scholarly journals The mechanism of proton translocation driven by the respiratory nitrate reductase complex of Escherichia coli

1980 ◽  
Vol 190 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Jones ◽  
Alan Lamont ◽  
Peter B. Garland

Low concentrations (1–50μm) of ubiquinol1 were rapidly oxidized by spheroplasts of Escherichia coli derepressed for synthesis of nitrate reductase using either nitrate or oxygen as electron acceptor. Oxidation of ubiquinol1 drove an outward translocation of protons with a corrected →H+/2e− stoichiometry [Scholes & Mitchell (1970) J. Bioenerg.1, 309–323] of 1.49 when nitrate was the acceptor and 2.28 when oxygen was the acceptor. Proton translocation driven by the oxidation of added ubiquinol1 was also observed in spheroplasts from a double quinone-deficient mutant strain AN384 (ubiA−menA−), whereas a haem-deficient mutant, strain A1004a, did not oxidize ubiquinol1. Proton translocation was not observed if either the protonophore carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone or the respiratory inhibitor 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide was present. When spheroplasts oxidized Diquat radical (DQ+) to the oxidized species (DQ++) with nitrate as acceptor, nitrate was reduced to nitrite according to the reaction: [Formula: see text] and nitrite was further reduced in the reaction: [Formula: see text] Nitrite reductase activity (2) was inhibited by CO, leaving nitrate reductase activity (1) unaffected. Benzyl Viologen radical (BV+) is able to cross the cytoplasmic membrane and is oxidized directly by nitrate reductase to the divalent cation, BV++. In the presence of CO, this reaction consumes two protons: [Formula: see text] The consumption of these protons could not be detected by a pH electrode in the extra-cellular bulk phase of a suspension of spheroplasts unless the cytoplasmic membrane was made permeable to protons by the addition of nigericin or tetrachlorosalicylanilide. It is concluded that the protons of eqn. (3) are consumed at the cytoplasmic aspect of the cytoplasmic membrane. Diquat radical, reduced N-methylphenazonium methosulphate and its sulphonated analogue N-methylphenazonium-3-sulphonate (PMSH) and ubiquinol1 are all oxidized by nitrate reductase via a haem-dependent, endogenous quinone-independent, 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide-sensitive pathway. Approximate→H+/2e− stoichiometries were zero with Diquat radical, an electron donor, 1.0 with reduced N-methylphenazonium methosulphate or its sulphonated analogue, both hydride donors, and 2.0 with ubiquinol1 (QH2), a hydrogen donor. It is concluded that the protons appearing in the medium are derived from the reductant and the observed→H+/2e− stoichiometries are accounted for by the following reactions occurring at the periplasmic aspect of the cytoplasmic membrane.: [Formula: see text]

1977 ◽  
Vol 164 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Jones ◽  
Peter B. Garland

The ability of the oxidized and singly reduced species of several bipyridylium cations to cross the cytoplasmic membrane of Escherichia coli was studied to locate the sites of reaction of the dyes with anaerobic respiratory enzymes. Benzyl Viologen radical crossed the membrane rapidly, whereas the oxidized species did not. The oxidized or radical species of Methyl Viologen, Morfamquat or Diquat did not rapidly cross the membrane. It was also shown that the dithionite anion does not cross the cytoplasmic membrane of E. coli. Diquat radical donates electrons to the nitrate reductase pathway at the periplasmic aspect of the membrane, whereas Benzyl Viologen radical reacted directly with nitrate reductase itself (EC 1.7.99.4) at the cytoplasmic aspect of the membrane. Thus the pathway of electron transfer in the nitrate reductase pathway is transmembranous. Formate hydrogenlyase (EC 1.2.1.2) and an uncharacterized nitrite reductase activity react with bipyridylium dyes at the periplasmic aspect of the membrane. Fumarate reductase (succinate dehydrogenase; EC 1.3.99.1) reacts with bipyridylium radicals, and formate dehydrogenase (cytochrome) (EC 1.2.2.1) with ferricyanide, at the cytoplasmic aspect of the membrane. The differing charge and membrane permeation of oxidized and radical species of bipyridylium dyes greatly complicate their use as potentiometric mediators in suspensions of cells or membrane vesicles.


1975 ◽  
Vol 152 (3) ◽  
pp. 547-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
P B Garland ◽  
J A Downie ◽  
B A Haddock

Stoicheometries and rates of proton translocation associated with respiratory reduction of NO3- have been measured for spheroplasts of Escherichia coli grown anaerobically in the presence of NO3-. Observed stoicheiometries [leads to H+/NO3- ratio; P. Mitchell (1966) Chemiosmotic Coupling in Oxidative and Photosynthetic Phosphorylation, Glynn Research, Bodmin] were approx. 4 for L-malate oxidation and approx. 2 for succinate, D-lactate and glycerol oxidation. Measurements of the leads to H+/2e- ratio with formate as the reductant and oxygen or NO3- as the oxidant were complicated by pH changes associated with formate uptake and CO2 formation. Nevertheless, it was possible to conclude that the site of formate oxidation is on the inner aspect of the cytoplasmic membrane, that the leads to H+/O ratio for formate oxidation is approx. 4, and that the leads to H+/NO3- ratio is greater than 2. Measurements of the rate of NO3- penetration into osmotically sensitive spheroplasts demonstrated an electrogenic entry of NO3- anion. The permeability coefficient for nitrate entry at 30 degrees C was between 10(-9) and 10(-10) cm- s(-1). The calculated rate of nitrate entry at the concentration typically used for the assay of nitrate reductase (EC 1.7.99.4) activity was about 0.1% of that required to support the observed rate of nitrate reduction by reduced Benzyl Viologen. Measurements of the distribution of nitrate between the intracellular and extracellular spaces of a haem-less mutant, de-repressed for nitrate reductase but unable to reduce nitrate by the respiratory chain, showed that, irrespective of the presence or the absence of added glucose, nitrate was not concentrated intracellularly. Osmotic-swelling experiments showed that the rate of diffusion of azid anion across the cytoplasmic membrane is relatively low in comparison with the fast diffusion of hydrazoic acid. The inhibitory effect of azide on nitrate reductase was not altered by treatments that modify pH gradients across the cytoplasmic membrane. It is concluded that the nitrate-reducing azide-sensitive site of nitrate reductase is located on the outer aspect of the cytoplasmic membrane. The consequences of this location for mechanisms of proton translocation driven by nitrate reduction are discussed, and lead to the proposal that the nitrate reductase of the cytoplasmic membrane is vectorial, reducing nitrate on the outer aspect of the membrane with 2H+ and 2e- that have crossed from the inner aspect of the membrane.


1980 ◽  
Vol 188 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
R W Jones

H2-dependent reduction of fumarate and nitrate by spheroplasts from Escherichia coli is coupled to the translocation of protons across the cytoplasmic membrane. The leads to H+/2e- stoicheiometry (g-ions of H+ translocated divided by mol of H2 added) is approx. 2 with fumarate and approx. 4 with nitrate as electron acceptor. This proton translocation is dependent on H2 and a terminal electron acceptor and is not observed in the presence of the protonophore carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone and the respiratory inhibitor 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide. H2-dependent reduction of menadione and ubiquinone-1 is coupled to a protonophore-sensitive, but 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxy-quinoline N-oxide-insensitive, proton translocation with leads to H+/2e- stoicheiometry of approx. 2. H2-dependent reduction of Benzyl Viologen (BV++) to its radical (BV+) liberates protons at the periplasmic aspect of the cytoplasmic membrane according to the reaction: H2 + 2BV++ leads to 2H+ + 2BV+. It is concluded that the effective proton translocation observed in the H2-oxidizing segment of the anaerobic respiratory chain of Escherichia coli arises as a direct and inevitable consequence of transmembranous electron transfer between protolytic reactions that are spatially separated by a membrane of low proton-permeability.


1979 ◽  
Vol 184 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Cadenas ◽  
P B Garland

We have used the penicillin selection method of Autissier & Kepes [(1972) Biochimie 54, 93–101] to study the segregation of membrane-bound respiratory nitrate reductase (EC 1.9.6.1) in Escherichia coli for the three generations after cessation of nitrate reductase synthesis caused by withdrawal of nitrate from the growth medium. We also included a physical separation procedure that permitted direct assay for nitrate reductase activity among all fractions produced by the penicillin selection method. We conclude that the segregation of nitrate reductase after cell division is dispersive, and not semi-conservative as proposed by Autissier & Kepes (1972).


1980 ◽  
Vol 190 (2) ◽  
pp. 385-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haywood Blum ◽  
Robert K. Poole ◽  
Tomoko Ohnishi

1. Membrane particles prepared from ultrasonically-disrupted, aerobically-grown Escherichia coli were centrifuged on to a plastic film that was supported perpendicular to the centrifugal field to yield oriented membrane multilayers. In such preparations, there is a high degree of orientation of the planes of the membranes such that they lie parallel to each other and to the supporting film. 2. When dithionite- or succinate-reduced multilayers are rotated in the magnetic field of an e.p.r. spectrometer, about an axis lying in the membrane plane, angular-dependent signals from an iron–sulphur cluster at gx=1.92, gy=1.93 and gz=2.02 are seen. The g=1.93 signal has maximal amplitude when the plane of the multilayer is perpendicular to the magnetic field. Conversely, the g=2.02 signal is maximal when the plane of the multilayer is parallel with the magnetic field. 3. Computer simulations of the experimental data show that the cluster lies in the cytoplasmic membrane with the gy axis perpendicular to the membrane plane and with the gx and gz axes lying in the membrane plane. 4. In partially-oxidized multilayers, a signal resembling the mitochondrial high-potential iron–sulphur protein (Hipip) is seen whose gz=2.02 axis may be deduced as lying perpendicular to the membrane plane. 5. Appropriate choice of sample temperature and receiver gain reveals two further signals in partially-reduced multilayers: a g=2.09 signal arises from a cluster with its gz axis in the membrane plane, whereas a g=2.04 signal is from a cluster with the gz axis lying along the membrane normal. 6. Membrane particles from a glucose-grown, haem-deficient mutant contain dramatically-lowered levels of cytochromes and exhibit, in addition to the iron–sulphur clusters seen in the parental strain, a major signal at g=1.90. 7. Only the latter may be demonstrated to be oriented in multilayer preparations from the mutant. 8. Comparisons are drawn between the orientations of the iron–sulphur proteins in the cytoplasmic membrane of E. coli and those in mitochondrial membranes. The effects of diminished cytochrome content on the properties of the iron–sulphur proteins are discussed.


1989 ◽  
Vol 35 (11) ◽  
pp. 1061-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Bonin ◽  
M. Gilewicz ◽  
J. C. Bertrand

Studies on the effect of oxygen on denitrification have shown that denitrification on Pseudomonas nautica 617 can take place in the presence of oxygen. The enzymes associated with denitrification are affected differently with respect to oxygen concentration. Nitrate reductase was less sensitive toward oxygen than nitrite and nitrous oxide reductases. Nitrate reductase activity was completely blocked at an oxygen concentration greater than 4.05 mg/L, compared with 2.15 and 0.25 mg/L for nitrite and nitrous oxide reductases, respectively. After an aerobic–anaerobic shift, nitrate reductase activity remained unchanged whereas the rate of nitrite reductase activity rose to a value only 20% that of the original rate.Key words: denitrification, oxygen, Pseudomonas.


2006 ◽  
Vol 188 (17) ◽  
pp. 6435-6439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Gulmezian ◽  
Haitao Zhang ◽  
George T. Javor ◽  
Catherine F. Clarke

ABSTRACT IS16 is a thiol-sensitive, Q-deficient mutant strain of Escherichia coli. Here, we show that IS16 harbors a mutation in the ubiG gene encoding a methyltransferase required for two O-methylation steps of Q biosynthesis. Complementation of IS16 with either ubiG or ubiX K-12 reverses this phenotype, suggesting that UbiX may interact with UbiG.


1998 ◽  
Vol 180 (20) ◽  
pp. 5344-5350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michiko M. Nakano ◽  
Tamara Hoffmann ◽  
Yi Zhu ◽  
Dieter Jahn

ABSTRACT The nitrate and nitrite reductases of Bacillus subtilishave two different physiological functions. Under conditions of nitrogen limitation, these enzymes catalyze the reduction of nitrate via nitrite to ammonia for the anabolic incorporation of nitrogen into biomolecules. They also function catabolically in anaerobic respiration, which involves the use of nitrate and nitrite as terminal electron acceptors. Two distinct nitrate reductases, encoded bynarGHI and nasBC, function in anabolic and catabolic nitrogen metabolism, respectively. However, as reported herein, a single NADH-dependent, soluble nitrite reductase encoded by the nasDE genes is required for both catabolic and anabolic processes. The nasDE genes, together with nasBC(encoding assimilatory nitrate reductase) and nasF(required for nitrite reductase siroheme cofactor formation), constitute the nas operon. Data presented show that transcription of nasDEF is driven not only by the previously characterized nas operon promoter but also from an internal promoter residing between the nasC andnasD genes. Transcription from both promoters is activated by nitrogen limitation during aerobic growth by the nitrogen regulator, TnrA. However, under conditions of oxygen limitation,nasDEF expression and nitrite reductase activity were significantly induced. Anaerobic induction of nasDEFrequired the ResDE two-component regulatory system and the presence of nitrite, indicating partial coregulation of NasDEF with the respiratory nitrate reductase NarGHI during nitrate respiration.


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