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Genetic and physiological characterization of a Rhizobium etli mutant strain unable to synthesize poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate.

Rhizobium etli accumulates poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) in symbiosis and in free life. PHB is a reserve material that serves as a carbon and/or electron sink when optimal growth conditions are not met. It has been suggested that in symbiosis PHB can prolong nitrogen fixation until the last stages of seed development, but experiments to test this proposition have not been done until now. To address these questions in a direct way, we constructed an R. etli PHB-negative mutant by the insertion of an Omega-Km interposon within the PHB synthase structural gene (phaC). The identification and sequence of the R. etli phaC gene are also reported here. Physiological studies showed that the PHB-negative mutant strain was unable to synthesize PHB and excreted more lactate, acetate, pyruvate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, fumarate, and malate than the wild-type strain. The NAD+/NADH ratio in the mutant strain was lower than that in the parent strain. The oxidative capacity of the PHB-negative mutant was reduced. Accordingly, the ability to grow in minimal medium supplemented with glucose or pyruvate was severely diminished in the mutant strain. We propose that in free life PHB synthesis sequesters reductive power, allowing the tricarboxylic acid cycle to proceed under conditions in which oxygen is a limiting factor. In symbiosis with Phaseolus vulgaris, the PHB-negative mutant induced nodules that prolonged the capacity to fix nitrogen.

Acyltransferases↗

Sex differences in energy metabolism and performance of teleost cardiac tissue.

This study examined the effects of different oxygenation levels and substrate availability on cardiac performance, metabolism, and biochemistry in sexually immature male and female rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Ventricle strips were electrically paced (0.5 Hz, 14 degrees C) in hyperoxic or hypoxic Ringer solution. Our results demonstrate that 1) males sustain isometric force production (F) longer than females under hyperoxia (P O2 = 640 mmHg) with exogenous glucose present; 2) contractility is not maintained under moderate (P O2 = 130 mmHg) or severe hypoxia (P O2 = 10-20 mmHg) with glucose in either sex; however, following reoxygenation, F is higher in females compared with males; and 3) female tissue has higher lactate levels, net lactate efflux, and lactate dehydrogenase activity than males, whereas males have higher glycogen, citrate synthase, and beta-hydroxy acyl-CoA dehydrogenase activities, and greater inotropic responses to exogenous glucose and octanoate. No sex differences were detected in responsiveness to epinephrine and inhibitors of glucose transport or activities of hexokinase and pyruvate kinase. We conclude that sex differences exist in rainbow trout cardiac tissue: females appear to prefer glycolysis for ATP production, whereas males have a higher capacity for aerobic and lipid metabolism.

Animals↗

Regulation of malate dehydrogenase activity by glutamate, citrate, alpha-ketoglutarate, and multienzyme interaction.

Binding experiments indicate that mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase can associate with the alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex and that mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase can associate with this binary complex to form a ternary complex. Formation of this ternary complex enables low levels of the alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex, in the presence of the aminotransferase, to reverse inhibition of malate oxidation by glutamate. Thus, glutamate can react with the aminotransferase in this complex without glutamate inhibiting production of oxalacetate by the malate dehydrogenase in the complex. The conversion of glutamate to alpha-ketoglutarate could also be facilitated because in the trienzyme complex, oxalacetate might be directly transferred from malate dehydrogenase to the aminotransferase. In addition, association of malate dehydrogenase with these other two enzymes enhances malate dehydrogenase activity due to a marked decrease in the Km of malate. The potential ability of the aminotransferase to transfer directly alpha-ketoglutarate to the alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex in this multienzyme system plus the ability of succinyl-CoA, a product of this transfer, to inhibit citrate synthase could play a role in preventing alpha-ketoglutarate and citrate from accumulating in high levels. This would maintain the catalytic activity of the multienzyme system because alpha-ketoglutarate and citrate allosterically inhibit malate dehydrogenase and dissociate this enzyme from the multienzyme system. In addition, citrate also competitively inhibits fumarase. Consequently, when the levels of alpha-ketoglutarate and citrate are high and the multienzyme system is not required to convert glutamate to alpha-ketoglutarate, it is inactive. However, control by citrate would be expected to be absent in rapidly dividing tumors which characteristically have low mitochondrial levels of citrate.

Animals↗

Skeletal muscle fiber type comparison of pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase activity and isoform expression in fed and food-deprived rats.

Fiber type specificity of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) phosphatase (PDP) was determined in fed (CON) and 48-h food-deprived (FD) rats. PDP activity and isoform protein content were determined in soleus (slow-twitch oxidative), red gastrocnemius (RG; fast-twitch oxidative glycolytic), and white gastrocnemius (WG; fast-twitch glycolytic) muscles. When normalized for mitochondrial volume, there was no difference in PDP activity between muscle types or CON and FD. When expressed per gram wet tissue weight, PDP activity was higher in RG compared with soleus and WG in both CON and FD rats. PDP activities from CON muscles were 1.48 +/- 0.19, 2.68 +/- 0.65, and 1.20 +/- 0.33 nmol x min(-1) x g wet tissue wt(-1) in soleus, RG, and WG, respectively, and decreased in FD muscles (1.22 +/- 0.22, 2.00 +/- 0.57, and 0.84 +/- 0.18 nmol x min(-1) x g wet tissue wt(-1)). This correlated with increased PDP2 protein, however, only in RG, as PDP2 was not detectable in soleus or WG. PDP1 protein was not responsive to food deprivation in all fiber types. In conclusion, PDP activity and protein content were higher in fast-twitch oxidative glycolytic muscles from CON and FD rats, identifying a unique inter- and intramuscular distribution. FD induced a small but significant decrease in PDP activity that was partially due to decreases in PDP2 protein. As a result, coordinate changes to PDP activity opposite to those of the other regulatory enzyme, PDH kinase, during food deprivation would maximize the inactivation of skeletal muscle PDH and enhance carbohydrate conservation during periods of limited carbohydrate supply.

Animals↗

Lithium inhibits hepatic gluconeogenesis and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene expression.

Incubation of isolated hepatocytes from fasted rats with 20 mM LiCl for 1 h decreased glucose production from lactate, pyruvate, and alanine. In addition, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene expression in FTO-2B rat hepatoma cells was inhibited by treatment with LiCl. Lithium was also able to counteract the increased PEPCK mRNA levels caused by both Bt2cAMP and dexamethasone, in a concentration-dependent manner. A chimeric gene containing the PEPCK promoter (-550 to +73) linked to the amino-3-glycosyl phosphotransferase (neo) structural gene was transduced into FTO-2B cells using a Moloney murine leukemia virus-based retrovirus. In these infected cells, 20 mM LiCl decreased both the concentration of neo mRNA transcribed from the PEPCK-neo chimeric gene and mRNA from the endogenous PEPCK gene. Lithium also inhibited the stimulatory effect of Bt2cAMP and dexamethasone on both genes. The stability of neo mRNA was not altered by lithium, since in cells infected with retrovirus containing only the neo gene transcribed via the retroviral 5'-LTR and treated with 20 mM LiCl, no change in neo mRNA levels was observed. The intraperitoneal administration of LiCl to rats caused a decrease in hepatic PEPCK mRNA, indicating that lithium could also modify gene expression in vivo. The effects of lithium were not due to an increase in the concentration of insulin in the blood but were correlated with an increase in hepatic glycogen and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate levels. These results indicate that lithium ions, at concentrations normally used therapeutically for depression in humans, can inhibit glucose synthesis in the liver by a mechanism which can selectively modify the expression of hepatic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase.

Animals↗

Effects of 2[5(4-chlorphenyl)pentyl]oxirane-2-carboxylate on fatty acid synthesis and fatty acid oxidation in isolated rat hepatocytes.

The effects of the hypoketonaemic and hypoglycaemic compound 2[5(4-chlorophenyl)pentyl]oxirane-2-carboxylate (POCA) on fatty acid synthesis and fatty acid oxidation in rat hepatocytes were examined. Two microM-POCA caused a small stimulation of fatty acid synthesis which might be due to an increased flux through pyruvate dehydrogenase. Ten to one hundred microM-POCA inhibited (40-70%) fatty acid synthesis. At low concentrations (less than or equal to 5 microM) POCA was a more powerful inhibitor of fatty acid oxidation than of synthesis, but at higher concentrations (10-100 microM) the inhibition of synthesis and oxidation was similar. One hundred microM POCA-CoA inhibited acetyl-CoA carboxylase by about 22% and 100 microM-palmitoyl-CoA by about 33%. Since POCA was a more potent inhibitor of fatty acid synthesis than palmitate, but POCA-CoA did not inhibit acetyl-CoA carboxylase more strongly than palmitoyl-CoA, it is suggested that POCA-CoA may inhibit fatty acid synthase directly.

Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase↗

Mechanisms of acetohydroxyacid synthases.

Acetohydroxyacid synthases are thiamin diphosphate- (ThDP-) dependent biosynthetic enzymes found in all autotrophic organisms. Over the past 4-5 years, their mechanisms have been clarified and illuminated by protein crystallography, engineered mutagenesis and detailed single-step kinetic analysis. Pairs of catalytic subunits form an intimate dimer containing two active sites, each of which lies across a dimer interface and involves both monomers. The ThDP adducts of pyruvate, acetaldehyde and the product acetohydroxyacids can be detected quantitatively after rapid quenching. Determination of the distribution of intermediates by NMR then makes it possible to calculate individual forward unimolecular rate constants. The enzyme is the target of several herbicides and structures of inhibitor-enzyme complexes explain the herbicide-enzyme interaction.

Acetolactate Synthase↗

An immobilized three-enzyme system: a model for microenvironmental compartmentation in mitochondria.

An immobilized three-enzyme system, malate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.37)-citrate synthase (EC 4.1.3.7)-lactate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.27), was investigated as a model for the rate of oxalacetate production and utilization in mitochondria. Lactate dehydrogenase is included to mimic the NADH-utilizing system of mitochondria. This three-enzyme system was immobilized in three different ways (1) on Sephadex G-50 (surface coupling), (2) on Sepharose 4B (internal-external coupling), and (3) entrapped in polycrylamide gel. The rate of citrate production from malate, NAD(+), and acetyl CoA was determined continuously in a flow system. Up to about 100% rate enhancements were observed when the immobilized system was compared to identical systems of free enzyme. An even more pronounced increase of rate of up to about 400% compared to the soluble system was measured after addition of pyruvate (to reoxidize formed NADH). These results are interpreted in relation to microenvironmental changes of oxalacetate production and the possible organization of enzymes of the Krebs cycle.

Acrylamides↗

Role of active-site residues Thr81, Ser82, Thr85, Gln157, and Tyr158 in yeast cystathionine beta-synthase catalysis and reaction specificity.

Cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) effects the condensation of l-serine with l-homocysteine to form l-cystathionine. A series of active-site mutants, T81A, S82A, T85A, Q157A/E/H, and Y158F, was constructed to investigate effects on catalysis and reaction specificity in yeast CBS (yCBS). The effects of these mutations on the k(cat)/K(m)(L-Ser) for the beta-replacement reaction range from a reduction of only 3-fold for Y158F to below detectable levels for the Q157A and Q157E mutants. The order of importance of these residues to the beta-replacement reaction is Gln157 >or= Thr81 > Ser82 > Thr85 approximately Tyr158. All seven of the mutant enzymes catalyze a competing beta-elimination reaction, in which L-Ser is hydrolyzed to NH(3) and pyruvate. The ping-pong mechanism of CBS was thus expanded to include the latter reaction for these mutants. This activity is not detectable for wild-type yCBS, suggesting that the mutations result in a shift in the equilibrium between the open and the closed conformations of the active site of yCBS-substrate complexes. The Q157H and Y158F mutants additionally suffer suicide inhibition via a mechanism in which the released aminoacrylate intermediate covalently attacks the internal aldimine of the enzyme.

Alanine↗

Use of aminoguanidine (Pimagedine) to prevent the formation of advanced glycation endproducts.

Aminoguanidine (AG) is a prototype therapeutic agent for the prevention of formation of advanced glycation endproducts. It reacts rapidly with alpha,beta-dicarbonyl compounds such as methylglyoxal, glyoxal, and 3-deoxyglucosone to prevent the formation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). The adducts formed are substituted 3-amino-1,2,4-triazine derivatives. Inhibition of disease mechanisms, particularly vascular complications in experimental diabetes, by AG has provided evidence that accumulation of AGEs is a risk factor for disease progression. AG has other pharmacological activities, inhibition of nitric oxide synthase and semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO), at pharmacological concentrations achieved in vivo for which controls are required in anti-glycation studies. AG is a highly reactive nucleophilic reagent that reacts with many biological molecules (pyridoxal phosphate, pyruvate, glucose, malondialdehyde, and others). Use of high concentrations of AG in vitro brings these reactions and related effects into play. It is unadvisable to use concentrations of AG in excess of 500 microM if selective prevention of AGE formation is desired. The peak plasma concentration of AG in clinical therapy was ca. 50 microM. Clinical trial of AG to prevent progression of diabetic nephropathy was terminated early due to safety concerns and apparent lack of efficacy. Pharmacological scavenging of alpha-oxoaldehydes or stimulation of host alpha-oxoaldehyde detoxification remains a worthy therapeutic strategy to prevent diabetic complications and other AGE-related disorders.

Animals↗

Biosynthesis of terpenoids: efficient multistep biotransformation procedures affording isotope-labeled 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate using recombinant 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate synthase.

This paper describes the recombinant expression of the ispC gene of Escherichia coli specifying 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate synthase in a modified form that can be purified efficiently by metal-chelating chromatography. The enzyme was used for the preparation of isotope-labeled 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate employing isotope-labeled glucose and pyruvate as starting materials. The simple one-pot methods described afford numerous isotopomers of 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate carrying (3)H, (13)C, or (14)C from commercially available precursors. The overall yield based on the respective isotope-labeled starting material is approximately 50%.

Aldose-Ketose Isomerases↗

Protein synthesis by rice coleoptiles during prolonged anoxia: implications for glycolysis, growth and energy utilization.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Anoxia-tolerant plant tissues synthesize a number of proteins during anoxia, in addition to the 'classical anaerobic proteins' involved in glycolysis and fermentation. The present study used a model system of rice coleoptile tips to elucidate patterns of protein synthesis in this anoxia-tolerant plant tissue. METHODS: Coleoptile tips 7-11 mm long were excised from intact seedlings exposed to anoxia, or excised from hypoxically pre-treated seedlings and then exposed to anoxia for 72 h. Total proteins or 35S-labelled proteins were extracted, separated using two-dimensional isoelectric focusing/SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and analysed using mass spectrometry. KEY RESULTS: The coleoptile tips excised after intact seedlings had been exposed to anoxia for 72 h had a similar proteome to tips that were first excised and then exposed to anoxia. After 72 h anoxia, Bowman-Birk trypsin inhibitors and a glycine-rich RNA-binding protein decreased in abundance, whereas a nucleoside diphosphate kinase and several proteins with unknown functions were strongly enhanced. Using [35S]methionine as label, proteins synthesized at high levels in anoxia, and also in aeration, included a nucleoside diphosphate kinase, a glycine-rich RNA-binding protein, a putative elicitor-inducible protein and a putative actin-depolymerizing factor. Proteins synthesized predominately in anoxia included a pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK), alcohol dehydrogenase 1 and 2, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase and a protein of unknown function. CONCLUSION: The induction of PPDK in anoxic rice coleoptiles might, in combination with pyruvate kinase (PK), enable operation of a 'substrate cycle' producing PPi from ATP. Production of PPi would (a) direct energy to crucial transport processes across the tonoplast (i.e. the H+-PPiase); (b) be required for sucrose hydrolysis via sucrose synthase; and (c) enable acceleration of glycolysis, via pyrophosphate:fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase (PFP) acting in parallel with phosphofructokinase (PFK), thus enhancing ATP production in anoxic rice coleoptiles; ATP production would need to be increased if there was a substantial requirement for PPi.

Energy Metabolism↗

Short-Term Metabolite Changes during Transient Ammonium Assimilation by the N-Limited Green Alga Selenastrum minutum.

In this study, we measured the total pool sizes of key cellular metabolites from nitrogen-limited cells of Selenastrum minutum before and during ammonium assimilation in the light. This was carried out to identify the sites at which N assimilation is acting to regulate carbon metabolism. Over 120 seconds following NH(4) (+) addition we found that: (a) N accumulated in glutamine while glutamate and alpha-ketoglutarate levels fell; (b) ATP levels declined within 5 seconds and recovered within 30 seconds of NH(4) (+) addition; (c) ratios of pyruvate/phosphoenolpyruvate, malate/phosphoenolpyruvate, Glc-1-P/Glc-6-P and Fru-1,6-bisphosphate/Fru-6-P increased; and (d) as previously seen, photosynthetic carbon fixation was inhibited. Further, we monitored starch degradation during N assimilation over a longer time course and found that starch breakdown occurred at a rate of about 110 micromoles glucose per milligram chlorophyll per hour. The results are consistent with N assimilation occurring through glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase at the expense of carbon previously stored as starch. They also indicate that regulation of several enzymes is involved in the shift in metabolism from photosynthetic carbon assimilation to carbohydrate oxidation during N assimilation. It seems likely that pyruvate kinase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, and starch degradation are all activated, whereas key Calvin cycle enzyme(s) are inactivated within seconds of NH(4) (+) addition to N-limited S. minutum cells. The rapid changes in glutamate and triose phosphate, recently shown to be regulators of cytosolic pyruvate kinase, are consistent with them contributing to the short-term activation of this enzyme.

Journal Article↗

Linking central metabolism with increased pathway flux: L-valine accumulation by Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Mutants of Corynebacterium glutamicum were made and enzymatically characterized to clone ilvD and ilvE, which encode dihydroxy acid dehydratase and transaminase B, respectively. These genes of the branched-chain amino acid synthesis were overexpressed together with ilvBN (which encodes acetohydroxy acid synthase) and ilvC (which encodes isomeroreductase) in the wild type, which does not excrete L-valine, to result in an accumulation of this amino acid to a concentration of 42 mM. Since L-valine originates from two pyruvate molecules, this illustrates the comparatively easy accessibility of the central metabolite pyruvate. The same genes, ilvBNCD, overexpressed in an ilvA deletion mutant which is unable to synthesize L-isoleucine increased the concentration of this amino acid to 58 mM. A further dramatic increase was obtained when panBC was deleted, making the resulting mutant auxotrophic for D-pantothenate. When the resulting strain, C. glutamicum 13032DeltailvADeltapanBC with ilvBNCD overexpressed, was grown under limiting conditions it accumulated 91 mM L-valine. This is attributed to a reduced coenzyme A availability and therefore reduced flux of pyruvate via pyruvate dehydrogenase enabling its increased drain-off via the L-valine biosynthesis pathway.

Biological Transport↗

Biosynthesis of Di-myo-inositol-1,1'-phosphate, a novel osmolyte in hyperthermophilic archaea.

Biosynthesis of di-myo-inositol-1,1'-phosphate (DIP) is proposed to occur with myo-inositol and myo-inositol 1-phosphate (I-1-P) used as precursors. Activation of the I-1-P with CTP and condensation of the resultant CDP-inositol (CDP-I) with myo-inositol then generates DIP. The sole known biosynthetic pathway of inositol in all organisms is the conversion of D-glucose-6-phosphate to myo-inositol. This conversion requires two key enzymes: L-I-1-P synthase and I-1-P phosphatase. Enzymatic assays using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as well as a colorimetric assay for inorganic phosphate have confirmed the occurrence of L-I-1-P synthase and a moderately specific I-1-P phosphatase. The enzymatic reaction that couples CDP-I with myo-inositol to generate DIP has also been detected in Methanococcus igneus. 13C labeling studies with [2,3-13C]pyruvate and [3-13C]pyruvate were used to examine this pathway in M. igneus. Label distribution in DIP was consistent with inositol units formed from glucose-6-phosphate, but the label in the glucose moiety was scrambled via transketolase and transaldolase activities of the pentose phosphate pathway.

Cell-Free System↗

Artificial selection for high activity favors mighty mini-muscles in house mice.

After 14 generations of selection for voluntary wheel running, mice from the four replicate selected lines ran, on average, twice as many revolutions per day as those from the four unselected control lines. To examine whether the selected lines followed distinct strategies in the correlated responses of the size and metabolic capacities of the hindlimb muscles, we examined mice from selected lines, housed for 8 wk in cages with access to running wheels that were either free to rotate ("wheel access" group) or locked ("sedentary"). Thirteen of twenty individuals in one selected line (line 6) and two of twenty in another (line 3) showed a marked reduction ( approximately 50%) in total hindlimb muscle mass, consistent with the previously described expression of a small-muscle phenotype. Individuals with these "mini-muscles" were not significantly smaller in total body mass compared with line-mates with normal-sized muscles. Access to free wheels did not affect the relative mass of the mini-muscles, but did result in typical mammalian training effects for mitochondrial enzyme activities. Individuals with mini-muscles showed a higher mass-specific muscle aerobic capacity as revealed by the maximal in vitro rates of citrate synthase and cytochrome c oxidase. Moreover, these mice showed the highest activities of hexokinase and carnitine palmitoyl transferase. Females with mini-muscles showed the highest levels of phosphofructokinase, and males with mini-muscles the highest levels of pyruvate dehydrogenase. As shown by total muscle enzyme contents, the increase in mass-specific aerobic capacity almost completely compensated for the reduction caused by the "loss" of muscle mass. Moreover, the mini-muscle mice exhibited the lowest contents of lactate dehydrogenase and glycogen phosphorylase. Interestingly, metabolic capacities of mini-muscled mice resemble those of muscles after endurance training. Overall, our results demonstrate that during selection for voluntary wheel running, distinct adaptive paths that differentially exploit the genetic variation in morphological and physiological traits have been followed.

Animals↗

Effect of functional overload on substrate oxidation capacity of skeletal muscle.

We determined the effects of surgically induced functional overload (O) on rodent fast-twitch plantaris (P) and slow-twitch soleus (S) skeletal muscle substrate oxidative capacity. Compared with normal control muscles of weight-matched rats, bilateral overload produced 68 and 23% increases in the wet weight of OP and OS muscles, respectively (p less than 0.05). Total protein concentrations of the O muscles remained unchanged relative to controls. The enzymatic capacity to oxidize pyruvate, palmitate, and alpha-glycerophosphate was unchanged in OP muscles relative to controls. Certain ketone oxidative enzyme markers were increased in the whole as well as in the inner "red" and outer "white" regions of OP muscle. Citrate synthase activity (a marker for tricarboxylic acid cycle oxidative capacity) was decreased in the whole and in the red region but unchanged in the white region of OP muscles. In contrast, the above measurements were significantly decreased in the OS muscles compared with controls (p less than 0.05). These findings suggest that there is both an expansion and a change in composition of the mitochondrial pool of enlarged P muscle. The effects on OS muscle, however, suggest the possibility that the oxidative capacity is not altered parallel with the enlargement, although fibre-typing (fast-twitch to slow-twitch) changes and altered mitochondrial composition could also contribute in part to the change.

Acetyl-CoA C-Acyltransferase↗