Immunological study of the regulation of cellular arylsulfatase synthesis in Klebsiella aerogenes.

Regulation of cellular arylsulfatase synthesis in Klebsiella aerogenes was analyzed by immunological techniques. Antibody directed against the purified arylsulfatase from K. aerogenes W70 was obtained from rabbits and characterized by immunoelectrophoresis, double-diffusion, quantitative precipitation, and enzyme neutralization tests. Arylsulfatase was located in the periplasmic space when the wild-type strain was cultured with methionine or with inorganic sulfate plus tyramine, but not with inorganic sulfate without tyramine, as the sole sulfur source. Tyramine oxidase was retained in the membrane fraction prepared from cells grown in the presence of tyramine. Arylsulfatase protein was not synthesized in the presence of tyramine and inorganic sulfate by mutant K611, which is deficient in tyramine oxidase (tynA). We conclude that the expression of the arylsulfatase gene (atsA) is regulated by the expression of tynA and that inorganic sulfate serves as a corepressor. In addition, strains mutated in the atsA gene were analyzed by using antibody.     

A cysG mutant strain of Rhizobium etli pleiotropically defective in sulfate and nitrate assimilation.

By its inability to grow on sulfate as the sole sulfur source, a mutant strain (CTNUX8) of Rhizobium etli carrying Tn5 was isolated and characterized. Sequence analysis showed that Tn5 is inserted into a cysG (siroheme synthetase)-homologous gene. By RNase protection assays, it was established that the cysG-like gene had a basal level of expression in thiosulfate- or cysteine-grown cells, which was induced when sulfate or methionine was used. Unlike its wild-type parent (strain CE3), the mutant strain, CTNUX8, was also unable to grow on nitrate as the sole nitrogen source and was unable to induce a high level of nitrite reductase. Despite its pleiotropic phenotype, strain CTNUX8 was able to induce pink, effective (N2-fixing) nodules on the roots of Phaseolus vulgaris plants. However, mixed inoculation experiments showed that strain CTNUX8 is significantly different from the wild type in its ability to nodulate. Our data support the notion that sulfate (or sulfite) is the sulfur source of R. etli in the rhizosphere, while cysteine, methionine, or glutathione is supplied by the root cells to bacteria growing inside the plant.     

Transcriptomic analysis of the sulfate starvation response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that causes a number of infections in humans, but is best known for its association with cystic fibrosis. It is able to use a wide range of sulfur compounds as sources of sulfur for growth. Gene expression in response to changes in sulfur supply was studied in P. aeruginosa E601, a cystic fibrosis isolate that displays mucin sulfatase activity, and in P. aeruginosa PAO1. A large family of genes was found to be upregulated by sulfate limitation in both isolates, encoding sulfatases and sulfonatases, transport systems, oxidative stress proteins, and a sulfate-regulated TonB/ExbBD complex. These genes were localized in five distinct islands on the genome and encoded proteins with a significantly reduced content of cysteine and methionine. Growth of P. aeruginosa E601 with mucin as the sulfur source led not only to a sulfate starvation response but also to induction of genes involved with type III secretion systems.     

Conversion of methionine to cysteine in Bacillus subtilis and its regulation

Bacillus subtilis can use methionine as the sole sulfur source, indicating an efficient conversion of methionine to cysteine. To characterize this pathway, the enzymatic activities of CysK, YrhA and YrhB purified in Escherichia coli were tested. Both CysK and YrhA have an O-acetylserine-thiol-lyase activity, but YrhA was 75-fold less active than CysK. An atypical cystathionine beta-synthase activity using O-acetylserine and homocysteine as substrates was observed for YrhA but not for CysK. The YrhB protein had both cystathionine lyase and homocysteine gamma-lyase activities in vitro. Due to their activity, we propose that YrhA and YrhB should be renamed MccA and MccB for methionine-to-cysteine conversion. Mutants inactivated for cysK or yrhB grew similarly to the wild-type strain in the presence of methionine. In contrast, the growth of an DeltayrhA mutant or a luxS mutant, inactivated for the S-ribosyl-homocysteinase step of the S-adenosylmethionine recycling pathway, was strongly reduced with methionine, whereas a DeltayrhA DeltacysK or cysE mutant did not grow at all under the same conditions. The yrhB and yrhA genes form an operon together with yrrT, mtnN, and yrhC. The expression of the yrrT operon was repressed in the presence of sulfate or cysteine. Both purified CysK and CymR, the global repressor of cysteine metabolism, were required to observe the formation of a protein-DNA complex with the yrrT promoter region in gel-shift experiments. The addition of O-acetyl-serine prevented the formation of this protein-DNA complex.     

Expression profiling of metabolic genes in response to methyl jasmonate reveals regulation of genes of primary and secondary sulfur-related pathways in Arabidopsis thaliana

The treatment of Arabidopsis thaliana with methyl jasmonate was used to investigate the reaction of 2467 selected genes of primary and secondary metabolism by macroarray hybridization. Hierarchical cluster analysis allowed distinctions to be made between diurnally and methyl jasmonate regulated genes in a time course from 30 min to 24 h. 97 and 64 genes were identified that were up- or down-regulated more than 2–fold by methyl jasmonate, respectively. These genes belong to 18 functional categories of which sulfur-related genes were by far strongest affected. Gene expression and metabolite patterns of sulfur metabolism were analysed in detail, since numerous defense compounds contain oxidized or reduced sulfur. Genes encoding key reactions of sulfate reduction as well as of cysteine, methionine and glutathione synthesis were rapidly up-regulated, but none of the known sulfur-deficiency induced sulfate transporter genes. In addition, increased expression of genes of sulfur-rich defense proteins and of enzymes involved in glucosinolate metabolism was observed. In contrast, profiling of primary and secondary sulfur metabolites revealed only an increase in the indole glucosinolate glucobrassicin upon methyl jasmonate treatment. The observed rapid mRNA changes were thus regulated by a signal independent of the known sulfur deficiency response. These results document for the first time how comprehensively the regulation of sulfur-related genes and plant defense are connected. This interaction is discussed as a new approach to differentiate between supply- and demand-driven regulation of the sulfate assimilation pathway.     

The sulfur-regulated arylsulfatase gene cluster of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a new member of the cys regulon

A gene cluster upstream of the arylsulfatase gene (atsA) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa was characterized and found to encode a putative ABC-type transporter, AtsRBC. Mutants with insertions in the atsR or atsB gene were unable to grow with hexyl-, octyl-, or nitrocatecholsulfate, although they grew normally with other sulfur sources, such as sulfate, methionine, and aliphatic sulfonates. AtsRBC therefore constitutes a general sulfate ester transport system, and desulfurization of aromatic and medium-chain-length aliphatic sulfate esters occurs in the cytoplasm. Expression of the atsR and atsBCA genes was repressed during growth with sulfate, cysteine, or thiocyanate. No expression of these genes was observed in the cysB mutant PAO-CB, and the ats genes therefore constitute an extension of the cys regulon in this species.     

丙酮丁醇梭菌半胱氨酸合成途径中铁氧还蛋白和胱硫醚-γ-裂解酶基因功能

【目的】探究丙酮丁醇梭菌半胱氨酸合成代谢途径上铁氧还蛋白和胱硫醚-γ-裂解酶基因的功能。【方法】使用ClosTron系统对半胱氨酸合成途径上的铁氧还蛋白基因(fer)和胱硫醚-γ-裂解酶基因(mccB)进行失活,得到突变株;在不同硫源的培养基中进行分批发酵,分析突变株的生长特点;通过pH控制,使用限磷的连续发酵方法将丙酮丁醇梭菌维持在产酸期和产溶剂期,分析野生型菌株和突变株在连续发酵中的生长情况。【结果】成功构建Δfer和ΔmccB突变株。在分批发酵中,敲除fer基因的突变株无法利用硫酸盐作为硫源,但添加亚硫酸盐或半胱氨酸可以使其恢复生长;在以半胱氨酸为唯一硫源进行分批发酵时,其终浓度1 mmol/L时不会影响野生型与Δfer突变株的生长,但高于1 mmol/L时生长均会受到抑制。在连续发酵中,Δfer突变株不能在产溶剂阶段生长,添加过量的半胱氨酸也不能恢复生长;敲除mccB基因的突变株仍能在添加甲硫氨酸的培养基中生长,但最大OD仅为野生型的57%;相较于野生型,ΔmccB突变株在产酸期和产溶剂期的生长均受到抑制。【结论】fer基因为半胱氨酸合成途径中硫酸盐还原为亚硫酸盐的关键基因,其控制合成的半胱氨酸不能完全由外源的半胱氨酸替代,敲除后对生长的抑制主要表现在连续发酵中的产溶剂阶段。mccB基因参与调控甲硫氨酸转化为半胱氨酸的过程,其敲除会影响甲硫氨酸到半胱氨酸的转化,但不会阻断该生物反应过程。     

Development of a defined medium supporting rapid growth for Deinococcus radiodurans and analysis of metabolic capacities

A morpholinepropanesulfonic acid (MOPS)-buffered rich defined medium (RDM) was optimized to support a reproducible 2.6-h doubling time at 35 °C for Deinococcus radiodurans R1 and used to gain insight into vitamin and carbon metabolism. D. radiodurans was shown to require biotin and niacin for growth in this medium. A glutamine–serine simple defined medium (SDM) was developed that supported a 4-h doubling time, and this medium was used to probe sulfur and methionine metabolism. Vitamin B₁₂ was shown to alleviate methionine auxotrophy, and under these conditions, sulfate was used as the sole sulfur source. Phenotypic characterization of a methionine synthase deletion mutant demonstrated that the B₁₂ alleviation of methionine auxotrophy was due to the necessity of the B₁₂-dependent methionine synthase in methionine biosynthesis. Growth on ammonium as the sole nitrogen source in the presence of vitamin B₁₂ was demonstrated, but it was not possible to achieve reproducibly good growth in the absence of at least one amino acid as a nitrogen source. Growth on sulfate, cysteine, and methionine as sulfur sources demonstrated the function of a complete sulfur recycling pathway in this strain. These studies have demonstrated that rapid growth of D. radiodurans R1 can be achieved in a MOPS-based medium solely containing a carbon source, salts, four vitamins, and two amino acids.     

Methionine-to-cysteine recycling in Klebsiella aerogenes

In the enteric bacteria Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica, sulfate is reduced to sulfide and assimilated into the amino acid cysteine; in turn, cysteine provides the sulfur atom for other sulfur-bearing molecules in the cell, including methionine. These organisms cannot use methionine as a sole source of sulfur. Here we report that this constraint is not shared by many other enteric bacteria, which can use either cysteine or methionine as the sole source of sulfur. The enteric bacterium Klebsiella aerogenes appears to use at least two pathways to allow the reduced sulfur of methionine to be recycled into cysteine. In addition, the ability to recycle methionine on solid media, where cys mutants cannot use methionine as a sulfur source, appears to be different from that in liquid media, where they can. One pathway likely uses a cystathionine intermediate to convert homocysteine to cysteine and is induced under conditions of sulfur starvation, which is likely sensed by low levels of the sulfate reduction intermediate adenosine-5'-phosphosulfate. The CysB regulatory proteins appear to control activation of this pathway. A second pathway may use a methanesulfonate intermediate to convert methionine-derived methanethiol to sulfite. While the transsulfurylation pathway may be directed to recovery of methionine, the methanethiol pathway likely represents a general salvage mechanism for recovery of alkane sulfide and alkane sulfonates. Therefore, the relatively distinct biosyntheses of cysteine and methionine in E. coli and Salmonella appear to be more intertwined in Klebsiella.     

Utilization of dimethyl sulfide as a sulfur source with the aid of light by Marinobacterium sp. strain DMS-S1

Strain DMS-S1 isolated from seawater was able to utilize dimethyl sulfide (DMS) as a sulfur source only in the presence of light in a sulfur-lacking medium. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S ribosomal DNA genes indicated that the strain was closely related to Marinobacterium georgiense. The strain produced dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), which was a main metabolite, and small amounts of formate and formaldehyde when grown on DMS as the sole sulfur source. The cells of the strain grown with succinate as a carbon source were able to use methyl mercaptan or methanesulfonate besides DMS but not DMSO or dimethyl sulfone as a sole sulfur source. DMS was transformed to DMSO primarily at wavelengths between 380 and 480 nm by heat-stable photosensitizers released by the strain. DMS was also degraded to formaldehyde in the presence of light by unidentified heat-stable factors released by the strain, and it appeared that strain DMS-S1 used the degradation products, which should be sulfite, sulfate, or methanesulfonate, as sulfur sources.     

Utilization of Dimethyl Sulfide as a Sulfur Source with the Aid of Light by Marinobacterium sp. Strain DMS-S1

Strain DMS-S1 isolated from seawater was able to utilize dimethyl sulfide (DMS) as a sulfur source only in the presence of light in a sulfur-lacking medium. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S ribosomal DNA genes indicated that the strain was closely related to Marinobacterium georgiense. The strain produced dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), which was a main metabolite, and small amounts of formate and formaldehyde when grown on DMS as the sole sulfur source. The cells of the strain grown with succinate as a carbon source were able to use methyl mercaptan or methanesulfonate besides DMS but not DMSO or dimethyl sulfone as a sole sulfur source. DMS was transformed to DMSO primarily at wavelengths between 380 and 480 nm by heat-stable photosensitizers released by the strain. DMS was also degraded to formaldehyde in the presence of light by unidentified heat-stable factors released by the strain, and it appeared that strain DMS-S1 used the degradation products, which should be sulfite, sulfate, or methanesulfonate, as sulfur sources.     

Proteins induced by sulfate limitation in Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida, or Staphylococcus aureus.

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of proteins from Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida, and Staphylococcus aureus, grown with methionine or one of a variety of organosulfates and organosulfonates as the sole source of sulfur, showed expression of specific sets of 7 to 14 proteins which were not observed during growth with sulfate or cysteine for all three species or with thiocyanate for P. putida and S. aureus. Under the same conditions, arylsulfatase activity in P. putida and S. aureus was seen to increase by up to 140-fold, suggesting that the proteins induced under these conditions may be involved in sulfur metabolism. We propose that these proteins are members of a sulfate starvation-induced stimulon.     

Functional analysis of the Bacillus subtilis cysK and cysJI genes

The function of the Bacillus subtilis cysK and cysJI (previously designated yvgQR) genes, expected to be involved in the assimilatory sulfate reduction pathway, was investigated. A B. subtilis mutant with a deletion in the cysJI genes was unable to use sulfate or sulfite as sulfur source, which confirmed that these genes encode sulfite reductase. A mutant with a transposon insertion in the cysK gene, whose deduced protein sequence showed similarity to cysteine synthases, grew poorly on sulfate and butanesulfonate. A strain in which cysK and yrhA, a cysK paralog, were inactivated was unable to grow with sulfate. Whereas expression of the cysJI genes was induced by sulfate, expression of cysK was repressed both by sulfate and by cysteine.     

Control of dimorphism in a biochemical variant of Candida albicans

The cellular morphology of a biochemical variant of Candida albicans could be controlled by the ratio of carbon dioxide to oxygen in the culture system or by individual amino acids. Predominantly pseudohyphal morphology was observed (i) at a CO(2) to O(2) ratio of 2:1 and (ii) without the addition of carbon dioxide, when either glycine, d- or l-ornithine, l-serine, l-methionine, l-phenylalanine, or l-tyrosine was the sole nitrogen source in the culture medium. When ammonium chloride, ammonium sulfate, l-glutamic acid, l-glutamine, or l-proline was the nitrogen source, yeastlike growth was observed in the presence or absence of CO(2). More adenosylmethionine was present in pseudohyphal than in yeastlike cells, and pseudohyphal cell wall preparations contained less methionine than cell walls from the yeastlike form. These results suggest a correlation between sulfur amino acid metabolism and dimorphism.