scholarly journals Processing of chimeric mammalian cytochrome b5 precursors in Escherichia coli: reaction specificity of signal peptidase and identification of an aminopeptidase in post-translocational processing

1993 ◽  
Vol 293 (3) ◽  
pp. 751-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Harding ◽  
A Karim ◽  
N Kaderbhai ◽  
A Jones ◽  
A Evans ◽  
...  

A chimeric precursor interlinked by an arginine residue between the full-length signal sequence of alkaline phosphatase and the eukaryotic cytoplasmic cytochrome b5 was constructed. Expression of the chimeric precursor protein in Escherichia coli resulted in efficient export of spectrally authentic cytochrome b5 into the periplasm [Karim, Harding, Evans, Kaderbhai and Kaderbhai (1993) Bio/Technology 11, 612-618]. On sequencing, the apparent absence of arginine at the N-terminus of the secreted cytochrome b5 implied that the chimera was either miscleaved by signal peptidase or further processed following signal excision by an uncharacterized peptidase. The influence of the N-terminal region of cytochrome b5 on the unusual processing of the chimeric precursor was investigated by engineering a number of variant forms in which the region between Arg+1 and the mature portion of cytochrome b5 was extended and varied. Observations of the in vivo processed patterns of these variant cytochrome b5 forms exported into the periplasm revealed that the absence of arginine was due to neither miscleavage of the translocated precursor by the signal peptidase nor the nature of the early region of cytochrome b5. In fact, the selective excision of the arginine residue occurred subsequent to signal sequence deletion by an aminopeptidase which was sensitive to the metal chelator o-phenanthroline. We show that this aminopeptidase also participates in the trimming of the N-terminal arginine residue of the bacterial alkaline phosphatase to generate the three isoenzymes in the periplasm.

Genetics ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-521
Author(s):  
Nancy J Trun ◽  
Thomas J Silhavy

ABSTRACT The prlC gene of E. coli was originally identified as an allele, prlC1, which suppresses certain signal sequence mutations in the genes for several exported proteins. We have isolated six new alleles of prlC that also confer this phenotype. These mutations can be placed into three classes based on the degree to which they suppress the lamBsignal sequence deletion, lamBs78. Genetic mapping reveals that the physical location of the mutations in prlC correlates with the strength of the suppression, suggesting that different regions of the gene can be altered to yield a suppressor phenotype. We also describe an in vivo cloning procedure using λplacMu9H. The procedure relies on transposition and illegitimate recombination to generate a specialized transducing phage that carries prlC1. This method should be applicable to any gene for which there is a mutant phenotype.


2007 ◽  
Vol 189 (14) ◽  
pp. 4975-4983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blaine A. Legaree ◽  
Calvin B. Adams ◽  
Anthony J. Clarke

ABSTRACT Penicillin-binding protein 2 (PBP 2) has long been known to be essential for rod-shaped morphology in gram-negative bacteria, including Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In the course of earlier studies with P. aeruginosa PBP 2, we observed that E. coli was sensitive to the overexpression of its gene, pbpA. In this study, we examined E. coli overproducing both P. aeruginosa and E. coli PBP 2. Growth of cells entered a stationary phase soon after induction of gene expression, and cells began to lyse upon prolonged incubation. Concomitant with the growth retardation, cells were observed to have changed morphologically from typical rods into enlarged spheres. Inactive derivatives of the PBP 2s were engineered, involving site-specific replacement of their catalytic Ser residues with Ala in their transpeptidase module. Overproduction of these inactive PBPs resulted in identical effects. Likewise, overproduction of PBP 2 derivatives possessing only their N-terminal non-penicillin-binding module (i.e., lacking their C-terminal transpeptidase module) produced similar effects. However, E. coli overproducing engineered derivatives of PBP 2 lacking their noncleavable, N-terminal signal sequence and membrane anchor were found to grow and divide at the same rate as control cells. The morphological effects and lysis were also eliminated entirely when overproduction of PBP 2 and variants was conducted with E. coli MHD79, a strain lacking six lytic transglycosylases. A possible interaction between the N-terminal domain of PBP 2 and lytic transglycosylases in vivo through the formation of multienzyme complexes is discussed.


2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (20) ◽  
pp. 5885-5895 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Peter Howard ◽  
Christina Herrmann ◽  
Chad W. Stratilo ◽  
V. Braun

ABSTRACT The siderophore transport activities of the two outer membrane proteins FhuA and FecA of Escherichia coli require the proton motive force of the cytoplasmic membrane. The energy of the proton motive force is postulated to be transduced to the transport proteins by a protein complex that consists of the TonB, ExbB, and ExbD proteins. In the present study, TonB fragments lacking the cytoplasmic membrane anchor were exported to the periplasm by fusing them to the cleavable signal sequence of FecA. Overexpressed TonB(33-239), TonB(103-239), and TonB(122-239) fragments inhibited transport of ferrichrome by FhuA and of ferric citrate by FecA, transcriptional induction of the fecABCDE transport genes by FecA, infection by phage φ80, and killing of cells by colicin M via FhuA. Transport of ferrichrome by FhuAΔ5-160 was also inhibited by TonB(33-239), although FhuAΔ5-160 lacks the TonB box which is involved in TonB binding. The results show that TonB fragments as small as the last 118 amino acids of the protein interfere with the function of wild-type TonB, presumably by competing for binding sites at the transporters or by forming mixed dimers with TonB that are nonfunctional. In addition, the interactions that are inhibited by the TonB fragments must include more than the TonB box, since transport through corkless FhuA was also inhibited. Since the periplasmic TonB fragments cannot assume an energized conformation, these in vivo studies also agree with previous cross-linking and in vitro results, suggesting that neither recognition nor binding to loaded siderophore receptors is the energy-requiring step in the TonB-receptor interactions.


1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 4977-4985
Author(s):  
D S Allison ◽  
E T Young

The effects of five single-amino-acid substitution mutations within the signal sequence of yeast prepro-alpha-factor were tested in yeast cells. After short pulse-labelings, virtually all of the alpha-factor precursor proteins from a wild-type gene were glycosylated and processed by signal peptidase. In contrast, the signal sequence mutations resulted in the accumulation of mostly unglycosylated prepro-alpha-factor after a short labeling interval, indicating a defect in translocation of the protein into the endoplasmic reticulum. Confirming this interpretation, unglycosylated mutant prepro-alpha-factor in cell extracts was sensitive to proteinase K and therefore in a cytosolic location. The signal sequence mutations reduced the rate of translocation into the endoplasmic reticulum by as much as 25-fold or more. In at least one case, mutant prepro-alpha-factor molecules were translocated almost entirely posttranslationally. Four of the five mutations also reduced the rate of proteolytic processing by signal peptidase in vivo, even though the signal peptide alterations are not located near the cleavage site. This study demonstrates that a single-amino-acid substitution mutation within a eucaryotic signal peptide can affect both translocation and proteolytic processing in vivo and may indicate that the recognition sequences for translocation and processing overlap within the signal peptide.


2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (19) ◽  
pp. 5697-5705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Wilson Bowers ◽  
Fion Lau ◽  
Thomas J. Silhavy

ABSTRACT LamB-LacZ fusion proteins have classically been used in studies of the general secretion pathway of Escherichia coli. Here we describe how increasing signal sequence hydrophobicity routes LamB-LacZ Hyb42-1 to the signal recognition particle (SRP) pathway. Secretion of this hydrophobic fusion variant (H*LamB-LacZ) was reduced in the absence of fully functional Ffh and Ffs, and the translocator jamming caused by Hyb42-1 was prevented by efficient delivery of the fusion to the periplasm. Finally, we found that in the absence of the ribosome-associated chaperone, trigger factor (Tig), LamB-LacZ localized to the periplasm in a SecA-dependent, SRP-independent fashion. Collectively, our results provide compelling in vivo evidence that there is an SRP-dependent cotranslational targeting mechanism in E. coli and argue against a role for trigger factor in pathway discrimination.


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