A cell-free protein translocation system prepared entirely from a gram-positive organism

On the target of a novel class of antibiotics, oxazolidinones, active against multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria

Oxazolidinones are a promising new class of synthetic antibiotics active against multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria. To elucidate their mode of action, the effect of DuP 721 on individual steps of protein translation was studied. The drug does not interfere with translation initiation at the stage of mRNA binding or formation of 30S pre-initiation complexes. However, it inhibits the puromycin-mediated release of [35S]formyl-methionine from 70S initiation complexes in a dose-dependent manner. Inhibition involves binding of the oxazolidinone to the large ribosomal subunit and is twice as high with 50S subunits from Gram-positive as with those from Gram-negative bacteria.

Comparative characterization of SecA from the alpha-subclass purple bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus and Escherichia coli reveals differences in membrane and precursor specificity

We have cloned the secA gene of the alpha-subclass purple bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus, a close relative to the mitochondrial ancestor, and purified the protein after expression in Escherichia coli. R. capsulatus SecA contains 904 amino acids with 53% identity to E. coli and 54% identity to Caulobacter crescentus SecA. In contrast to the nearly equal partitioning of E. coli SecA between the cytosol and plasma membrane, R. capsulatus SecA is recovered predominantly from the membrane fraction. A SecA-deficient, cell-free synthesis-translocation system prepared from R. capsulatus is used to demonstrate translocation activity of the purified R. capsulatus SecA. This translocation activity is then compared to that of the E. coli counterpart by using various precursor proteins and inside-out membrane vesicles prepared from both bacteria. We find a preference of the R. capsulatus SecA for the homologous membrane vesicles whereas E. coli SecA is active with either type of membrane. Furthermore, the two SecA proteins clearly select between distinct precursor proteins. In addition, we show here for the first time that a bacterial c-type cytochrome utilizes the canonical, Sec-dependent export pathway.