Vanadate uptake in Neurospora crassa occurs via phosphate transport system II.

Vanadate, a potent inhibitor of plasma membrane ATPases, is taken up by Neurospora crassa only when cells are growing in alkaline medium and starving for phosphate. The appearance of a vanadate uptake system (Km = 8.2 microM; Vmax = 0.15 mmol/min per liter of cell water) occurs under the same conditions required for derepression of a high-affinity phosphate transport system. Phosphate is a competitive inhibitor of vanadate uptake, and vanadate is a competitive inhibitor of phosphate uptake. Furthermore, mutant strains which are either partially constitutive or non-derepressible for the high-affinity phosphate transport system are also partially constitutive or non-derepressible for vanadate uptake. These data indicate that vanadate enters the cell via phosphate transport system II.     

Vanadate-resistant mutants of Candida albicans show alterations in phosphate uptake

Phosphate uptake studies in different strains of the dimorphic pathogenic yeast Candida albicans were undertaken to show that this yeast actively transported phosphate with an apparent Km in the range of 90-170 microM. The uptake was pH dependent and derepressible under phosphate starvation. Vanadate-resistant (van) mutants of C. albicans showed a 20-70% reduction in the rate of phosphate uptake in high phosphate medium and was associated with an increased Km and reduced Vmax. The magnitude of derepression under phosphate starvation was different between van mutants. These results demonstrate that van mutants may have developed resistance by modifying the rate of entry of vanadate.     

Vanadate binding to the gastric H,K-ATPase and inhibition of the enzyme's catalytic and transport activities

Vanadate inhibition of the catalytic and transport activities of the gastric magnesium-dependent, hydrogen ion transporting, and potassium-stimulated adenosinetriphosphatase (EC 3.6.1.3) (H,K-ATPase) has been studied. The principal experiment observations are the following: (1) Inhibition of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) hydrolysis is biphasic. Vanadate binding with a stoichiometry of 1.5 nmol mg-1 approximately halves K+-stimulated ATPase activity at physiological temperature. The remaining activity is inhibited by binding an additional 1.5 nmol mg-1 vanadate with lower apparent ions bind specifically to gastric vesicles with two affinities. Vanadate binding in the presence of nucleotide is compatible with competition for the kinetically defined high-affinity and low-affinity ATP sites. (3) Vanadate inhibits phosphoenzyme formation and the K+-stimulated p-nitrophenyl phosphatase activity of the enzyme monophasically. A maximum of 1.5 nmol mg-1 acid-stable phosphoenzyme is formed. The half-time for vanadate dissociation from the site that inhibits p-nitrophenyl phosphate hydrolysis is 5 min (4) At most, 3 nmol mg-1 vanadate is required to inhibit proton transport. The simplest interpretation of the data is that vanadate inhibits the H,K-ATPase by binding competitively with ATP at two catalytic sites. Different catalytic mechanisms at the high-affinity and low-affinity sites are suggested by the different stoichiometries found for vanadate binding and phosphoenzyme formation.     

Existence of high- and low-affinity vanadate-binding sites on Ca(2+)-ATPase of the sarcoplasmic reticulum.

The binding of vanadate to isolated sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) membranes was measured colorimetrically by equilibrium sedimentation and ion exchange column filtration. The concentration dependence of vanadate binding exhibited a biphasic curve with two phases of equal amplitude. A similar biphasic curve of the vanadate dependence was observed with the purified Ca(2+)-ATPase prepared by deoxycholate extraction. Sites of vanadate binding could be classified into two distinct species based on apparent affinity; the high-affinity binding sites have a dissociation constant below 0.1 microM, and the low-affinity sites one of 36 microM. The maximum amount of vanadate bound to each of the high- or low-affinity sites was estimated to be 2.6-3.6 nmol/mg SR protein, which corresponds to approximately 0.5 mol of vanadate bound per mol of Ca(2+)-ATPase. These results indicate that 1 mol of Ca(2+)-ATPase contains 0.5 mol of high-affinity vanadate-binding sites as well as 0.5 mol of low-affinity vanadate-binding sites. Vanadate binding to the low-affinity sites was competitively inhibited by inorganic phosphate, while vanadate binding to the high-affinity sites resulted in a non-competitive inhibition of the phosphoenzyme formation from inorganic phosphate. When SR membrane were solubilized with polyoxy-ethylene-9-laurylether (C12E9), the vanadate binding exhibited a monophasic concentration dependency curve with a dissociation constant of 13 microM. The number of vanadate-binding sites was estimated to be 7.2 nmol/mg SR protein which represents about 1 mol of site per mol of Ca(2+)-ATPase. Vanadate binding to the solubilized Ca(2+)-ATPase was competitively inhibited by inorganic phosphate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Mutations Affecting the Different Transport Systems for Isoleucine, Leucine, and Valine in Escherichia coli K-12

Uptake of isoleucine, leucine, and valine in Escherichia coli K-12 is due to several transport processes for which kinetic evidence has been reported elsewhere. A very-high-affinity transport process, a high-affinity transport process, and three different low-affinity transport processes were described. In this paper the existence of these transport processes is confirmed by the isolation and preliminary characterization of mutants altered in one or more of them. The very-high-affinity transport process is missing either in strains carrying the brnR6(am) mutation or in strains carrying the brn-8 mutation. This appears to be a pleiotropic effect since other transport systems are also missing. Mutant analysis shows that more than one transport system with high affinity is present. One of them, high-affinity 1, which needs the activity of a protein produced by the brnQ gene, transports isoleucine, leucine, and valine and is unaffected by threonine. The other, high-affinity 2, which needs the activity of a protein produced by the brnS gene, transports isoleucine, leucine, and valine; this uptake is inhibited by threonine which probably is a substrate. Another protein, produced by the brnR gene, is required for uptake through both high-affinity 1 and high-affinity 2 transport systems. The two systems therefore appear to work in parallel, brnR being a branching point. The brnQ gene is located close to phoA at 9.5 min on the chromosome of E. coli, the brnR gene is located close to lac at 9.0 min, and the brnS gene is close to pdxA at 1 min. A mutant lacking the low-affinity transport system for isoleucine was isolated from a strain in which the high-affinity system was missing because of a brnR mutation. This strain also required isoleucine for growth because of an ilvA mutation. The mutant lacking the low-affinity transport system was unable to grow on isoleucine but could grow on glycylisoleucine. This mutant had lost the low-affinity transport for isoleucine, whereas those for leucine and valine were unaffected. A pleiotropic consequence of this mutation (brn-8) was a complete absence of the very-high-affinity transport system due either to the alteration of a common gene product or to any kind of secondary interference which inhibits it. Mutants altered in isoleucine-leucine-valine transport were isolated by taking advantage of the inhibition that valine exerts on the K-12 strain of E. coli. Mutants resistant both to valine inhibition (Val(r)) and to glycylvaline inhibition are regulatory mutants. Val(r) mutants that are sensitive to glycylvaline inhibition are transport mutants. When the very-high-affinity transport process is repressed (for example by methionine) the frequency of transport mutants among Val(r) mutants is higher, and it is even higher if the high-affinity transport process is partially inhibited by leucine.     

Phosphate transport in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Involvement of a periplasmic phosphate-binding protein

A binding protein for inorganic phosphate was purified to apparent homogeneity from the shock fluids of phosphate-limited Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The purified protein bound one molecule of phosphate per molecule of binding protein with an average Kd of 0.34 microM. Arsenate, pyrophosphate and polyphosphates up to 15 units long could inhibit the binding of phosphate to the binding protein, although organic phosphates, such as glucose 6-phosphate, glycerol 3-phosphate and adenosine 5'-monophosphate could not. Mutants lacking the phosphate-binding protein were isolated and shown to be deficient in phosphate transport compared with wild-type cells. Two kinetically distinct systems for phosphate uptake could be observed in wild-type cells, with apparent Km values of 0.46 +/- 0.10 microM (high affinity) and 12.0 +/- 1.6 microM (low affinity). In contrast, only a single low-affinity transport system was observable in mutants lacking the binding protein (Km apparent = 19.3 +/- 1.4 microM Pi), suggesting the involvement of the binding protein in the inducible high-affinity phosphate-uptake system of P. aeruginosa.     

Vanadate-resistant mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae show alterations in protein phosphorylation and growth control.

This work describes two spontaneous vanadate-resistant mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with constitutive alterations in protein phosphorylation, growth control, and sporulation. Vanadate has been shown by a number of studies to be an efficient competitor of phosphate in biochemical reactions, especially those that involve phosphoproteins as intermediates or substrates. Resistance to toxic concentrations of vanadate can arise in S. cerevisiae by both recessive and dominant spontaneous mutations in a large number of loci. Mutations in two of the recessive loci, van1-18 and van2-93, resulted in alterations in the phosphorylation of a number of proteins. The mutant van1-18 gene also showed an increase in plasma membrane ATPase activity in vitro and a lowered basal phosphatase activity under alkaline conditions. Cells containing the van2-93 mutant allele had normal levels of plasma membrane ATPase activity, but this activity was not inhibited by vanadate. Both of these mutants failed to enter stationary phase, were heat shock sensitive, showed lowered long-term viability, and sporulated on rich medium in the presence of 2% glucose. The wild-type VAN1 gene was isolated and sequenced. The open reading frame predicts a protein of 522 amino acids, with no significant homology to any genes that have been identified. Diploid cells that contained two mutant alleles of this gene demonstrated defects in spore viability. These data suggest that the VAN1 gene product is involved in regulation of the phosphorylation of a number of proteins, some of which appear to be important in cell growth control.     

Inhibition of phosphoenzyme formation from phosphate and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase by vanadate binding to high- or low-affinity site on the enzyme.

In the preceding paper, we suggested that 1 mol Ca(2+)-ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) contains 0.5 ml of high-affinity vanadate binding sites as well as 0.5 ml of low-affinity vanadate binding sites [Yamasaki, K. & Yamamoto, T. (1991) J. Biochem. 110, 915-921]. In the present study, we examined the effects of vanadate binding to the high- and low-affinity sites upon phosphorylation of the enzyme by inorganic phosphate (Pi). When vanadate was added to the reaction medium in which the Ca(2+)-ATPase had been phosphorylated by Pi in the absence of Ca2+, the steady-state level of phosphoenzyme (E2P) decreased due to inhibition of its formation. The decrease of E2P after addition of vanadate exhibited biphasic kinetics consisting of an initial fast decay process followed by a slower first-order decay process. The size of the fast E2P decay, which was estimated by extrapolating the slow phase decay to time 0, varied depending on the vanadate concentration with a dissociation constant of 17 microM, and reached maximum at 50 microM vanadate. The maximum value of the fast E2P decay was almost equal to the initial E2P level. The initial fast decay of E2P was competitively prevented by Pi with a dissociation constant of 7.4 mM, which was very close to Km for the E2P formation under similar conditions. These observations suggested that vanadate inhibits E2P formation by competition with Pi at a phosphorylation site on the Ca(2+)-ATPase. The slow first-order decay of E2P corresponded well to the vanadate binding to the high-affinity site of the Ca(2+)-ATPase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Low- and high-Km transport of dinitrophenyl glutathione in inside out vesicles from human erythrocytes.

Kinetic studies on the low- and high-Km transport systems for S-2,4-dinitrophenyl glutathione (DNP-SG) present in erythrocyte membranes were performed using inside-out plasma membrane vesicles. The high-affinity system showed a Km of 3.9 microM a Vmax of 6.3 nmol/mg protein per h, and the low-affinity system a Km of 1.6 mM and a Vmax of 131 nmol/mg protein per h. Both uptake components were inhibited by fluoride, vanadate, p-chloromercuribenzoate (pCMB) and bis(4-nitrophenyl)dithio-3,3'-dicarboxylate (DTNB). The low-Km uptake process was less sensitive to the inhibitory action of DTNB as compared to the high-Km process. N-Ethylmaleimide (1 mM) inhibited the high-Km process only. The high-affinity uptake of DNP-SG was competitively inhibited by GSSG (Ki = 88 microM). Vice versa, DNP-SG inhibited competitively the low-Km component of GSSG uptake (Ki = 3.3 microM). The high-Km DNP-SG uptake system was not inhibited by GSSG. The existence of a common high-affinity transporter for DNP-SG and GSSG in erythrocytes is suggested.     

Sodium Orthovanadate-Resistant Mutants of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Show Defects in Golgi-Mediated Protein Glycosylation, Sporulation and Detergent Resistance

Orthovanadate is a small toxic molecule that competes with the biologically important oxyanion orthophosphate. Orthovanadate resistance arises spontaneously in Saccharomyces cerevisiae haploid cells by mutation in a number of genes. Mutations selected at 3 mM sodium orthovanadate have different degrees of vanadate resistance, hygromycin sensitivity, detergent sensitivity and sporulation defects. Recessive vanadate-resistant mutants belong to at least six genetic loci. Most mutants are defective in outer chain glycosylation of secreted invertase (van1, van2, van4, van5, van6, VAN7-116 and others), a phenotype found in some MNN or VRG mutants. The phenotypes of these vanadate-resistant mutants are consistent with an alteration in the permeability or specificity of the Golgi apparatus. The previously published VAN1 gene product has a 200 amino acid domain with 40% identity with the MNN9 gene product and 70% identity with the ANP1 gene product. Cells containing the van1-18, mnn9 (vrg6) or anp1 mutations have some phenotypic similarities. The VAN2 gene was isolated and its coding region is identified and reported. It is an essential gene on chromosome XV and its translated amino acid sequence predicts a unique 337 amino acid protein with multiple transmembrane domains.     

Deoxyglucose-resistant mutants of Neurospora crassa: isolation, mapping, and biochemical characterization.

Neurospora crassa mutants resistant to 2-deoxyglucose have been isolated, and their mutations have been mapped to four genetic loci. The mutants have the following characteristics: (i) they are resistant to sorbose as well as to 2-deoxyglucose; (ii) they are partially or completely constitutive for glucose transport system II, glucamylase, and invertase, which are usually repressed during growth on glucose; and (iii) they synthesize an invertase with abnormal thermostability and immunological properties, suggesting altered posttranslational modification. All of these characteristics could arise from defects in the regulation of carbon metabolism. In addition, mutants with mutations at three of the loci lack glucose transport system I, which is normally synthesized constitutively by wild-type N. crassa. Although the basis for this change is not yet clear, the mutants provide a way of studying the high-affinity system II uncomplicated by the presence of the low-affinity system I.     

Mutational analysis of genes of the mod locus involved in molybdenum transport, homeostasis, and processing in Azotobacter vinelandii.

DNA sequencing of the region upstream from the Azotobacter vinelandii operon (modEABC) that contains genes for the molybdenum transport system revealed an open reading frame (modG) encoding a hypothetical 14-kDa protein. It consists of a tandem repeat of an approximately 65-amino-acid sequence that is homologous to Mop, a 7-kDa molybdopterin-binding protein of Clostridium pasteurianum. The tandem repeat is similar to the C-terminal half of the product of modE. The effects of mutations in the mod genes provide evidence for distinct high- and low-affinity Mo transport systems and for the involvement of the products of modE and modG in the processing of molybdate. modA, modB, and modC, which encode the component proteins of the high-affinity Mo transporter, are required for 99Mo accumulation and for the nitrate reductase activity of cells growing in medium with less than 10 microM Mo. The exchange of accumulated 99Mo with nonradioactive Mo depends on the presence of modA, which encodes the periplasmic molybdate-binding protein. 99Mo also exchanges with tungstate but not with vanadate or sulfate. modA, modB, and modC mutants exhibit nitrate reductase activity and 99Mo accumulation only when grown in more than 10 microM Mo, indicating that A. vinelandii also has a low-affinity Mo uptake system. The low-affinity system is not expressed in a modE mutant that synthesizes the high-affinity Mo transporter constitutively or in a spontaneous tungstate-tolerant mutant. Like the wild type, modG mutants only show nitrate reductase activity when grown in > 10 nM Mo. However, a modE modG double mutant exhibits maximal nitrate reductase activity at a 100-fold lower Mo concentration. This indicates that the products of both genes affect the supply of Mo but are not essential for nitrate reductase cofactor synthesis. However, nitrogenase-dependent growth in the presence or absence of Mo is severely impaired in the double mutant, indicating that the products of modE and modG may be involved in the early steps of nitrogenase cofactor biosynthesis in A. vinelandii.     

Inorganic phosphate transport in Escherichia coli: involvement of two genes which play a role in alkaline phosphatase regulation

Two classes of alkaline phosphatase constitutive mutations which comprise the original phoS locus (genes phoS and phoT) on the Escherichia coli genome have been implicated in the regulation of alkaline phosphatase synthesis. When these mutations were introduced into a strain dependent on a single system, the pst system, for inorganic phosphate (P(i)) transport, profound changes in P(i) transport were observed. The phoT mutations led to a complete P(i) (-) phenotype in this background, and no activity of the pst system could be detected. The introduction of the phoS mutations changed the specificity of the pst system so that arsenate became growth inhibitory. Changes in the phosphate source led to changes in the levels of constitutive alkaline phosphatase synthesis found in phoS and phoT mutants. When glucose-6-phosphate or l-alpha-glycerophosphate was supplied as the sole source of phosphate, phoT mutants showed a 3- to 15- fold reduction in constitutive alkaline phosphatase synthesis when compared to the maximal levels found in limiting P(i) media. However, these levels were still 100 times greater than the basal level of alkaline phosphatase synthesized in wild-type strains under these conditions. The phoS mutants showed only a two- to threefold reduction when grown with organic phosphate sources. The properties of the phoT mutants selected on the basis of constitutive alkaline phosphatase synthesis were similar in many respects to those of pst mutants selected for resistance to growth inhibition caused by arsenate. It is suggested that the phoS and phoT genes are primarily involved in P(i) transport and, as a result of this function, play a role in the regulation of alkaline phosphatase synthesis.     

Role of cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase in catabolite inactivation of the glucose and galactose transporters in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The derepressed high-affinity glucose transport system and the induced galactose transport system are catabolite inactivated when cells with these transport systems are incubated with glucose. The role of the cyclic AMP cascade in the catabolite inactivation of these transport systems was shown by using mutants affected in the activity of cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase (cAPK). In tpk1(w) mutants with reduced cAPK activity, the sugar transport systems were expressed but were not catabolite inactivated. In bcy1 mutants with unbridled cAPK activity resulting from a defective regulatory subunit, the transport systems were absent or present at low levels.     

Effect of pH on the kinetics of Na+-dependent phosphate transport in rat renal brush-border membranes

The kinetics of Na+-dependent phosphate uptake in rat renal brush-border membrane vesicles were studied under zero-trans conditions at 37 degrees C and the effect of pH on the kinetic parameters was determined. When the pH was lowered it turned out to be increasingly difficult to estimate initial rates of phosphate uptake due to an increase in aspecific binding of phosphate to the brush border membrane. When EDTA or beta-glycerophosphate was added to the uptake medium this aspecific binding was markedly reduced. At pH 6.8, initial rates of phosphate uptake were measured between 0.01 and 3.0 mM phosphate in the presence of 100 mM Na+. Kinetic analysis resulted in a non-linear Eadie-Hofstee plot, compatible with two modes of transport: one major low-affinity system (Km approximately equal to 1.3 mM), high-capacity system (Vmax approximately equal to 1.1 nmol/s per mg protein) and one minor high-affinity (Km approximately equal to 0.03 mM), low-capacity system (Vmax approximately equal to 0.04 nmol/s per mg protein). Na+-dependent phosphate uptake studied far from initial rate conditions i.e. at 15 s, frequently observed in the literature, led to a dramatic decrease in the Vmax of the low-affinity system. When both the extra- and intravesicular pH were increased from 6.2 to 8.5, the Km value of the low-affinity system increased, but when divalent phosphate is considered to be the sole substrate for the low-affinity system then the Km value is no longer pH dependent. In contrast, the Km value of the high-affinity system was not influenced by pH but the Vmax decreased dramatically when the pH is lowered from 8.5 to 6.2. These results suggest that the low-affinity, high-capacity system transports divalent divalent phosphate only while the high-affinity, low-capacity system may transport univalent as well as divalent phosphate. Raising medium sodium concentration from 100 to 250 mM increased Na+-dependent phosphate uptake significantly but the pH dependence of the phosphate transport was not influenced. This observation makes it rather unlikely that pH changes only affect the Na+ site of the Na+-dependent phosphate transport system.     

Activation of a new proline transport system in Salmonella typhimurium.

Proline uptake can be mediated by three different transport systems in wild-type Salmonella typhimurium: a high-affinity proline transport system encoded by the putP gene and two glycine-betaine transport systems with a low affinity for proline encoded by the proP and proU genes. However, only the PutP permease transports proline well enough t allow growth on proline as a sole carbon or nitrogen source. By selecting for mutations that allow a putP mutant to grow on proline as a sole nitrogen source, we isolated mutants (designated proZ) that appeared to activate a cryptic proline transport system. These mutants enhanced the transport of proline and proline analogs but did not require the function of any of the known proline transport genes. The mutations mapped between 75 and 77.5 min on the S. typhimurium linkage map. Proline transport by the proZ mutants was competitively inhibited by isoleucine and leucine, which suggests that the ProZ phenotype may be due to unusual mutations that alter the substrate specificity of the branched-chain amino acid transport system encoded by the liv genes.