scholarly journals Mutagenesis of the C1 Oxidation Pathway in Methanosarcina barkeri: New Insights into the Mtr/Mer Bypass Pathway

2008 ◽  
Vol 190 (6) ◽  
pp. 1928-1936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula V. Welander ◽  
William W. Metcalf

ABSTRACT A series of Methanosarcina barkeri mutants lacking the genes encoding the enzymes involved in the C1 oxidation/reduction pathway were constructed. Mutants lacking the methyl-tetrahydromethanopterin (H4MPT):coenzyme M (CoM) methyltransferase-encoding operon (Δmtr), the methylene-H4MPT reductase-encoding gene (Δmer), the methylene-H4MPT dehydrogenase-encoding gene (Δmtd), and the formyl-methanofuran:H4MPT formyl-transferase-encoding gene (Δftr) all failed to grow using either methanol or H2/CO2 as a growth substrate, indicating that there is an absolute requirement for the C1 oxidation/reduction pathway for hydrogenotrophic and methylotrophic methanogenesis. The mutants also failed to grow on acetate, and we suggest that this was due to an inability to generate the reducing equivalents needed for biosynthetic reactions. Despite their lack of growth on methanol, the Δmtr and Δmer mutants were capable of producing methane from this substrate, whereas the Δmtd and Δftr mutants were not. Thus, there is an Mtr/Mer bypass pathway that allows oxidation of methanol to the level of methylene-H4MPT in M. barkeri. The data further suggested that formaldehyde may be an intermediate in this bypass; however, no methanol dehydrogenase activity was found in Δmtr cell extracts, nor was there an obligate role for the formaldehyde-activating enzyme (Fae), which has been shown to catalyze the condensation of formaldehyde and H4MPT in vitro. Both the Δmer and Δmtr mutants were able to grow on a combination of methanol plus acetate, but they did so by metabolic pathways that are clearly distinct from each other and from previously characterized methanogenic pathways.

1998 ◽  
Vol 180 (10) ◽  
pp. 2723-2728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yueh-tyng Chien ◽  
John D. Helmann ◽  
Stephen H. Zinder

ABSTRACT Transcription initiation in Archaea (archaebacteria) resembles the eucaryotic process, having been shown to involve TATA box-like promoter regions as well as TATA-binding protein and TFIIB homologs. However, little is known about transcription regulation in archaea. We have previously demonstrated that transcripts ofnifHDK2 genes, encoding Methanosarcina barkerinitrogenase, are present in N2-grown cells but not in ammonium-grown cells, indicating that nif transcription is regulated by the nitrogen source. In this study, we detected proteins in M. barkeri cell extracts that bind specifically to DNA containing the putative promoter region of nifHDK2. No binding was found when the promoter region was deleted from the DNA. A competition assay showed that the methyl coenzyme M reductase (mcr) promoter region DNA and the nifH2promoter region DNA competed for a common factor(s). There was no binding to the nifH2 promoter region by extracts of ammonium-grown cells, but there was binding by these extracts to promoter regions for mcr genes, which are presumably constitutively expressed. Interestingly, extracts of ammonium-grown cells inhibited binding to the nif promoter region by extracts of N2-grown cells. Fractionation of extracts of ammonium-grown cells with a heparin-Sepharose column resolved them into a fraction eluting at 0 M NaCl, which inhibited binding by extracts of N2-grown cells, and a fraction eluting at 0.5 to 0.75 M NaCl, which showed binding to the promoter region. These results are congruent with a model for regulation of nif gene expression in M. barkeri in which a substance present in ammonium-grown cells inhibits DNA binding by a transcription-associated protein or proteins.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariateresa Coppola ◽  
Rachel P-J. Lai ◽  
Robert J. Wilkinson ◽  
Tom H. M. Ottenhoff

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) genes encoding proteins targeted by vaccines and drugs should be expressed in the lung, the main organ affected by Mtb, for these to be effective. However, the pulmonary expression of most Mtb genes and their proteins remains poorly characterized. The aim of this study is to fill this knowledge gap. We analyzed large scale transcriptomic datasets from specimens of Mtb-infected humans, TB-hypersusceptible (C3H/FeJ) and TB-resistant (C57BL/6J) mice and compared data to in vitro cultured Mtb gene-expression profiles. Results revealed high concordance in the most abundantly in vivo expressed genes between pulmonary Mtb transcriptomes from different datasets and different species. As expected, this contrasted with a lower correlation found with the highest expressed Mtb genes from in vitro datasets. Among the most consistently and highly in vivo expressed genes, 35 have not yet been explored as targets for vaccination or treatment. More than half of these genes are involved in protein synthesis or metabolic pathways. This first lung-oriented multi-study analysis of the in vivo expressed Mtb-transcriptome provides essential data that considerably increase our understanding of pulmonary TB infection biology, and identifies novel molecules for target-based TB-vaccine and drug development.


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (23) ◽  
pp. 7381-7384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hye-Jung Chung ◽  
Jae-Hyun Choi ◽  
Eun-Ja Kim ◽  
You-Hee Cho ◽  
Jung-Hye Roe

ABSTRACT In Streptomyces coelicolor, transcription of thesodF genes, encoding Fe-containing superoxide dismutases, is negatively regulated by nickel. Gel mobility shift assays withsodF1 promoter fragments and cell extracts from the A3(2) strain indicate the presence of a nickel-responsive DNA-binding protein, most likely a transcriptional repressor. The boundary for the Ni-responsive cis-acting region was identified both in vitro and vivo. Ni does not regulate the level of the putative repressor but only the binding competence of this protein.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (11) ◽  
pp. 3884-3888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana N. Dedysh ◽  
Ksenia V. Smirnova ◽  
Valentina N. Khmelenina ◽  
Natalia E. Suzina ◽  
Werner Liesack ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Representatives of the genus Beijerinckia are known as heterotrophic, dinitrogen-fixing bacteria which utilize a wide range of multicarbon compounds. Here we show that at least one of the currently known species of this genus, i.e., Beijerinckia mobilis, is also capable of methylotrophic metabolism coupled with the ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP) pathway of C1 assimilation. A complete suite of dehydrogenases commonly involved in the sequential oxidation of methanol via formaldehyde and formate to CO2 was detected in cell extracts of B. mobilis grown on CH3OH. Carbon dioxide produced by oxidation of methanol was further assimilated via the RuBP pathway as evidenced by reasonably high activities of phosphoribulokinase and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO). Detection and partial sequence analysis of genes encoding the large subunits of methanol dehydrogenase (mxaF) and form I RubisCO (cbbL) provided genotypic evidence for methylotrophic autotrophy in B. mobilis.


Microbiome ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leeann Klassen ◽  
Greta Reintjes ◽  
Jeffrey P. Tingley ◽  
Darryl R. Jones ◽  
Jan-Hendrik Hehemann ◽  
...  

AbstractGut microbiomes, such as the microbial community that colonizes the rumen, have vast catabolic potential and play a vital role in host health and nutrition. By expanding our understanding of metabolic pathways in these ecosystems, we will garner foundational information for manipulating microbiome structure and function to influence host physiology. Currently, our knowledge of metabolic pathways relies heavily on inferences derived from metagenomics or culturing bacteria in vitro. However, novel approaches targeting specific cell physiologies can illuminate the functional potential encoded within microbial (meta)genomes to provide accurate assessments of metabolic abilities. Using fluorescently labeled polysaccharides, we visualized carbohydrate metabolism performed by single bacterial cells in a complex rumen sample, enabling a rapid assessment of their metabolic phenotype. Specifically, we identified bovine-adapted strains of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron that metabolized yeast mannan in the rumen microbiome ex vivo and discerned the mechanistic differences between two distinct carbohydrate foraging behaviors, referred to as “medium grower” and “high grower.” Using comparative whole-genome sequencing, RNA-seq, and carbohydrate-active enzyme fingerprinting, we could elucidate the strain-level variability in carbohydrate utilization systems of the two foraging behaviors to help predict individual strategies of nutrient acquisition. Here, we present a multi-faceted study using complimentary next-generation physiology and “omics” approaches to characterize microbial adaptation to a prebiotic in the rumen ecosystem.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 325
Author(s):  
Carolina Venturoli ◽  
Ilaria Piga ◽  
Matteo Curtarello ◽  
Martina Verza ◽  
Giovanni Esposito ◽  
...  

Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) blockade triggers are well characterized in vitro metabolic alterations in cancer cells, including reduced glycolysis and increased glucose oxidation. Here, by gene expression profiling and digital pathology-mediated quantification of in situ markers in tumors, we investigated effects of PDK1 silencing on growth, angiogenesis and metabolic features of tumor xenografts formed by highly glycolytic OC316 and OVCAR3 ovarian cancer cells. Notably, at variance with the moderate antiproliferative effects observed in vitro, we found a dramatic negative impact of PDK1 silencing on tumor growth. These findings were associated with reduced angiogenesis and increased necrosis in the OC316 and OVCAR3 tumor models, respectively. Analysis of viable tumor areas uncovered increased proliferation as well as increased apoptosis in PDK1-silenced OVCAR3 tumors. Moreover, RNA profiling disclosed increased glucose catabolic pathways—comprising both oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis—in PDK1-silenced OVCAR3 tumors, in line with the high mitotic activity detected in the viable rim of these tumors. Altogether, our findings add new evidence in support of a link between tumor metabolism and angiogenesis and remark on the importance of investigating net effects of modulations of metabolic pathways in the context of the tumor microenvironment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5968
Author(s):  
Egor A. Turovsky ◽  
Maria V. Turovskaya ◽  
Evgeniya I. Fedotova ◽  
Alexey A. Babaev ◽  
Viktor S. Tarabykin ◽  
...  

Transcription factors Satb1 and Satb2 are involved in the processes of cortex development and maturation of neurons. Alterations in the expression of their target genes can lead to neurodegenerative processes. Molecular and cellular mechanisms of regulation of neurotransmission by these transcription factors remain poorly understood. In this study, we have shown that transcription factors Satb1 and Satb2 participate in the regulation of genes encoding the NMDA-, AMPA-, and KA- receptor subunits and the inhibitory GABA(A) receptor. Deletion of gene for either Satb1 or Satb2 homologous factors induces the expression of genes encoding the NMDA receptor subunits, thereby leading to higher amplitudes of Ca2+-signals in neurons derived from the Satb1-deficient (Satb1fl/+ * NexCre/+) and Satb1-null mice (Satb1fl/fl * NexCre/+) in response to the selective agonist reducing the EC50 for the NMDA receptor. Simultaneously, there is an increase in the expression of the Gria2 gene, encoding the AMPA receptor subunit, thus decreasing the Ca2+-signals of neurons in response to the treatment with a selective agonist (5-Fluorowillardiine (FW)). The Satb1 deletion increases the sensitivity of the KA receptor to the agonist (domoic acid), in the cortical neurons of the Satb1-deficient mice but decreases it in the Satb1-null mice. At the same time, the Satb2 deletion decreases Ca2+-signals and the sensitivity of the KA receptor to the agonist in neurons from the Satb1-null and the Satb1-deficient mice. The Satb1 deletion affects the development of the inhibitory system of neurotransmission resulting in the suppression of the neuron maturation process and switching the GABAergic responses from excitatory to inhibitory, while the Satb2 deletion has a similar effect only in the Satb1-null mice. We show that the Satb1 and Satb2 transcription factors are involved in the regulation of the transmission of excitatory signals and inhibition of the neuronal network in the cortical cell culture.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber R Paulson ◽  
Maureen O’Callaghan ◽  
Xue-Xian Zhang ◽  
Paul B Rainey ◽  
Mark R H Hurst

Abstract The function of microbes can be inferred from knowledge of genes specifically expressed in natural environments. Here, we report the in vivo transcriptome of the entomopathogenic bacterium Yersinia entomophaga MH96, captured during initial, septicemic, and pre-cadaveric stages of intrahemocoelic infection in Galleria mellonella. A total of 1285 genes were significantly upregulated by MH96 during infection; 829 genes responded to in vivo conditions during at least one stage of infection, 289 responded during two stages of infection, and 167 transcripts responded throughout all three stages of infection compared to in vitro conditions at equivalent cell densities. Genes upregulated during the earliest infection stage included components of the insecticidal toxin complex Yen-TC (chi1, chi2, and yenC1), genes for rearrangement hotspot element containing protein yenC3, cytolethal distending toxin cdtAB, and vegetative insecticidal toxin vip2. Genes more highly expressed throughout the infection cycle included the putative heat-stable enterotoxin yenT and three adhesins (usher-chaperone fimbria, filamentous hemagglutinin, and an AidA-like secreted adhesin). Clustering and functional enrichment of gene expression data also revealed expression of genes encoding type III and VI secretion system-associated effectors. Together these data provide insight into the pathobiology of MH96 and serve as an important resource supporting efforts to identify novel insecticidal agents.


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