1-Methylguanosine deficiency of tRNA influences cognate codon interaction and metabolism in Salmonella typhimurium.

1-Methylguanosine (m1G) is present next to the 3' end of the anticodon (position 37) in tRNA(1,2,3,Leu), tRNA(1,2,3,Pro), and tRNA(3Arg). A mutant of Salmonella typhimurium lacks m1G in these seven tRNAs when grown at or above 37 degrees C, as a result of a mutation (trmD3) in the structural gene (trmD) for the tRNA(m1G37)methyltransferase. The m1G deficiency induced 24 and 26% reductions in the growth rate and polypeptide chain elongation rate, respectively, in morpholinepropanesulfonic acid (MOPS)-glucose minimal medium at 37 degrees C. The expression of the leuABCD operon is controlled by the rate with which tRNA(2Leu) and tRNA(3Leu) read four leucine codons in the leu-leader mRNA. Lack of m1G in these tRNAs did not influence the expression of this operon, suggesting that m1G did not influence the efficiency of tRNA(2,3Leu). Since the average step time of the m1G-deficient tRNAs was increased 3.3-fold, the results suggest that the impact of m1G in decoding cognate codons may be tRNA dependent. The trmD3 mutation rendered the cell more resistant or sensitive to several amino acid analogs. 3-Nitro-L-tyrosine (NT), to which the trmD3 mutant is sensitive, was shown to be transported by the tryptophan-specific permease, and mutations in this gene (mtr) render the cell resistant to NT. Since the trmD3 mutation did not affect the activity of the permease, some internal metabolic step(s), but not the uptake of the analog per se, is affected. We suggest that the trmD3-mediated NT sensitivity is by an abnormal translation of some mRNA(s) whose product(s) is involved in the metabolic reactions affected by the analog. Our results also suggest that tRNA modification may be a regulatory device for gene expression.     

Molecular analysis of the TyrR protein-mediated activation of mtr gene expression in Escherichia coli K-12.

Expression of the mtr gene, which encodes a tryptophan-specific transport system in Escherichia coli K-12, is activated by the TyrR protein. Two TyrR protein binding sites (TYR R boxes) are positioned upstream of the -35 promoter region. Mutational and DNase protection studies indicate that TyrR protein binds preferentially to the TYR R box closest to the promoter, and this is essential for activation of gene expression. In the presence of tyrosine and ATP, a second TyrR molecule is able to cooperatively bind to the second box and cause a further increase in the level of activation.     

Site-directed mutagenesis of tyrosine residues in the lac permease of Escherichia coli

By using oligonucleotide-directed, site-specific mutagenesis, each of the 14 Tyr residues in the lac permease of Escherichia coli was replaced with Phe, and the activity of each mutant was studied with respect to active transport, equilibrium exchange, and efflux. Ten of the mutations have no significant effect on permease activity. Of the four mutations that alter activity, replacement of Tyr26 or Tyr336 with Phe severely decreases all modes of translocation, and the binding affinity of the mutant permease for p-nitrophenyl alpha-D-galactopyranoside is markedly decreased (i.e., KD is increased). In addition, the Phe336 mutant permease is inserted into the membrane to a lesser extent than wild-type permease, as judged by immunoblot experiments. Permease containing Phe in place of Tyr236 catalyzes lactose exchange approximately 40% as well as wild-type permease but does not catalyze active transport or efflux. Finally, permease with Phe in place of Tyr382 catalyzes equilibrium exchange normally, but exhibits low rates of active transport and efflux without being uncoupled, thereby suggesting that replacement of Tyr382 with Phe alters a kinetic step involving translocation of the unloaded permease across the membrane.     

Product induction in Pseudomonas acidovorans of a permease system which transports L-tryptophan

Growth of Pseudomonas acidovorans in the presence of l-tryptophan resulted in the appearance of a tryptophan transport system which was extremely sensitive to sodium azide or 2,4-dinitrophenol. Asparagine-grown cells possessed no detectable tryptophan "permease" activity. Substitution of l-kynurenine for l-tryptophan in the growth medium also induced the tryptophan permease activity, along with tryptophan oxygenase and kynurenine formamidase. This is the first reported example of the product induction of a permease activity. Irrespective of whether Pseudomonas cells are grown in the presence of d- or l-tryptophan, the resulting induced tryptophan permease activity is specific for the l-isomer. In addition, the radioactive compounds l-leucine, l-phenylalanine, or dl-5-hydroxytryptophan are not transported. When dl-5-fluorotryptophan is a component of the inducing medium (with l-tryptophan), induction of tryptophan permease activity, as well as tryptophan oxygenase, is inhibited. In the permease assay system, using normally induced cells, the fluoroanalogue inhibited strikingly tryptophan transport. Therefore, this analogue may inhibit induction by blocking inducer transport into the cell. When added to the l-tryptophan-inducing medium, dl-7-azatryptophan markedly enhanced induction of tryptophan oxygenase, but the level of tryptophan permease activity was not further elevated. The mechanism of this analogue is unclear at present. Invariant tryptophan permease activity levels are found in cells grown with 5 or 15 mml-tryptophan or 5 mml-kynurenine, whereas the respective tryptophan oxygenase levels are greatly different. Together with other results, these results indicate that the synthesis of tryptophan permease activity is not coordinate with that of tryptophan oxygenase. Tryptophan transport is strongly inhibited by l-formylkynurenine and by l-kynurenine. These two metabolites were prepared in radioactive form, and they are actively transported following bacterial growth on l-tryptophan or l-kynurenine. Preliminary results suggest the tryptophan permease activity may be distinct from the permease(s) activity for l-formylkynurenine and l-kynurenine. Kynurenine, then, is capable of inducing tryptophan permease and kynurenine permease activities.     

Multiplicity of the Amino Acid Permeases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae IV. Evidence for a General Amino Acid Permease

Kinetic and genetic evidences are presented to show that, in addition to specific amino acid permeases, Saccharomyces cerevisiae has a general amino acid permease which catalyzes the transport of basic and neutral amino acids, but most probably not that of proline. The general amino acid permease appears to be constitutive, and its activity is inhibited when ammonium ions are added to the culture medium. A mutant which has lost the general amino acid permease activity was isolated. Its mutation, named gap (general amino acid permease), is not allelic to the aap (amino acid permease) mutation of Surdin et al., which has a quite different phenotype and cannot be considered as having selectively lost the general amino acid permease activity.     

Melibiose permease of Escherichia coli: mutation of aspartic acid 55 in putative helix II abolishes activation of sugar binding by Na+ ions

An aspartic residue (Asp55) located in the putative transmembrane alpha-helix II of the melibiose(mel) permease of Escherichia coli was replaced by Cys using oligonucleotide-directed, site-specific mutagenesis. Although D55C permease is expressed at 0.7 times the level of wild type permease, the mutated mel permease loses the ability to catalyse Na+ or H+ coupled melibiose transport against a concentration gradient. (3H) p-nitrophenyl-alpha-D-galactoside (NPG) binding studies demonstrated that D55C permease binds the sugar co-substrate but Na+ (or Li+) ions do no longer enhance the affinity of D55C permease for the co-transported sugar. In addition sugar binding on D55C permease but not on wild type permease is inactivated by sulfhydryl reagents and the inhibition protected by an excess of melibiose. These observations suggest 1) that the negatively-charged Asp55 residue, expected to be within the membrane embedded domain near the NH2 extremity of mel permease, is in or near the Na(+)-binding site and 2) that the cation and sugar binding sites may be overlapping.     

Site-directed mutagenesis of Pro327 in the lac permease of Escherichia coli

By use of oligonucleotide-directed, site-specific mutagenesis, Pro327 in the lac permease of Escherichia coli has been replaced with Ala, Gly, or Leu. Permease with Ala at position 327 catalyzes lactose/H+ symport in a manner indistinguishable from wild-type permease. Permease with Gly at position 327, on the other hand, exhibits about one-tenth the activity of wild-type permease but catalyzes lactose accumulation to essentially the same steady-state level as wild-type permease. Finally, permease with Leu at position 327 is completely inactive. The results demonstrate that there is no relationship between permease activity and the helix-breaking (Pro and Gly) or helix-making (Ala and Leu) properties of the residue at position 327. It is suggested that it is primarily a chemical property of the side chain at position 327 (i.e., bulk, hydropathy, and/or ability to hydrogen bond) that is critical for activity and that neither cis/trans isomerization of Pro327 nor the presence of a kink at this position is important.     

Control of the synthesis, activity, and turnover of enzymes of sulfur metabolism in Neurospora crassa

The synthesis of aryl sulfatase, choline-O-sulfate permease, and two distinct sulfate permeases are repressed by methionine, but the activity of these enzymes is not subject to feedback inhibition. The permease species, but not aryl sulfatase, are also regulated by dynamic turnover, displaying a functional half-life of approximately 2 hr. The rate of turnover of these permeases is not influenced by the presence of the end product, methionine. Development of sulfate permease activity occurs only by de novo synthesis which requires both a lifting of methionine repression and a functional cys-3 product. The turnover system for sulfate permease is not present in dormant conidia but appears to be synthesized relatively rapidly during germination. Preexisting conidial sulfate permease is lost by turnover during germination and outgrowth into the mycelial phase, during which both permease species are synthesized anew, although the high affinity system contributes most of the total activity in growing mycelia.     

Characterization of site-directed mutants in the lac permease of Escherichia coli. 1. Replacement of histidine residues

Wild-type lac permease from Escherichia coli and two site-directed mutant permeases containing Arg in place of His35 and His39 or His322 were purified and reconstituted into proteoliposomes. H35-39R permease is indistinguishable from wild type with regard to all modes of translocation. In contrast, purified, reconstituted permease with Arg in place of His322 is defective in active transport, efflux, equilibrium exchange, and counterflow but catalyzes downhill influx of lactose without concomitant H+ translocation. Although permease with Arg in place of His205 was thought to be devoid of activity [Padan, E., Sarkar, H. K., Viitanen, P. V., Poonian, M. S., & Kaback, H. R. (1985) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 82, 6765], sequencing of lac Y in pH205R reveals the presence of two additional mutations in the 5' end of the gene, and replacement of this portion of lac Y with a restriction fragment from the wild-type gene yields permease with normal activity. Permeases with Asn, Gln, or Lys in place of His322, like H322R permease, catalyze downhill influx of lactose without H+ translocation but are unable to catalyze active transport, equilibrium exchange, or counterflow. Unlike H322R permease, however, the latter mutants catalyze efflux at rates comparable to that of wild-type permease, although the reaction does not occur in symport with H+. Finally, as evidenced by flow dialysis and photoaffinity labeling experiments, replacement of His322 appears to cause a marked decrease in the affinity of the permease for substrate. The results confirm and extend the contention that His322 is the only His residue in the permease involved in lactose/H+ symport and that an imidazole moiety at position 322 is obligatory.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Ubiquitin lys63 is involved in ubiquitination of a yeast plasma membrane protein.

We have recently reported that the yeast plasma membrane uracil permease undergoes cell-surface ubiquitination, which is dependent on the Npi1/Rsp5 ubiquitin-protein ligase. Ubiquitination of this permease, like that of some other transporters and receptors, signals endocytosis of the protein, leading to its subsequent vacuolar degradation. This process does not involve the proteasome, which binds and degrades ubiquitin-protein conjugates carrying Lys48-linked ubiquitin chains. The data presented here show that ubiquitination and endocytosis of uracil permease are impaired in yeast cells lacking the Doa4p ubiquitin-isopeptidase. Both processes were rescued by overexpression of wild-type ubiquitin. Mutant ubiquitins carrying Lys-->Arg mutations at Lys29 and Lys48 restored normal permease ubiquitination. In contrast, a ubiquitin mutated at Lys63 did not restore permease polyubiquitination. Ubiquitin-permease conjugates are therefore extended through the Lys63 of ubiquitin. When polyubiquitination through Lys63 is blocked, the permease still undergoes endocytosis, but at a reduced rate. We have thus identified a natural target of Lys63-linked ubiquitin chains. We have also shown that monoubiquitination is sufficient to induce permease endocytosis, but that Lys63-linked ubiquitin chains appear to stimulate this process.     

Substrate specificity of the AmpG permease required for recycling of cell wall anhydro-muropeptides

AmpG was originally identified as a gene required for induction of beta-lactamase. Subsequently, we found AmpG to be a permease required for recycling of murein tripeptide and uptake of anhydro-muropeptides. We have now studied the specificity of the AmpG permease. The principal requirement is for the presence of the disaccharide, N-acetylglucosaminyl-beta-1,4-anhydro-N-acetylmuramic acid (GlcNAc-anhMurNAc). These unique substrates for AmpG, which contain murein peptides linked to GlcNAc-anhMurNAc, are produced by turnover of the cell wall during logarithmic growth. AmpG permease is sensitive to carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, demonstrating that AmpG permease is a single-component permease and that transport is dependent on the proton motive force.     

Inducible System for the Utilization of β-Glucosides in Escherichia coli I. Active Transport and Utilization of β-Glucosides

Wild-type Escherichia coli strains (beta-gl(-)) do not split beta-glucosides, but inducible mutants (beta-gl(+)) can be isolated which do so. This inducible system consists of a beta-glucoside permease and an aryl beta-glucoside splitting enzyme. Both can be induced by aryl and alkyl beta-glucosides. In beta-gl(-) and noninduced beta-gl(+) cells, C(14)-labeled thioethyl beta-glucoside (TEG) is taken up by a constitutive permease, apparently identical with a glucose permease (GP). This permease has a high affinity for alpha-methyl glucoside and a low affinity for aryl beta-glucosides. No accumulation of TEG occurs in a beta-gl(-) strain lacking glucose permease (GP(-)). In induced beta-gl(+) strains, there appears a second beta-glucoside permease with low affinity for alpha-methyl glucoside and high affinity for aryl beta-glucosides. Autoradiography shows that TEG is accumulated by the beta-glucoside permease and glucose permease in two different forms (one being identical with TEG, the other probably phosphorylated TEG). In GP(+) beta-gl(+) strains with high GP activity, alkyl beta-glucosides induce the enzyme and the beta-glucoside permease after a prolonged induction lag, and they competitively inhibit the induction by aryl beta-glucosides. The induction lag and competition do not exist in GP(-) beta-gl(+) strains. It is assumed that phosphorylated alkyl and thioalkyl beta-glucosides inhibit the induction, and that this inhibition is responsible for the induction lag.     

Functional conservation in the putative substrate binding site of the sucrose permease from Escherichia coli

The sucrose (CscB) permease is the only member of the oligosaccharide:H(+) symporter family in the Major Facilitator Superfamily that transports sucrose but not lactose or other galactosides. In lactose permease (lac permease), the most studied member of the family, three residues have been shown to participate in galactoside binding: Cys148 hydrophobically interacts with the galactosyl ring, while Glu126 and Arg144 are charge paired and form H-bonds with specific galactosyl OH groups. In the present study, the role of the corresponding residues in sucrose permease, Asp126, Arg144, and Ser148, is investigated using a functional Cys-less mutant (see preceding paper). Replacement of Ser148 with Cys has no significant effect on transport activity or expression, but transport becomes highly sensitive to the sulfhydryl reagent N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) in a manner similar to that of lac permease. However, in contrast to lac permease, substrate affords no protection whatsoever against NEM inactivation of transport or alkylation with [(14)C]NEM. Neutral (Ala, Cys) mutations of Asp126 and Arg144 abolish sucrose transport, while membrane expression is not affected. Similarly, combination of two Ala mutations within the same molecule (Asp126-->Ala/Arg144-->Ala) yields normally expressed, but completely inactive permease. Conservative replacements result in highly active molecules: Asp126-->Glu permease catalyzes sucrose transport comparable to Cys-less permease, while mutant Arg144-->Lys exhibits decreased but significant activity. The observations demonstrate that charge pair Asp126-Arg144 plays an essential role in sucrose transport and suggest that the overall architecture of the substrate binding sites is conserved between sucrose and lac permeases.     

Identification and characterization of the maltose permease in genetically defined Saccharomyces strain

Saccharomyces yeasts ferment several alpha-glucosides including maltose, maltotriose, turanose, alpha-methylglucoside, and melezitose. In the utilization of these sugars transport is the rate-limiting step. Several groups of investigators have described the characteristics of the maltose permease (D. E. Kroon and V. V. Koningsberger, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 204:590-609, 1970; R. Serrano, Eur. J. Biochem. 80:97-102, 1977). However, Saccharomyces contains multiple alpha-glucoside transport systems, and these studies have never been performed on a genetically defined strain shown to have only a single permease gene. In this study we isolated maltose-negative mutants in a MAL6 strain and, using a high-resolution mapping technique, we showed that one class of these mutants, the group A mutants, mapped to the MAL61 gene (a member of the MAL6 gene complex). An insertion into the N-terminal-coding region of MAL61 resulted in the constitutive production of MAL61 mRNA and rendered the maltose permease similarly constitutive. Transformation by high-copy-number plasmids containing the MAL61 gene also led to an increase in the maltose permease. A deletion-disruption of MAL61 completely abolished maltose transport activity. Taken together, these results prove that this strain has only a single maltose permease and that this permease is the product of the MAL61 gene. This permease is able to transport maltose and turanose but cannot transport maltotriose, alpha-methylglucoside, or melezitose. The construction of strains with only a single permease will allow us to identify other maltose-inducible transport systems by simple genetic tests and should lead to the identification and characterization of the multiple genes and gene products involved in alpha-glucoside transport in Saccharomyces yeasts.     

Size and shape of the Escherichia coli lactose permease measured in filamentous arrays

The Escherichia coli lactose permease has been purified on cation exchanger to contain a minimal amount of phospholipids, i.e., 4-5 mol/mol of permease, in the presence of the detergent dodecyl beta-maltoside at its critical micelle concentration. This preparation is active in galactoside binding. When the detergent level is further reduced by dialysis, the lactose permease forms filaments one molecule wide and up to several micrometers long. The filaments tend to associate laterally to form sheets. Analysis of electron micrographs of negatively stained filamentous arrays indicates an average filament spacing of 51 A and a subunit period of 26-30 A along individual filaments. These values most probably correspond to the dimensions of the lactose permease molecule measured parallel to the membrane plane. In many filaments, the subunits show a stain-penetrated cleft. It suggests that the lactose permease molecule comprises two domains, which may be correlated with internal repeats between the N- and C-terminal halves of the polypeptide sequence.     

Role of cysteine residues in the lac permease of Escherichia coli

Oligonucleotide-directed, site-specific mutagenesis has been utilized to replace cysteine residues 117, 333, or 353 and 355 with serine in the lac permease of Escherichia coli. Replacement of Cys-117 or Cys-333 has no significant effect on permease activity, while permease with serine residues in place of Cys-353 and Cys-355 has about 50% of wild-type permease activity. The results provide a clear demonstration that cysteine residues at positions 117, 333, 353, and 355 are not obligatory for lactose/H+ symport. When considered in conjunction with previous findings, the results indicate that, of the eight cysteine residues in the lac permease, only Cys-154 is important for lactose transport. As discussed, the conclusion has important implications for the hypothesis that sulfhydryl-disulfide interconversion plays an important role in the symport mechanism.