Preparation of Physiologically Intact Mitochondria from Euglena gracilis z

A fluorescent reagent, N-(9-acridinyl)maleimide (NAM), was used for the determination of thiols in biological samples by high performance liquid chromatography. NAM-labeled glutathione (GSH), homocysteine, coenzyme A (CoA) and cysteine (CySH) were separated on a reversed-phase partition (octadecylsililated silica gel) column with the elution conditions of 0.06 m borate buffer pH 8.8: methanol (13: 1) at a flow rate of 0.6 ml/min within 15 min. In the absence of CoA in the sample, the elution conditions of 0.1 m borate buffer pH 8.8: methanol (15: 1) at a flow rate of 0.8 ml/min was used for the separations. Calibration curves were held up to 2.5 pmol for GSH and 11 pmol for CySH. About 0.17 µl of rat blood and 0.03 mg of rat liver equivalent to 0.1 nmol of GSH were determined. The sensitivity was 100 times higher than that obtained with an automatic amino acid analyzer.     

Properties of Partially Purified Malate Synthase from Euglena gracilis

SYNOPSIS. Properties of partially purified malate synthase from Euglena gracilis were characterized. The pH optimum is 7.0 and the temperature optimum about 30 C; the activation energy is 12,000 calories. A Km of 4 × 10⁻⁵ M was found for both reactants, glyoxylate and acetyl-CoA. The reaction is partially inhibited by a number of normal metabolites, suggesting allosteric control; glycolate is severely inhibitory. The enzyme is not active in cells grown with phototrophic nutrition, but is found in all heterotrophic cells grown on a wide range of carbon sources; the specific activity is greatly dependent on carbon source. High rates of oxygen consumption are usually, but not always, correlated with high enzyme levels.     

Mechanism of metabolic regulation in photoassimilation of propionate in Euglena gracilis z

Euglena gracilis showed a typical photoassimilation of propionate when cultured on propionate as a sole carbon source. While the acid is metabolized by the methylmalonyl-coenzyme A (CoA) pathway under illumination, supporting growth of Euglena (K. Hosotani, A. Yokota, Y. Nakano, and S. Kitaoka, 1980, Agr. Biol. Chem.44, 1097–1103), it does not allow the protozoon to grow in the dark although it was actively taken up and metabolized. Kinetics of incorporation of radioactivity of labeled propionate, trapping effect of exogenous lactate in the incorporation of labeled propionate and radiorespirometric pattern revealed that propionate was metabolized by the lactate pathway in Euglena in the dark. Enzymes involved in the lactate pathway were located in mitochondria. The reason why Euglena can not grow on propionate in the dark is explained by the failure of producing C₄ dicarboxylic acids essential for biosynthesis of amino acids and sugars, like the mitochondrial oxidation of fatty acids in higher animals. The Euglena cells cultured in the dark contained enzymes of both methylmalonyl-CoA and lactate pathways, but lack of photosynthetically generated ATP has been suggested to force Euglena to select the less-ATP-requiring but futile pathway.     

Characterization and physiological function of glutathione reductase in Euglena gracilis z.

The purified glutathione reductase was homogeneous on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. It had an Mr of 79,000 and consisted of two subunits with a Mr of 40,000. The activity was maximum at pH 8.2 and 52 degrees C. It was specific for NADPH but not for NADH as the electron donor; the reverse reaction was not observed. The Km values for NADPH and GSSG were 14 and 55 microM respectively. The enzyme activity was markedly inhibited by thiol inhibitors and metal ions such as Hg2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+. Euglena cells contained total glutathione at millimolar concentration. GSH constituted more than 80% of total glutathione in Euglena under various growth conditions. Glutathione reductase was located solely in cytosol, as were L-ascorbate peroxidase and dehydroascorbate reductase, which constitute the oxidation-reduction cycle of L-ascorbate [Shigeoka et al. (1980) Biochem. J. 186, 377-380]. These results indicate that glutathione reductase functions to maintain glutathione in the reduced form and to accelerate the oxidation-reduction of L-ascorbate, which scavenges peroxides generated in Euglena cells.     

delta-Aminolevulinic Acid Synthase of Euglena gracilis: Regulation of Activity

δ-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA), a key precursor of the tetrapyrroles heme and chlorophyll, is capable of being synthesized by two different routes in cells of the unicellular green alga Euglena gracilis: from the intact carbon skeleton of glutamate, and via the condensation of glycine and succinyl CoA, mediated by the enzyme ALA synthase. The regulatory properties of ALA synthase were examined in order to establish its role in Euglena.

Partially purified Euglena ALA synthase, unlike the case with the bacterial or animal-derived enzyme, does not exhibit allosteric inhibition by the tetrapyrrole pathway products heme, protoporphyrin IX, and porphobilinogen, at concentrations up to 100 micromolar.

In aplastidic mutant cells, extractable ALA synthase activity is constant during exponential growth, and decreases to low levels as the cells reach the stationary state. Rapid exponential decline of ALA synthase (t_1/2 = 55 min) occurs after administration of 43 micromolar cycloheximide, but not 6.2 millimolar chloramphenicol. These results suggest that, as in other eukaryotic cells, ALA synthase is synthesized on cytoplasmic ribosomes and is subject to rapid turnover in vivo.

Extractable ALA synthase activity increases 2.5-fold within 6 hours after administration of 100 millimolar ethanol, a stimulator of mitochondrial development, and 4.5-fold within 12 hours after administration of 1 millimolar 4,6-dioxoheptanoic acid, which blocks ALA utilization, suggesting that activity is controlled in vivo by a feedback induction-repression mechanism, coupled with rapid enzyme turnover.

In heterotrophically grown wild-type cells, low levels of ALA synthase rapidly increase 4.5-fold within 12 hours after cells are transferred from the light to the dark, and decrease exponentially (t_1/2 = 75 min) when cells are transferred from the dark to light. The dark levels are equal to those in light- or dark-grown aplastidic mutant cells. The low level occurring in light-grown wild-type cells is not altered by the presence of 10 micromolar 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea, which blocks photosynthetic O₂ production. The decrease that occurs on dark-to-light transfer can be diminished by 12- or 24-hour prior incubation with 6.2 millimolar chloramphenicol, which also retards chlorophyll synthesis after the transfer to light.

The positive relationship of ALA synthase activity to degree of mitochondrial expression, and the inverse relationship to plastid development and chlorophyll synthesis, suggests that ALA synthase functions to provide precursors to nonplastid tetrapyrroles in Euglena. In light-grown, wild-type cells, the diminished levels of ALA synthase may be due to the ability of developing plastids to export heme or a heme precursor to other cellular regions, which thereby supplants the necessity for ALA formation via the ALA synthase route.

     

Purification and Characterization of Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase from Mitochondria of Euglena gracilis z

Mitochondrial serine hydroxymethyltransferase, l-serine: tetrahydrofolate 5,10-hydroxymethyl-transferase (EC 2.1.2.1), (m-SHMT) was extracted and highly purified from Euglena gracilis z. The specific activity increased from the crude extract with 10% yield up to 580-fold through the following steps: ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-cellulose column chromatography and rechromatography, and affinity chromatography with l-lysine-Sepharose 4B. The molecular weight of the purified m-SHMT was 88,000 by gel filtration through Sephadex G-200, and 44,000 by SDS-PAGE. One mol of the purified enzyme contained two mol of pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP), indicating that the enzyme is a dimer. Characteristics of the enzyme were examined and compared with SHMTs of other origins. The m-SHMT of Euglena gracilis z had l-threonine aldolase activity as did s-SHMT of the same origin in addition to the usual SHMT activity.     

Isolation, purification, and characterization of the pellicle of Euglena gracilis z

The pellicle was isolated from the cell homogenate obtained on sonication of Euglena gracilis z grown aerobically under illumination and purified by a combination of differential and sucrose density gradient centrifugations. The purity and homogeneity of the pellicle fragments were determined by an electron microscopic method and biochemical analysis of the components. The protein, lipid, and sugar contents of the purified pellicle were 68.7, 17.9, and 13.5%, respectively. The equilibrium density of pellicle fragments was 1.21 g/cm3. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that the pellicle contained 50 mol% of nonpolar amino acids. The constituents of the lipid and sugar were very different from those of the cell membrane of other organisms.     

Heteroxanthin in Euglena gracilis

Summary 1. From a large scale preparation of Euglena gracilis, strain Z, besides the acetylenic pigments diatoxanthin and diadinoxanthin and the allene neoxanthin, an additional acetylenic xanthophyll has been isolated. 2. Mass and IR spectra and chemical reactions showed typical patterns of heteroxanthin from Vaucheria. 3. The pigment was transformed into diadinochrome-isomers with acidified acetone. 4. A partial synthesis of heteroxanthin from diadinoxanthin by LiAlH₄-reduction is described, confirming the structure proposed by Strain. 5. The identity of heteroxanthin with the trollein—like pigment described for Euglena is discussed.     

Proteolysis in Euglena gracilis

Endoproteolytic activities (EC 3.4.22. and 23.) of cell-free extracts of Euglena gracilis, measured by autolysis and azocaseinolysis, vary considerably during the culture growth cycle. They are high in the lag phase, drop sharply up to the mid-logarithmic phase, and then rise again reaching the initial high levels in the stationary phase. This pattern has been observed for both the soluble and the particulate proteolytic activities of four cell types differing with regard to the developmental state of the chloroplast: dark-grown, light-induced, and light-grown wild-type cells, as well as light-grown apoplastic W₃BUL mutant cells, all on a glucose-based medium. Therefore, the activity of the main intracellular proteinases is neither directly nor indirectly light-regulated, but seems to be controlled by the availability of nutrients. Endogenous inhibitors of proteinases could not be detected. Cysteine proteinase activity has been found in the soluble and the particulate fractions, but aspartic proteinase activity in the latter ones only. Different cysteine proteinases may be present in the two fractions, during the different growth phases, and in the four cell types studied.Abbreviations CBB Coomassie Brilliant Blue G-250 - DFP diisopropyl fluorophosphate - EDTA disodium ethylendiaminetetraacetic acid - E-64 l-transepoxysuccinyl-leucyl-amido(4-guanidino)butane - Iog phase logarithmic growth phase - MET 2-mercaptoethanol - PMSF phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride - Z benzyloxycarbonyl Paper I of this series is Krauspe and Scheer (1986). A preliminary publication appeared (Krauspe et al. 1982)     

An NADH-Dependent Acetoacetyl-CoA Reductase from Euglena gracilis: Purification and Characterization, Including Inhibition by Acyl Carrier Protein

An NADH-dependent acetoacetyl-CoA reductase from Euglena gracilis variety bacillaris was extensively purified and characterized. Two different isoelectric forms of the reductase with identical characteristics otherwise were found. The reductase was noncompetitively inhibited by acyl carrier protein, K_i 5.6 micromolar at pH 5.4; this inhibition decreased with increasing pH or ionic strength. Coenzyme A was a competitive inhibitor, K_i 230 micromolar. Kinetic parameters with respect to acetoacetyl-CoA and NADH were sensitive to changes in pH and ionic strength.     

Antimutagenicity in Euglena gracilis

The genotoxic effect of N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) and furadantine (Fu) was significantly decreased by standard antimutagens (ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol, chlorophyllin and sodium selenite) in the unicellular flagellate Euglena gracilis. The effects of these compounds were verified also by a bacterial test in which three strains of Salmonella typhimurium, TA97, TA100 and TA102, were used. The above compounds were antimutagenic in strains of bacteria used, except for chlorophyllin which had no effect on strain TA102.     

Peroxidative Activity in Euglena gracilis

Cell-free homogenates of Euglena gracilis contain very low levels of catalase activity as compared to higher plants and some other algae. Purified Euglena cytochrome c acts catalytically as a peroxidase. The observed catalytic activity of cytochrome c in extracts from heterotrophically grown cells was more than enough to account for the observed rates of hydrogen peroxide destruction. The peroxidative activity of Euglena cytochrome c was completely inhibited by 20 mm 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole.     

Thiamin uptake in Euglena gracilis

Thiamin uptake has been investigated in Euglena gracilis Z. This protozoon possessed an active transport system for thiamin with a Km value of 17 nM and a Vmax value of 7.8 pmol per 10(6) cells per min. Thiamin uptake was dependent on pH and temperature, but not on exogenous glucose as an energy source. Oxythiamin and pyrithiamin were competitive inhibitors with Ki values of 33 nM and 15 nM, respectively. Thiamin monophosphate, thiamin pyrophosphate, thiamin triphosphate, heteropyrithiamin, quinolinothiamin, thiamin chloride and amprolium inhibited uptake. Inhibition of thiamin uptake by various metabolic inhibitors and anaerobiosis suggest that thiamin uptake requires an energy source generated by respiration and glycolysis.     

Different metabolic fate of two carbons of glycolate in its conversion to serine in Euglena gracilis z

In our preceding work (A. Yokota, Y. Nakano, and S. Kitaoka, 1978, Agric. Biol. Chem. 42, 121-129), extensive decarboxylation of glycolate carboxyl carbon during its metabolism in Euglena gracilis suggested occurrence of a metabolic pathway of glycolate different from that of higher C3 plants. In the present report, we establish the Euglena glycolate pathway from characteristics of the decarboxylation of the carboxyl carbon and from the metabolic fate of hydroxymethyl carbon of glycolate. The ratio of the decarboxylation of the carboxyl carbon of glycolate to the total metabolized carbon increased with increasing metabolic rate in an asymptotic fashion. Thus, the ratio was 20% at the metabolic rate of 0.05 nmol of glycolate/10(6) cells/min, but it was over 60% at the rate of more than 0.35 nmol/10(6) cells/min after 2 min of incubation. Metabolic products were also changed depending on the rate of metabolism of glycolate; glycine was the main product at the low rate of glycolate metabolism and the contribution of glycine was reversed by the increased contribution of evolved CO2 at the high rates. At the metabolic rate of 1.5 nmol of glycolate/10(6) cells/min, the rate of the decarboxylation was 1.0 nmol of CO2/10(6) cells/min, which could not be explained by the extremely low activity of glycine synthase in Euglena. Experiments with [2-14C]glycolate showed that exogenously added formate and methionine caused accumulation of radioactive formate. Based on these results, we have proposed that the glycolate metabolism of E. gracilis consists of glycine and formate pathways and that the relative contribution of both pathways to the glycolate metabolism depends on the metabolic rate of glycolate.     

Guanine Metabolism in Carbon-Limited Euglena gracilis

SYNOPSIS. Guanine-8-³H is not a specific label for nucleic acids in Euglena gracilis (strain SM-L1, streptomycin-bleached), but is incorporated into all biochemical fractions. Autoradiographic results show that guanine is metabolized in, both the nucleus and the cytoplasm of these Eugelna , but nuclear metabolism of guanine occurs only at a very low level in carbon-limited cells. Further, carbon-limited Euglena incorporate less total guanine than do control Euglena in a comparable time period. However, the majority of label incorporated into the nucleic acid fraction of the carbon-limited cells is incorporated into RNA.     

Dark-induced chloroplast dedifferentiation in Euglena gracilis

Transfer of light-grown autotrophic Euglena gracilis cells to darkness and carbon (glucose) containing heterotrophic media causes structural and functional decomposition of the photosynthetic apparatus. The process can be ascribed to a strict diluting-out mechanism of stroma constituents among the progeny, as shown for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPCase, EC 4.1.1.39), and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (Aa-RS; especially Leu-RS, EC 6.1.1.4) activities. The diluting-out effect of thylakoid membranes and chlorophyll seems to be superimposed by additional degradations, beginning soon after the transfer of cells to darkness. Cultivation of cells in darkness in 0.03 M KCl or without utilizable organic carbon (resting media) preserves chloroplast structure and function over a long period, indicating negligible turnover in these cells. Thus, under both growing and resting conditions, darkness induces the arrest of synthesis of plastid constituents. Experiments with the inhibitors cycloheximide, chloramphenicol, and nalidixic acid demonstrate that chloroplast dedifferentiation does not require organelle gene expression, but it is more strictly dependent on biosynthetic events in the nucleo-cytoplasmic compartment than the reverse process, light-induced chloroplast formation. Since cycloheximide at low concentrations in growth medium causes a marked suppression of precursor uptake or re-utilization similar to that in cells of resting media, intracellular precursor deficiency is suggested to control the observed blockade in cytoplasmic synthesis of plastid proteins. On the other hand, darkness might signalize the stop of gene expression in the organelles.Abbreviations Aa aminoacid - CH cycloheximide - CM chloramphenicol - Leu-RS leucyl-tRNA synthetase - RuBP ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate - TCA trichloroacetic acid