Menaquinone biosynthesis potentiates haem toxicity in Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogen that infects multiple anatomical sites leading to a diverse array of diseases. Although vertebrates can restrict the growth of invading pathogens by sequestering iron within haem, S. aureus surmounts this challenge by employing high‐affinity haem uptake systems. However, the presence of excess haem is highly toxic, necessitating tight regulation of haem levels. To overcome haem stress, S. aureus expresses the detoxification system HrtAB. In this work, a transposon screen was performed in the background of a haem‐susceptible, HrtAB‐deficient S. aureus strain to identify the substrate transported by this putative pump and the source of haem toxicity. While a recent report indicates that HrtAB exports haem itself, the haem‐resistant mutants uncovered by the transposon selection enabled us to elucidate the cellular factors contributing to haem toxicity. All mutants identified in this screen inactivated the menaquinone (MK) biosynthesis pathway. Deletion of the final steps of this pathway revealed that quinone molecules localizing to the cell membrane potentiate haem‐associated superoxide production and subsequent oxidative damage. These data suggest a model in which membrane‐associated haem and quinone molecules form a redox cycle that continuously generates semiquinones and reduced haem, both of which react with atmospheric oxygen to produce superoxide.     

Molecular characterization of staphyloferrin B biosynthesis in Staphylococcus aureus

Siderophores are iron-scavenging molecules produced by many microbes. In general, they are synthesized using either non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) or NRPS-independent siderophore (NIS) pathways. Staphylococcus aureus produces siderophores, of which the structures of staphyloferrin A and staphyloferrin B are known. Recently, the NIS biosynthetic pathway for staphyloferrin A was characterized. Here we show that, in S. aureus , the previously identified sbn ( s iderophore b iosy n thesis) locus encodes enzymes required for the synthesis of staphyloferrin B, an α-hydroxycarboxylate siderophore comprised of l -2,3-diaminopropionic acid, citric acid, 1,2-diaminoethane and α-ketoglutaric acid. Staphyloferrin B NIS biosynthesis was recapitulated in vitro , using purified recombinant Sbn enzymes and the component substrates. In vitro synthesized staphyloferrin B readily promoted the growth of iron-starved S. aureus , via the ABC transporter SirABC. The SbnCEF synthetases and a decarboxylase, SbnH, were necessary and sufficient to produce staphyloferrin B in reactions containing component substrates l -2,3-diaminopropionic acid, citric acid and α-ketoglutaric acid. Since 1,2-diaminoethane was not required, this component of the siderophore arises from the SbnH-dependent decarboxylation of a 2,3-diaminoproprionic acid-containing intermediate. Liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) analyses of a series of enzyme reactions identified mass ions corresponding to biosynthetic intermediates, allowing for the first proposed biosynthetic pathway for staphyloferrin B.     

Structure and biosynthesis of staphyloxanthin from Staphylococcus aureus

Most Staphylococcus aureus strains produce the orange carotenoid staphyloxanthin. The staphyloxanthin biosynthesis genes are organized in an operon, crtOPQMN, with a sigma(B)-dependent promoter upstream of crtO and a termination region downstream of crtN. The functions of the five encoded enzymes were predicted on the basis of their sequence similarity to known enzymes and by product analysis of gene deletion mutants. The first step in staphyloxanthin biosynthesis is the head-to-head condensation of two molecules of farnesyl diphosphate to form dehydrosqualene (4,4'-diapophytoene), catalyzed by the dehydrosqualene synthase CrtM. The dehydrosqualene desaturase CrtN dehydrogenates dehydrosqualene to form the yellow, main intermediate 4,4'-diaponeurosporene. CrtP, very likely a mixed function oxidase, oxidizes the terminal methyl group of 4,4'-diaponeurosporene to form 4,4'-diaponeurosporenic acid. CrtQ, a glycosyltransferase, esterifies glucose at the C(1)' position with the carboxyl group of 4,4'-diaponeurosporenic acid to yield glycosyl 4,4'-diaponeurosporenoate; this compound was the major product in the clone expressing crtPQMN. In the final step, the acyltransferase CrtO esterifies glucose at the C(6)' position with the carboxyl group of 12-methyltetradecanoic acid to yield staphyloxanthin. Staphyloxanthin overexpressed in Staphylococcus carnosus (pTX-crtOPQMN) and purified was analyzed by high pressure liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy and NMR spectroscopy. Staphyloxanthin was identified as beta-D-glucopyranosyl 1-O-(4,4'-diaponeurosporen-4-oate)-6-O-(12-methyltetradecanoate).     

Late-stage polyribitol phosphate wall teichoic acid biosynthesis in Staphylococcus aureus

Wall teichoic acids are cell wall polymers that maintain the integrity of the cellular envelope and contribute to the virulence of Staphylococcus aureus. Despite the central role of wall teichoic acid in S. aureus virulence, details concerning the biosynthetic pathway of the predominant wall teichoic acid polymer are lacking, and workers have relied on a presumed similarity to the putative polyribitol phosphate wall teichoic acid pathway in Bacillus subtilis. Using high-resolution polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for analysis of wall teichoic acid extracted from gene deletion mutants, a revised assembly pathway for the late-stage ribitol phosphate-utilizing enzymes is proposed. Complementation studies show that a putative ribitol phosphate polymerase, TarL, catalyzes both the addition of the priming ribitol phosphate onto the linkage unit and the subsequent polymerization of the polyribitol chain. It is known that the putative ribitol primase, TarK, is also a bifunctional enzyme that catalyzes both ribitol phosphate priming and polymerization. TarK directs the synthesis of a second, electrophoretically distinct polyribitol-containing teichoic acid that we designate K-WTA. The biosynthesis of K-WTA in S. aureus strain NCTC8325 is repressed by the accessory gene regulator (agr) system. The demonstration of regulated wall teichoic acid biosynthesis has implications for cell envelope remodeling in relation to S. aureus adhesion and pathogenesis.     

Biochemical and genetic analysis of isoleucine and valine biosynthesis in Staphylococcus aureus

After a prototrophic strain of Staphylococcus aureus had been exposed to diethyl sulfate, 28 isoleucine- and isoleucine-valine-dependent mutants (ilv mutants) were isolated. On the basis of auxanography, their ability to accumulate intermediates of isoleucine and valine biosynthesis, and intergeneric syntrophism with ilv mutants of Salmonella typhimurium, all mutants were placed into four groups, each of which corresponded to a presumed enzymatic deficiency, as follows: group A, deficient in l-threonine deaminase; group B, deficient in the condensing enzyme; group C, deficient in reductoisomerase; group D, deficient in alpha-beta-dihydroxy acid dehydrase. No mutants blocked in the terminal (transaminase) reactions were isolated. Transduction analyses (best-fit, ratio, and complementation tests) with the use of phage 83 established that the linear arrangement of the structural genes is identical with the order of participation of their enzymes in isoleucine and valine biosynthesis, and that these genes comprise a single linkage group which can exist on a single donor fragment during transduction.     

Purine and pyrimidine biosynthesis in methanogenic bacteria

Following long-term labeling with [1-¹³C]acetate, [2-¹³C]acetate, ¹³CO₂, H¹³COOH, or ¹³CH₃OH, NMR spectroscopy was used to determine the labeling patterns of the purified ribonucleosides of Methanospirillum hungatei, Methanococcus voltae, Methanobrevibacter smithii, Methanosphaera stadtmanae, Methanosarcina barkeri and Methanobacterium bryantii. Major differences were observed among the methanogens studied, specifically at carbon positions 2 and 8 of the purines, positions at which one-carbon carriers are involved during synthesis. In Methanospirillum hungatei and Methanosarcina barkeri, the labcl at both positions came from carbon atom C-2 of acetate, as predicted from known eubacterial pathways, whereas in Methanococcus voltae and Methanobacterium bryantii both originated from CO₂. In Methanosphaera stadtmanae grown in the presence of formate, the C-2 of purines originated exclusively from formate and the C-8 was labeled by the C-2 of acetate. When grown in media devoid of formate, the C-2 of the purine ring originated mainly from the C-2 of acetate and in part from CH₃OH. In Methanobrevibacter smithii grown in the presence of formate, C-2 and C-8 of purines were derived from CO₂ and/or formate. The labeling patterns obtained for pyrimidines are consistent with the biosynthetic pathways common to eubacteria and eucaryotes.Abbreviations CODH Carbon monoxide dehydrogenase - FH₄ tetrahydrofolate - H₄MPT tetrahydromethanopterin Issued as NRCC Publication No. 37383     

Purine and pyrimidine biosynthesis in higher plants

Purine and pyrimidine nucleotides have important functions in a multitude of biochemical and developmental processes during the life cycle of a plant. In higher plants the processes of nucleotide metabolism are poorly understood, but it is in principle accepted that nucleotides are essential constituents of fundamental biological functions. Despite of its significance, higher plant nucleotide metabolism has been poorly explored during the last 10–20 years (Suzuki and Takahashi 1977, Schubert 1986, Wagner and Backer 1992). But considerable progress was made on purine biosynthesis in nodules of ureide producing tropical legumes, where IMP-synthesis plays a dominant role in primary nitrogen metabolism (Atkins and Smith 2000, Smith and Atkins 2002). Besides these studies on tropical legumes, this review emphasises on progress made in analysing the function in planta of genes involved in purine and pyrimidine biosynthesis and their impact on metabolism and development.     

A defect in menadione biosynthesis induces global changes in gene expression in Staphylococcus aureus

Both the high-resolution two-dimensional protein gel electrophoresis technique and full-genome DNA microarrays were used for identification of Staphylococcus aureus genes whose expression was changed by a mutation in menD. Because the electron transport chain is interrupted, the mutant should be unable to use oxygen and nitrate as terminal electron acceptors. Consistent with this, a mutation in menD was found to cause a gene expression pattern typically detected under anaerobic conditions in wild-type cells: proteins involved in glycolytic as well as in fermentation pathways were upregulated, whereas tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle enzymes were significantly downregulated. Moreover, the expression of genes encoding enzymes for nitrate respiration and the arginine deiminase pathway was strongly increased in the mutant strain. These results indicate that the menD mutant, just as the site-directed S. aureus hemB mutant, generates ATP from glucose or fructose mainly by substrate phosphorylation and might be defective in utilizing a variety of carbon sources, including TCA cycle intermediates and compounds that generate ATP only via electron transport phosphorylation. Of particular interest is that there are also differences in the gene expression patterns between hemB and menD mutants. While some anaerobically active enzymes were present in equal amounts in both strains (Ldh1, SACOL2535), other classically anaerobic enzymes seem to be present in higher amounts either in the hemB mutant (e.g., PflB, Ald1, IlvA1) or in the menD mutant (arc operon). Only genes involved in nitrate respiration and the ald1 operon seem to be additionally regulated by a depletion of oxygen in the hemB and/or menD mutant.     

Oritavancin exhibits dual mode of action to inhibit cell-wall biosynthesis in Staphylococcus aureus

Solid-state NMR measurements performed on intact whole cells of Staphylococcus aureus labeled selectively in vivo have established that des-N-methylleucyl oritavancin (which has antimicrobial activity) binds to the cell-wall peptidoglycan, even though removal of the terminal N-methylleucyl residue destroys the d-Ala-d-Ala binding pocket. By contrast, the des-N-methylleucyl form of vancomycin (which has no antimicrobial activity) does not bind to the cell wall. Solid-state NMR has also determined that oritavancin and vancomycin are comparable inhibitors of transglycosylation, but that oritavancin is a more potent inhibitor of transpeptidation. This combination of effects on cell-wall binding and biosynthesis is interpreted in terms of a recent proposal that oritavancin-like glycopeptides have two cell-wall binding sites: the well-known peptidoglycan d-Ala-d-Ala pentapeptide stem terminus and the pentaglycyl bridging segment. The resulting dual mode of action provides a structural framework for coordinated cell-wall assembly that accounts for the enhanced potency of oritavancin and oritavancin-like analogues against vancomycin-resistant organisms.     

Thioridazine affects transcription of genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

The antipsychotic drug thioridazine is a candidate drug for an alternative treatment of infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in combination with the β-lactam antibiotic oxacillin. The drug has been shown to have the capability to resensitize MRSA to oxacillin. We have previously shown that the expression of some resistance genes is abolished after treatment with thioridazine and oxacillin. To further understand the mechanism underlying the reversal of resistance, we tested the expression of genes involved in antibiotic resistance and cell wall biosynthesis in response to thioridazine in combination with oxacillin. We observed that the oxacillin-induced expression of genes belonging to the VraSR regulon is reduced by the addition of thioridazine. The exclusion of such key factors involved in cell wall biosynthesis will most likely lead to a weakened cell wall and affect the ability of the bacteria to sustain oxacillin treatment. Furthermore, we found that thioridazine itself reduces the expression level of selected virulence genes and that selected toxin genes are not induced by thioridazine. In the present study, we find indications that the mechanism underlying reversal of resistance by thioridazine relies on decreased expression of specific genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis.     

Random mutagenesis and topology analysis of the autoinducing peptide biosynthesis proteins in Staphylococcus aureus

The Staphylococcus aureus accessory gene regulator (agr) is a peptide signalling system that regulates the production of secreted virulence factors required to cause infections. The signal controlling agr function is a 7‐9 residue thiolactone‐containing peptide called an autoinducing peptide (AIP) that is biosynthesized from the AgrD precursor by the membrane peptidase AgrB. To gain insight into AgrB and AgrD function, the agrBD genes were mutagenized and screened for deficiencies in AIP production. In total, single‐site mutations at 14 different residues in AgrD were identified and another 20 within AgrB. In AgrD, novel mutations were characterized in the N‐terminal leader and throughout the central region encoding the AIP signal. In AgrB, most mutations blocked peptidase activity, but mutations in the K129–K131 residues were defective in a later step in AIP biosynthesis, separating the peptidase function from thiolactone ring formation and AIP transport. With the identification of residues in AgrB essential for AgrD processing, we reevaluated the membrane topology and the new model predicts four transmembrane helices and a potential re‐entrant loop on the cytoplasmic face. Finally, co‐immunoprecipitation studies indicate that AgrB forms oligomeric structures within the membrane. These studies provide further insight into the unique structural and functional properties of AgrB.