Inactivation of the inhA-encoded fatty acid synthase II (FASII) enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase induces accumulation of the FASI end products and cell lysis of Mycobacterium smegmatis

The mechanism of action of isoniazid (INH), a first-line antituberculosis drug, is complex, as mutations in at least five different genes (katG, inhA, ahpC, kasA, and ndh) have been found to correlate with isoniazid resistance. Despite this complexity, a preponderance of evidence implicates inhA, which codes for an enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase of the fatty acid synthase II (FASII), as the primary target of INH. However, INH treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes the accumulation of hexacosanoic acid (C(26:0)), a result unexpected for the blocking of an enoyl-reductase. To test whether inactivation of InhA is identical to INH treatment of mycobacteria, we isolated a temperature-sensitive mutation in the inhA gene of Mycobacterium smegmatis that rendered InhA inactive at 42 degrees C. Thermal inactivation of InhA in M. smegmatis resulted in the inhibition of mycolic acid biosynthesis, a decrease in hexadecanoic acid (C(16:0)) and a concomitant increase of tetracosanoic acid (C(24:0)) in a manner equivalent to that seen in INH-treated cells. Similarly, INH treatment of Mycobacterium bovis BCG caused an inhibition of mycolic acid biosynthesis, a decrease in C(16:0), and a concomitant accumulation of C(26:0). Moreover, the InhA-inactivated cells, like INH-treated cells, underwent a drastic morphological change, leading to cell lysis. These data show that InhA inactivation, alone, is sufficient to induce the accumulation of saturated fatty acids, cell wall alterations, and cell lysis and are consistent with InhA being a primary target of INH.     

Inhibition of InhA activity,but not KasA activity,induces formation of a KasA-containing complex in mycobacteria

Isoniazid (INH) remains one of the key drugs used to control tuberculosis, with the enoyl-AcpM reductase InhA being the primary target. However, based on the observation that INH-treated Mycobacterium tuberculosis overproduces KasA, an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of mycolic acids, and induces the formation of a covalent complex consisting of AcpM, KasA, and INH, it has been proposed that KasA represents the primary target of INH. However, the relevance of this complex to INH action remains obscure. This study was aimed at clarifying the role of InhA and KasA in relation to INH activity. By using anti-KasA antibodies we detected the KasA-containing complex in INH-treated Mycobacterium smegmatis. In addition, INH-treated cells also produced constant levels of KasA that were not sequestered in the complex and presumably were sufficient to ensure mycolic acid biosynthesis. Interestingly, a furA-lacking strain induced the complex at lower concentrations of INH compared with the control strain, whereas higher INH concentrations were necessary to induce the complex in a strain that lacks katG, suggesting that INH needs to be activated by KatG to induce the KasA-containing complex. The InhA inhibitors ethionamide and diazaborine also induced the complex; thus, its formation was not specifically relevant to INH action but was because of InhA inhibition. In addition, in vitro assays using purified InhA and KasA demonstrated that KatG-activated INH, triclosan, and diazaborine inhibited InhA but not KasA activity. Moreover, several thermosensitive InhA mutant strains of M. smegmatis constitutively expressed the KasA-containing complex. This study provides the biochemical and genetic evidence. 1) Only inhibition of InhA, but not KasA, induces the KasA-containing complex. 2) INH is not part of the complex. 3) INH does not target KasA, consistent with InhA being the primary target of INH.     

Isoniazid affects multiple components of the type II fatty acid synthase system of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Genetic and biochemical evidence has implicated two different target enzymes for isoniazid (INH) within the unique type II fatty acid synthase (FAS) system involved in the production of mycolic acids. These two components are an enoyl acyl carrier protein (ACP) reductase, InhA, and a beta-ketoacyl-ACP synthase, KasA. We compared the consequences of INH treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) with two inhibitors having well-defined targets: triclosan (TRC), which inhibits InhA; and thiolactomycin (TLM), which inhibits KasA. INH and TLM, but not TRC, upregulate the expression of an operon containing five FAS II components, including kasA and acpM. Although all three compounds inhibit mycolic acid synthesis, treatment with INH and TLM, but not with TRC, results in the accumulation of ACP-bound lipid precursors to mycolic acids that were 26 carbons long and fully saturated. TLM-resistant mutants of MTB were more cross-resistant to INH than TRC-resistant mutants. Overexpression of KasA conferred more resistance to TLM and INH than to TRC. Overexpression of InhA conferred more resistance to TRC than to INH and TLM. Co-overexpression of both InhA and KasA resulted in strongly enhanced levels of INH resistance, in addition to cross-resistance to both TLM and TRC. These results suggest that these components of the FAS II complex are not independently regulated and that alterations in the expression level of InhA affect expression levels of KasA. Nonetheless, INH appeared to resemble TLM more closely in overall mode of action, and KasA levels appeared to be tightly correlated with INH sensitivity.     

Overexpression of inhA,but not kasA,confers resistance to isoniazid and ethionamide in Mycobacterium smegmatis,M. bovis BCG and M. tuberculosis

The inhA and kasA genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have each been proposed to encode the primary target of the antibiotic isoniazid (INH). Previous studies investigating whether overexpressed inhA or kasA could confer resistance to INH yielded disparate results. In this work, multicopy plasmids expressing either inhA or kasA genes were transformed into M. smegmatis, M. bovis BCG and three different M. tuberculosis strains. The resulting transformants, as well as previously published M. tuberculosis strains with multicopy inhA or kasAB plasmids, were tested for their resistance to INH, ethionamide (ETH) or thiolactomycin (TLM). Mycobacteria containing inhA plasmids uniformly exhibited 20-fold or greater increased resistance to INH and 10-fold or greater increased resistance to ETH. In contrast, the kasA plasmid conferred no increased resistance to INH or ETH in any of the five strains, but it did confer resistance to thiolactomycin, a known KasA inhibitor. INH is known to increase the expression of kasA in INH-susceptible M. tuberculosis strains. Using molecular beacons, quantified inhA and kasA mRNA levels showed that increased inhA mRNA levels corre--lated with INH resistance, whereas kasA mRNA levels did not. In summary, analysis of strains harbouring inhA or kasA plasmids yielded the same conclusion: overexpressed inhA, but not kasA, confers INH and ETH resistance to M. smegmatis, M. bovis BCG and M. tuberculosis. Therefore, InhA is the primary target of action of INH and ETH in all three species.     

Requirement for kasB in Mycobacterium mycolic acid biosynthesis,cell wall impermeability and intracellular survival: implications for therapy

Mycobacterium tuberculosis infects one-third of the world's population and causes two million deaths annually. The unusually low permeability of its cell wall contributes to the ability of M. tuberculosis to grow within host macrophages, a property required for pathogenesis of infection. Mycobacterium marinum is an established model for discovering genes involved in mycobacterial infection. Mycobacterium marinum mutants with transposon insertions in the beta-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein synthase B gene (kasB) grew poorly in macrophages, although growth in vitro was unaffected. Detailed analyses by thin-layer chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, infrared spectroscopy, and chemical degradations showed that the kasB mutants synthesize mycolic acids that are 2-4 carbons shorter than wild type; the defect was localized to the proximal portion of the meromycolate chain. In addition, these mutants showed a significant (approximately 30%) reduction in the abundance of keto-mycolates, with a slight compensatory increase of both alpha- and methoxy-mycolates. Despite these small changes in mycolate length and composition, the kasB mutants exhibited strikingly altered cell wall permeability, leading to a marked increase in susceptibility to lipophilic antibiotics and the host antimicrobial molecules defensin and lysozyme. The abnormalities of the kasB mutants were fully complemented by expressing M. tuberculosis kasB, but not by the closely related gene kasA. These studies identify kasB as a novel target for therapeutic intervention in mycobacterial diseases.     

Function of Heterologous Mycobacterium tuberculosis InhA, a Type 2 Fatty Acid Synthase Enzyme Involved in Extending C20 Fatty Acids to C60-to-C90 Mycolic Acids, during De Novo Lipoic Acid Synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We describe the physiological function of heterologously expressed Mycobacterium tuberculosis InhA during de novo lipoic acid synthesis in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) mitochondria. InhA, representing 2-trans-enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase and the target for the front-line antituberculous drug isoniazid, is involved in the activity of dissociative type 2 fatty acid synthase (FASII) that extends associative type 1 fatty acid synthase (FASI)-derived C₂₀ fatty acids to form C₆₀-to-C₉₀ mycolic acids. Mycolic acids are major constituents of the protective layer around the pathogen that contribute to virulence and resistance to certain antimicrobials. Unlike FASI, FASII is thought to be incapable of de novo biosynthesis of fatty acids. Here, the genes for InhA (Rv1484) and four similar proteins (Rv0927c, Rv3485c, Rv3530c, and Rv3559c) were expressed in S. cerevisiae etr1Δ cells lacking mitochondrial 2-trans-enoyl-thioester reductase activity. The phenotype of the yeast mutants includes the inability to produce sufficient levels of lipoic acid, form mitochondrial cytochromes, respire, or grow on nonfermentable carbon sources. Yeast etr1Δ cells expressing mitochondrial InhA were able to respire, grow on glycerol, and produce lipoic acid. Commensurate with a role in mitochondrial de novo fatty acid biosynthesis, InhA could accept in vivo much shorter acyl-thioesters (C₄ to C₈) than was previously thought (>C₁₂). Moreover, InhA functioned in the absence of AcpM or protein-protein interactions with its native FASII partners KasA, KasB, FabD, and FabH. None of the four proteins similar to InhA complemented the yeast mutant phenotype. We discuss the implications of our findings with reference to lipoic acid synthesis in M. tuberculosis and the potential use of yeast FASII mutants for investigating the physiological function of drug-targeted pathogen enzymes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis.     

Rv3080c regulates the rate of inhibition of mycobacteria by isoniazid through FabD

The mycobacterial FASII multi-enzyme complex has been identified to be a target of Ser/Thr protein kinases (STPKs) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), with substrates, including the malonyl-CoA:ACP transacylase (FabD) and the β-ketoacyl-ACP synthases KasA and KasB. These proteins are phosphorylated by various kinases in vitro. The present study links the correlation of FASII pathway with serine threonine protein kinase of MTB. In the preliminary finding, we have shown that mycobacterial protein Rv3080c (PknK) phosphorylates FabD and the knockdown of PknK protein in mycobacteria down regulates FabD expression. This event leads to the differential inhibition of mycobacteria in the presence of isoniazid (INH), as the inhibition of growth of mycobacteria in the presence of INH is enhanced in PknK deficient mycobacteria.     

GroEL1: a dedicated chaperone involved in mycolic acid biosynthesis during biofilm formation in mycobacteria

Mycobacteria are unusual in encoding two GroEL paralogs, GroEL1 and GroEL2. GroEL2 is essential--presumably providing the housekeeping chaperone functions--while groEL1 is nonessential, contains the attB site for phage Bxb1 integration, and encodes a putative chaperone with unusual structural features. Inactivation of the Mycobacterium smegmatis groEL1 gene by phage Bxb1 integration allows normal planktonic growth but prevents the formation of mature biofilms. GroEL1 modulates synthesis of mycolates--long-chain fatty acid components of the mycobacterial cell wall--specifically during biofilm formation and physically associates with KasA, a key component of the type II Fatty Acid Synthase involved in mycolic acid synthesis. Biofilm formation is associated with elevated synthesis of short-chain (C56-C68) fatty acids, and strains with altered mycolate profiles--including an InhA mutant resistant to the antituberculosis drug isoniazid and a strain overexpressing KasA--are defective in biofilm formation.     

The biosynthesis of mycolic acids in Mycobacterium tuberculosis relies on multiple specialized elongation complexes interconnected by specific protein-protein interactions

Tuberculosis kills about two million people every year and remains one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. As a result of the increasing antibiotic resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains, there is an urgent need for new antitubercular drugs. Several efficient antibiotics, including isoniazid, specifically target the fatty acid synthase-II (FAS-II) complex of mycolic acid biosynthesis. We have previously shown that there are protein-protein interactions between the components of FAS-II that are essential for mycobacterial survival. We have now looked at the potential partners of FAS-II, mtFabD, the methyltransferases MmaAs, and Pks13. A combination of yeast two-hybrid and co-immunoprecipitation experiments showed that mtFabD interacts with each beta-ketoacyl-synthase (KasA, KasB and mtFabH) and with the core of FAS-II (InhA and MabA). The methyltransferases have a greater affinity for KasA and KasB than for mtFabH, suggesting that modifications on the meromycolic chains may occur during their elongation. Finally, Pks13, which catalyzes the final Claisen condensation of mycolic acids, interacts specifically with KasB. These data allowed us to determine the architecture of the multiple specialized FAS-II complexes, giving us insights into the organization of the complete mycolic acids biosynthesis. Our studies suggest a new and crucial interaction (KasB-Pks13) as a putative target for peptidomimetic antibiotics.     

Purification and biochemical characterization of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis beta-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein synthases KasA and KasB

Mycolic acids are vital components of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell wall, and enzymes involved in their formation represent attractive targets for the discovery of novel anti-tuberculosis agents. Biosynthesis of the fatty acyl chains of mycolic acids involves two fatty acid synthetic systems, the multifunctional polypeptide fatty acid synthase I (FASI), which performs de novo fatty acid synthesis, and the dissociated FASII system, which consists of monofunctional enzymes, and acyl carrier protein (ACP) and elongates FASI products to long chain mycolic acid precursors. In this study, we present the initial characterization of purified KasA and KasB, two beta-ketoacyl-ACP synthase (KAS) enzymes of the M. tuberculosis FASII system. KasA and KasB were expressed in E. coli and purified by affinity chromatography. Both enzymes showed activity typical of bacterial KASs, condensing an acyl-ACP with malonyl-ACP. Consistent with the proposed role of FASII in mycolic acid synthesis, analysis of various acyl-ACP substrates indicated KasA and KasB had higher specificity for long chain acyl-ACPs containing at least 16 carbons. Activity of KasA and KasB increased with use of M. tuberculosis AcpM, suggesting that structural differences between AcpM and E. coli ACP may affect their recognition by the enzymes. Both enzymes were sensitive to KAS inhibitors cerulenin and thiolactomycin. These results represent important steps in characterizing KasA and KasB as targets for antimycobacterial drug discovery.     

Protein inactivation in mycobacteria by controlled proteolysis and its application to deplete the beta subunit of RNA polymerase

Using a component of the Escherichia coli protein degradation machinery, we have established a system to regulate protein stability in mycobacteria. A protein tag derived from the E. coli SsrA degradation signal did not affect several reporter proteins in wild-type Mycobacterium smegmatis or Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Expression of the adaptor protein SspB, which recognizes this modified tag and helps deliver tagged proteins to the protease ClpXP, strongly decreased the activities and protein levels of different reporters. This inactivation did not occur when the function of ClpX was inhibited. Using this system, we constructed a conditional M. smegmatis knockdown mutant in which addition of anhydrotetracycline (atc) caused depletion of the beta subunit of RNA polymerase, RpoB. The impact of atc on this mutant was dose-dependent. Very low amounts of atc did not prevent growth but increased sensitivity to an antibiotic that inactivates RpoB. Intermediate amounts of RpoB knockdown resulted in bacteriostasis and a more substantial depletion led to a decrease in viability by up to 99%. These studies identify SspB-mediated proteolysis as an efficient approach to conditionally inactivate essential proteins in mycobacteria. They further demonstrate that depletion of RpoB by ～ 93% is sufficient to cause death of M. smegmatis.     

A novel interaction linking the FAS-II and phthiocerol dimycocerosate (PDIM) biosynthetic pathways

The fatty acid biosynthesis (FAS-II) pathway in Mycobacterium tuberculosis generates long chain fatty acids that serve as the precursors to mycolic acids, essential components of the mycobacterial cell wall. Enzymes in the FAS-II pathway are thought to form one or more noncovalent multi-enzyme complexes within the cell, and a bacterial two-hybrid screen was used to search for missing components of the pathway and to furnish additional data on interactions involving these enzymes in vivo. Using the FAS-II beta-ketoacyl synthase, KasA, as bait, an extensive bacterial two-hybrid screen of a M. tuberculosis genome fragment library unexpectedly revealed a novel interaction between KasA and PpsB as well as PpsD, two polyketide modules involved in the biosynthesis of the virulence lipid phthiocerol dimycocerosate (PDIM). Sequence analysis revealed that KasA interacts with PpsB and PpsD in the region of the acyl carrier domain of each protein, raising the possibility that lipids could be transferred between the FAS-II and PDIM biosynthetic pathways. Subsequent studies utilizing purified proteins and radiolabeled lipids revealed that fatty acids loaded onto PpsB were transferred to KasA and also incorporated into long chain fatty acids synthesized using a Mycobacterium smegmatis lysate. These data suggest that in addition to producing PDIMs, the growing phthiocerol product can also be shuttled into the FAS-II pathway via KasA as an entry point for further elongation. Interactions between these biosynthetic pathways may exist as a simple means to increase mycobacterial lipid diversity, enhancing functionality and the overall complexity of the cell wall.     

Inhibition of InhA, the enoyl reductase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, by triclosan and isoniazid

Structural and genetic studies indicate that the antibacterial compound triclosan, an additive in many personal care products, is an inhibitor of EnvM, the enoyl reductase from Escherichia coli. Here we show that triclosan specifically inhibits InhA, the enoyl reductase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and a target for the antitubercular drug isoniazid. Binding of triclosan to wild-type InhA is uncompetitive with respect to both NADH and trans-2-dodecenoyl-CoA, with K(i)' values of 0.22+/-0.02 and 0.21+/-0.01 microM, respectively. Replacement of Y158, the catalytic tyrosine residue, with Phe, reduces the affinity of triclosan for the enzyme and results in noncompetitive inhibition, with K(i) and K(i)' values of 36+/-5 and 47+/-5 microM, respectively. Consequently, the Y158 hydroxyl group is important for triclosan binding, suggesting that triclosan binds in similar ways to both InhA and EnvM. In addition, the M161V and A124V InhA mutants, which result in resistance of Mycobacterium smegmatis to triclosan, show significantly reduced affinity for triclosan. Inhibition of M161V is noncompetitive with K(i)' = 4.3+/-0.5 microM and K(i) = 4.4+/-0.9 microM, while inhibition of A124V is uncompetitive with K(i)' = 0. 81 +/- 0.11 microM. These data support the hypothesis that the mycobacterial enoyl reductases are targets for triclosan. The M161V and A124V enzymes are also much less sensitive to isoniazid compared to the wild-type enzyme, indicating that triclosan can stimulate the emergence of isoniazid-resistant enoyl reductases. In contrast, I47T and I21V, two InhA mutations that occur in isoniazid-resistant clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis, show unimpaired inhibition by triclosan, with uncompetitive inhibition constants (K(i)') of 0.18+/-0.01 and 0.12+/- 0.01 microM, respectively. The latter result indicates that InhA inhibitors targeted at the enoyl substrate binding site may be effective against existing isoniazid-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis.     

Interaction between FtsW and penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP3) directs PBP3 to mid-cell, controls cell septation and mediates the formation of a trimeric complex involving FtsZ, FtsW and PBP3 in mycobacteria

In bacteria, biogenesis of cell wall at the division site requires penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP3) (or Ftsl). Using pull-down, bacterial two-hybrid, and peptide-based interaction assays, we provide evidence that FtsW of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (FtsWMTB) interacts with PBP3 through two extracytoplasmic loops. Pro306 in the larger loop and Pro386 in the smaller loop of FtsW are crucial for these interactions. Fluorescence microscopy shows that conditional silencing of ftsW in Mycobacterium smegmatis prevents cell septation and positioning of PBP3 at mid-cell. Pull-down assays and conditional depletion of FtsW in M. smegmatis provide evidence that FtsZ, FtsW and PBP3 of mycobacteria are capable of forming a ternary complex, with FtsW acting as a bridging molecule. Bacterial three-hybrid analysis suggests that in M. tuberculosis, the interaction (unique to mycobacteria) of FtsZ with the cytosolic C-tail of FtsW strengthens the interaction of FtsW with PBP3. ftsW of M. smegmatis could be replaced by ftsW of M. tuberculosis. FtsWMTB could support formation of the FtsZ-FtsW-PBP3 ternary complex in M. smegmatis. Our findings raise the possibility that in the genus Mycobacterium binding of FtsZ to the C-tail of FtsW may modulate its interactions with PBP3, thereby potentially regulating septal peptidoglycan biogenesis.     

Conformational changes in 2-<Emphasis Type="Italic">trans</Emphasis>-enoyl-ACP (CoA) reductase (InhA) from <Emphasis Type="Italic">M. tuberculosis</Emphasis> induced by an inorganic complex: a molecular dynamics simulation study

InhA, the NADH-dependent 2-trans-enoyl-ACP reductase enzyme from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), is involved in the biosynthesis of mycolic acids, the hallmark of mycobacterial cell wall. InhA has been shown to be the primary target of isoniazid (INH), one of the oldest synthetic antitubercular drugs. INH is a prodrug which is biologically activated by the MTB catalase-peroxidase KatG enzyme. The activation reaction promotes the formation of an isonicotinyl-NAD adduct which inhibits the InhA enzyme, resulting in reduction of mycolic acid biosynthesis. As a result of rational drug design efforts to design alternative drugs capable of inhibiting MTB’s InhA, the inorganic complex pentacyano(isoniazid)ferrate(II) (PIF) was developed. PIF inhibited both wild-type and INH-resistant Ile21Val mutants of InhA and this inactivation did not require activation by KatG. Since no three-dimensional structure of the InhA-PIF complex is available to confirm the binding mode and to assess the molecular interactions with the protein active site residues, here we report the results of molecular dynamics simulations of PIF interaction with InhA. We found that PIF strongly interacts with InhA and that these interactions lead to macromolecular instabilities reflected in the long time necessary for simulation convergence. These instabilities were mainly due to perturbation of the substrate binding loop, particularly the partial denaturation of helices α6 and α7. We were also able to correlate the changes in the SASAs of Trp residues with the recent spectrofluorimetric investigation of the InhA-PIF complex and confirm their suggestion that the changes in fluorescence are due to InhA conformational changes upon PIF binding. The InhA-PIF association is very strong in the first 20.0 ns, but becomes very week at the end of the simulation, suggesting that the PIF binding mode we simulated may not reflect that of the actual InhA-PIF complex.     

Phosphorylation of Enoyl-Acyl Carrier Protein Reductase InhA Impacts Mycobacterial Growth and Survival

InhA, the primary target for the first line anti-tuberculosis drug isoniazid, is a key enzyme of the fatty-acid synthase II system involved in mycolic acid biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study, we show that InhA is a substrate for mycobacterial serine/threonine protein kinases. Using a novel approach to validate phosphorylation of a substrate by multiple kinases in a surrogate host (Escherichia coli), we have demonstrated efficient phosphorylation of InhA by PknA, PknB, and PknH, and to a lower extent by PknF. Additionally, the sites targeted by PknA/PknB have been identified and shown to be predominantly located at the C terminus of InhA. Results demonstrate in vivo phosphorylation of InhA in mycobacteria and validate Thr-266 as one of the key sites of phosphorylation. Significantly, our studies reveal that the phosphorylation of InhA by kinases modulates its biochemical activity, with phosphorylation resulting in decreased enzymatic activity. Co-expression of kinase and InhA alters the growth dynamics of Mycobacterium smegmatis, suggesting that InhA phosphorylation in vivo is an important event in regulating its activity. An InhA-T266E mutant, which mimics constitutive phosphorylation, is unable to rescue an M. smegmatis conditional inhA gene replacement mutant, emphasizing the critical role of Thr-266 in mediating post-translational regulation of InhA activity. The involvement of various serine/threonine kinases in modulating the activity of a number of enzymes of the mycolic acid synthesis pathway, including InhA, accentuates the intricacies of mycobacterial signaling networks in parallel with the changing environment.     

Comparison of the Construction of Unmarked Deletion Mutations in Mycobacterium smegmatis, Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv by Allelic Exchange

Until recently, genetic analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, was hindered by a lack of methods for gene disruptions and allelic exchange. Several groups have described different methods for disrupting genes marked with antibiotic resistance determinants in the slow-growing organisms Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and M. tuberculosis. In this study, we described the first report of using a mycobacterial suicidal plasmid bearing the counterselectable marker sacB for the allelic exchange of unmarked deletion mutations in the chromosomes of two substrains of M. bovis BCG and M. tuberculosis H37Rv. In addition, our comparison of the recombination frequencies in these two slow-growing species and that of the fast-growing organism Mycobacterium smegmatis suggests that the homologous recombination machinery of the three species is equally efficient. The mutants constructed here have deletions in the lysA gene, encoding meso-diaminopimelate decarboxylase, an enzyme catalyzing the last step in lysine biosynthesis. We observed striking differences in the lysine auxotrophic phenotypes of these three species of mycobacteria. The M. smegmatis mutant can grow on lysine-supplemented defined medium or complex rich medium, while the BCG mutants grow only on lysine-supplemented defined medium and are unable to form colonies on complex rich medium. The M. tuberculosis lysine auxotroph requires 25-fold more lysine on defined medium than do the other mutants and is dependent upon the detergent Tween 80. The mutants described in this work are potential vaccine candidates and can also be used for studies of cell wall biosynthesis and amino acid metabolism.     

Mutations in the essential FAS II β‐hydroxyacyl ACP dehydratase complex confer resistance to thiacetazone in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium kansasii

It has recently been shown that the anti‐mycobacterial pro‐drug thiacetazone (TAC) inhibits the conversion of double bonds of mycolic acid precursors into cyclopropyl rings in Mycobacterium bovis var BCG, M. marimum and M. chelonae by affecting the cyclopropyl mycolic acid synthases (CMASs) as judged by the build‐up of unsaturated mycolate precursors. In our hands, TAC inhibits mycolic acid biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. kansasii with almost negligible accumulation of those precursors. Our observations that ‘de novo’ biosynthesis of all the mycolic acid families decreased upon TAC treatment prompted us to analyse the role of each one of the Type II Fatty Acid Synthase (FASII) enzymes. Overexpression of the hadABC operon, encoding the essential FASII dehydratase complex, but not of any of the remaining FASII genes acting on the elongation of fatty acyl chains leading to the synthesis of meromycolic acids, resulted in high level of resistance to TAC in M. tuberculosis. Spontaneous M. tuberculosis and M. kansasii TAC‐resistant mutants isolated during this work revealed mutations in the hadABC genes strongly supporting our proposal that these enzymes are new players in the resistance to this anti‐mycobacterial compound.