Post-translational and transcriptional regulation of polyamine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli

Polyamine biosynthesis and biological roles in rhizobia

Polyamines are ubiquitous molecules containing two or more amino groups that fulfill varied and often essential physiological and regulatory roles in all organisms. In the symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria known as rhizobia, putrescine and homospermidine are invariably produced while spermidine and norspermidine synthesis appears to be restricted to the alfalfa microsymbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti. Studies with rhizobial mutants deficient in the synthesis of one or more polyamines have shown that these compounds are important for growth, stress resistance, motility, exopolysaccharide production and biofilm formation. In this review, we describe these studies and examine how polyamines are synthesized and regulated in rhizobia.

Biosynthesis of Arginine and Polyamines

Early investigations on arginine biosynthesis brought to light basic features of metabolic regulation. The most significant advances of the last 10 to 15 years concern the arginine repressor, its structure and mode of action in both E. coli and Salmonella typhimurium, the sequence analysis of all arg structural genes in E. coli and Salmonella typhimurium, the resulting evolutionary inferences, and the dual regulation of the carAB operon. This review provides an overall picture of the pathways, their interconnections, the regulatory circuits involved, and the resulting interferences between arginine and polyamine biosynthesis. Carbamoylphosphate is a precursor common to arginine and the pyrimidines. In both Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, it is produced by a single synthetase, carbamoylphosphate synthetase (CPSase), with glutamine as the physiological amino group donor. This situation contrasts with the existence of separate enzymes specific for arginine and pyrimidine biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis and fungi. Polyamine biosynthesis has been particularly well studied in E. coli, and the cognate genes have been identified in the Salmonella genome as well, including those involved in transport functions. The review summarizes what is known about the enzymes involved in the arginine pathway of E. coli and S. enterica serovar Typhimurium; homologous genes were identified in both organisms, except argF (encoding a supplementary OTCase), which is lacking in Salmonella. Several examples of putative enzyme recruitment (homologous enzymes performing analogous functions) are also presented.

Effect of histamine on the signal transduction of the AtoS-AtoC two component system and involvement in poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate biosynthesis in Escherichia coli

AtoS-AtoC two-component system acts directly on the atoDAEB operon transcription to regulate the biosynthesis of short-chain poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate. This study sought to investigate the effect of histamine and compound 48/80 on the regulation of AtoS-AtoC two-component system in Escherichia coli K-12 MA255 (speC(-), speB(-)) and the isogenic E. coli strains BW25113 (atoSC(+)) and BW28878 (DeltaatoSC) transformed with plasmids carrying related genes. Histamine or compound 48/80 induced or tended to reduce atoC transcription, respectively, while neither compound showed any effect on atoDAEB operon transcription. Moreover, histamine down-regulated poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate biosynthesis, whereas compound 48/80 up-regulated its biosynthesis, maximal induction being obtained in the presence of multiple copies of AtoS-AtoC. Interestingly, co-administration of histamine counteracted this inductive effect of compound 48/80. The reported data provide the first evidence for a differential modulator role of histamine and compound 48/80 on the AtoS-AtoC two-component system signaling in potentially pathogenic bacteria, leading to a new perspective on their symbiotic behavior.

Physiological polyamines: simple primordial stress molecules

Physiological polyamines are ubiquitous polycations with pleiotropic biochemical activities, including regulation of gene expression, cell proliferation and modulation of cell signalling. Reports that the polyamines with cytoprotective activities were induced by diverse stresses raised the hypothesis that physiological polyamines may play a role in inducing stress response. In a wide range of organisms, physiological polyamines were not only induced by diverse stresses, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), heat, ultraviolet (UV) and psychiatric stress but were able to confer beneficial effects for survival. Recent biochemical and genetic evidences show that polyamines can function as an ROS scavenger, acid tolerance factor and chemical chaperone, and positive regulators for expression of stress response genes which may explain their protective functions against diverse stresses. Taken together, these data suggest that physiological polyamines can function as primordial stress molecules in bacteria, plants and mammals, and may play an essential role in regulation of pathogen-host interactions.

Spermidine triggering effect to the signal transduction through the AtoS–AtoC/Az two-component system in Escherichia coli

Recent analysis revealed that, in Escherichia coli the AtoS-AtoC/Az two-component system (TCS) and its target atoDAEB operon regulate the biosynthesis of short-chain poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate (cPHB) biosynthesis, a biopolymer with many physiological roles, upon acetoacetate-mediated induction. We report here that spermidine further enhanced this effect, in E. coli that overproduces both components of the AtoS-AtoC/Az TCS, without altering their protein levels. However, bacteria that overproduce either AtoS or AtoC did not display this phenotype. The extrachromosomal introduction of AtoS-AtoC/Az in an E. coli DeltaatoSC strain restored cPHB biosynthesis to the level of the atoSC(+) cells, in the presence of the polyamine. Lack of enhanced cPHB production was observed in cells overproducing the TCS that did not have the atoDAEB operon. Spermidine attained the cPHB enhancement through the AtoC/Az response regulator phosphorylation, since atoC phosphorylation site mutants, which overproduce AtoS, accumulated less amounts of cPHB, compared to their wild-type counterparts. Exogenous addition of N(8)-acetyl-spermidine resulted in elevated amounts of cPHB but at lower levels than those attained upon spermidine addition. Furthermore, AtoS-AtoC/Az altered the intracellular distribution of cPHB according to the inducer recognized by the TCS. Overall, AtoS-AtoC/Az TCS was induced by spermidine to regulate both the biosynthesis and the intracellular distribution of cPHB in E. coli.

Effect of polyamines and synthetic polyamine-analogues on the expression of antizyme (AtoC) and its regulatory genes

Background

In bacteria, the biosynthesis of polyamines is modulated at the level of transcription as well as post-translationally. Antizyme (Az) has long been identified as a non-competitive protein inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis in E. coli. Az was also revealed to be the product of the atoC gene. AtoC is the response regulator of the AtoS-AtoC two-component system and it functions as the positive transcriptional regulator of the atoDAEB operon genes, encoding enzymes involved in short chain fatty acid metabolism. The antizyme is referred to as AtoC/Az, to indicate its dual function as both a transcriptional and post-translational regulator.

Results

The roles of polyamines on the transcription of atoS and atoC genes as well as that of atoDAEB(ato) operon were studied. Polyamine-mediated induction was tested both in atoSC positive and negative E. coli backgrounds by using β-galactosidase reporter constructs carrying the appropriate promoters patoDAEB, patoS, patoC. In addition, a selection of synthetic polyamine analogues have been synthesized and tested for their effectiveness in inducing the expression of atoC/Az, the product of which plays a pivotal role in the feedback inhibition of putrescine biosynthesis and the transcriptional regulation of the ato operon. The effects of these compounds were also determined on the ato operon expression. The polyamine analogues were also tested for their effect on the activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the key enzyme of polyamine biosynthesis and on the growth of polyamine-deficient E. coli.

Conclusion

Polyamines, which have been reported to induce the protein levels of AtoC/Az in E. coli, act at the transcriptional level, since they cause activation of the atoC transcription. In addition, a series of polyamine analogues were studied on the transcription of atoC gene and ODC activity.

Phosphorylation activity of the response regulator of the two-component signal transduction system AtoS–AtoC in E. coli

Antizyme, long known to be a non-competitive inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, is encoded by the atoC gene in Escherichia coli. The present study reveals another role for AtoC, that of a response regulator of the AtoS-AtoC two component system regulating the expression of the atoDAEB operon upon acetoacetate induction. This operon encodes enzymes involved in short-chain fatty acid catabolism in E. coli. Evidence is presented to show that AtoS is a sensor kinase that together with AtoC constitutes a two-component signal transduction system. AtoS is a membrane protein which can autophosphorylate and then transfer that phosphoryl group to AtoC. This process can also be reproduced in vitro. AtoC contains in its amino acid sequence a conserved aspartic acid (D55), which is the putative phosphorylation site, as well as an unexpected "H box" consensus sequence (SHETRTPV), common to histidine kinases, with the histidine contained therein (H73) being a second potential target for phosphorylation. Substitution of either D55 or H73 in His10-AtoC diminished but did not abrogate AtoC phosphorylation suggesting that either both residues can be phosphorylated independently or that the phosphate group can be transferred between them. However, the D55 mutation in comparison to H73 had a more pronounced effect in vivo, on the activation of atoDAEB promoter after acetoacetate induction, although it was the presence of both mutations that rendered AtoC totally unresponsive to induction. These data provide evidence that the gene products of atoS and atoC constitute a two-component signal transduction system, with some unusual properties, involved in the regulation of the atoDAEB operon.

The role of bacterial antizyme: From an inhibitory protein to AtoC transcriptional regulator

This review considers the role of bacterial antizyme in the regulation of polyamine biosynthesis and gives new perspectives on the involvement of antizyme in other significant cellular mechanisms. Antizyme is a protein molecule induced by the end product of the enzymic reaction that it inhibits, in a non-competitive manner. The bacterial ornithine decarboxylase is regulated by nucleotides, phosphorylation and antizyme. The inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase by antizyme can be relieved to different degrees by DNA or by a variety of synthetic nucleic acid polymers, attributed to a specific interaction between nucleic acid and antizyme. Recently, this interplay between bacterial antizyme and nucleic acid was determined by discerning an additional function to antizyme that proved to be the atoC gene product, encoding the response regulator of the bacterial two-component system AtoS-AtoC. The gene located just upstream of atoC encodes the sensor kinase, named AtoS, that modulates AtoC activity. AtoC regulates expression of atoDAEB operon which is involved in short-chain fatty acid metabolism. Antizyme is thus referred to as AtoC, functioning both as a post-translational and transcriptional regulator. Also, the AtoS-AtoC signal transduction system in E. coli has a positive regulatory role on poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate biosynthesis. The properties and gene structural similarities of antizymes from different organisms were compared. It was revealed that conserved domains are present mostly in the C-domain of all antizymes. BLAST analysis of the E. coli antizyme protein (AtoC) showed similarities around 69-58% among proteobacteria, g-proteobacteria, enterobacteria and the thermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus. A working hypothesis is proposed for the metabolic role of antizyme (AtoC) describing the significant biological implications of this protein molecule. Whether antizymes exist to other enzymes in different tissues, meeting the criteria discussed in the text remains to be elucidated.

Procyclic Trypanosoma brucei cell lines deficient in ornithine decarboxylase activity

Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is a rate limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis of polyamines. We report here the construction of ODC gene deficient Trypanosoma brucei brucei cell lines by homologous recombination and disruption of the two alleles of the ODC gene. With our first stable transfection vector, we replaced the 2.8 kb SacII ODC gene-containing fragment with a hygromycin-B-phosphotransferase gene (hph) cassette transcribed under the control of the endogenous promoter. For the second ODC allele knock-out, we stably transfected similar constructs that contained either the phleomycin or G418 resistance gene cassette, and included 1 mM putrescine in the media. These experiments resulted in two separate ODC- lines: one hygromycin and phleomycin resistant, the other hygromycin and G418 resistant. The two ODC gene knockout lines were verified by Southern and Northern hybridization, and confirmed by Western blot and enzymatic activity assay. There is no ODC expression in the two ODC- lines and the ODC messages in the single ODC gene knockouts were only half of that of the wild type. When grown in the presence of putrescine, the ODC- lines showed little difference, morphologically, from wild type trypanosomes. The growth rate of these lines varied greatly, depending on the concentration of the putrescine. Interestingly, when putrescine was completely withdrawn from the media, the ODC- trypanosomes soon reached a plateau phase and some cells remained viable for 7-8 weeks. The starved cells could be rescued by the addition of putrescine or introducing back the ODC gene. Cell cycle analysis suggested that putrescine is required for G1-S transition in the procyclic form T. brucei.

Relationship of the expression of the S20 and L34 ribosomal proteins to polyamine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli

Polyamine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli is regulated transcriptionally and post-translationally. Antizyme and ribosomal proteins S20 and L34 participate in post-translational inhibition of the polyamine biosynthetic enzymes ornithine and arginine decarboxylase. The aim of the present study was to investigate the significance of S20 and L34 in polyamine regulation in vivo. In vivo overexpression of S20 and L34 lowered the activities of ornithine and arginine decarboxylases and decreased total polyamine production. The levels of cadaverine, a related diamine whose synthesis is not regulated by S20 and L34, did not decrease but increased. The diminished ornithine and arginine decarboxylase activities are shown to result from reversible post-translational inhibition since the enzymes could be reactivated to normal levels upon titration of the inhibitors. The effects were specific as overexpression of eight other ribosomal proteins had no influence. Overexpression of ornithine decarboxylase results in elevated polyamine production and it increases S20 and L34 levels but not those of other ribosomal proteins. Ornithine depletion decreases S20 and L34 to normal levels in the ornithine decarboxylase overproducing cells. Immunoprecipitation experiments coupled with immunoblots indicated that ornithine and arginine decarboxylases physically interact with S20 and L34. This study shows that ribosomal proteins S20 and L34 can inhibit ornithine and arginine decarboxylases and polyamine biosynthesis in vivo. It is concluded that, unlike other basic ribosomal proteins and polycationic compounds which inhibit the activities of these enzymes only in vitro, S20 and L34 are biologically relevant in the regulation of the polyamine biosynthetic pathway.