A leptomycin B resistance gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe encodes a protein similar to the mammalian P-glycoproteins

Screening for leptomycin B (LMB)-resistant transformants in a gene library constructed in Schizosaccharomyces pombe with the chromosomal DNA of an LMB-resistant mutant of S. pombe and with multicopy plasmid pDB248' as the vector led to the isolation of a gene, named pmd1+, encoding a 1362-amino-acid protein. This protein showed great similarity in amino acid sequence to the mammalian P-glycoprotein encoded by the multidrug resistance gene, mdr, and the Saccharomyces cerevisiae a-factor transporter encoded by STE6. In addition, computer analyses predicted that the protein encoded by pmd1+ formed an intramolecular duplicated structure and each of the halves contained six transmembrane regions as well as two ATP-binding domains, as observed with the P-glycoproteins and the STE6 product. Consistent with this was that S. pombe cells containing the pmd1+ gene on a multicopy plasmid showed resistance not only to LMB but also to several cytotoxic agents. The pmd1 null mutants derived by gene disruption were viable and hypersensitive to these agents. All these data suggest that the pmd1+ gene encodes a protein that is a structural and functional counterpart of mammalian mdr proteins.     

Cloning and nucleotide sequence of a heat-stable amylase gene from an anaerobic thermophile, Dictyoglomus thermophilum

A highly heat-stable amylase gene from an obligately anaerobic and extremely thermophilic bacterium, Dictyoglomus thermophilum, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The nucleotide sequence of the amylase gene predicts a 686-amino-acid protein of relative molecular mass 81,200, which is consistent with that determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the purified enzyme. The NH2-terminal sequence determined using the enzyme purified from E. coli cells corresponds precisely to that predicted from the nucleotide sequence, except for the absence of the NH2-terminal methionine in the mature protein. When the amylase gene was expressed in E. coli cells, the enzyme was localized in the cytoplasmic fraction; this is probably explained by the absence of the signal sequence for secretion. By using the amylase purified from the E. coli transformant, some enzymatic properties, such as optimum pH, optimum temperature, pH-stability and heat-stability, were examined. The amylase was found to be a highly liquefying-type.     

Unstable genetic determinant of A-factor biosynthesis in streptomycin-producing organisms: cloning and characterization.

We cloned a DNA fragment directing synthesis of A-factor from the total cellular DNA of streptomycin-producing Streptomyces bikiniensis on the plasmid vector pIJ385 . Introduction of the recombinant plasmid ( pAFB1 ) into A-factor-deficient S. bikiniensis and Streptomyces griseus mutants led to A-factor production in the host cells, as a result of which streptomycin production, streptomycin resistance, and spore formation of these mutants were simultaneously restored. The plasmid pAFB1 also complemented both afsA and afsB mutations of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). These results indicated that the cloned DNA fragment contained the genetic determinant of A-factor biosynthesis. The cloned fragment, when carried on a multicopy vector plasmid, induced production of a large amount of A-factor in several Streptomyces hosts. In Southern blot DNA/DNA hybridization analyses with a trimmed 5-kilobase fragment containing the intact A-factor determinant as probe, total cellular DNA from A-factor-deficient mutants gave no positive hybridization. The DNA blot experiment also showed a wide distribution of sequences homologous to the S. bikiniensis A-factor determinant among most, but not all, A-factor-producing actinomycetes with a varying extent of homology and the absence of these sequences from most A-factor nonproducers .     

A Mucor pusillus mutant defective in asparagine-linked glycosylation.

A Mucor pusillus mutant defective in asparagine-linked glycosylation was found in our stock cultures. This mutant, designated 1116, secreted aspartic proteinase (MPP) in a less-glycosylated form than that secreted by the wild-type strain. Analysis of enzyme susceptibility, lectin binding, and carbohydrate composition indicated that this mutant secreted three glycoforms of MPPs, one of which contained no carbohydrate; the other two had truncated asparagine-linked oligosaccharide chains such as Man0-1GlcNAc2. Further analysis using oligosaccharide processing inhibitors, such as castanospermine, 1-deoxynojirimycin and N-methyldeoxynojirimycin, suggested that MPPs in the mutant were glycosylated through a transfer of the truncated lipid-linked oligosaccharides, Man0-1GlcNAc2, to the MPP protein but not through an aberrant processing. In addition, genetic studies with forced primary heterokaryons indicated that the mutation in strain 1116 was recessive.     

Characterization and expression of a P-450-like mycinamicin biosynthesis gene using a novel Micromonospora-Escherichia coli shuttle cosmid vector

A 29 kb shuttle cosmid vector, pTYS507, was constructed from a cryptic Micromonospora griseorubida plasmid and the Escherichia coli cosmid pJB8. Subcloning of mycinamicin II biosysnthesis genes in pTYS507 led to the identification of a DNA region that could complement a mutant of M. griseorubida that lacked both hydroxylase and epoxidase activities. Nucleotide sequence and mutational analysis suggested that a single P-450-like protein catalyzes both reactions.