Alternate Requirement for Vitamin B12 or Methionine in Mutants of Pseudomonas denitrificans, a Vitamin B12-producing Bacterium

Experiments are described which indicate that Pseudomonas denitrificans, an organism that overproduces vitamin B(12), uses the B(12) pathway exclusively for methionine synthesis.     

Biosynthesis of the corrin macrocycle of coenzyme B12 in Pseudomonas denitrificans.

Studies with cell-free protein preparations from a series of recombinant strains of Pseudomonas denitrificans demonstrated that precorrin-3 is converted into a further trimethylated intermediate, named precorrin-3B, along the pathway to coenzyme B12. It was then shown that the part of the pathway from precorrin-3 (called precorrin-3A hereafter) to precorrin-6x involves three intermediates, precorrin-3B, precorrin-4, and precorrin-5. Precorrin-3B was isolated in its native (reduced) as well as its oxidized (factor-IIIB) states, and precorrin-4 was isolated in its oxidized form only (factor-IV). Both factors were in vitro precursors of precorrin-6x. The synthesis of precorrin-6x from precorrin-3A was shown to be catalyzed by four enzymes, CobG, CobJ, CobM, and CobF, intervening in this order. They were purified to homogeneity. CobG, which converts precorrin-3A to precorrin-3B, was found to be an iron-sulfur protein responsible for the oxidation known to occur between precorrin-3A and precorrin-6x, and CobJ, CobM, and CobF are the C-17, C-11, and C-1 methylases, respectively. The acetate fragment is extruded after precorrin-4 formation. This study combined with our recent structural studies on factor-IV (D. Thibaut, L. Debussche, D. Fréchet, F. Herman, M. Vuilhorgne, and F. Blanche, J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun. 1993:513-515, 1993) and precorrin-3B (L. Debussche, D. Thibaut, M. Danzer, F. Debu, D. Fréchet, F. Herman, F. Blanche, and M. Vuilhorgne, J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun. 1993:1100-1103, 1993) provides a first step-by-step picture of the sequence of the enzymatic reactions leading to the corrin ring in P. denitrificans.     

Improved large-scale production of vitamin B12 by Pseudomonas denitrificans with betaine feeding

The strategy of betaine control for vitamin B(12) large-scale fermentation by Pseudomonas denitrificans was investigated in this paper. The results obtained in shake-flask experiments demonstrated that betaine could greatly stimulate vitamin B(12) biosynthesis but had an inhibition to cell growth. Based on the influence of betaine on the fermentation of P. denitrificans, betaine feeding was a beneficial strategy to solve the inconsistency between cell growth and vitamin B(12) production. As a result, an effective and economical strategy of betaine feeding was established for vitamin B(12) fermentation in 120-m(3) fermenter, in which betaine was continuously fed to maintain betaine concentration of the broth at the range of 5-7g/l during 50-140h of fermentation.     

Cloning and analysis of genes involved in coenzyme B12 biosynthesis in Pseudomonas denitrificans.

Cobalamin synthesis probably requires 20 to 30 different enzymatic steps. Pseudomonas putida and Agrobacterium tumefaciens mutants deficient in cobalamin synthesis (Cob have been isolated. In P. putida, Cob mutants were identified as being unable to use ethanolamine as a source of nitrogen in the absence of added cobalamin (deamination of ethanolamine requires coenzyme B12 as a cofactor). In A. tumefaciens, Cob mutants were simply screened for their reduced cobalamin synthesis. A genomic library of Pseudomonas denitrificans was constructed on a mobilizable wide-host-range vector. Eleven plasmids from this library were able to complement most of these mutants. By complementation and restriction mapping analysis, four genomic loci of P. denitrificans were found to be responsible for complementation of the Cob mutants. By subcloning fragments from the four genomic loci, we identified at least 14 different genes involved in cobalamin synthesis.     

Role of Third Serum Vitamin B12 Binding Protein in Vitamin B12 Transport

A third vitamin B₁₂ binding protein present in normal serum has been shown to participate in transport of labelled vitamin B₁₂ absorbed from the gut. All three vitamin B₁₂ binding proteins in serum were labelled at the same time after oral administration of vitamin B₁₂, implying that “free” vitamin B₁₂ reached the portal blood from the gut mucosa.     

Assay, purification, and characterization of cobaltochelatase, a unique complex enzyme catalyzing cobalt insertion in hydrogenobyrinic acid a,c-diamide during coenzyme B12 biosynthesis in Pseudomonas denitrificans.

Hydrogenobyrinic acid a,c-diamide was shown to be the substrate of cobaltochelatase, an enzyme that catalyzes cobalt insertion in the corrin ring during the biosynthesis of coenzyme B12 in Pseudomonas denitrificans. Cobaltochelatase was demonstrated to be a complex enzyme composed of two different components of M(r) 140,000 and 450,000, which were purified to homogeneity. The 140,000-M(r) component was shown to be coded by cobN, whereas the 450,000-M(r) component was composed of two polypeptides specified by cobS and cobT. Each component was inactive by itself, but cobaltochelatase activity was reconstituted upon mixing CobN and CobST. The reaction was ATP dependent, and the Km values for hydrogenobyrinic acid a,c-diamide, Co2+, and ATP were 0.085 +/- 0.015, 4.2 +/- 0.2, and 220 +/- 36 microM, respectively. Spectroscopic data revealed that the reaction product was cob(II)yrinic acid a,c-diamide, and experiments with a coupled-enzyme incubation system containing both cobaltochelatase and cob(II)yrinic acid a,c-diamide reductase (F. Blanche, L. Maton, L. Debussche, and D. Thibaut, J. Bacteriol. 174:7452-7454, 1992) confirmed this result. This report not only provides the first evidence that hydrogenobyrinic acid and its a,c-diamide derivative are indeed precursors of adenosylcobalamin but also demonstrates that precorrin-6x, precorrin-6y, and precorrin-8x, three established precursors of hydrogenobyrinic acid (D. Thibaut, M. Couder, A. Famechon, L. Debussche, B. Cameron, J. Crouzet, and F. Blanche, J. Bacteriol. 174:1043-1049, 1992), are also on the pathway to cobalamin.