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J Reizer

Publications and source records attributed to J Reizer.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Regulation of glycerol uptake by the phosphoenolpyruvate-sugar phosphotransferase system in Bacillus subtilis.

Enteric bacteria have been previously shown to regulate the uptake of certain carbohydrates (lactose, maltose, and glycerol) by an allosteric mechanism involving the catalytic activities of the phosphoenolpyruvate-sugar phosphotransferase system. In the present studies, a ptsI mutant of Bacillus subtilis, possessing a thermosensitive enzyme I of the phosphotransferase system, was used to gain evidence for a similar regulatory mechanism in a gram-positive bacterium. Thermoinactivation of enzyme I resulted in the loss of methyl alpha-glucoside uptake activity and enhanced sensitivity of glycerol uptake to inhibition by sugar substrates of the phosphotransferase system. The concentration of the inhibiting sugar which half maximally blocked glycerol uptake was directly related to residual enzyme I activity. Each sugar substrate of the phosphotransferase system inhibited glycerol uptake provided that the enzyme II specific for that sugar was induced to a sufficiently high level. The results support the conclusion that the phosphotransferase system regulates glycerol uptake in B. subtilis and perhaps in other gram-positive bacteria.

Allosteric Regulation↗

Purification and properties of D-mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase and D-glucitol-6-phosphate dehydrogenase from Escherichia coli.

D-Mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.17) and D-glucitol-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.140) were purified to apparent homogeneity in good yields from Escherichia coli. The amino acid compositions, N-terminal amino acid sequences, sensitivities to chemical reagents, and catalytic properties of the two enzymes were determined. Both enzymes showed absolute specificities for their substrates. The subunit molecular weights of mannitol-1-phosphate and glucitol-6-phosphate dehydrogenases were 40,000 and 26,000, respectively; the apparent molecular weights of the native proteins, determined by gel filtration, were 40,000 and 117,000, respectively. It is therefore concluded that whereas mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase is a monomer, glucitol-6-phosphate dehydrogenase is probably a tetramer. These two proteins differed in several fundamental respects.

Amino Acids↗

Properties of ATP-dependent protein kinase from Streptococcus pyogenes that phosphorylates a seryl residue in HPr, a phosphocarrier protein of the phosphotransferase system.

Transport of sugars across the cytoplasmic membranes of gram-positive bacteria appears to be regulated by the action of a metabolite-activated, ATP-dependent protein kinase that phosphorylates a seryl residue in the phosphocarrier protein of the phosphotransferase system, HPr. We have developed a quantitative assay for measuring the activity of this enzyme from Streptococcus pyogenes. The product of the in vitro protein kinase-catalyzed reaction was shown to be phosphoseryl-HPr by several independent criteria (rates of hydrolysis in the presence of various agents, detection of serine-phosphate in acid hydrolysates, immunological assay, and electrophoretic migration rates). HPrs isolated from four different gram-positive bacteria (S. pyogenes, Streptococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis) were shown to be phosphorylated by the kinase from S. pyogenes. In contrast, Escherichia coli HPr was not a substrate of this enzyme. The soluble kinase released from the particulate fraction of the cells with high salt in the presence of a protease inhibitor was shown to have an approximate molecular weight of 60,000 as estimated by gel filtration. Its activity was dependent on divalent cations, with Mg2+ and Mn2+ being most active. EDTA, Pi, and high concentrations of salt were strongly inhibitory. The enzyme was optimally active at pH 7.0, exhibited high affinity for its substrates, and was dependent on the presence of one of several metabolites. Of these compounds, fructose 1-6-diphosphate was most active, with gluconate 6-phosphate, 2-phosphoglycerate, 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, phosphoenolpyruvate, and pyruvate exhibiting moderate to low stimulatory activities. Other compounds tested, including a variety of sugar phosphates, pyridine nucleotides, and other metabolites were without effect. The ATP-dependent phosphorylation of HPr on the seryl residue was strongly inhibited by phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphorylation of the active histidyl residue of this protein. Treatment of the kinase with diethyl pyrocarbonate strongly inhibited the ATP-dependent phosphorylation activity, although the sulfhydryl reagents N-ethylmaleimide, p-chloromercuribenzoate, and iodoacetate were without effect. These results serve to characterize the HPr (serine) kinase, which apparently regulates the rates of carbohydrate transport in streptococcal cells via the phosphotransferase system. A primary role of this kinase in the control of cellular inducer levels and carbohydrate metabolic rates is proposed.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Involvement of lactose enzyme II of the phosphotransferase system in rapid expulsion of free galactosides from Streptococcus pyogenes.

Streptococcus pyogenes accumulated thiomethyl-beta-galactoside as the 6-phosphate ester due to the action of the phosphoenolpyruvate:lactose phosphotransferase system. Subsequent addition of glucose resulted in rapid efflux of the free galactoside after intracellular dephosphorylation (inducer expulsion). Efflux was shown to occur in the apparent absence of the galactose permease, but was inhibited by substrate analogs of the lactose enzyme II and could not be demonstrated in a mutant of S. lactis ML3 which lacked this enzyme. The results suggest that the enzymes II of the phosphotransferase system can catalyze the rapid efflux of free sugar under appropriate physiological conditions.

Biological Transport↗

Mechanism of inducer expulsion in Streptococcus pyogenes: a two-step process activated by ATP.

The mechanism of methyl-beta-D-thiogalactoside-phosphate (TMG-P) expulsion from Streptococcus pyogenes was studied. The expulsion elicited by glucose was not due to exchange vectorial transphosphorylation between the expelled TMG and the incoming glucose since more beta-galactoside was displaced than glucose taken up, and the stoichiometry between TMG and glucose transport was inconstant. Instead, two distinct and sequential reactions, intracellular dephosphorylation of TMG-P followed by efflux of free TMG, mediated the expulsion. This was shown by temporary accumulation of free TMG effected by competitive inhibition of its efflux and by the aid of arsenate, which arrested dephosphorylation of TMG-P but did not affect efflux of free TMG formed intracellularly before arsenate addition. The competitive inhibition of TMG efflux by its structural analogs suggests that a transport protein facilitates the expulsion. Iodoacetate or fluoride prevented TMG-P dephosphorylation and its expulsion. However, provision of ATP via the arginine deiminase pathway restored these activities in the presence of the glycolytic inhibitors and stimulated expulsion in their absence. Other amino acids tested did not promote this restoration, and canavanine or norvaline severely inhibited it. Arginine without glucose neither elicited the dephosphorylation nor evoked the expulsion of TMG-P. Ionophores or ATPase inhibitors did not prevent the expulsion as elicited by glucose or its restoration by arginine. The results suggest that activation of the dephosphorylation-expulsion mechanism occurs independently of a functional glycolytic pathway, requires ATP provision, and is possibly due to protein phosphorylation controlled by a yet unknown metabolite. The in vivo phosphorylation of a protein (approximate molecular weight - 10,000) under the conditions of expulsion was demonstrated.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Transport of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid by Streptococcus pyogenes and its derived L-form.

We studied the uptake of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) in Streptococcus pyogenes and its physiologically isotonic L-form. S. pyogenes cells starved for glucose or treated with carbonyl cyanide-m-chlorophenyl hydrazone accumulated limited amounts of AIB. A high apparent K(m) value characterized the glucose-independent transport of AIB. The rate and extent of AIB accumulation significantly increased in the presence of glucose. Two saturable transport components with distinct apparent K(m) values characterized glycolysis-coupled transport of AIB. A biphasic Lineweaver-Burk plot was also obtained for l-alanine transport by glycolyzing S. pyogenes cells. AIB seems to share a common transport system(s) with glycine, l- and d-alanine, l-serine, and l-valine. This was shown by the competitive inhibition of AIB uptake by these compounds and their ability to induce competitive exchange efflux of accumulated AIB. About 30% of the AIB uptake was not inhibited by a saturating amount of l-valine, indicating the existence of more than one system for AIB transport. p-Chloromercuribenzoate markedly inhibited the accumulation of AIB by both glycolyzing and glucose-starved cells. In contrast, carbonyl cyanide-m-chlorophenyl hydrazone affected only metabolism-dependent uptake of AIB, which was also sensitive to dinitrophenol, N-ethylmaleimide, iodoacetate, fluoride (NaF), arsenate, and N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. These results are interpreted according to the chemiosmotic theory of Mitchell, whereby a proton motive force constitutes the driving force for AIB accumulation. AIB was not accumulated by the L-form. However, a temporary accumulation of AIB by a counterflow mechanism and a saturable system with a low apparent affinity were demonstrated for AIB transport by this organism. We suggest that a deficiency in the coupling of energy to AIB transport is responsible for the apparent lack of active AIB accumulation by the L-form.

Alanine↗

Regulation of beta-galactoside phosphate accumulation in Streptococcus pyogenes by an expulsion mechanism.

Streptococcus pyogenes pregrown on lactose took up glucose, lactose, or methyl beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (MeSGal or TMG) by a phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system. MeSGal accumulated in the cell as MeSGal-phosphate (MeSGalP). Three effects were noted when various sugars were added to MeSGal preloaded cells: (i) no decrease in intracellular MeSGalP concentration after addition of fructose, sucrose, o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactoside, glycerol, 6-deoxyglucose, alpha-methyl D-glucoside, 2-deoxygalactose, glucose 1-phosphate, or glucose 6-phosphate; (ii) slow loss of preaccumulated MeSGalP evoked by lactose, 2-deoxy-D-glucose, or unlabeled MeSGal; and (iii) a short lag followed by extremely rapid expulsion of intracellular MeSGalP elicited by glucose or mannose and a slower expulsion elicited by glucosamine. The expelled compound was free MeSGal, indicating the involvement of dephosphorylation in the expulsion mechanism. Deoxyglucose inhibited the expulsion evoked by mannose, and prepoisoning of cells with fluoride or arsenate prevented the glucose-dependent expulsion. The expulsion is due to activation of an expulsion mechanism rather than to turnover of MeSGalP and leak of internal MeSGal with concomitant inhibition of MeSGal influx. The results suggest the need for phosphotransferase-dependent translocation of a preferential sugar or accumulation of the sugar catabolite for expulsion activation. The significance of the expulsion mechanism in synthesis regulation of enzymes involved in carbohydrate utilization is proposed.

Arsenates↗

Properties of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid transport in a thermophilic microorganism.

Uptake of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) by a leucine-tyrosine auxotroph of a thermophilic microorganism starved for leucine was studied. AIB was taken up by the cells against a substantial concentration gradient (300:1) and was present there in a free and unchanged form. Various energy inhibitors and sulfhydryl reagents strongly inhibited the accumulation of AIB. AIB uptake obeyed saturation kinetics, and the Lineweaver-Burk plot is characterized by a biphasic curve. AIB most probably shares a common transport system(s) with alanine, serine, and glycine. A mutant defective in l-alanine uptake was isolated by using the suicide effect due to accumulation of the tritiated substrate. The mutant also exhibited impaired transport activity towards AIB, glycine, and l-serine, but not to phenylalanine or valine. The transport of AIB, glycine, l-alanine, and l-serine was induced by d-alanine (5 x 10(-3) M) during growth in a succinate- and ammonia-containing medium. De novo protein synthesis was required for the induction of AIB transport; the induction was inhibited when growth occurred in glucose-containing media. The apparent differential rate of synthesis of the AIB transport system was decreased considerably in glucose-grown cells as compared to succinate-grown cells. A common genetic basis of either the regulatory or structural nature for the transport of AIB, alanine, glycine, and serine in a thermophilic microorganism is suggested.

Amino Acids↗

Metabolite-sensitive, ATP-dependent, protein kinase-catalyzed phosphorylation of HPr, a phosphocarrier protein of the phosphotransferase system in gram-positive bacteria.

In this review article we summarize the recent information available concerning important mechanistic and physiological aspects of the protein kinase-mediated phosphorylation of seryl residue-46 in HPr, a phosphocarrier protein of the phosphoenolpyruvate: sugar phosphotransferase system in Gram-positive bacteria. Emphasis is placed upon the information recently obtained in two laboratories through the use of site-specific mutants of the HPr protein. The results show that (i) in contrast to eukaryotic protein kinases, the HPr(ser) kinase recognizes the tertiary structure of HPr rather than a restricted part of the primary sequence of the protein; (ii) like seryl protein kinases of eukaryotes, the HPr(ser) kinase can phosphorylate a threonyl residue, but not a tyrosyl residue when such a residue replaces the regulatory seryl residue in position-46 of the protein; (iii) the regulatory consequences of seryl phosphorylation are due to the introduction of a negative charge at position-46 in the protein rather than the bulky phosphate group; and (iv) PTS protein-HPr interactions influence the conformation of HPr, thereby retarding or stimulating the rate of kinase-catalyzed seryl-46 phosphorylation. The physiological consequences of HPr(ser) phosphorylation in vivo are still a matter of debate.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Domain shuffling during evolution of the proteins of the bacterial phosphotransferase system.

About twenty permeases of the bacterial phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS) have been sequenced and analysed. The results of these analyses suggest that interdomain shuffling, splicing, fusion, deletion, and duplication have occurred repeatedly during their evolution. A uniform nomenclature for these proteins and their domains is proposed.

Biological Evolution↗

The cellobiose permease of Escherichia coli consists of three proteins and is homologous to the lactose permease of Staphylococcus aureus.

The cellobiose (cel) operon of Escherichia coli was recently sequenced and shown to consist of five genes, celABCDF (Parker and Hall, 1990). We have shown that the CelA, CelB and CelC proteins possess amino acid sequences which are homologous to different domains of the lactose permease of Staphylococcus aureus. CelB corresponds to the integral membrane portion of the permease (IIcel) while CelC (IIIcel) and CelA (IVcel) correspond to the two cytoplasmic domains which appear to comprise the first and second phosphorylation sites in the permease, respectively. The cellobiose permease is the only one of several homologous sequenced permeases of the phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system which has its three known functional domains residing on distinct polypeptide chains.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Sequence and evolution of the FruR protein of Salmonella typhimurium: a pleiotropic transcriptional regulatory protein possessing both activator and repressor functions which is homologous to the periplasmic ribose-binding protein.

The repressor of the fructose (fru) operon of Salmonella typhimurium (FruR) has been implicated in the transcriptional regulation of dozens of genes concerned with central metabolic pathways of carbon utilization. We here report the nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding FruR and analyse both its operator-promoter region and its deduced amino acyl sequence. The FruR protein was overexpressed and was shown to have a molecular weight of about 36 kDa in agreement with the molecular weight deduced from the gene sequence. Sequence analyses revealed that FruR is homologous to 9 distinct bacterial DNA-binding proteins, most of which recognize sugar inducers and all of which possess helix-turn-helix motifs within their N-terminal regions and exhibit sequence identity throughout most of their lengths. FruR is also homologous to the periplasmic ribose-binding protein which serves as a constituent of the ribose transport/chemoreception system. The ribose-binding protein is in turn homologous to binding proteins specific for arabinose and galactose. The periplasmic binding proteins, the structures of some of which have been elucidated in three dimensions, lack the N-terminal helix-turn-helix region, but instead possess N-terminal hydrophobic signal sequences which target them to the periplasm. A phylogenetic tree for the more closely related proteins of this superfamily was constructed, and a signature motif was identified which should facilitate future detection of additional transcriptional regulatory proteins belonging to this family.

Base Sequence↗

sigma54-dependent transcription of the Pseudomonas putida xylS operon is influenced by the IIANtr protein of the phosphotransferase system in Escherichia coli.

IIANtr, encoded within the rpoN operons of many Gram-negative bacteria, is a homologue of a class of phosphoryl transfer proteins of the phosphoenolpyruvate: sugar phosphotransferase system. We have used a xylS operon-lacZ fusion from the TOL plasmid of Pseudomonas putida to show that IIANtr influences sigma 54-dependent transcription when the xylS operon is expressed in Escherichia coli. Loss of IIANtr influences, but does not abolish cyclic AMP-independent carbon catabolite repression.

Bacterial Proteins↗