Cloning and structure of the gene for the subunits of aspartokinase II from Bacillus subtilis

A library of Bacillus subtilis DNA in lambda Charon 4A (Ferrari, E., Henner, D.J., and Hoch, J.A. (1981) J. Bacteriol. 146, 430-432) was screened by an immunological procedure for DNA sequences encoding aspartokinase II of B. subtilis, an enzyme composed of two nonidentical subunits arranged in an alpha 2 beta 2 structure (Moir, D., and Paulus, H. (1977a) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 4648-4654). A recombinant bacteriophage was identified that harbored an 18-kilobase B. subtilis DNA fragment containing the coding sequences for both aspartokinase subunits. The coding sequence for aspartokinase II was subcloned into bacterial plasmids. In response to transformation with the recombinant plasmids, Escherichia coli produced two polypeptides immunologically related to B. subtilis aspartokinase II with molecular weights (43,000 and 17,000) indistinguishable from those found in enzyme produced in B. subtilis. Peptide mapping by partial proteolysis confirmed the identity of the polypeptides produced by the transformed E. coli cells with the B. subtilis aspartokinase II subunits. The size of the cloned B. subtilis DNA fragment could be reduced to 2.9 kilobases by cleavage with PstI restriction endonuclease without affecting its ability to direct the synthesis of complete aspartokinase II subunits, irrespective of its orientation in the plasmid vector. Further subdivision by cleavage with BamHI restriction endonuclease resulted in the production of truncated aspartokinase subunits, each shortened by the same extent. This suggested that a single DNA sequence encoded both aspartokinase subunits and provided an explanation for the earlier observation that the smaller beta subunit of aspartokinase II was highly homologous or identical with the carboxyl-terminal portion of the alpha subunit (Moir, D., and Paulus, H. (1977b) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 4655-4661). A map of the gene for B. subtilis aspartokinase II is proposed in which the coding sequence for the smaller beta subunit overlaps in the same reading frame the promoter-distal portion of the coding sequence for the alpha subunit.     

Mechanism of expression of the overlapping genes of Bacillus subtilis aspartokinase II

The mechanism of expression of the overlapping genes that encode the alpha and beta subunits of aspartokinase II of Bacillus subtilis was studied by specific mutagenesis of the cloned coding sequence. Escherichia coli or B. subtilis VB31 (aspartokinase II-deficient), transformed with plasmids carrying either a deletion of the translation start site and about one-half of the coding region for the larger alpha subunit or a frameshift mutation early in the alpha subunit coding region, produced the smaller beta subunit in the absence of alpha subunit synthesis, indicating that beta subunit is not derived from alpha subunit and that its synthesis does not depend on the alpha subunit translation initiation site. The beta subunit translation start site was identified by oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis of the putative translation start codon. Modification of the nucleotide sequence encoding methionine residue 247 of the alpha subunit from ATG to either TTA or AAT (but not GTG) abolished beta subunit synthesis but had no effect on the production of alpha subunit. This observation is consistent with peptide chain initiation by N-formylmethionine, which specifically requires an ATG or GTG sequence, and indicates that translation of the beta subunit starts at a site corresponding to Met247 of the alpha subunit. Initial studies on the function of the aspartokinase II subunits, using E. coli as a heterologous host, showed that beta subunit was not essential for the expression of the catalytic function of aspartokinase, measured in vitro and in vivo, nor for its allosteric regulation by L-lysine. Whether the beta subunit has a function specific to B. subtilis needs to be explored in a homologous expression system.     

Expression of the gene for Bacillus subtilis aspartokinase II in Escherichia coli

The gene coding for the subunits of aspartokinase II from Bacillus subtilis has been identified in a B. subtilis DNA library and cloned in a bacterial plasmid (Bondaryk, R. P., and Paulus, H. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 585-591). The introduction of a plasmid carrying the aspartokinase II gene into an auxotrophic Escherichia coli strain lacking all three aspartokinases restored its ability to grow in the absence of L-lysine, L-threonine, and L-methionine. The B. subtilis aspartokinase gene could thus be functionally expressed in E. coli and substitute for the E. coli aspartokinases. Measurement of aspartokinase levels in extracts of aspartokinaseless E. coli transformed with the B. subtilis aspartokinase II gene revealed an enzyme level comparable to that in a genetically derepressed B. subtilis strain. In spite of the high level of aspartokinase, the growth of the transformed E. coli strain was severely inhibited by the addition of L-lysine but could be restored by also adding L-homoserine. This apparently paradoxical sensitivity to lysine was due to the allosteric inhibition of B. subtilis aspartokinase II by that amino acid, a property which was also observed in extracts of the transformed E. coli strain. The synthesis and degradation of the aspartokinase II subunits were measured by labeling experiments in E. coli transformed with the B. subtilis aspartokinase II gene. In contrast to exponentially growing cells of B. subtilis which contained equimolar amounts of the aspartokinase alpha and beta subunits, the transformed E. coli strain contained a 3-fold molar excess of beta subunit. Pulse-chase experiments showed that the disproportionate level of beta subunit was not due to more rapid turnover of alpha subunit, both subunits being quite stable, but presumably to a more rapid rate of synthesis. After the addition of rifampicin, the synthesis of alpha subunit declined much more rapidly than that of beta subunit, indicating that the two subunits were translated independently from mRNA species that differ in functional stability. In conjunction with the results described in the preceding paper which demonstrated that the aspartokinase subunits are encoded by a single DNA sequence, these observations imply that the alpha and beta subunits of B. subtilis aspartokinase II are the products of in-phase overlapping genes.     

Comparison of the three aspartokinase isozymes in Bacillus subtilis Marburg and 168.

The levels of two aspartokinase isozymes, a lysine-sensitive enzyme and an aspartokinase that is inhibited synergistically by lysine plus threonine, differ strikingly in different strains of Bacillus subtilis. In derivatives of B. subtilis 168 growing in minimal medium, the predominant isozyme is the lysine-sensitive aspartokinase. In B. subtilis ATCC 6051, the Marburg strain, the level of the lysine-sensitive aspartokinase is much lower during growth in minimal medium, and the major aspartokinase activity is the lysine-plus-threonine-sensitive isozyme. Molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence determination of the genes for the lysine-sensitive isozymes from the two B. subtilis strains and their upstream control regions showed these genes to be identical. Evidence that the lysine-sensitive aspartokinase, referred to as aspartokinase II, is distinct from the threonine-plus-lysine-sensitive aspartokinase comes from the observation that disruption of the aspartokinase II gene by recombinational insertion had no effect on the latter. Mutants were obtained from the aspartokinase II-negative strain that also lacked the threonine-plus-lysine-sensitive aspartokinase, which will be referred to as aspartokinase III. Aspartokinase II could be selectively restored to these mutants by transformation with plasmids carrying the aspartokinase II gene. Study of the growth properties of the various mutant strains showed that the loss of either aspartokinase II or aspartokinase III had no effect on growth in minimal medium but that the loss of both enzymes interfered with growth unless the medium was supplemented with the three major end products of the aspartate pathway. It appears, therefore, that aspartokinase I alone cannot provide adequate supplies of precursors for the synthesis of lysine, threonine, and methionine by exponentially growing cells.     

Reconstitution of active 50 S ribosomal subunits from Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis.

Active 50 S ribosomal subunits from Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis can be reconstituted in vitro from dissociated RNA and proteins. The reconstituted 50 S sub-units are indistinguishable from native 50 S subunits in sedimentation on sucrose gradients and in protein composition. The procedure used is similar to that developed for reconstitution of Bacillus stearothermophilus 50 S subunits, though the optimal conditions are somewhat different. Hybrid ribosomes can be reconstituted with 23 S RNA and proteins from different sources (B. stearothermophilus and B. licheniformis or B. subtilis). The thermal stability of these ribosomes depends on the source of the proteins, and not on the source of 23 S RNA.     

The structural gene for aspartokinase II in Bacillus subtilis is closely linked to the sdh operon

The aecA and aecB loci map at 250 and 290 degrees, respectively, on the Bacillus subtilis chromosomal genetic map. The aecB locus has been proposed as the structural gene for aspartokinase II. From DNA sequence analyses and comparisons to the sequence of the aspartokinase II gene, it can be concluded that the structural gene for aspartokinase II is located close to sdh at 250 degrees and cannot be aecB. A detailed map over 7 kbp in the 250 degree region is presented.     

Sequence of the Bacillus stearothermophilus gene encoding aspartokinase II

The complete nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding aspartokinase (Ask) II from thermophilic Bacillus stearothermophilus has been determined. Degenerate oligodeoxyribonucleotides primed the amplification of a 932-bp gene. This sequence was successively used for constructing new primers applied in inverse polymerase chain reaction using, as template, self-ligating DNA fragments. The deduced amino-acid sequence is 68.7% identical with the sequence of the Bacillus sp. strain MGA3 Ask II     

Immunological comparison of acetylcholine receptors and their subunits from species of electric ray.

Rabbit antibodies were produced against purified acetylcholine receptor and each of the four acetylcholine receptor subunits from Torpedo californica. Using the technique of double diffusion in agar, cross reactivities were observed between these antibodies and purified acetylcholine receptor and receptor subunits from Torpedo marmorata, Torpedo nobiliana, and Narcine brasiliensis, as well as from Torpedo californica. The specificity of each of the four anti-subunit antibodies and the conservation of subunit antigenic determinants in the four electric rays studied are demonstrated.     

Desensitization of Bacillus subtilis aspartokinase I to allosteric inhibition by meso-diaminopimelate allows aspartokinase I to function in amino acid biosynthesis during exponential growth.

Strains of Bacillus subtilis deficient in aspartokinases II and III are unable to grow in the absence of lysine, methionine, and threonine, although they have normal levels of aspartokinase I (J.J. Zhang, F.M. Hu, N.Y. Chen, and H. Paulus, J. Bacteriol. 172:701-708, 1990). Revertants with the ability to grow in the absence of lysine and methionine had an altered aspartokinase I, which was insensitive to feedback inhibition by meso-diaminopimelate. This suggests that inhibition by meso-diaminopimelate limits the ability of aspartokinase I to function in amino acid biosynthesis.