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Brantl S, Ul Haq I. Small proteins in Gram-positive bacteria. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2023; 47:fuad064. [PMID: 38052429 PMCID: PMC10730256 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuad064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Small proteins comprising less than 100 amino acids have been often ignored in bacterial genome annotations. About 10 years ago, focused efforts started to investigate whole peptidomes, which resulted in the discovery of a multitude of small proteins, but only a number of them have been characterized in detail. Generally, small proteins can be either membrane or cytosolic proteins. The latter interact with larger proteins, RNA or even metal ions. Here, we summarize our current knowledge on small proteins from Gram-positive bacteria with a special emphasis on the model organism Bacillus subtilis. Our examples include membrane-bound toxins of type I toxin-antitoxin systems, proteins that block the assembly of higher order structures, regulate sporulation or modulate the RNA degradosome. We do not consider antimicrobial peptides. Furthermore, we present methods for the identification and investigation of small proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Brantl
- AG Bakteriengenetik, Matthias-Schleiden-Institut, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Philosophenweg 12, Jena D-07743, Germany
| | - Inam Ul Haq
- AG Bakteriengenetik, Matthias-Schleiden-Institut, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Philosophenweg 12, Jena D-07743, Germany
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2
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Fatema N, Fan C. Studying lysine acetylation of citric acid cycle enzymes by genetic code expansion. Mol Microbiol 2023; 119:551-559. [PMID: 36890576 PMCID: PMC10636775 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.15052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Revised: 02/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/10/2023]
Abstract
Lysine acetylation is one of the most abundant post-translational modifications in nature, affecting many key biological pathways in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. It has not been long since technological advances led to understanding of the roles of acetylation in biological processes. Most of those studies were based on proteomic analyses, which have identified thousands of acetylation sites in a wide range of proteins. However, the specific role of individual acetylation event remains largely unclear, mostly due to the existence of multiple acetylation and dynamic changes of acetylation levels. To solve these problems, the genetic code expansion technique has been applied in protein acetylation studies, facilitating the incorporation of acetyllysine into a specific lysine position to generate a site-specifically acetylated protein. By this method, the effects of acetylation at a specific lysine residue can be characterized with minimal interferences. Here, we summarized the development of the genetic code expansion technique for lysine acetylation and recent studies on lysine acetylation of citrate acid cycle enzymes in bacteria by this approach, providing a practical application of the genetic code expansion technique in protein acetylation studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nour Fatema
- Cell and Molecular Biology Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA
| | - Chenguang Fan
- Cell and Molecular Biology Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA
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3
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Chu PTB, Phan TTP, Nguyen TTT, Truong TTT, Schumann W, Nguyen HD. Potent IPTG-inducible integrative expression vectors for production of recombinant proteins in Bacillus subtilis. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 2023; 39:143. [PMID: 37004690 DOI: 10.1007/s11274-023-03566-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023]
Abstract
The IPTG-inducible promoter family, Pgrac, allows high protein expression levels in an inducible manner. In this study, we constructed IPTG-inducible expression vectors containing strong Pgrac promoters that allow integration of the transgene at either the amyE or lacA locus or both loci in Bacillus subtilis. Our novel integrative expression vectors based on Pgrac promoters could control the repression of protein production in the absence and the induction in the presence of an inducer, IPTG. The β-galactosidase (BgaB) protein levels were 9.0%, 15% and 30% of the total cellular protein in the B. subtilis strains carrying single cassettes with the Pgrac01, Pgrac100 or Pgrac212 promoters, respectively. The maximal induction ratio of Pgrac01-bgaB was 35.5 while that of Pgrac100-bgaB was 7.5 and that of Pgrac212-bgaB was 9. The inducible expression of GFP and BgaB protein was stably maintained for 24 h, with the highest yield of GFP being 24% of cell total protein while the maximum amount of BgaB was found to be 38%. A dual integration of two copies of the gfp+ gene into the B. subtilis genome at the lacA and amyE loci resulted in a yield of about 40% of total cellular protein and a 1.74-fold increase in GFP compared with single-integrated strains containing the same Pgrac212 promoter. The capability of protein production from low to high levels of these inducible integrative systems is useful for fundamental and applied research in B. subtilis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phuong Thi Bich Chu
- Center for Bioscience and Biotechnology, University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Faculty of Pharmacy, HUTECH University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Trang Thi Phuong Phan
- Center for Bioscience and Biotechnology, University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
- Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
- Laboratory of Molecular Biotechnology, University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
| | - Tam Thi Thanh Nguyen
- Center for Bioscience and Biotechnology, University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Faculty of Pharmacy, HUTECH University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Tuom Thi Tinh Truong
- Center for Bioscience and Biotechnology, University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Cancer Research Laboratory, University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Wolfgang Schumann
- Center for Bioscience and Biotechnology, University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Institute of Genetics, University of Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Hoang Duc Nguyen
- Center for Bioscience and Biotechnology, University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
- Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
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Xu C, Zou Q, Tian J, Li M, Xing B, Gong J, Wang J, Huo YX, Guo S. Simplified Construction of Engineered Bacillus subtilis Host for Improved Expression of Proteins Harboring Noncanonical Amino Acids. ACS Synth Biol 2023; 12:583-595. [PMID: 36653175 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.2c00604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The UAG-based genetic code expansion (GCE) enables site-specific incorporation of noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) harboring novel chemical functionalities in specific target proteins. However, most GCE studies were done in several whole-genome engineered chassis cells whose hundreds of UAG stop codons were systematically edited to UAA to avoid readthrough in protein synthesis in the presence of GCE. The huge workload of removing all UAG limited the application of GCE in other microbial cell factories (MCF) such as Bacillus subtilis, which has 607 genes ended with UAG among its 4245 coding genes. Although the 257 essential genes count only 6.1% of the genes in B. subtilis, they transcribe 12.2% of the mRNAs and express 52.1% of the proteins under the exponential phase. Here, we engineered a strain named Bs-22 in which all 22 engineerable UAG stop codons in essential genes were edited to UAA via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated multiple-site engineering to minimize the negative effect of GCE on the expression of essential genes. Besides the process of constructing GCE-compatible B. subtilis was systematically optimized. Compared with wild-type B. subtilis (Bs-WT), the fluorescence signal of the eGFP expression could enhance 2.25-fold in Bs-22, and the production of protein tsPurple containing l-(7-hydroxycoumarin-4-yl) ethylglycine (Cou) was increased 2.31-fold in Bs-22. We verified that all purified tsPurple proteins from Bs-22 contained Cou, indicating the excellent fidelity of the strategy. This proof-of-concept study reported efficient overexpression of ncAA-rich proteins in MCF with minimized engineering, shedding new light on solving the trade-off between efficiency and workload.
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Affiliation(s)
- Changgeng Xu
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotherapy, School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, 100081 Beijing, China
| | - Qin Zou
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotherapy, School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, 100081 Beijing, China.,Beijing Institute of Technology (Tangshan) Translational Research Center, Tangshan Port Economic Development Zone, 063611 Hebei, China
| | - Jiheng Tian
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotherapy, School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, 100081 Beijing, China
| | - Mengyuan Li
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotherapy, School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, 100081 Beijing, China
| | - Baowen Xing
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotherapy, School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, 100081 Beijing, China
| | - Julia Gong
- Marymount High School, Los Angeles, California 10643, United States
| | - Jiangyun Wang
- Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 15 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, 100101 Beijing, China
| | - Yi-Xin Huo
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotherapy, School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, 100081 Beijing, China.,Beijing Institute of Technology (Tangshan) Translational Research Center, Tangshan Port Economic Development Zone, 063611 Hebei, China
| | - Shuyuan Guo
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotherapy, School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, 100081 Beijing, China
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He X, Gao T, Chen Y, Liu K, Guo J, Niu W. Genetic Code Expansion in Pseudomonas putida KT2440. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:3724-3732. [PMID: 36287825 PMCID: PMC10656745 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.2c00325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Pseudomonas putida KT2440 is an emerging microbial chassis for biobased chemical production from renewable feedstocks and environmental bioremediation. However, tools for studying, engineering, and modulating protein complexes and biosynthetic enzymes in this organism are largely underdeveloped. Genetic code expansion for the incorporation of unnatural amino acids (unAAs) into proteins can advance such efforts and, furthermore, enable additional controls of biological processes of the strain. In this work, we established the orthogonality of two widely used archaeal tRNA synthetase and tRNA pairs in KT2440. Following the optimization of decoding systems, four unAAs were incorporated into proteins in response to a UAG stop codon at 34.6-78% efficiency. In addition, we demonstrated the utility of genetic code expansion through the incorporation of a photocross-linking amino acid, p-benzoyl-l-phenylalanine (pBpa), into glutathione S-transferase (GstA) and a chemosensory response regulator (CheY) for protein-protein interaction studies in KT2440. This work reported the successful genetic code expansion in KT2440 for the first time. Given the diverse structure and functions of unAAs that have been added to protein syntheses using the archaeal systems, our research lays down a solid foundation for future work to study and enhance the biological functions of KT2440.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyuan He
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68588, United States
| | - Tianyu Gao
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68588, United States
| | - Yan Chen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68588, United States
| | - Kun Liu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68588, United States
| | - Jiantao Guo
- Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68588, United States
- The Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication (NCIBC), University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68588, United States
| | - Wei Niu
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68588, United States
- The Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication (NCIBC), University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68588, United States
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Stork DA, Jones MA, Garner EC, Kunjapur AM. Incorporation of a Chemically Diverse Set of Non-Standard Amino Acids into a Gram-Positive Organism. Bio Protoc 2022; 12:e4507. [PMID: 36213107 PMCID: PMC9501757 DOI: 10.21769/bioprotoc.4507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Revised: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The incorporation of non-standard amino acids (nsAAs) within proteins and peptides through genetic code expansion introduces novel chemical functionalities such as photo-crosslinking and bioconjugation. Given the utility of Bacillus subtilis in fundamental and applied science, we extended existing nsAA incorporation technology from Escherichia coli into B. subtilis , demonstrating incorporation of 20 unique nsAAs. The nsAAs we succeeded in incorporating within proteins conferred properties that included fluorescence, photo-crosslinking, and metal chelation. Here, we describe the reagents, equipment, and protocols to test for nsAA incorporation at a small scale (96-well plate and culture tube scales). We report specific media requirements for certain nsAAs, including two variants for different media conditions. Our protocol provides a consistent and reproducible method for incorporation of a chemically diverse set of nsAAs into a model Gram-positive organism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devon A. Stork
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
,
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Michaela A. Jones
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Ethan C. Garner
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
,
*For correspondence:
;
| | - Aditya M. Kunjapur
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
,
*For correspondence:
;
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Zhu X, Zhaoyang Zhang, Bin Jia, Yuan Y. Current advances of biocontainment strategy in synthetic biology. Chin J Chem Eng 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2022.07.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Stieglitz JT, Lahiri P, Stout MI, Van Deventer JA. Exploration of Methanomethylophilus alvus Pyrrolysyl-tRNA Synthetase Activity in Yeast. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:1824-1834. [PMID: 35417129 PMCID: PMC10112046 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.2c00001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Archaeal pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetases (PylRSs) have been used to genetically encode over 200 distinct noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) in proteins in Escherichia coli and mammalian cells. This vastly expands the range of chemical functionality accessible within proteins produced in these organisms. Despite these clear successes, explorations of PylRS function in yeast remain limited. In this work, we demonstrate that the Methanomethylophilus alvus PylRS (MaPylRS) and its cognate tRNACUAMaPyl support the incorporation of ncAAs into proteins produced in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using stop codon suppression methodologies. Additionally, we prepared three MaPylRS mutants originally engineered in E. coli and determined that all three were active with one or more ncAAs, although with low efficiencies of ncAA incorporation in comparison to the parent MaPylRS. Alongside MaPylRS variants, we evaluated the activity of previously reported Methanosarcina mazei, Methanosarcina barkeri, and chimeric M. mazei and M. barkeri PylRSs. Using S. cerevisiae RJY100 and pairing these PylRSs with the M. mazei tRNACUA, we did not observe any detectable stop codon suppression activity under the same conditions that produced moderately efficient ncAA incorporation with MaPylRS. The addition of MaPylRS/tRNACUAMaPyl to the orthogonal translation machinery toolkit in S. cerevisiae potentially opens the door to hundreds of ncAAs that have not previously been genetically encodable using other aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pairs. Extending the scope of ncAA incorporation in yeast could powerfully advance chemical and biological research for applications ranging from basic biological discovery to enzyme engineering and therapeutic protein lead discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica T. Stieglitz
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Priyanka Lahiri
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Matthew I. Stout
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - James A. Van Deventer
- Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
- Biomedical Engineering Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
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