Serratia pore-forming family of haemolysins. Tn 916 mutagenesis was employed to isolate haemolysin-deficient mutants. Approximately 5000 Tn 916 transposon mutants were screened for the loss of haemolytic activity and two mutants were identified. One mutant, designated 35 000-1, was further characterized. Sequences flanking the Tn 916 element in strain 35 000-1 were employed to identify clones from a λDASHII library of H. ducreyi strain 35 000 DNA. A 13 kb insert from one lambda clone was selected for further study. This 13 kb fragment was able to both confer haemolytic activity to Escherichia coli and complement the haemolysin deficiency in strain 35 000-1. The haemolysin gene cluster was cloned from this 13 kb insert and two genes, designated hhdA and hhdB , were identified. The derived amino acid sequence of these genes demonstrated homology to the haemolysin and activation/secretion proteins of P. mirabilis and Serratia marcescens .     

Cloning and characterization of the Streptomyces peucetius dnmZUV genes encoding three enzymes required for biosynthesis of the daunorubicin precursor thymidine diphospho-L-daunosamine.

Characterization of the dnmZ, dnmU, and dnmV genes from the daunorubicin-producer Streptomyces peucetius by DNA sequence analysis indicated that these genes encode a protein of unknown function plus a putative thymidine diphospho-4-keto-6-deoxyglucose-3(5)-epimerase and thymidine diphospho-4-ketodeoxyhexulose reductase, respectively. Inactivation of each of the three genes by gene disruption and replacement in the wild-type strain demonstrated that all of them are required for daunosamine biosynthesis.     

Cloning and characterization of elastase genes from Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

A gene bank was constructed from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and used to complement three P. aeruginosa elastase-deficient strains. One clone, pRF1, contained a gene which restored elastase production in two P. aeruginosa isolates deficient in elastase production (PA-E15 and PAO-E105). This gene also encoded production of elastase antigen and activity in Escherichia coli and is the structural gene for Pseudomonas elastase. A second clone, pHN13, contained a 20-kilobase (kb) EcoRI insert which was not related to the 8-kb EcoRI insert of pRF1 as determined by restriction analysis and DNA hybridization. A 2.2-kb SalI-HindIII fragment from pHN3 was subcloned into pUC18, forming pRB1822-1. Plasmid pRB1822-1 restored normal elastolytic activity to PAO-E64, a mutant for elastase activity. Clones derived from pHN13 failed to elicit elastase antigen or enzymatic activity in E. coli.     

Constitutive synthesis of enzymes of the protocatechuate pathway and of the beta-ketoadipate uptake system in mutant strains of Pseudomonas putida.

Mutant Pseudomonas putida strains that produce constitutive levels of the beta-ketoadipate uptake system are selected by the sequential transfer of cultures between mineral growth media supplemented with the noninducing growth substrate succinate and growth media containing beta-ketoadipate as the sole carbon and energy source. The mutant strains also produce constitutively three catabolic enzymes that give rise to beta-ketoadipate from the metabolic precursor beta-carboxy-cis, cis-muconate, and thus a single regulatory gene appears to govern the expression of the enzymes as well as the uptake system. The three enzymes that convert beta-carboxy-cis, cis-muconate to beta-ketoadipate are induced to higher levels when the orgainisms are grown with p-hydroxybenzoate (a compound that is catabolized via beta-ketoadipate); the beta-ketoadipate uptake system is partially repressed when the cells are grwon at the expense of p-hydroxybenzoate. The transferase that acts upon beta-ketoadipate remains inducible in the constitutive mutant strains. Thus a minimum of three biosynthetic controls must be exerted over the expression of the five genes. Since the regulatory mutation does not alter the expression of the gene for the transferase, the physiological target of the selection procedure appears to be mutant strains that produce the uptake system constitutively. Levels of the uptake system are higher in uninduced constitutive mutant cultures than in induced cultures of the wild type. Hence procedures analogous to the one we employed may be of general use in obtaining mutant strains that produce high levels of uptake systems.