Riboflavin synthesis genes are linked with the lux operon of Photobacterium phosphoreum.

Four genes immediately downstream of luxG in the Photobacterium phosphoreum lux operon (ribEBHA) have been sequenced and shown to be involved in riboflavin synthesis. Sequence analyses and complementation of Escherichia coli riboflavin auxotrophs showed that the gene products of ribB and ribA are 3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate (DHBP) synthetase and GTP cyclohydrolase II, respectively. By expression of P. phosphoreum ribE in E. coli using the bacteriophage T7 promoter-RNA polymerase system, ribE was shown to code for riboflavin synthetase, which catalyzes the conversion of lumazine to riboflavin. Increased thermal stability of RibE on expression with RibH indicated that ribH coded for lumazine synthetase. The organization of the rib genes in P. phosphoreum is quite distinct, with ribB and ribA being linked but separated by ribH, whereas in E. coli, they are unlinked and in Bacillus subtilis, RibB and RibA functions are coded by a single gene.     

The lux genes in Photobacterium leiognathi are closely linked with genes corresponding in sequence to riboflavin synthesis genes.

Three open reading frames (ORFs) have been found in the region downstream of the luxG gene in the Photobacterium leiognathi lux operon. These genes (ORF I, II, and III) are not only closely linked to the lux operon and transcribed in the same direction but also show the same organization and code for proteins homologous in sequence to the gene products of ribB, ribA, and ribH of Bacillus subtilis, respectively. The Photobacterium leiognathi gene (ORF II) corresponding to ribA was expressed in Escherichia coli in the bacteriophage T7 promoter-RNA polymerase system and a 40 kDa 35S-labeled polypeptide has been detected on SDS-PAGE. Expression of DNA extending from luxBEG to ORF II inserted between a strong promoter and a reporter gene and transferred by conjugation into Vibrio harveyi did not affect the expression of the reporter gene. The results provide evidence that neither promoter nor terminator sites were present in the DNA between the luxG and ORF II indicating that these genes might be part of the lux operon.     

Evolution of vitamin B2 biosynthesis: 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine synthases of Brucella

The penultimate step in the biosynthesis of riboflavin (vitamin B2) involves the condensation of 3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate with 5-amino-6-ribitylamino-2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione, which is catalyzed by 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine synthase (lumazine synthase). Pathogenic Brucella species adapted to an intracellular lifestyle have two genes involved in riboflavin synthesis, ribH1 and ribH2, which are located on different chromosomes. The ribH2 gene was shown previously to specify a lumazine synthase (type II lumazine synthase) with an unusual decameric structure and a very high Km for 3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate. Moreover, the protein was found to be an immunodominant Brucella antigen and was able to generate strong humoral as well as cellular immunity against Brucella abortus in mice. We have now cloned and expressed the ribH1 gene, which is located inside a small riboflavin operon, together with two other putative riboflavin biosynthesis genes and the nusB gene, specifying an antitermination factor. The RibH1 protein (type I lumazine synthase) is a homopentamer catalyzing the formation of 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine at a rate of 18 nmol mg(-1) min(-1). Sequence comparison of lumazine synthases from archaea, bacteria, plants, and fungi suggests a family of proteins comprising archaeal lumazine and riboflavin synthases, type I lumazine synthases, and the eubacterial type II lumazine synthases.     

枯草芽孢杆菌基因修饰生产核黄素

【目的】研究枯草芽孢杆菌核黄素合成途径、木糖代谢相关基因修饰对核黄素合成的影响。【方法】单独过表达或共同过表达核黄素操纵子中的基因、过表达木糖代谢相关基因构建相应的重组菌株。通过测定和比较重组菌株摇瓶发酵的核黄素产量和生物量,表征各个基因修饰的效应。采用摇瓶和5 L罐发酵,考察木糖作为主要碳源以及木糖与蔗糖共代谢对核黄素发酵的影响。【结果】ribA基因单独过表达,使核黄素产量提高99%,但生物量降低30%,出现细胞自溶现象。ribA-ribH基因共表达,使核黄素产量提高280%,并且无细胞自溶和生物量下降现象。1.5%蔗糖与6.5%木糖作为碳源,5 L发酵罐发酵70 h,核黄素产量达到3.6 g/L,与8%蔗糖为碳源的发酵相比,核黄素产量提高80%。木糖代谢相关基因过表达,均明显降低核黄素产量。【结论】与ribA基因单独过表达相比,ribA-ribH基因共表达可有效避免细胞自溶现象,并能进一步提高核黄素产量。蔗糖与木糖共代谢,能够改善前体物供给,有利于提高核黄素产量。     

Structural and functional analysis of the riboflavin synthesis genes encoding GTP cyclohydrolase II (ribA), DHBP synthase (ribBA), riboflavin synthase (ribC), and riboflavin deaminase/reductase (ribD) from Helicobacter pylori strain P1

The functions of the riboflavin synthesis gene homologues ribA, ribBA, ribC, and ribD from Helicobacter pylori strain P1 were confirmed by complementation of defined Escherichia coli mutant strains. The H. pylori ribBA gene, which is similar to bifunctional ribBA genes of Gram-positive bacteria, fully complemented the ribB mutation and partially restored growth in a ribC mutant. However, ribBA did not complement the ribA mutation in E. coli, thus explaining the presence of the additional separate copy of the ribA gene in the H. pylori chromosome. In E. coli exclusively ribA conferred hemolytic activity and gave rise to production of molecules with fluorescence characteristics similar to flavins, as observed earlier. The E. coli hemolysin ClyA was not involved in causing the hemolytic phenotype. No riboflavin synthesis genes on plasmids conferred iron uptake functions to a siderophore-deficient mutant of E. coli. Marker exchange mutagenesis of the genes in H. pylori was not successful indicating that riboflavin synthesis is essential for basic metabolic functions of the gastric pathogen.     

Evolutionary origins of bacterial bioluminescence

In bacteria, most genes required for the bioluminescence phenotype are contained in lux operons. Sequence alignments of several lux gene products show the existence of at least two groups of paralogous products. The alpha- and beta-subunits of bacterial luciferase and the non-fluorescent flavoprotein are paralogous, and two antennae proteins (lumazine protein and yellow fluorescence protein) are paralogous with riboflavin synthetase. Models describing the evolution of these paralogous proteins are suggested, as well as a postulate for the identity of the gene encoding a protobioluminescent luciferase.     

Biosynthesis of riboflavin: cloning, sequencing, mapping, and expression of the gene coding for GTP cyclohydrolase II in Escherichia coli.

GTP cyclohydrolase II catalyzes the first committed step in the biosynthesis of riboflavin. The gene coding for this enzyme in Escherichia coli has been cloned by marker rescue. Sequencing indicated an open reading frame of 588 bp coding for a 21.8-kDa peptide of 196 amino acids. The gene was mapped to a position at 28.2 min on the E. coli chromosome and is identical with ribA. GTP cyclohydrolase II was overexpressed in a recombinant strain carrying a plasmid with the cloned gene. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity from the recombinant strain. The N-terminal sequence determined by Edman degradation was identical to the predicted sequence. The sequence is homologous to the 3' part of the central open reading frame in the riboflavin operon of Bacillus subtilis.     

Cloning and partial characterization of a novel hemolysin gene of Vibrio tubiashii and the development of a PCR-based detection assay

Vibrio tubiashii expresses virulence factors, such as a vulnificolysin-like hemolysin or cytolysin and a zinc metalloprotease, similar to those of other pathogenic vibrios. In this study, we report the cloning of a novel hemolysin gene of V.?tubiashii in Escherichia coli . A V.?tubiashii gene library was screened for hemolytic activity on sheep blood agar. Three hemolytic clones pGem:hly1, pGem:hly2, and pGem:hly3 were sequenced, and the sequences showed a strong homology to the ribA gene coding for guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase II (GCH II), required for riboflavin biosynthesis and reported to be responsible for hemolytic activity in Helicobacter pylori . The plasmids pGem:hly1 and pGem:hly3 when introduced into E. coli BSV18 (ribA18::Tn5) were able to restore growth of strain BSV18 in a medium without riboflavin and also produced hemolytic activity on blood agar. PCR primers based on the cloned hly-ribA sequence were tested using 23 different Vibrio strains representing 10 different species. Amplification of ribA gene locus only occurred with V.?tubiashii strains. In summary, our results indicate that we have cloned a ribA homolog of V.?tubiashii that imparts hemolytic activity to E.?coli clones, and primers based on this gene locus might be useful as a species-specific identification tool for V.?tubiashii.     

Description of a Riboflavin Biosynthetic Gene Variant Prevalent in the Phylum Proteobacteria

Riboflavin (vitamin B₂) is the precursor of flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide, which are cofactors essential for a host of intracellular redox reactions. Microorganisms synthesize flavins de novo to fulfill nutritional requirements, but it is becoming increasingly clear that flavins play a wider role in cellular physiology than was previously appreciated. Flavins mediate diverse processes beyond the cytoplasmic membrane, including iron acquisition, extracellular respiration, and interspecies interactions. While investigating the regulation of flavin electron shuttle biosynthesis in the Gram-negative gammaproteobacterium Shewanella oneidensis, we discovered that a riboflavin biosynthetic gene (ribBA) annotated as encoding a bifunctional 3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate (DHBP) synthase/GTP cyclohydrolase II does not possess both functions. The novel gene, renamed ribBX here, encodes an amino-terminal DHBP synthase domain. The carboxy-terminal end of RibBX not only lacks GTP cyclohydrolase II activity but also has evolved a different function altogether in S. oneidensis, regulating the activity of the DHBP synthase domain. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the misannotation of ribBX as ribBA is rampant throughout the phylum Proteobacteria (40% of 2,173 annotated ribBA genes) and that ribBX emerged early in the evolution of this group of microorganisms. We examined the functionality of representative ribBX genes from Beta-, Gamma-, and Epsilonproteobacteria and found that, consistent with sequence-based predictions, the encoded GTP cyclohydrolase II domains lack catalytic activity. The persistence of ribBX in the genomes of so many phylogenetically divergent bacterial species lends weight to the argument that ribBX has evolved a function which lends a selective advantage to the host.