Cloning and nucleotide sequence of the Streptomyces coelicolor gene encoding glutamine synthetase

The Streptomyces coelicolor glutamine synthetase (GS) structural gene (glnA) was cloned by complementing the glutamine growth requirement of an Escherichia coli strain containing a deletion of its glnALG operon. Expression of the cloned S. coelicolor glnA gene in E. coli cells was found to require an E. coli plasmid promoter. The nucleotide sequence of an S. coelicolor 2280-bp DNA segment containing the glnA gene was determined and the complete glnA amino acid sequence deduced. Comparison of the derived S. coelicolor GS protein sequence with the amino acid sequences of GS from other bacteria suggests that the S. coelicolor GS protein is more similar to the GS proteins from Gram-negative bacteria than it is with the GS proteins from two Gram-positive bacteria, Bacillus subtilis and Clostridium acetobutylicum.     

Glutamine synthetase of Klebsiella aerogenes: genetic and physiological properties of mutants in the adenylylation system.

Mutations resulting in defects in the adenylylation system of glutamine synthetase (GS) affect the expression of glnA, the structural gene for GS. Mutants with lesions in glnB are glutamine auxotrophs and contain repressed levels of highly adenylylated GS. Glutamine-independent revertants of the glnB3 mutant have acquired an additional mutation at the glnE site. The glnE54 mutant is incapable of adenylylating GS and produces high levels of enzyme, even when ammonia is present in the growth medium. The fact that mutations in glnB and glnE simultaneously disturb both the normal adenylylation and repression patterns of GS in Klebsiella aerogenes indicates that the adenylylation system, or adenylylation state, of GS is critical for the regulation of synthesis of GS.     

Close linkage of genes encoding glutamine synthetases I and II in Frankia alni CpI1.

Frankia alni CpI1 has two glutamine synthetases (GSs), GSI and GSII. The GSI gene (glnA) was isolated from a cosmid library of F. alni CpI1 DNA by heterologous probing with glnA from Streptomyces coelicolor. The glnA gene was shown to be located upstream of the GSII gene (glnII) by DNA-DNA hybridization. The nucleotide sequences of the 1,422-bp CpI1 glnA gene and of the 449-bp intervening region between glnA and glnII were determined, and the glnA amino acid sequence was deduced. In common with GSIs from other organisms, CpI1 GSI contains five conserved regions near the active site and a conserved tyrosine at the adenylylation site. F. alni CpI1 glnA complemented the glutamine growth requirement of the Escherichia coli glnA deletion strain YMC11 but only when expressed from an E. coli lac promoter. While the functional significance of maintaining two GSs adjacent to one another remains unclear, this arrangement in F. alni provides support for the recently proposed origin of GSI and GSII as resulting from a gene duplication early in the evolution of life.     

Bacterial type I glutamine synthetase of the rifamycin SV producing actinomycete, Amycolatopsis mediterranei U32, is the only enzyme responsible for glutamine synthesis under physiological conditions

The structural gene for glutamine synthetase, glnA, from Amycolatopsis mediterranei U32 was cloned via screening a genomic library using the analog gene from Streptomyces coelicolor. The clone was functionally verified by complementing for glutamine requirement of an Escherichia coli glnA null mutant under the control of a lac promoter. Sequence analysis showed an open reading frame encoding a protein of 466 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence bears significant homologies to other bacterial type I glutamine synthetases, specifically, 71% and 72% identical to the enzymes of S. coelicolor and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, respectively. Disruption of this glnA gene in A. mediterranei U32 led to glutamine auxotrophy with no detectable glutamine synthetase activity in vivo. In contrast, the cloned glnA^＋ gene can complement for both phenotypes in trans. It thus suggested that in A. mediterranei U32, the glnA gene encoding glutamine synthetase is uniquely responsible for in vivo glutamine synthesis under our laboratory defined physiological conditions.     

Characterization of the gene encoding glutamine synthetase I (glnA) from Bradyrhizobium japonicum.

We have isolated the Bradyrhizobium japonicum gene encoding glutamine synthetase I (glnA) from a phage lambda library by using a fragment of the Escherichia coli glnA gene as a hybridization probe. The rhizobial glnA gene has homology to the E. coli glnA gene throughout the entire length of the gene and can complement an E. coli glnA mutant when borne on an expression plasmid in the proper orientation to be transcribed from the E. coli lac promoter. High levels of glutamine synthetase activity can be detected in cell-free extracts of the complemented E. coli. The enzyme encoded by the rhizobial gene was identified as glutamine synthetase I on the basis of its sedimentation properties and resistance to heat inactivation. DNA sequence analysis predicts a high level of amino acid sequence homology among the amino termini of B. japonicum, E. coli, and Anabaena sp. strain 7120 glutamine synthetases. S1 nuclease protection mapping indicates that the rhizobial gene is transcribed from a single promoter 131 +/- 2 base pairs upstream from the initiation codon. This glnA promoter is active when B. japonicum is grown both symbiotically and in culture with a variety of nitrogen and carbon sources. There is no detectable sequence homology between the constitutively expressed glnA promoter and the differentially regulated nif promoters of the same B. japonicum strain.     

Role of glutamine synthetase in nitrogen metabolite repression in Aspergillus nidulans

Glutamine synthetase (GS), EC 6.3.1.2, is a central enzyme in the assimilation of nitrogen and the biosynthesis of glutamine. We have isolated the Aspergillus nidulans glnA gene encoding GS and have shown that glnA encodes a highly expressed but not highly regulated mRNA. Inactivation of glnA results in an absolute glutamine requirement, indicating that GS is responsible for the synthesis of this essential amino acid. Even when supplemented with high levels of glutamine, strains lacking a functional glnA gene have an inhibited morphology, and a wide range of compounds have been shown to interfere with repair of the glutamine auxotrophy. Heterologous expression of the prokaryotic Anabaena glnA gene from the A. nidulans alcA promoter allowed full complementation of the A. nidulans glnADelta mutation. However, the A. nidulans fluG gene, which encodes a protein with similarity to prokaryotic GS, did not replace A. nidulans glnA function when similarly expressed. Our studies with the glnADelta mutant confirm that glutamine, and not GS, is the key effector of nitrogen metabolite repression. Additionally, ammonium and its immediate product glutamate may also act directly to signal nitrogen sufficiency.     

Cloning and sequencing of the gene encoding glutamine synthetase I from the archaeum Pyrococcus woesei: anomalous phylogenies inferred from analysis of archaeal and bacterial glutamine synthetase I sequences.

The gene glnA encoding glutamine synthetase I (GSI) from the archaeum Pyrococcus woesei was cloned and sequenced with the Sulfolobus solfataricus glnA gene as the probe. An operon reading frame of 448 amino acids was identified within a DNA segment of 1,528 bp. The encoded protein was 49% identical with the GSI of Methanococcus voltae and exhibited conserved regions characteristic of the GSI family. The P. woesei GSI was aligned with available homologs from other archaea (S. solfataricus, M. voltae) and with representative sequences from cyanobacteria, proteobacteria, and gram-positive bacteria. Phylogenetic trees were constructed from both the amino acid and the nucleotide sequence alignments. In accordance with the sequence similarities, archaeal and bacterial sequences did not segregate on a phylogeny. On the basis of sequence signatures, the GSI trees could be subdivided into two ensembles. One encompassed the GSI of cyanobacteria and proteobacteria, but also that of the high-G + C gram-positive bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor (all of which are regulated by the reversible adenylylation of the enzyme subunits); the other embraced the GSI of the three archaea as well as that of the low-G + C gram-positive bacteria (Clostridium acetobutilycum, Bacillus subtilis) and Thermotoga maritima (none of which are regulated by subunit adenylylation). The GSIs of the Thermotoga and the Bacillus-Clostridium lineages shared a direct common ancestor with that of P. woesei and the methanogens and were unrelated to their homologs from cyanobacteria, proteobacteria, and S. coelicolor. The possibility is presented that the GSI gene arose among the archaea and was then laterally transferred from some early methanogen to a Thermotoga-like organism. However, the relationship of the cyanobacterial-proteobacterial GSIs to the Thermotoga GSI and the GSI of low-G+C gram-positive bacteria remains unexplained.     

Molecular analysis and regulation of the glnA gene of the gram-positive anaerobe Clostridium acetobutylicum.

The nucleotide sequence of a 2.0-kilobase DNA segment containing the Clostridium acetobutylicum glnA gene was determined. The upstream region of the glnA gene contained two putative extended promoter consensus sequences (p1 and p2), characteristic of gram-positive bacteria. A third putative extended gram-positive promoter consensus sequence (p3), oriented towards the glnA gene, was detected downstream of the structural gene. The sequences containing the proposed promoter regions p1 and p2 or p3 were shown to have promoter activity by subcloning into promoter probe vectors. The complete amino acid sequence (444 residues) of the C. acetobutylicum glutamine synthetase (GS) was deduced, and comparisons were made with the reported amino acid sequences of GS from other organisms. To determine whether the putative promoter p3 and a downstream region with an extensive stretch of inverted repeat sequences were involved in regulation of C. acetobutylicum glnA gene expression by nitrogen in Escherichia coli, deletion plasmids were constructed lacking p3 and various downstream sequences. Deletion of the putative promoter p3 and downstream inverted repeat sequences affected the regulation of GS and reduced the levels of GS approximately fivefold under nitrogen-limiting conditions but did not affect the repression of GS levels in cells grown under nitrogen-excess conditions.     

Cloning, sequencing and expression of the glutamine synthetase structural gene (glnA) from the obligate methanotroph Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath)

The structural gene (glnA) encoding the ammonia-assimulation enzyme glutamine synthetase (GS) has been cloned from the obligate methanotroph Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath). Complementation of Escherichia coli glnA mutants was demonstrated. In vitro expression analysis revealed that the cloned glnA gene coded for a polypeptide of apparent Mr 60,000, as determined by PAGE. Expression of the M. capsulatus (Bath) glnA gene in E. coli was regulated by nitrogen levels in an Ntr+ but not an Ntr- background. The nucleotide sequence of the M. capsulatus (Bath) glnA gene and flanking sequences was determined. This gene, of 1407 bp, encoded a polypeptide of Mr 51717 containing 468 amino acids. The 5' leader region contained three putative promoters. Promoters P1 and P3 resembled the canonical -10 -35 E. coli-type promoter. Promoter P2, which was located between P1 and P3, resembled the NtrA-dependent promoters of enteric organisms. A potential NtrC-binding site was also determined, flanking the Pribnow box at P1. Comparisons of nucleotide-derived amino acid sequences of GS enzymes from prokaryotes and eukaryotes with GS from M. capsulatus are made.