Fumarate dissimilation and differential reductant flow by Clostridium formicoaceticum and Clostridium aceticum

Methanol and the O-methyl group of vanillate did not support the growth of Clostridium formicoaceticum in defined medium under CO₂-limited conditions; however, they were growth supportive when fumarate was provided concomitantly. Fumarate alone was not growth supportive under these conditions. Fumarate reduction (dissimilation) to succinate was the predominant electron-accepting, energy-conserving process for methanol-derived reductant under CO₂-limited conditions. However, when both reductant sinks, i.e., fumarate and CO₂, were available, reductant was redirected towards CO₂ in defined medium. In contrast, in undefined medium with both reductant sinks available, C. formicoaceticum simultaneously engaged fumarate dismutation and the concomitant usage of CO₂ and fumarate as reductant sinks. With Clostridium aceticum, fumarate also substituted for CO₂, and H₂ became growth supportive under CO₂-limited conditions. Fumarate dissimilation was the predominant electron-accepting process under CO₂-limited conditions; however, when both reductant sinks were available, H₂-derived reductant was routed towards CO₂, indicating that acetogenesis was the preferred electron-accepting process when reductant flow originated from H₂. Collectively, these findings indicate that fumarate dissimilation, not dismutation, is selectively used under certain conditions and that such usage of fumarate is subject to complex regulation.     

On a reversible molybdenum-containing aldehyde oxidoreductase from Clostridium formicoaceticum

Clostridium formicoaceticum grown in the presence of 1 mM molybdate and about 1.5×10^-5 mM tungsten (present in the 5 g yeast extract/l of the growth medium) forms two reversible aldehyde oxidoreductases in an activity ratio of about 45:55. The fraction of 45% does not bind to the octyl-Sepharose column, whereas the 55% aldehyde oxidoreductase binds to this column. From cells grown on a synthetic medium without the addition of tungstate only about 2% of the aldehyde oxidoreductase of the crude extract binds to octyl-Sepharose. The enzyme not binding to octyl-Sepharose has been purified as judged by electrophoresis. It is pure after about 50 fold enrichment. According to SDS gel electrophoresis the enzyme consists of identical 100 kD subunits. Based on gel chromatography it seems to be a trimer. Per subunit 0.6 molybdenum, 7 iron, 6.6 acid labile sulphur, about 0.1 pterin-6-carboxylic and <0.05 tungsten have been found. The first 13 amino acids from the amino end show no similarity with the W-containing aldehyde oxidoreductase from the same bacterium. With reduced tetramethylviologen (E₀=–550 mV) the new molybdenum containing enzyme can reduce various aliphatic and aromatic acids to aldehydes. The pH optimum is at 6.0. For the dehydrogenation of butyraldehyde a rather broad pH region from pH 6 to 10 shows almost no variation of rate. From 15 different aldehydes acetaldehyde exhibits the highest rate. The K_m value for butanal is 0.002 and for propionate 7.0 mM. Compared with the tungsten enzyme the molybdenum enzyme is only moderately oxygen-sensitive.Abbreviations AOR aldehyde oxidoreductase - BV benzylviologen - MV methylviologen - NH₂CO-MV 1,1-carbamoylmethylviologen - TMV 1,1,2,2-tetramethylviologen     

Some properties of formate dehydrogenase,accumulation and incorporation of 185W-tungsten into proteins of Clostridium formicoaceticum

Formate dehydrogenase of Clostridium formicoaceticum used only methyl and benzyl viologen, but not NAD as electron acceptor. The S_0.5 values were 0.9×10^-4 M for formate and 5.8×10^-3 M for methyl viologen. Using potassium phosphate buffer a pH-optimum of 7.9 was observed. The initial velocity of the formate dehydrogenase activity reached a maximum at 70°C, whereas the activity was stable only up to 50°C. The level of formate dehydrogenase in C. formicoaceticum was increased to its maximum when 10^-6 M selenite and 10^-7 M tungstate were added to a synthetic medium. Addition of molybdate instead of tungstate did not increase the level of formate dehydrogenase. ¹⁸⁵W-tungsten was concentrated about 100-fold by C. formicoaceticum; molybdate had no major effect on the uptake of tungsten. ¹⁸⁵W-tungsten was found almost exclusively in the soluble fluid and was predominantly recovered after chromatography in a protein of about 88000 molecular weight. Occasionally a labelled protein of low molecular weight was observed. Again molybdate added even in high molar excess did not influence the labelling pattern. No radioactivity peak could be obtained at the elution peak of formate dehydrogenase activity. The extreme instability of formate dehydrogenase prevented further purification.Abbreviations FDH formate dehydrogenase - DTE dithioerythritol - HEPES hydroxyethylpiperazine N-2-ethane sulconic acid - TEA triethylamine - DCPIP 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol - PMS phenazine methosulfate - TTC triphenyltetrazolium     

Observations on the reduction of non-activated carboxylates by Clostridium formicoaceticum with carbon monoxide or formate and the influence of various viologens

Crude extracts or supernatants of broken cells of Clostridium formicoaceticum reduce unbranched, branched, saturated and unsaturated carboxylates at the expense of carbon monoxide to the corresponding alcohols. The presence of viologens with redox potentials varying from E ₀=-295 to-650 mV decreased the rate of propionate reduction. The more the propionate reduction was diminished the more formate was formed from carbon monoxide. The lowest propionate reduction and highest formate formation was observed with methylviologen. The carbon-carbon double bond of E-2-methyl-butenoate was only hydrogenated when a viologen was present. Formate as electron donor led only in the presence of viologens to the formation of propanol from propionate. The reduction of propionate at the expense of a reduced viologen can be followed in cuvettes. With respect to propionate Michaelis Menten behavior was observed. Experiments are described which lead to the assumption that the carboxylates are reduced in a non-activated form. That would be new type of biological reduction.Non-standard abbreviations glc Gas liquid chromatography - HPLC high performance liquid chromatography - RP reverse phase; Mediators (the figures in parenthesis of the mediators are redox potentials E ₀ in mV) - CAV²⁺ carbamoylmethylviologen, 1,1-carbamoyl-4,4-dipyridinium dication (E ₀=-296 mV) - BV²⁺ benzylviologen, 1,1-dibenzyl-4,4-dipyridinium dication (E ₀=-360 mV) - MV methylviologen, 1,1-dimethyl-4,4-dipyridinium-dication (E ₀=-444 mV) - DMDQ²⁺ dimethyldiquat, 4,4-dimethyl-2,2-dipyridino-1,1-ethylendication (E ₀=-514 mV) - TMV²⁺ tetramethylviologen, 1,1,4,4-tetramethyl-4,4-dipyridinium dication (E ₀=-550 mV) - PDQ²⁺ propyldiquat, 2,2-dipyridino-1,1-propenyl dication (E ₀=-550 mV) - DMPDQ²⁺ dimethylpropyldiquat, 4,4-dimethyl-2,2-dipyridino-1,1-propenyl dication (E ₀=-656 mV) - PN productivity number=mmol product (obtained by the uptake of one pair of electrons) x (biocatalyst (dry weight) kg)^-1×h^-1     

Purification and characterization of an inducible dissimilatory type sulfite reductase from Clostridium pasteurianum

An inducible sulfite reductase was purified from Clostridium pasteurianum. The pH optimum of the enzyme is 7.5 in phosphate buffer. The molecular weight of the reductase was determined to be 83,600 from sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis with a proposed molecular structure: ₂₂. Its absorption spectrum showed a maximum at 275 nm, a broad shoulder at 370 nm and a very small absorption maximum at 585 nm. No siroheme chromophore was isolated from this reductase. The enzyme could reduced the following substrates in preferential order: NH₂OH> SeO ₃ ^2- >NO ₂ ^2- at rates 50% or less of its preferred substrate SO ₃ ^2- . The proposed dissimilatory intermediates, S₃O ₆ ^2- or S₂O ₃ ^2- , were not utilized by this reductase while KCN inhibited its activity. Varying the substrate concentration [SO ₃ ^2- ] from 1 to 2.5 mol affected the stoichiometry of the enzyme reaction by alteration of the ratio of H₂ uptake to S^2- formed from 2.5:1 to 3.1:1. The inducible sulfite reductase was found to be linked to ferredoxin which could be completely replaced by methyl viologen or partially by benzyl viologen. Some of the above-mentioned enzyme properties and physiological considerations indicated that it was a dissimilatory type sulfite reductase.Abbreviations SDS sodium dodecyl sulfate - BSA bovine serum albumin - LDH Lactate dehydrogenase     

A sodium-stimulated membrane-bound fumarate reductase system in Bacteroides amylophilus

Membrane vesicles derived from whole cells of the strictly anaerobic rumen bacterium Bacteroides amylophilus exhibited fumarate reductase activity with NADH, FADH₂, FMNH₂, or reduced viologens as electron donors. The fumarate reductase system is most likely localized on the cytoplasmic side of the plasma membrane. Cytochromes and menaquinone were not detectable.The NADH-dependent activity was inactivated by oxygen, an endogenous protease, and by irradiation at 254 nm. The electron transport inhibitor HpHOQnO and Zn²⁺ were identified as strong inhibitors of the fumarate reductase reaction. Two types of functional SH-groups might be operative in this system as probed by ClHgSO₃H. The oxidation of NADH by fumarate was stimulated by low concentrations of Na⁺.Concentrations of Na⁺ in the range of 4 to 30 mM had a pronounced influence on growth rate and cell yield of B. amylophilus. In the presence of 1 mM NaCl growth was observed only after a lag-period of 15 h.Abbreviations ClHgSO₃H 4-chloromercuriphenylsulfonate - DTE dithioerythritol - Hepes N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N-2-ethanesulfonic acid - HpHOQnO 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide - NoHOQnO 2-n-nonyl-4-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide - PMSF phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride - Tris tris(hydroxymethyl)-aminomethaneDedicated to Prof. N. Pfennig on the occasion of his 60th birthdayPresent address: Heinz-Georg Wetzstein, Bayer AG, EP-AQ-QL, E39, D-5090 Leverkusen, FRG     

Purification and characterization of the NADH-dependent (S)-specific 3-oxobutyryl-CoA reductase from Clostridium tyrobutyricum

An NADH-dependent (S)-specific 3-oxobutyryl-CoA reductase from Clostridium tyrobutyricum was purified 15-fold with a yield of 46%. It was homogeneous by gel electrophoresis after three chromatographic steps. The apparent molecular mass was estimated by column chromatography to be 240 kDa. SDS-gel electrophoresis revealed the presence of 33 kDa subunits. Substrates of the enzyme were ethyl and methyl 3-oxobutyrate, 3-oxobutyryl-N-acetylcysteamine thioester, and 3-oxobutyryl coenzyme A. The specific activities were 340 and 10 U (mg protein)^-1 for the reduction of 3-oxobutyryl coenzyme A and ethyl 3-oxobutyrate, respectively; the Michaelis constants were 300 M and 300 mM, respectively. The identity of 12 N-terminal amino acid residues was determined. The ezmyme was used in a preparative reduction of substrate, yielding ethyl (S)-3-hydroxybutyrate (>99% enantiomeric excess).     

Fumarate reductase is a soluble enzyme in anaerobically grown Shewanella putrefaciens MR-1

Abstract The expression and distribution of fumarate reductase activity was examined in Shewanella putrefaciens MR-1. Fumarate reductase was expressed at very low levels in aerobically grown cell and was markedly induced by growth under anaerobic conditions. Cells were fractionated into soluble and purified membrane components by four different methods. For all four methods used, and in marked contrast to the membrane-bound fumarate reductases of other bacteria, ≧ 98% of the fumarate reductase activity was localized in the soluble fraction. In cells subjected to osmotic shock or treated with lysozyme and EDTA to form spheroplasts, the specific activity of fumarate reductase was highest in the periplasmic fraction, while the majority of total fumarate reductase activity was in the cytoplasmic fraction.     

Wolinella succinogenes quinol:fumarate reductase and its comparison to E. coli succinate:quinone reductase

The three-dimensional structure of Wolinella succinogenes quinol:fumarate reductase (QFR), a dihaem-containing member of the superfamily of succinate:quinone oxidoreductases (SQOR), has been determined at 2.2 A resolution by X-ray crystallography [Lancaster et al., Nature 402 (1999) 377-385]. The structure and mechanism of W. succinogenes QFR and their relevance to the SQOR superfamily have recently been reviewed [Lancaster, Adv. Protein Chem. 63 (2003) 131-149]. Here, a comparison is presented of W. succinogenes QFR to the recently determined structure of the mono-haem containing succinate:quinone reductase from Escherichia coli [Yankovskaya et al., Science 299 (2003) 700-704]. In spite of differences in polypeptide and haem composition, the overall topology of the membrane anchors and their relative orientation to the conserved hydrophilic subunits is strikingly similar. A major difference is the lack of any evidence for a 'proximal' quinone site, close to the hydrophilic subunits, in W. succinogenes QFR.     

The activities of hydrogenase and enoate reductase in two Clostridium species,their interrelationship and dependence on growth conditions

The enzyme activities of Clostridium La 1 and Clostridium kluyveri involved in the stereospecific hydrogenation of ,-unsaturated carbonyl compounds with hydrogen gas were measured. In C. La 1 the specific activities of hydrogenase and enoate reductase depended heavily on the growth phase and the composition of the medium. During growth in batch cultures on 70 mM crotonate the specific activity of hydrogenase increased and then dropped to about 10% of its maximum value, whereas the activity of enoate reductase reached its maximum in cells of the stationary phase. Under certain conditions during growth the activity ratio hydrogenase: enoate reductase changed from 120 to 1. Thus, the rate limiting enzyme for the hydrogenation can be either the hydrogenase or the enoate reductase, depending on the growth conditions of the cells.The specific activities of ferredoxin-NAD reductase and butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase increased 3-4-fold during growth on crotonate. By turbidostatic experiments it was shown that at constant input of high crotonate concentrations (200 mM) the enoate reductase activity was almost completely suppressed; it increased steadily with decreasing crotonate down to an input concentration of 35 mM.Glucose as carbon source led to high hydrogenase and negligible enoate reductase activities. The latter could be induced by changing the carbon source of the medium from glucose to crotonate. Tetracycline inhibited the formation of enoate reductase.A series of other carbon sources was tested. They can be divided into ones which result in high hydrogenase and rather low enoate reductase activities and others which cause the reverse effect.When the Fe²⁺ concentration in crotonate medium was growth limiting, cells with relatively high hydrogenase activity and very low enoate reductase activity in the stationary phase were obtained. At Fe²⁺ concentrations above 3·10^-7 M enoate reductase increased and hydrogenase activity reached its minimum. The ratio of activities changes by a factor of about 200. In a similar way the dependence of enzyme activities on the concentration of sulfate was studied.In batch cultures of Clostridium kluyveri a similar opposite time course of enoate reductase and hydrogenase was found.The possible physiological significance of this behavior is discussed.Non Standard Abbreviations O.D.₅₇₈ Optical density at 578 nm Dedicated to Professor Dr. O. Kandler on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Accumulation and incorporation of 185W-tungsten into proteins of Clostridium acidiurici and Clostridium cylindrosporum

Uptake of tungstate by growing cells was unaffected by the presence of molybdate in Clostridium cylindrosporum, whereas in C. acidiurici the accumulation was decreased by molybdate at 10^-6 mol/l tungstate and higher concentrations. The labelling pattern of soluble proteins by ¹⁸⁵W-tungsten indicated after gel chromatography the presence of three different tungstoproteins in both bacteria. Formate dehydrogenase activity always eluted at a maximum of tungsten labelling. The incorporation of tungsten into formate dehydrogenase containing fractions and a possible tungsten-binding-storage protein was independent of the presence of excess molydate pointing to a genuine role for tungstate in these bacteria.     

Glycine fermentation by Clostridium histolyticum

Clostridium histolyticum grew on glycine, arginine, or threonine as sole substrate. Arginine degradation preceded that of glycine and partially inhibited that of threonine when two amino acids were present. Each amino acid seemed to be individually catabolized, not by a Stickland type of reaction. Glycine fermentation required the presence of complex ingredients. Therefore, an effect of selenite on glycine catabolism could only be demonstrated after scavenging selenium contamination by preculturing Peptostreptococcus glycinophilus in that medium. C. acidiurici was not suited as selenium accumulating organism as C. histolyticum was inhibited by the residual uric acid. Arginine catabolism was unaffected by seleniuum depriviation. The labelling pattern obtained in acetate after incubation of C. histolyticum with [1-¹⁴C]- or [2-¹⁴C]glycine strongly indicated the metabolism of glycine via the glycine reductase pathway.     

The Quinol:Fumarate Oxidoreductase from the Sulphate Reducing Bacterium Desulfovibrio gigas: Spectroscopic and Redox Studies

The membrane bound fumarate reductase (FRD) from the sulphate-reducer Desulfovibrio gigas was purified from cells grown on a fumarate/sulphate medium and extensively characterized. The FRD is isolated with three subunits of apparent molecular masses of 71, 31, and 22 kDa. The enzyme is capable of both fumarate reduction and succinate oxidation, exhibiting a higher specificity toward fumarate (K _m for fumarate is 0.02 and for succinate 2 mM) and a reduction rate 30 times faster than that for oxidation. Studies by Visible and EPR spectroscopies allowed the identification of two B-type haems and the three iron–sulphur clusters usually found in FRDs and succinate dehydrogenases: [2Fe-2S]^2+/1+ (S1), [4Fe-4S]^2+/1+ (S2), and [3Fe-4S]^1+/0 (S3). The apparent macroscopic reduction potentials for the metal centers, at pH 7.6, were determined by redox titrations: –45 and –175 mV for the two haems, and +20 and –140 mV for the S3 and S1 clusters, respectively. The reduction potentials of the haem groups are pH dependent, supporting the proposal that fumarate reduction is associated with formation of the membrane proton gradient. Furthermore, co-reconstitution in liposomes of D. gigas FRD, duroquinone, and D. gigas cytochrome bd shows that this system is capable of coupling succinate oxidation with oxygen reduction to water.     

Purification and characterization of an extracellular lipase from Clostridium tetanomorphum

Summary The strictly anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetanomorphum formed an extracellular lipase when the growth medium contained glycerol in addition to fermentable substrates such as l-glutamate or glucose. The lipase was purified from the concentrated culture supernatant and exhibited a final specific activity of 900 U/mg. The purified lipase had a Stokes’ radius of 5.0 nm and a sedimentation coefficient of 5.7S. The native molecular mass calculated from these values was 118,000 Da, which is considerably higher than the molecular mass calculated by PAGE (70,000 Da). With p-nitrophenyl esters of different fatty acids as substrates enzyme activity was highest when the acyl chain was short (C₂). The purified lipase showed no protease or thioesterase activity.     

Kluyveromyces marxianus: a potential source of diacetyl reductase

Kluyveromyces marxianus had a higher specific activity of diacetyl reductase (EC 1.1.1.5) than all other organisms previously reported. The enzyme was NADH-dependent and irreversibly catalysed the conversion of diacetyl to acetoin with an optimum pH of 7.0. It was stable at 40°C but lost 50% of its activity at 50°C in 30 min. The K _m and V _max values for diacetyl were 1.8 mm and 0.053 mm/min, respectively.The authors are with the Department of Food Science and Technology, Comell University, Geneva, New York 14456, USA     

Utilization of (E)-2-butenoate (Crotonate) by Clostridium kluyveri and some other Clostridium species

Clostridium La 1 obtained from a Clostridium kluyveri culture was compared with a typical C. kluyvery strain (DSM 555). The former grows on crotonate and is unable to use ethanol-acetate as carbon sources. The latter grows on crotonate only after long adaptation periods. Resting cells of both strains show also pronounced differences in the fermentation of crotonate. This holds even for C. kluyveri grown on crotonate. Besides several other differences the most striking is that there is no hybridization between the DNA of both strains.Crotonate seems not to be a very special carbon source since C. butyricum and C. pasteurianum grow on crotonate medium supplemented by peptone and yeast extract.Non Standard Abbreviations EA-medium ethanol and acetate as carbon source - C-medium crotonate as carbon source - DSM Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen     

Two closely linked genes encoding thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase in Clostridium litorale

The genes encoding thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase of Clostridium litorale were cloned and sequenced. The thioredoxin reductase gene (trxB) encoded a protein of 33.9 kDa, and the deduced amino acid sequence showed 44% identity to the corresponding protein from Escherichia coli. The gene encoding thioredoxin (trxA) was located immediately downstream of trxB. TrxA and TrxB were each encoded by two gene copies, both copies presumably located on the chromosome. Like other thioredoxins from anaerobic, amino-acid-degrading bacteria investigated to date by N-terminal amino acid sequencing, thioredoxin from C. litorale exhibited characteristic deviations from the consensus sequence, e.g., GCVPC instead of WCGPC at the redox-active center. Using heterologous enzyme assays, neither thioredoxin nor thioredoxin reductase were interchangeable with the corresponding proteins of the thioredoxin system from E. coli. To elucidate the molecular basis of that incompatibility, Gly-31 in C. litorale thioredoxin was substituted with Trp (the W in the consensus sequence) by site-directed mutagenesis. The mutant protein was expressed in E. coli and was purified to homogeneity. Enzyme assays using the G31W thioredoxin revealed that Gly-31 was not responsible for the observed incompatibility with the E. coli thioredoxin reductase, but it was essential for activity of the thioredoxin system in C. litorale. Received: 19 September 1996 / Accepted: 21 May 1997     

Changes in the cell wall of Clostridium species following passage in animals

Morphological changes in clostridial isolates after animal passage with other flora in mixed infections were studied by utilizing a subcutaneous abscess model in mice. We used 26 isolates of 7 clostridial species, and one isolate each of Bacteroides fragilis and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Abscesses were induced by all 7 Clostridium perfringens and 3 Clostridium butyricum isolates and by some of the other isolates. A thick granular wall prior to animal inoculation was shown only in C. perfringens, C. butyricum, and C. difficile. This structure was observed in other clostridia only following their animal passage alone or when co-inoculated with K. pneumoniae or B. fragilis.     

Soluble fumarate reductase isoenzymes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae are required for anaerobic growth

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the cytosolic and promitochondrial isoenzymes of fumarate reductase are encoded by the FRDS and OSM1 genes, respectively. The product of the OSM1 gene is reported to be required for growth in hypertonic medium. Simultaneous disruption of the FRDS and OSM1 genes resulted in the inability of the yeasts to grow anaerobically on glucose as a carbon source, and disruption of the OSM1 gene caused poor growth under anaerobic conditions. However, the disruption of both the FRDS and/or OSM1 genes had no effect on aerobic growth or growth under hypertonic conditions. These results suggest that the fumarate reductase isoenzymes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are essential for anaerobic growth but not for growth under hypertonic conditions.