Adaptation of Salmonella typhimurium mutants containing uncoupled enzyme IIGlc to glucose-limited conditions.

Uncoupled enzyme IIGlc of the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP):glucose phosphotransferase system (PTS) in Salmonella typhimurium is able to catalyze glucose transport in the absence of PEP-dependent phosphorylation. As a result of the ptsG mutation, the apparent Km of the system for glucose transport is increased about 1,000-fold (approximately 18 mM) compared with wild-type PTS-mediated glucose transport. An S. typhimurium mutant containing uncoupled enzyme IIGlc as the sole system for glucose uptake was grown in glucose-limited chemostat cultures. Selective pressure during growth in the chemostat resulted in adaptation to the glucose-limiting conditions in two different ways. At first, mutations appeared that led to a decrease in Km value of uncoupled enzyme IIGlc. These results suggested that uncoupled enzyme IIGlc had significant control on the growth rate under glucose-limiting conditions. More efficient glucose uptake enabled a mutant to outgrow its parent and caused a decrease in the steady-state glucose concentration in the chemostat. At very low glucose concentrations (10 microM), mutants arose that contained a constitutively synthesized methyl-beta-galactoside permease. Apparently, further changes in the uncoupled enzyme IIGlc did not lead to a substantial increase in growth rate at very low glucose concentrations.     

Glucose permease of Escherichia coli. The effect of cysteine to serine mutations on the function, stability, and regulation of transport and phosphorylation

The glucose permease (IIGlc/IIIGlc complex) of the bacterial phosphotransferase system mediates sugar transport across the cytoplasmic membrane concomitant with sugar phosphorylation. It contains 3 cysteine residues, of which Cys-204 and Cys-326 are localized in the hydrophobic part and Cys-421 in the hydrophilic part of the IIGlc subunit. The cysteines were replaced, one at a time, by serines, and the effect of these mutations on stability, regulation, and catalytic properties of IIGlc was investigated in vivo and in vitro. Cys-204 and Cys-326 are not required for catalytic function and are not involved in the membrane potential-dependent regulation of IIGlc activity (Robillard, G. T., and Konings, W. N. (1982) Eur. J. Biochem. 127, 597-604). Replacement of these cysteines by serines results, however, in reduced stability of IIGlc in vivo (C204S) and in vitro (C204S and C326S), indicating that these substitutions in a hydrophobic environment can destabilize the protein structure. Cys-421 is absolutely required for transport and phosphorylation of glucose. C421S can neither be phosphorylated by phospho-IIIGlc nor catalyze the phosphoryl exchange between [14C] glucose and glucose 6-phosphate at equilibrium. C421S does not interfere with the activity of simultaneously expressed wild-type IIGlc. Unexpectedly C421S and wild-type IIGlc support growth on maltose of Escherichia coli ZSC112L (Curtis, S. J., and Epstein, W. (1975) J. Bacteriol. 122, 1189-1199), a strain which otherwise does not grow on this disaccharide as the only carbon source. C421S appears to facilitate the efflux of a growth inhibiting intermediate (glucose?) of maltose. Wild-type IIGlc catalyzes the intracellular phosphorylation of glucose derived from maltose. It is concluded that the cytoplasmic domain of IIGlc interacts with IIIGlc, the cytoplasmic subunit of the glucose permease, and also participates in phosphorylation of glucose, and that phosphorylation occurs independently of transport, although transport of glucose by wild-type IIGlc cannot occur without concomitant phosphorylation.     

Analysis of mutations that uncouple transport from phosphorylation in enzyme IIGlc of the Escherichia coli phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system.

Mutations that uncouple glucose transport from phosphorylation were isolated in plasmid-encoded Escherichia coli enzyme IIGlc of the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system (PTS). The uncoupled enzymes IIGlc were able to transport glucose in the absence of the general phosphoryl-carrying proteins of the PTS, enzyme I and HPr, although with relatively low affinity. Km values of the uncoupled enzymes IIGlc for glucose ranged from 0.5 to 2.5 mM, 2 orders of magnitude higher than the value of normal IIGlc. Most of the mutant proteins were still able to phosphorylate glucose and methyl alpha-glucoside (a non-metabolizable glucose analog specific for IIGlc), indicating that transport and phosphorylation are separable functions of the enzyme. Some of the uncoupled enzymes IIGlc transported glucose with a higher rate and lower apparent Km in a pts+ strain than in a delta ptsHI strain lacking the general proteins enzyme I and HPr. Since the properties of these uncoupled enzymes IIGlc in the presence of PTS-mediated phosphoryl transfer resembled those of wild-type IIGlc, these mutants appeared to be conditionally uncoupled. Sequencing of the mutated ptsG genes revealed that all amino acid substitutions occurred in a hydrophilic segment within the hydrophobic N-terminal part of IIGlc. These results suggest that this hydrophilic loop is involved in binding and translocation of the sugar substrate.     

Expression of the pyrG gene determines the pool sizes of CTP and dCTP in Lactococcus lactis.

The pyrG gene from Lactococcus lactis encodes CTP synthase (EC 6.4.3.2), an enzyme converting UTP to CTP. A series of strains were constructed with different levels of pyrG expression by insertion of synthetic constitutive promoters with different strengths in front of pyrG. These strains expressed pyrG levels in a range from 3 to 665% relative to the wild-type expression level. Decreasing the level of CTP synthase to 43% had no effect on the growth rate, showing that the capacity of CTP synthase in the cell is in excess in a wild-type strain. We then studied how pyrG expression affected the intracellular pool sizes of nucleotides and the correlation between pyrG expression and nucleotide pool sizes was quantified using metabolic control analysis in terms of inherent control coefficients. At the wild-type expression level, CTP synthase had full control of the CTP concentration with a concentration control coefficient close to one and a negative concentration control coefficient of -0.28 for the UTP concentration. Additionally, a concentration control coefficient of 0.49 was calculated for the dCTP concentration. Implications for the homeostasis of nucleotide pools are discussed.     

Concentration-dependent repression of the soluble and membrane components of the Streptococcus mutans phosphoenolpyruvate: sugar phosphotransferase system by glucose.

Growth of Streptococcus mutans Ingbritt in continuous culture (pH 7.0, dilution rate of 0.1 h-1) at medium glucose concentrations above 2.6 mM resulted in repression of the sugar-specific membrane components, enzyme IIGlc (EIIGlc) and EIIMan, of the phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS). In one experiment, significant repression (27-fold) was observed with 73 mM glucose when the glycolytic capacity of the cells was reduced by only 2-fold and when the culture was still glucose limited. In a more comprehensive experiment in which cells were grown in continuous culture at eight glucose concentrations from 2.6 to 304 mM, in addition to repression of specific EII activities for glucose, mannose, 2-deoxyglucose, and fructose, synthesis of the general protein, EI, was repressed at all glucose levels above 2.6 mM to a maximum of 4-fold at 304 mM glucose when the culture was growing with excess glucose (i.e., nitrogen limited). The other PTS general protein, HPr, was less sensitive to the exogenous glucose level but was nevertheless repressed fourfold under glucose-excess conditions. The Km for glucose for EIIGlc increased from 0.22 mM during growth at 3.6 mM glucose (glucose limited) to 0.48 mM at 271 mM glucose (glucose excess). The shift from heterofermentation to homofermentation during growth with increasing glucose levels suggests the involvement of glycolytic intermediates, ATP, or another high-energy phosphate metabolite in regulation of the synthesis of the PTS components in S. mutans.     

Physiological response of central metabolism in Escherichia coli to deletion of pyruvate oxidase and introduction of heterologous pyruvate carboxylase

We studied the physiological response of Escherichia coli central metabolism to the expression of heterologous pyruvate carboxylase (PYC) in the presence and absence of pyruvate oxidase (POX). These studies were complemented with expression analysis of central and intermediary metabolic genes and conventional in vitro enzyme assays to evaluate glucose metabolism at steady-state growth conditions (chemostats). The absence of POX activity reduced nongrowth-related energy metabolism (maintenance coefficient) and increased the maximum specific rate of oxygen consumption. The presence of PYC activity (i.e., with POX activity) increased the biomass yield coefficient and reduced the maximum specific oxygen consumption rate compared to the wildtype. The presence of PYC in a poxB mutant resulted in a 42% lower maintenance coefficient and a 42% greater biomass yield compared to the wildtype. Providing E. coli with PYC or removing POX increased the threshold specific growth rate at which acetate accumulation began, with an 80% reduction in acetate accumulation observed at a specific growth rate of 0.4 h-1 in the poxB-pyc+ strain. Gene expression analysis suggests utilization of energetically less favorable glucose metabolism via glucokinase and the Entner-Doudoroff pathway in the absence of functional POX, while the upregulation of the phosphotransferase glucose uptake system and several amino acid biosynthetic pathways occurs in the presence of PYC. The physiological and expression changes resulting from these genetic perturbations demonstrate the importance of the pyruvate node in respiration and its impact on acetate overflow during aerobic growth.     

Glucose permease of Escherichia coli. Purification of the IIGlc subunit and functional characterization of its oligomeric forms

The membrane subunit (IIGlc) of the glucose permease has been purified from overproducing Escherichia coli. About 2 mg of pure protein was obtained from 10 g (wet weight) of cells. IIGlc of E. coli and Salmonella typhimurium are functionally indistinguishable. A small difference was revealed, however, by a monoclonal antibody which neutralizes glucose phosphorylation activity of IIGlc from S. typhimurium, but does not cross-react with IIGlc of E. coli. A dimeric form of purified IIGlc can be detected by chemical cross-linking and by zonal sedimentation at 4 degrees C. Upon mild oxidation a disulfide bond is formed between the subunits of the dimer. Oxidized IIGlc is more stable than the reduced form but is inactive because it cannot be phosphorylated by the cytoplasmic subunit (IIIGlc) of the glucose permease. Cys-421 could be identified as the oxidation-sensitive residue, using a novel assay to detect IIIGlc-dependent phosphorylation of nitrocellulose-bound IIGlc that has been purified by gel electrophoresis. No dimeric form of phosphorylated IIGlc could be detected. Because phosphorylated IIGlc is a catalytic intermediate it is concluded that catalytically active IIGlc is a monomer and that the dimeric form is an artefact observed only with purified resting IIGlc. That IIGlc is active as a monomer is further supported by the observation that monomeric IIGlc catalyzes phosphoryl exchange between glucose and glucose 6-phosphate at equilibrium and that an excess of inactive IIGlc with a serine replacing Cys-421 does not interfere with the activity of wild-type IIGlc as would be expected if interaction between the subunits in a dimer were essential for activity.     

Alleviation of glucose repression of maltose metabolism by MIG1 disruption in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The MIG1 gene was disrupted in a haploid laboratory strain (B224) and in an industrial polyploid strain (DGI 342) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The alleviation of glucose repression of the expression of MAL genes and alleviation of glucose control of maltose metabolism were investigated in batch cultivations on glucose-maltose mixtures. In the MIG1-disrupted haploid strain, glucose repression was partly alleviated; i.e., maltose metabolism was initiated at higher glucose concentrations than in the corresponding wild-type strain. In contrast, the polyploid delta mig1 strain exhibited an even more stringent glucose control of maltose metabolism than the corresponding wild-type strain, which could be explained by a more rigid catabolite inactivation of maltose permease, affecting the uptake of maltose. Growth on the glucose-sucrose mixture showed that the polypoid delta mig1 strain was relieved of glucose repression of the SUC genes. The disruption of MIG1 was shown to bring about pleiotropic effects, manifested in changes in the pattern of secreted metabolites and in the specific growth rate.     

Mycoplasma phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent sugar phosphotransferase system: glucose-negative mutant and regulation of intracellular cyclic AMP.

Glucose-negative mutants of Mycoplasma capricolum were selected for growth on fructose in the presence of the toxic glucose analog alpha-methyl-D-glucopyranoside. The mutants are defective in the phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system for glucose. One mutant, pts-4, was studied in detail. It lacks the glucose-specific, membrane-bound enzyme II, IIGlc, as well as the general, low-molecular-weight, phosphocarrier protein, HPr. In place of the latter, however, it has a fructose-specific protein, HPrFru. Consistent with these changes, the mutant lost the ability to grow on glucosamine and maltose but retained its ability to grow on sucrose. In the glucose-negative mutant, glucose did not regulate the intracellular concentration of cyclic AMP. The intracellular concentration of cyclic AMP in M. capricolum is regulated by the presence of metabolizable sugars. In the wild-type, both glucose and fructose reduced the intracellular concentration of cyclic AMP; however, in the glucose-negative mutant, glucose no longer regulated the intracellular level of cyclic AMP.     

The glucose permease of the phosphotransferase system of Bacillus subtilis: evidence for IIGlc and IIIGlc domains

Glucose is taken up in Bacillus subtilis via the phosphoenolpyruvate:glucose phosphotransferase system (glucose PTS). Two genes, orfG and ptsX, have been implied in the glucose-specific part of this PTS, encoding an Enzyme IIGlc and an Enzyme IIIGlc, respectively. We now show that the glucose permease consists of a single, membrane-bound, polypeptide with an apparent molecular weight of 80,000, encoded by a single gene which will be designated ptsG. The glucose permease contains domains that are 40-50% identical to the IIGlc and IIIGlc proteins of Escherichia coli. The B. subtilis IIIGlc domain can replace IIIGlc in E. coli crr mutants in supporting growth on glucose and transport of methyl alpha-glucoside. Mutations in the IIGlc and IIIGlc domains of the B. subtilis ptsG gene impaired growth on glucose and in some cases on sucrose. ptsG mutants lost all methyl alpha-glucoside transport but retained part of the glucose-transport capacity. Residual growth on glucose and transport of glucose in these ptsG mutants suggested that yet another uptake system for glucose existed, which is either another PT system or regulated by the PTS. The glucose PTS did not seem to be involved in the regulation of the uptake or metabolism of non-PTS compounds like glycerol. In contrast to ptsl mutants in members of the Enterobacteriaceae, the defective growth of B. subtilis ptsl mutants on glycerol was not restored by an insertion in the ptsG gene which eliminated IIGlc. Growth of B. subtilis ptsG mutants, lacking IIGlc, was not impaired on glycerol. From this we concluded that neither non-phosphorylated nor phosphorylated IIGlc was acting as an inhibitor or an activator, respectively, of glycerol uptake and metabolism.     

Understanding the growth phenotype of the yeast gcr1 mutant in terms of global genomic expression patterns

The phenotype of an organism is the manifestation of its expressed genome. The gcr1 mutant of yeast grows at near wild-type rates on nonfermentable carbon sources but exhibits a severe growth defect when grown in the presence of glucose, even when nonfermentable carbon sources are available. Using DNA microarrays, the genomic expression patterns of wild-type and gcr1 mutant yeast growing on various media, with and without glucose, were compared. A total of 53 open reading frames (ORFs) were identified as GCR1 dependent based on the criterion that their expression was reduced twofold or greater in mutant versus wild-type cultures grown in permissive medium consisting of YP supplemented with glycerol and lactate. The GCR1-dependent genes, so defined, fell into three classes: (i) glycolytic enzyme genes, (ii) ORFs carried by Ty elements, and (iii) genes not previously known to be GCR1 dependent. In wild-type cultures, GCR1-dependent genes accounted for 27% of the total hybridization signal, whereas in mutant cultures, they accounted for 6% of the total. Glucose addition to the growth medium resulted in a reprogramming of gene expression in both wild-type and mutant yeasts. In both strains, glycolytic enzyme gene expression was induced by the addition of glucose, although the expression of these genes was still impaired in the mutant compared to the wild type. By contrast, glucose resulted in a strong induction of Ty-borne genes in the mutant background but did not greatly affect their already high expression in the wild-type background. Both strains responded to glucose by repressing the expression of genes involved in respiration and the metabolism of alternative carbon sources. Thus, the severe growth inhibition observed in gcr1 mutants in the presence of glucose is the result of normal signal transduction pathways and glucose repression mechanisms operating without sufficient glycolytic enzyme gene expression to support growth via glycolysis alone.     

Regulation of phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase levels and effect on serine synthesis in Escherichia coli K-12.

The level of phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, the first enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway to serine and glycine, has been studied in Escherichia coli grown under different conditions. The enzyme level was not reduced by growth in a medium which contained the end products of the pathway, nor was it elevated when the growth rates was limited by the supply of serine. Elevation of phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase did not occur when charging of tRNA ser was inhibited by serine hydroxamate. However, phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase levels were subject to regulation. Elevated levels of enzyme activity were observed in merodiploids containing multiple copies of the serA gene, and lowered enzyme levels were found in cells grown on carbon sources other than glucose or when certain amino acids were present in the growth medium. The combined effect of these nutritional changes (carbon source and amino acids) reduced the level of phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase to 10 to 12% of that found in wild-type cells and to about 5% of the level in the merodiploids. By using antibody prepared against purified phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase we established that the decrease in enzyme activity reflected decreased amounts of enzyme protein. Constant intracellular concentrations of 3-phosphoglycerate and serine were found in cells with marked differences in phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase activity, indicating that end product inhibition of phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase activity, rather than the amount of the biosynthetic enzymes, is the major factor in regulating the intracellular concentration of serine.     

Experimental determination of control by the H+-ATPase inEscherichia coli

Strains carrying deletions in theatp genes, encoding the H⁺-ATPase, were unable to grow on nonfermentable substrates such as succinate, whereas with glucose as the substrate the growth rate of anatp deletion mutant was surprisingly high (some 75–80% of wild-type growth rate). The rate of glucose and oxygen consumption of these mutants was increased compared to the wild-type rates. In order to analyze the importance of the H⁺-ATPase at its physiological level, the cellular concentration of H⁺-ATPase was modulated around the wild-type level, using genetically manipulated strains. The control coefficient by the H⁺-ATPase with respect to growth rate and catabolic fluxes was measured. Control on growth rate was absent at the wild-type concentration of H⁺-ATPase, independent of whether the substrate for growth was glucose or succinate. Control by the H⁺-ATPase on the catabolic fluxes, including respiration, was negative at the wild-type H⁺-ATPase level. Moreover, the turnover number of the individual H⁺-ATPase enzymes increased as the H⁺-ATPase concentration was lowered. The negative control by the H⁺-ATPase on catabolism may thus be involved in a homeostatic control of ATP synthesis and, to some extent, explain the zero control by the H⁺-ATPase onE. coli growth rate.     

Effect of growth conditions on levels of components of the phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system in Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus grown in continuous culture.

The membrane-bound, sugar-specific enzyme II (EII) component of the phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS) in Streptococcus mutans Ingbritt is repressed by growth on glucose under various conditions in continuous culture. Compared with optimal PTS conditions (i.e., glucose limitation, dilution rate [D] of 0.1 h-1, and pH 7.0), EII activity for glucose (EIIGlc) and mannose (EIIMan) in cells grown at a D of 0.4 h-1 and pH 5.5 with the same glucose concentration was reduced 24- to 27-fold. EII activity with methyl alpha-glucoside and 2-deoxyglucose was reduced 6- and 26-fold, respectively. Growth with excess glucose (i.e., nitrogen limitation) resulted in 26- to 88-fold repression of EII activity with these substrates. The above conditions of low pH, high dilution rate, and excess glucose also repressed EII activity for fructose (EIIFru), but to a lesser extent (two- to fivefold). Conversely, growth of S. mutans DR0001 at a D of 0.2 h-1 and pH 5.5 resulted in increased EIIGlc and EIIMan activity. Unlike the EII component, the HPr concentration in S. mutans Ingbritt varied only twofold (5.5 to 11.4 nmol/mg of protein) despite growth at pH 5.5 with limiting and excess glucose. The HPr concentrations in S. mutans DR0001 and the glucose-PTS-defective mutant DR0001/6 were similar. In a companion study, the soluble components of the PTS (i.e., HPr, EI, and EIIILac) in Streptococcus sobrinus grown on limiting lactose in a chemostat were not influenced significantly by growth at various pHs (7.0 and 5.0) and growth rates (D of 0.1, 0.54, and 0.8 h-1). However, growth on lactose resulted in repression of both EIIGlc and EIIFru, confirming earlier results with batch-grown cells. Thus, the glucose-PTS in some strains of S. mutans is regulated at the level of EII synthesis by certain environmental conditions.     

Lactate dehydrogenase has no control on lactate production but has a strong negative control on formate production in Lactococcus lactis.

A series of mutant strains of Lactococcus lactis were constructed with lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities ranging from below 1% to 133% of the wild-type activity level. The mutants with 59% to 133% of lactate dehydrogenase activity had growth rates similar to the wild-type and showed a homolactic pattern of fermentation. Only after lactate dehydrogenase activity was reduced ninefold compared to the wild-type was the growth rate significantly affected, and the ldh mutants started to produce mixed-acid products (formate, acetate, and ethanol in addition to lactate). Flux control coefficients were determined and it was found that lactate dehydrogenase exerted virtually no control on the glycolytic flux at the wild-type enzyme level and also not on the flux catalyzed by the enzyme itself, i.e. on the lactate production. As expected, the flux towards the mixed-acid products was strongly enhanced in the strain deleted for lactate dehydrogenase. What is more surprising is that the enzyme had a strong negative control ( CLDHJF1 =-1.3) on the flux to formate at the wild-type level of lactate dehydrogenase. Furthermore, we showed that L. lactis has limited excess of capacity of lactate dehydrogenase, only 70% more than needed to catalyze the lactate flux in the wild-type cells.     

rpoB mutation in Escherichia coli alters control of ribosome synthesis by guanosine tetraphosphate.

An isogenic pair of relA+ and relA strains of Escherichia coli B/r with a mutation in the RNA polymerase subunit gene rpoB (Rifr) was isolated in which the relationship between guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp) concentration and stable RNA (rRNA, tRNA) gene activity was altered. The RNA polymerase in the rpoB strains was found to be about 20-fold more sensitive to ppGpp with respect to its stable RNA promoter activity than was the wild-type enzyme. The existence of such mutants is consistent with the idea that ppGpp interacts with the RNA polymerase enzyme and thereby alters its promoter selectivity, i.e., reduces its affinity for the stable RNA promoters. Under most conditions, the rpoB mutants had a reduced rate of growth and about a 10-fold-reduced intracellular concentration of ppGpp compared with the rpoB wild-type strains. The reduction of the level of ppGpp in the rpoB mutants during exponential growth was presumably a reflection of an indirect effect of the rpoB mutation on the control of relA-independent ppGpp metabolism.