[Regulation of secondary metabolism and morphological differentiation by a microbial hormone in streptomyces].
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Publications and source records attributed to S Horinouchi.
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The A-factor receptor protein (ArpA) plays a key role in the regulation of secondary metabolism and cellular differentiation in Streptomyces griseus. ArpA binds the target DNA site forming a 22 bp palindrome in the absence of A-factor, and exogenous addition of A-factor to the ArpA-DNA complex immediately releases ArpA from the DNA. An amino acid (aa) replacement at Val-41 to Ala in an alpha-helix-turn-alpha-helix (HTH) motif at the N-terminal portion of ArpA abolished DNA-binding activity but not A-factor-binding activity, suggesting the involvement of this HTH in DNA-binding. On the other hand, an aa replacement at Trp-119 to Ala generated a mutant ArpA that was unable to bind A-factor, thus resulting in an A-factor-insensitive mutant that bound normally to its target DNA in both the presence and absence of A-factor. These data suggest that ArpA consisting of two functional domains, one for HTH-type DNA-binding at the N-terminal portion and one for A-factor-binding at the C-terminal portion, is a member of the LacI family. Consistent with this, two ArpA homologues, CprA and CprB, from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), each of which contains a very similar aa sequence of the HTH to that of ArpA, also recognized and bound the same DNA target. However, neither CprA nor CprB recognized A-factor, probably due to much less similarity in the C-terminal domains.
ALG2 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes the glycosyltransferase that mannosylates Man2GlcNAc2-dolichol diphosphate (PP-Dol) and Man1GlcNAc2-PP-Dol to form Man3GlcNAc2-PP-Dol. The genomic DNA and cDNA encoding an ALG2 homologue were cloned from the zygomycete fungus, Rhizomucor pusillus, and their nucleotide sequences were determined. The cloned cDNA under the control of the yeast GAL1 promoter complemented the temperature-sensitive (ts) growth of the alg2-1 mutant of S. cerevisiae, indicating that it represented a functional ALG2 homologue of R. pusillus. Five introns intervened the R. pusillus alg2 encoding a 455-amino-acid (aa) protein that showed end-to-end similarity in aa sequence to yeast Alg2 and contained a dolichol-binding consensus sequence (Val/Ile-x-Phe-x-x-Ile, where x is any aa) very near its C-terminus. The yeast alg2-1 gene had two mutation points at 377Gly to Arg and 386Gln to Lys. alg2-2 also contained two mutations at 54Glu to Lys and 377Gly to Arg. Site-directed mutagenesis of the fungal Alg2 and determination of their phenotypes in the yeast alg2-1 mutant showed that a mutation at 368Gly (equivalent to 377Gly of yeast Alg2) to Arg resulted in generation of a ts enzyme. The fungal Alg2 containing a mutation at the position corresponding to 54Glu or 386Gln of yeast Alg2 still complemented the ts growth of yeast alg2-1.
A gene named phd1+ encoding a protein highly homologous to the yeast and human histone deacetylases, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rpd3p and human HDAC1, was cloned from Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The immune complex isolated from S. pombe cells expressing Phd1 fused to the FLAG epitope showed histone deacetylase activity, which was inhibited by trichostatin A (TSA), a specific inhibitor of histone deacetylase. The null mutation of phd1+ resulted in a marked decrease in the total cellular histone deacetylase activity and an increase in the sensitivity to TSA. Although the phd1 disruptant showed no obvious defect in the mitotic cell cycle or mating, both homothallic haploid and heterothallic diploid cells failed to form spores in the absence of phd1+. These results indicate that phd1+ encodes a histone deacetylase, which is involved in the meiotic cell cycle in S. pombe.
Leptomycin B (LMB) is a Streptomyces metabolite that inhibits nuclear export of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 regulatory protein Rev at low nanomolar concentrations. Recently, LMB was shown to inhibit the function of CRM1, a receptor for the nuclear export signal (NES). Here we show evidence that LMB binds directly to CRM1 and that CRM1 is essential for NES-dependent nuclear export of proteins in both yeast and mammalian cells. Binding experiments with a biotinylated derivative of LMB and a HeLa cell extract led to identifying CRM1 as a major protein that bound to the LMB derivative. Microinjection of a purified anti-human CRM1 antibody into the mammalian nucleus specifically inhibited nuclear export of NES-containing proteins, as did LMB. Consistent with this, CRM1 was found to interact with NES, when assayed with immobilized NES and HeLa cell extracts. This association was disrupted by adding LMB or purified anti-human CRM1 antibody. The inhibition of CRM1 by LMB was also observed in fission yeast. The fission yeast crm1 mutant was defective in the nuclear export of NES-fused proteins, but not in the import of nuclear localization signal (NLS)-fused proteins. Interestingly, a protein containing both NES and NLS, which is expected to shuttle between nucleus and cytoplasm, was highly accumulated in the nucleus of the crm1 mutant cells or of cells treated with LMB. These results strongly suggest that CRM1 is the target of LMB and is an essential factor for nuclear export of proteins in eukaryotes.
The 5' upstream region (about 3.1kb) of the cellulose synthase operon (bcs operon) has been isolated by cloning from Acetobacter xylinum strain BPR 2001. The expression level of the upstream region was determined using sucrose synthase cDNA as a reporter gene in the shuttle vector pSA19. The expression occurred with the 1.1-kb upstream sequence from the ATG start codon of the bcs operon but not with the 241-bp upstream sequence in A. xylinum, although neither the 1.1-kb nor the 241-bp upstream sequence caused any expression as a promoter in Escherichia coli. The level of expression with the 1. 1-kb upstream sequence in A. aceti was 75% of that in A. xylinum. These results suggest that the upstream region functions as a specific promoter for the Acetobacter genus. The expression was reduced by the introduction of the 241-bp upstream region between the lac promoter and the reporter gene in E. coli and was not detected in A. xylinum. This suggests that the short upstream region composed of 241bp contains the site(s) which causes a negative regulation on the transcription for bcs operon. The production of recombinant protein with the ribosome-binding site (RBS) of A. xylinum obtained from the bcs operon, was reduced to about half in E. coli, and that with the site of the lac promoter was also reduced to about half in A. xylinum. This shows that a species-specific predominance occurs during interaction between mRNA and 16S rRNA in the RBS between A. xylinum and E. coli.
Screening for microbial metabolites that induce transcriptional activation of the SV40 promoter resulted in the identification of two known compounds, FR901228 and trichostatin A (TSA). FR901228 is a potent antitumor drug that is currently under clinical investigation. TSA is a specific inhibitor of histone deacetylase. Despite structural unrelatedness, both FR901228 and TSA greatly enhanced the transcriptional activity of the SV40 promoter in an enhancer-dependent manner. The effects of FR901228 on the cell cycle, chromatin structure, and histone acetylation were examined and compared with those of TSA. Both compounds caused arrest of the cell cycle at both G1 and G2/M phases and induction of internucleosomal breakdown of chromatin. FR901228, like TSA, inhibited intracellular histone deacetylase activity, as a result of which marked amounts of acetylated histone species accumulated. FR901228 is therefore a new type of histone deacetylase inhibitor, whose chemical structure is unrelated to known inhibitors such as trichostatins and trapoxins.
The enzymatic reaction of nitrite reductase (NIR) from Alcaligenes faecalis S-6 was applied to the measurement of nitrite. NIR was immobilized on the surface of a gold electrode using filter paper and a dialysis membrane, and used as a working electrode in a three-electrode system. Amperometric methods were applied using NIR and the electron mediator 1-methoxy PMS (1-methoxy-5-methylphenazinium methylsulfate). The decrease in cathodic current showed a correlation to nitrite concentration over the range 0-1 mg/l. Measurements using a batch-flow type system gave a lower detection limit of 0.01 mg/l. This is sufficient for the detection of nitrite in natural waters.
High-molecular-mass nitrile hydratase (H-NHase, 530 kDa) is a cobalt-containing enzyme produced by Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1. For efficient production of H-NHase in R. rhodochrous ATCC12674, several plasmids were constructed. The enzyme was produced in the recombinant Rhodococcus cells only in the presence of an upstream region (approximately 4 kb) of the H-NHase gene under the control of the promoter for the amidase-NHase gene cluster from Rhodococcus sp. N-774. Although H-NHase was produced as a soluble protein in the cells, the protein did not show NHase activity. However, when the recombinant R. rhodochrous ATCC12674 cells were cultured in the presence of amide compounds, such as crotonamide and methacrylamide, markedly high NHase activity was detected, Gel-filtration chromatography revealed that the NHases produced by the cells grown in the presence and absence of the amide compounds had a molecular mass of more than 500 kDa and 50-80 kDa respectively. These results suggest that the amide compounds are essential for subunit assembly to form an enzymatically active multimer. By the use of the recombinant expression system, NHase activity 1.7 times higher than that of the original strain, R. rhodochrous J1, was achieved.
The genomic DNA and cDNA for a gene encoding a novel trehalose synthase (TSase) catalyzing trehalose synthesis from alpha-D-glucose 1-phosphate and D-glucose were cloned from a basidiomycete, Grifola frondosa. Nucleotide sequencing showed that the 732-amino-acid TSase-encoding region was separated by eight introns. Consistent with the novelty of TSase, there were no homologous proteins registered in the data-bases. Recombinant TSase with a histidine tag at the NH2-terminal end, produced in Escherichia coli, showed enzyme activity similar to that purified from the original G. frondosa strain. Incubation of alpha-D-glucose 1-phosphate and D-glucose in the presence of recombinant TSase generated trehalose, in agreement with the enzymatic property of TSase that the equilibrium lay far in the direction of trehalose synthesis.
Nucleotide sequences homologous to arpA encoding the A-factor receptor protein (ArpA) of Streptomyces griseus are distributed in a wide variety of streptomycetes. Two genes, cprA and cprB, each encoding an ArpA-like protein were found and cloned from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). CprA and CprB shared 90.7% identity in amino acid sequence and both showed about 35% identity to ArpA. Disruption of cprA by use of an M13 phage-derived single-stranded vector resulted in severe reduction of actinorhodin and undecylprodigiosin production. In addition, the timing of sporulation in the cprA disruptants was delayed by 1 day. The cprA gene thus appeared to act as a positive regulator or an accelerator for secondary metabolite formation and sporulation. Consistent with this idea, introduction of cprA on a low-copy-number plasmid into the parental strain led to overproduction of these secondary metabolites and accelerated the timing of sporulation. On the other hand, cprB disruption resulted in precocious and overproduction of actinorhodin. However, almost no effect on undecylprodigiosin was detected in the cprB disruptants. Sporulation of the cprB disruptant began 1 day earlier than the parental strain. The cprB gene thus behaved as a negative regulator on actinorhodin production and sporulation. Consistent with this, extra copies of cprB in the parental strain caused reduced production of actinorhodin and delay in sporulation. It is thus concluded that both cprA and cprB play regulatory roles in both secondary metabolism and morphogenesis in S. coelicolor A3(2), just as the arpA/A-factor system in Streptomyces griseus.
A trehalose synthase (TSase) that catalyzes the synthesis of trehalose from D-glucose and alpha-D-glucose 1-phosphate (alpha-D-glucose 1-P) was detected in a basidiomycete, Grifola frondosa. TSase was purified 106-fold to homogeneity with 36% recovery by ammonium sulfate precipitation and several steps of column chromatography. The native enzyme appears to be a dimer since it has apparent molecular masses of 120 kDa, as determined by gel filtration column chromatography, and 60 kDa, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Although TSase catalyzed the phosphorolysis of trehalose to D-glucose and alpha-D-glucose 1-P, in addition to the synthesis of trehalose from the two substrates, the TSase equilibrium strongly favors trehalose synthesis. The optimum temperatures for phosphorolysis and synthesis of trehalose were 32.5 to 35 degreesC and 35 to 37.5 degreesC, respectively. The optimum pHs for these reactions were 6.5 and 6.5 to 6.8, respectively. The substrate specificity of TSase was very strict: among eight disaccharides examined, only trehalose was phosphorolyzed, and only alpha-D-glucose 1-P served as a donor substrate with D-glucose as the acceptor in trehalose synthesis. Two efficient enzymatic systems for the synthesis of trehalose from sucrose were identified. In system I, the alpha-D-glucose 1-P liberated by 1.05 U of sucrose phosphorylase was linked with D-glucose by 1.05 U of TSase, generating trehalose at the initial synthesis rate of 18 mmol/h in a final yield of 90 mol% under optimum conditions (300 mM each sucrose and glucose, 20 mM inorganic phosphate, 37.5 degreesC, and pH 6.5). In system II, we added 1.05 U of glucose isomerase and 20 mM MgSO4 to the reaction mixture of system I to convert fructose, a by-product of the sucrose phosphorylase reaction, into glucose. This system generated trehalose at the synthesis rate of 4.5 mmol/h in the same final yield.
A-factor (2-isocapryloyl-3R-hydroxymethyl-gamma-butyrolactone) is essential for the initiation of aerial mycelium formation in Streptomyces griseus. amfR is one of the genes which, when cloned on a low-copy-number plasmid, suppresses the aerial mycelium-negative phenotype of an A-factor-deficient mutant of S. griseus. Disruption of the chromosomal amfR gene resulted in complete abolition of aerial mycelium formation, indicating that amfR is essential for the onset of morphogenesis. Cloning and nucleotide sequencing of the region upstream of amfR predicted an operon consisting of orf5, orf4, and amfR. Consistent with this idea, Northern blotting and S1 mapping analyses suggested that these three genes were cotranscribed mainly by a promoter (PORF5) in front of orf5. Furthermore, PORF5 was active only in the presence of A-factor, indicating that it is A-factor dependent. Gel mobility shift assays showed the presence of a protein (AdpB) able to bind PORF5 in the cell extract from an A-factor-deficient mutant but not from the wild-type strain. AdpB was purified to homogeneity and found to bind specifically to the region from -72 to -44 bp with respect to the transcriptional start point. Runoff transcriptional analysis of PORF5 with purified AdpB and an RNA polymerase complex isolated from vegetative mycelium showed that AdpB repressed the transcription in a concentration-dependent manner. It is thus apparent that AmfR as a switch for aerial mycelium formation and AdpB as a repressor for amfR are members in the A-factor regulatory cascade, leading to morphogenesis.
Cellulose production from sucrose by Acetobacter strains is accompanied by the accumulation of a water-soluble polysaccharide, called levan. To improve cellulose productivity, a levansucrase-deficient mutant, LD-2, was derived from Acetobacter strain 757 and used as a host for the construction of recombinant strains. An LD-2 mutant harboring a plasmid containing the sucrase gene, sucZE3, from Zymomonas mobilis together with zliS, a gene that encodes a secretion-activating factor under the control of the Escherichia coli lac promoter, had sucrase activity and produced much cellulose and little levan in a medium containing sucrose. In addition, a mutant levansucrase gene, mutant sacB, from Bacillus subtilis, which encodes a protein with little levan-forming activity, was generated by site-directed mutagenesis and introduced into the LD-2 mutant. This introduction also resulted in the higher cellulose productivity and little levan.
Activation of cytoplasmic serine/threonine kinase Raf-1, an important effector of Ras, requires direct binding to Ras. The yeast two-hybrid screening system used for identification of inhibitors of Ras/Raf-1 interaction showed radicicol to be an inhibitor. Radicicol has been shown to induce morphological reversion of transformed cells. Immunoprecipitation with an anti-Ras antibody revealed that the in vivo Ras/Raf-1 binding in v-Ha-ras-transformed cells was also blocked by low concentrations of radicicol (0.1 approximately 1 microg/ml), while degradation of Raf-1 was induced at concentrations higher than 2 microg/ml. However, in vitro binding of glutathion S-transferase-fused Ras to a maltose binding protein-fused RIP3 containing the Ras-binding domain (RBD) of Raf-1 was not inhibited by radicicol. Similar two-hybrid assays with several truncated forms of Raf-1 showed that both the conserved serine/threonine-rich domain (CR2) and the C-terminal protein kinase domain (CR3) were required for the full inhibition by radicicol. These results suggest that radicicol interacts directly or indirectly with the region except with RBD of Raf-1, thereby inhibiting a conformational change of Raf-1 prerequisite for binding to Ras.
Crm1 of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a nuclear protein essential for proliferation and chromosome region maintenance, is a possible target of leptomycin B, an antifungal and antitumor antibiotic with cell cycle-arresting activity. cDNA encoding a human homolog of Crm1 was cloned. Human CRM1 (hCRM1) consisted of 1071 amino acids, of which the sequence showed 52% homology with S. pombe Crm1. hCRM1 weakly complemented the cold-sensitive mutation of S. pombe crm1-809, as did S. pombe crm1+. Overproduction of hCRM1 under the control of a series of nmt1 promoters suppressed cell proliferation in wild-type S. pombe in an expression level-dependent manner. A similar inhibitory effect was also observed for crm1+. Cells overproducing either hCRM1 or S. pombe Crm1 were distinctly larger than uninduced cells and contained compacted and fragmented nuclei. Furthermore, calcofluor staining demonstrated that most of these cells formed two septa per cell and accumulated a large amount of chitin or its related polysaccharides around the septa. Closely similar phenotypes between hCRM1- and S. pombe Crm1-induced cells indicate that the cloned cDNA encodes a functional homolog of S. pombe crm1+. Northern blot analyses with RNAs isolated from synchronized mammalian cells showed that the expression of mammalian CRM1 was initiated in late G1 and reached a peak at G2/M, although its protein level unchanged during the cell cycle. Transient expression of hCRM1 fused to the green fluorescent protein (GFP) in NIH3T3 cells showed that hCRM1 was localized preferentially in the nuclear envelope and was also detectable in the nucleoplasm and the cytoplasm. A crm1 mutation of S. pombe caused nuclear import of a GFP fusion protein containing a nuclear export signal but no change in the distribution of a GFP fusion protein containing a nuclear localization signal. All of these data suggest that CRM1 is a novel cell-cycle regulated gene that is essential for the nuclear export signal-dependent nuclear export of proteins.
Radicicol, an inhibitor of Src-family protein-tyrosine kinases, causes morphological reversion of v-src- and v-Ha-ras-transformed fibroblasts and arrest of the cell cycle at both the G1 and the G2 phases. Radicicol was found to inhibit the growth of several other oncogene-transformed cell lines and human carcinoma cell lines and to revert their cell morphology to be flat. In the radicicol-treated flat cells, actin stress fiber bundles were reorganized. Since this effect of radicicol on these cell lines was inhibited by cycloheximide, de novo protein synthesis is required for the morphological reversion. Screening of cellular proteins enhanced in response to radicicol by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis suggested that the amount of gelsolin, an actin regulatory protein, was distinctly increased upon radicicol treatment. Western blot and Northern blot analyses showed that radicicol enhanced transcription of the gelsolin gene in human carcinoma cell lines, as a result of which the amount of gelsolin was increased several folds. Injection with an anti-gelsolin antibody into cells and successive treatment with radicicol resulted in approximately 80% reduction of the number of flat cells with stress fibers in comparison with controls treated with an irrelevant antibody. These results show that elevated expression of gelsolin is associated, at least in part, with the suppression of transformation and the restoration of actin stress fibers in human carcinoma cells by radicicol.