Spectroscopic evidence for a [3Fe-4S] cluster in spinach glutamate synthase.

The combination of low temperature EPR, magnetic circular dichroism, and resonance Raman spectroscopies reveals the presence of a single [3Fe-4S]+,0 center as the sole iron-sulfur prosthetic group in glutamate synthase from spinach leaves. The electronic, magnetic, and structural properties of the oxidized and reduced cluster are analogous with those of similar clusters in bacterial ferredoxins. It was not possible to convert the [3Fe-4S] cluster to a [4Fe-4S] cluster by incubating with iron under reducing conditions. Taken together with the published amino acid sequence data for plant and bacterial glutamate synthases, this suggests that the [3Fe-4S] cluster is not an isolation artifact resulting from oxidative degradation of a [4Fe-4S] cluster. The likelihood that a [3Fe-4S] cluster is an intrinsic component of all plant and bacterial glutamate synthases is discussed.     

Deletion analysis of the F plasmid oriT locus.

Functional domains of the Escherichia coli F plasmid oriT locus were identified by deletion analysis. DNA sequences required for nicking or transfer were revealed by cloning deleted segments of oriT into otherwise nonmobilizable pUC8 vectors and testing for their ability to promote transfer or to be nicked when tra operon functions were provided in trans. Removal of DNA sequences to the right of the central A + T-rich region (i.e., from the direction of traM) did not affect the susceptibility of oriT to nicking functions; however, transfer efficiency for oriT segments deleted from the right was progressively reduced over an 80- to 100-bp interval. Deletions extending toward the oriT nick site from the left did not affect the frequency of transfer if deletion endpoints lay at least 22 bp away from the nick site. Deletions or insertions in the central, A + T-rich region caused periodic variation in transfer efficiency, indicating that phase relationships between nicking and transfer domains of oriT must be preserved for full oriT function. These data show that the F oriT locus is extensive, with domains that individually contribute to transfer, nicking, and overall structure.     

DM891129菌株对沙土鼠高胆固醇血症的影响

本项研究的目的是通过动物实验来观察由健康人分离出的肠球菌DM891129菌株的降血脂作用。本实验选42只沙土鼠(gerible),雌雄各半,随机分为3组,第1组13只为正常组;第2组13只,在正常饮食中 5％胆固醇饲喂1周;第3组16只,在第2组饮食的基础上,每天以肠球菌(DM891129)菌悬液(10~9个细菌/ml)0.5ml/次,Bid灌胃一周。3组沙土鼠以眼球采血,分别检测血清胆固醇、甘油三酯和胆酸水平及粪便中肠球菌和肠杆菌水平。结果表明:第2组胆固醇水平较第1组明显升高(P<0.001)。第3组胆固醇水平较第2组明显降低(P<0.001)。相应的、第3组鼠粪便肠球菌水平明显高于第1、2组(P<0.05),而1、2组之间无显著性差异,第2、3组肠杆菌水平明显高于第1组(P<0.02、P<0.05),2、3组肠杆菌水平无显著性差异。胆酸、甘油三酯水平3组之间无显著性差异。可见DM891129菌株对沙土鼠高胆固醇饮食所致的高胆固醇血症具有明显的降低作用而对血甘油三酯、胆酸水平无显著性影响。现在对DM891129菌株体内降血胆固醇水平的机制尚不清楚,有待于进一步研究。     

Fungal metabolism and detoxification of fluoranthene.

Five metabolites produced by Cunninghamella elegans from fluoranthene (FA) in biotransformation studies were investigated for mutagenic activity towards Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and TA104. Whereas FA displayed positive, dose-related mutagenic responses in both tester strains in the presence of a rat liver homogenate fraction, 3-FA-beta-glucopyranoside, 3-(8-hydroxy-FA)-beta-glucopyranoside, FA trans-2,3-dihydrodiol, and 8-hydroxy-FA trans-2,3-dihydrodiol were negative. 9-Hydroxy-FA trans-2,3-dihydrodiol showed a weak positive response in S. typhimurium TA100. Mutagenicity assays performed with samples extracted at 24-h intervals during incubation of C. elegans with FA for 120 h showed that mutagenic activity decreased with time. Comparative studies with rat liver microsomes indicated that FA trans-2,3-dihydrodiol, the previously identified proximal mutagenic metabolite of FA, was the major metabolite. The circular dichroism spectrum of the rat liver microsomal FA trans-2,3-dihydrodiol indicated that it was optically active. In contrast, the circular dichroism spectrum of the fungal FA trans-2,3-dihydrodiol showed no optical activity. These results indicate that C. elegans has the potential to detoxify FA and that the stereochemistry of its trans-2,3-dihydrodiol metabolite reduces its mutagenic potential.     

Requirement for terminal cytochromes in generation of the aerobic signal for the arc regulatory system in Escherichia coli: study utilizing deletions and lac fusions of cyo and cyd.

Escherichia coli has two terminal oxidases for its respiratory chain: cytochrome o (low O2 affinity) and cytochrome d (high O2 affinity). Expression of the cyo operon, encoding cytochrome o, is decreased by anaerobic growth, whereas expression of the cyd operon, encoding cytochrome d, is increased by anaerobic growth. We show by the use of lac gene fusion that the expressions of cyo and cyd are under the control of the two-component arc system. In a cyo+ cyd+ background, expression of phi(cyo-lac) is higher when the organism is grown aerobically than when it is grown anaerobically. A mutation in either the sensor gene arcB or the pleiotropic regulator gene arcA almost abolishes the anaerobic repression. In the same background, expression of phi(cyd-lac) is higher under anaerobic growth conditions than under aerobic growth conditions. A mutation in arcA or arcB lowers both the aerobic and anaerobic expressions, suggesting that ArcA plays an activating role instead of the typical repressing role. Under aerobic growth conditions, double deletions of cyo and cyd lower phi(cyo-lac) expression but enhance phi(cyd-lac) expression. The double deletions also prevent elevated aerobic induction of the lct operon (encoding L-lactate dehydrogenase), another target operon of the arc system. In contrast, these deletions do not circumvent aerobic repression of the nar operon (encoding the anaerobic respiratory enzyme nitrate reductase) under the control of the pleiotropic fnr gene product. It thus appears that ArcB senses the presence of O2 by level of an electron transport component in reduced form or that of an nonautoxidizable compound linked to the process by a redox reaction, whereas Fnr senses O2 by a different mechanism.     

Structures of paralytic acylpolyamines from the spider Agelenopsis aperta

The structures are given for five paralytic acylpolyamines from the venom of the funnel web spider, Agelenopsis aperta. The acyl moieties are derived from (3-indolyl)acetic acid, (4-hydroxy-3-indolyl)acetic acid, and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid. The polyamine portions of the toxins are novel. Three toxins (AG489, AG505, and AG452) contain 1, 5, 9, 13, 18, 22-hexaazadocosane which is unique as a natural polyamine because of its length and hydroxylation at the 5-aza position. The polyamine portions of two other alpha-agatoxins (AG488 and AG504) are unusual also, containing guanidinooxy moieties.     

Spectroscopic characterization of the novel iron-sulfur cluster in Pyrococcus furiosus ferredoxin

Pyrococcus furiosus ferredoxin is the only known example of a ferredoxin containing a single [4Fe-4S] cluster that has non-cysteinyl ligation of one iron atom, as evidenced by the replacement of a ligating cysteine residue by an aspartic acid residue in the amino acid sequence. The properties of the iron-sulfur cluster in both the aerobically and anaerobically isolated ferredoxin have been characterized by EPR, magnetic circular dichroism, and resonance Raman spectroscopies. The anaerobically isolated ferrodoxin contains a [4Fe-4S]+,2+ cluster with anomalous properties in both the oxidized and reduced states which are attributed to aspartate and/or hydroxide coordination of a specific iron atom. In the reduced form, the cluster exists with a spin mixture of S = 1/2 (20%) and S = 3/2 (80%) ground states. The dominant S = 3/2 form has a unique EPR spectrum that can be rationalized by an S = 3/2 spin Hamiltonian with E/D = 0.22 and D = +3.3 +/- 0.2 cm-1. The oxidized cluster has an S = 0 ground state, and the resonance Raman spectrum is characteristic of a [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster except for the unusually high frequency for the totally symmetric breathing mode of the [4Fe-4S] core, 342 cm-1. Comparison with Raman spectra of other [4Fe-4S]2+ centers suggests that this behavior is diagnostic of anomalous coordination of a specific iron atom. The iron-sulfur cluster is shown to undergo facile and quantitative [4Fe-4S] in equilibrium [3Fe-4S] interconversion, and the oxidized and reduced forms of the [3Fe-4S] cluster have S = 1/2 and S = 2 ground states, respectively. In both redox states the [3Fe-4S]0,+ cluster exhibits spectroscopic properties analogous to those of similar clusters in other bacterial ferredoxins, suggesting non-cysteinyl coordination for the iron atom that is removed by ferricyanide oxidation. Aerobic isolation induces partial degradation of the [4Fe-4S] cluster to yield [3Fe-4S] and possibly [2Fe-2S] centers. Evidence is presented to show that only the [4Fe-4S] form of this ferredoxin exists in vivo.     

Stereoselective fungal metabolism of methylated anthracenes.

The metabolism of 9-methylanthracene (9-MA), 9-hydroxymethylanthracene (9-OHMA), and 9,10-dimethylanthracene (9,10-DMA) by the fungus Cunninghamella elegans ATCC 36112 is described. The metabolites were isolated by high-performance liquid chromatography and characterized by UV-visible, mass, and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectral techniques. The compounds 9-MA and 9,10-DMA were metabolized by two pathways, one involving initial hydroxylation of the methyl group(s) and the other involving epoxidation of the 1,2- and 3,4- aromatic double bond positions, followed by enzymatic hydration to form hydroxymethyl trans-dihydrodiols. For 9-MA metabolism, the major metabolites identified were trans-1,2-dihydro-1,2-dihydroxy and trans-3,4-dihydro-3,4-dihydroxy derivatives of 9-MA and 9-OHMA. 9-OHMA was also metabolized to trans-1,2- and 3,4-dihydrodiol derivatives. The absolute configuration and optical purity were determined for each of the trans-dihydrodiols formed by fungal metabolism and compared with previously published circular dichroism spectral data obtained from rat liver microsomal metabolism of 9-MA, 9-OHMA, and 9,10-DMA. Circular dichroism spectral analysis revealed that the major enantiomer for each dihydrodiol was predominantly in the S,S configuration, in contrast to the predominantly R,R configuration of the trans-dihydrodiol formed by mammalian enzyme systems. These results indicate that C. elegans metabolizes methylated anthracenes in a highly stereoselective manner that is different from that reported for rat liver microsomes.     

Concanavalin A Receptors Associated with Rat Brain Synaptic Junctions Are High Mannose-Type Oligosaccharides

Abstract: Glycoproteins were isolated from a rat brain synaptic junction fraction by affinity chromatography on Concanavalin A-agarose. The isolated glycoproteins were digested with pronase and radiolabeled with ¹²⁵I-Bolton Hunter reagent, and ¹²⁵I-Concanavalin A-binding glycopeptides were isolated by chromatography on Concanavalin A-agarose. Treatment of the ¹²⁵I-Concanavalin A-binding glycopeptides with either α-mannosidase or endo-β- N -acetylglucosaminidase-C₁₁ abolished their interaction with Concanavalin A. The pronase digest was reacted with endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase-C₁₁ and released oligosaccharides were reduced with NaB³H₄. Following affinity chromatography on Concanavalin A-agarose, Concanavalin A-binding [³H]oligosaccharides were chromatographed on Biogel P₄. Two major oligosaccharides corresponding to standard carbohydrates containing eight and five mannose residues were identified. Treatment of these oligosaccharides with α-mannosidase converted them to smaller saccharides having a mobility on Biogel P₄ columns equal to the standard disaccharide mannose-β-1-4- N '-acetylglucosamine. These results demonstrate that the Concanavalin A receptor activity associated with CNS synaptic junctions resides in asparaginelinked oligosaccharides of the high-mannose type.