Kinetic studies of allosteric catabolic ornithine carbamoyltransferase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Catabolic Ornithine Carbamoyltransferase Activity Facilitates Growth of Staphylococcus aureus in Defined Medium Lacking Glucose and Arginine

Previous studies have found that arginine biosynthesis in Staphylococcus aureus is repressed via carbon catabolite repression (CcpA), and proline is used as a precursor. Unexpectedly, however, robust growth of S. aureus is not observed in complete defined medium lacking both glucose and arginine (CDM-R). Mutants able to grow on agar-containing defined medium lacking arginine (CDM-R) were selected and found to contain mutations within ahrC, encoding the canonical arginine biosynthesis pathway repressor (AhrC), or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) upstream of the native arginine deiminase (ADI) operon arcA1B1D1C1. Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) studies found that mutations within ccpA or ahrC or SNPs identified upstream of arcA1B1D1C1 increased the transcription of both arcB1 and argGH, encoding ornithine carbamoyltransferase and argininosuccinate synthase/lyase, respectively, facilitating arginine biosynthesis. Furthermore, mutations within the AhrC homologue argR2 facilitated robust growth within CDM-R. Complementation with arcB1 or arcA1B1D1C1, but not argGH, rescued growth in CDM-R. Finally, supplementation of CDM-R with ornithine stimulated growth, as did mutations in genes (proC and rocA) that presumably increased the pyrroline-5-carboxylate and ornithine pools. Collectively, these data suggest that the transcriptional regulation of ornithine carbamoyltransferase and, in addition, the availability of intracellular ornithine pools regulate arginine biosynthesis in S. aureus in the absence of glucose. Surprisingly, ~50% of clinical S. aureus isolates were able to grow in CDM-R. These data suggest that S. aureus is selected to repress arginine biosynthesis in environments with or without glucose; however, mutants may be readily selected that facilitate arginine biosynthesis and growth in specific environments lacking arginine.

Regulation of citrulline synthesis in human enterocytes: Role of hypoxia and inflammation

Intensive care unit patients and chronic airway inflammatory disease are characterized by chronic systemic hypoxia and inflammation inducing a decrease in nitric oxide release due to impaired l-arginine (ARG) homeostasis. As ARG is synthesized from circulating l-citrulline (CIT), an alteration of CIT production in small intestine by ornithine carbamoyltransferase could be involved. Here, we posit that hypoxia and/or inflammation has effects on ornithine carbamoyltransferase regulation in enterocytes. A duodenal explant incubation model was used. Biopsy specimens taken from 25 selected patients were incubated for 6 h in 4 groups: control, inflammation, hypoxia, and hypoxia + inflammation. At the end of the incubation period, we measured CIT concentration in culture media, ornithine carbamoyltransferase activity, ornithine carbamoyltransferase protein and gene expression, protein expression of enzymes involved in the CIT production pathway, and expression of energy status proteins. Inflammation and/or hypoxia conditions did not affect CIT production. Ornithine carbamoyltransferase activity was increased in hypoxia conditions (p = 0.023). Expression of enzymes implicated in the CIT crossroads pathway and enzymes reflecting energy status variation was not affected by inflammation and hypoxia. Data sets were pooled to evaluate the variability of the four quartiles for each parameter. CIT production was found to increase over the quartiles whereas other parameters remained stable. Our results showed that intestinal CIT production is preserved during inflammation and/or hypoxia, thus confirming the significance of this metabolic pathway. This suggests that the CIT deficiency observed in clinical hypercatabolic states could be a consequence of high utilization for ARG synthesis.

Fine-Tuning Multi-Gene Clusters via Well-Characterized Gene Expression Regulatory Elements: Case Study of the Arginine Synthesis Pathway in C. glutamicum

Promoters and ribosome binding sites (RBSs) are routinely applied in gene expression regulation, but their orthogonality and combinatorial effects have not yet been systematically studied in Corynebacterium glutamicum. Here, 17 core promoters and 29 RBSs in C. glutamicum were characterized, which exhibited 470-fold and 430-fold in transcriptional and translational activity, respectively. By comparing the expression of two reporter genes regulated by multiple RBSs, the RBS efficacy showed significant dependence on the gene context, besides the RBSs' strength, reflecting the poor orthogonality of RBSs. Bicistron-modified RBS (referred as bc-RBS) was adapted to C. glutamicum, which improved RBS reliability. By coupling a series of promoters with RBSs/bc-RBSs, a much broader regulation range that spanned 4 orders of magnitude was observed compared with that of a sole element, and the contribution to gene expression of RBS was more than that of promoter. Finally, promoters and RBSs were applied as built-in elements to fine-tune the gene cluster in the arginine synthesis pathway in C. glutamicum. Compared with the original strain, more arginine (1.61-fold) or citrulline (2.35-fold) was accumulated in a 7 L bioreactor by strains with the gene expression regulation system rationally engineered. We demonstrated that, via combination of well-characterized gene elements, and overall consideration for both transcription and translation, the biosynthesis pathway can be effectively balanced, and the yield of a target metabolite can be further improved.

Effects of a small, volatile bacterial molecule on Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria using whole cell high-resolution magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and genomics

In the present study, high-resolution magic-angle spinning (HRMAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was applied to live Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) bacterial cells to determine the metabolome of this opportunistic Gram-negative human pathogen, and in particular, its response to the volatile aromatic low molecular weight signaling molecule, 2-aminoacetophenone (2-AA). Multi-dimensional HRMAS NMR is a promising method which may be used to determine the in vivo metabolome of live intact bacterial cells; 2-AA is produced by PA and triggers the emergence of phenotypes that promote chronic infection phenotypes in in vitro and in vivo (animal) models. In the present study, we applied one-dimensional and two-dimensional proton (¹H) HRMAS NMR to PA cells which were grown with or without 2-AA in order to examine the associations between metabolites and cellular processes in response to 2-AA. We also compared whole-genome transcriptome profiles of PA cells grown with or without 2-AA and found that 2-AA promoted profound metabolic changes in the PA cells. By comparing the whole-genome transcriptome profiles and metabolomic analysis, we demonstrated that 2-AA profoundly reprogramed the gene expression and metabolic profiles of the cells. Our in vivo¹H HRMAS NMR spectroscopy may prove to be a helpful tool in the validation of gene functions, the study of pathogenic mechanisms, the classification of microbial strains into functional/clinical groups and the testing of anti-bacterial agents.

Sources and Fates of Carbamyl Phosphate: A Labile Energy-Rich Molecule with Multiple Facets

Carbamyl phosphate (CP) is well-known as an essential intermediate of pyrimidine and arginine/urea biosynthesis. Chemically, CP can be easily synthesized from dihydrogen phosphate and cyanate. Enzymatically, CP can be synthesized using three different classes of enzymes: (1) ATP-grasp fold protein based carbamyl phosphate synthetase (CPS); (2) Amino-acid kinase fold carbamate kinase (CK)-like CPS (anabolic CK or aCK); and (3) Catabolic transcarbamylase. The first class of CPS can be further divided into three different types of CPS as CPS I, CPS II, and CPS III depending on the usage of ammonium or glutamine as its nitrogen source, and whether N-acetyl-glutamate is its essential co-factor. CP can donate its carbamyl group to the amino nitrogen of many important molecules including the most well-known ornithine and aspartate in the arginine/urea and pyrimidine biosynthetic pathways. CP can also donate its carbamyl group to the hydroxyl oxygen of a variety of molecules, particularly in many antibiotic biosynthetic pathways. Transfer of the carbamyl group to the nitrogen group is catalyzed by the anabolic transcarbamylase using a direct attack mechanism, while transfer of the carbamyl group to the oxygen group is catalyzed by a different class of enzymes, CmcH/NodU CTase, using a different mechanism involving a three-step reaction, decomposition of CP to carbamate and phosphate, transfer of the carbamyl group from carbamate to ATP to form carbamyladenylate and pyrophosphate, and transfer of the carbamyl group from carbamyladenylate to the oxygen group of the substrate. CP is also involved in transferring its phosphate group to ADP to generate ATP in the fermentation of many microorganisms. The reaction is catalyzed by carbamate kinase, which may be termed as catabolic CK (cCK) in order to distinguish it from CP generating CK. CP is a thermally labile molecule, easily decomposed into phosphate and cyanate, or phosphate and carbamate depending on the pH of the solution, or the presence of enzyme. Biological systems have developed several mechanisms including channeling between enzymes, increased affinity of CP to enzymes, and keeping CP in a specific conformation to protect CP from decomposition. CP is highly important for our health as both a lack of, or decreased, CP production and CP accumulation results in many disease conditions.

Critical roles of arginine in growth and biofilm development by Streptococcus gordonii

Streptococcus gordonii is an oral commensal and an early coloniser of dental plaque. In vitro, S. gordonii is conditionally auxotrophic for arginine in monoculture but biosynthesises arginine when coaggregated with Actinomyces oris. Here, we investigated the arginine-responsive regulatory network of S. gordonii and the basis for conditional arginine auxotrophy. ArcB, the catabolic ornithine carbamoyltransferase involved in arginine degradation, was also essential for arginine biosynthesis. However, arcB was poorly expressed following arginine depletion, indicating that arcB levels may limit S. gordonii arginine biosynthesis. Arginine metabolism gene expression was tightly co-ordinated by three ArgR/AhrC family regulators, encoded by argR, ahrC and arcR genes. Microarray analysis revealed that > 450 genes were regulated in response to rapid shifts in arginine concentration, including many genes involved in adhesion and biofilm formation. In a microfluidic salivary biofilm model, low concentrations of arginine promoted S. gordonii growth, whereas high concentrations (> 5 mM arginine) resulted in dramatic reductions in biofilm biomass and changes to biofilm architecture. Collectively, these data indicate that arginine metabolism is tightly regulated in S. gordonii and that arginine is critical for gene regulation, cellular growth and biofilm formation. Manipulating exogenous arginine concentrations may be an attractive approach for oral biofilm control.

Live-cell high resolution magic angle spinning magnetic resonance spectroscopy for in vivo analysis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa metabolomics

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is a pathogenic gram-negative bacterium that is widespread in nature, inhabiting soil, water, plants and animals. PA is a prevalent cause of deleterious human infections, particularly in patients whose host defense mechanisms have been compromised. Metabolomics is an important tool used to study host-pathogen interactions and to identify novel therapeutic targets and corresponding compounds. The aim of the present study was to report the metabolic profile of live PA bacteria using in vivo high-resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), in combination with 1- and 2-dimensional HRMAS NMR. This methodology provides a new and powerful technique to rapidly interrogate the metabolome of intact bacterial cells and has several advantages over traditional techniques that identify metabolome components from disrupted cells. Furthermore, application of multidimensional HRMAS NMR, in combination with the novel technique total through-Bond correlation Spectroscopy (TOBSY), is a promising approach that may be used to obtain in vivo metabolomics information from intact live bacterial cells and can mediate such analyses in a short period of time. Moreover, HRMAS ¹H NMR enables the investigation of the associations between metabolites and cell processes. In the present study, we detected and quantified several informative metabolic molecules in live PA cells, including N-acetyl, betaine, citrulline, alanine and glycine, which are important in peptidoglycan synthesis. The results provided a complete metabolic profile of PA for future studies of PA clinical isolates and mutants. In addition, this in vivo NMR biomedical approach might have clinical utility and should prove useful in gene function validation, the study of pathogenetic mechanisms, the classification of microbial strains into functional/clinical groups, the testing of anti-bacterial agents and the determination of metabolic profiles of bacterial mutants.

Structure of anabolic ornithine carbamoyltransferase from Campylobacter jejuni at 2.7 Å resolution

Anabolic ornithine transcarbamoylase (aOTC) catalyzes the reaction between carbamoyl phosphate (CP) and L-ornithine (ORN) to form L-citrulline and phosphate in the urea cycle and L-arginine biosynthesis. The crystal structure of unliganded aOTC from Campylobacter jejuni (Cje aOTC) was determined at 2.7 Å resolution and refined to an R(work) of 20.3% and an R(free) of 24.0%. Cje aOTC is a trimer that forms a head-to-head pseudohexamer in the asymmetric unit. Each monomer is composed of an N-terminal CP-binding domain and a C-terminal ORN-binding domain joined by two interdomain helices. The Cje aOTC structure presents an open conformation of the enzyme with a relatively flexible orientation of the ORN-binding domain respective to the CP-binding domain. The conformation of the B2-H3 loop (residues 68-78), which is involved in binding CP in an adjacent subunit of the trimer, differs from that seen in homologous proteins with CP bound. The loop containing the ORN-binding motif (DxxxSMG, residues 223-230) has a conformation that is different from those observed in unliganded OTC structures from other species, but is similar to those in structures with bound ORN analogs. The major differences in tertiary structure between Cje aOTC and human aOTC are described.

Lmo0036, an ornithine and putrescine carbamoyltransferase in Listeria monocytogenes, participates in arginine deiminase and agmatine deiminase pathways and mediates acid tolerance

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen causing listeriosis. Acid is one of the stresses that foodborne pathogens encounter most frequently. The ability to survive and proliferate in acidic environments is a prerequisite for infection. However, there is limited knowledge about the molecular basis of adaptation of L. monocytogenes to acid. Arginine deiminase (ADI) and agmatine deiminase (AgDI) systems are implicated in bacterial tolerance to acidic environments. Homologues of ADI and AgDI systems have been found in L. monocytogenes lineages I and II strains. Sequence analysis indicated that lmo0036 encodes a putative carbamoyltransferase containing conserved motifs and residues important for substrate binding. Lmo0036 acted as an ornithine carbamoyltransferase and putrescine carbamoyltransferase, representing the first example, to our knowledge, that catalyses reversible ornithine and putrescine carbamoyltransfer reactions. Catabolic ornithine and putrescine carbamoyltransfer reactions constitute the second step of ADI and AgDI pathways. However, the equilibrium of in vitro carbamoyltransfer reactions was overwhelmingly towards the anabolic direction, suggesting that catabolic carbamoyltransferase was probably the limiting step of the pathways. lmo0036 was induced at the transcriptional level when L. monocytogenes was subjected to low-pH stress. Its expression product in Escherichia coli exhibited higher catabolic carbamoyltransfer activities under acidic conditions. Consistently, absence of this enzyme impaired the growth of Listeria under mild acidic conditions (pH 4.8) and reduced its survival in synthetic human gastric fluid (pH 2.5), and corresponded to a loss in ammonia production, indicating that Lmo0036 was responsible for acid tolerance at both sublethal and lethal pH levels. Furthermore, Lmo0036 played a possible role in Listeria virulence.

Crystal structure of the hexameric catabolic ornithine transcarbamylase from Lactobacillus hilgardii: Structural insights into the oligomeric assembly and metal binding

Catabolic ornithine transcarbamylase (cOTC; EC 2.1.3.3) catalyzes the formation of ornithine (ORN) and carbamoyl phosphate from citrulline, which constitutes the second step of the degradation of arginine via the arginine deiminase pathway. Here, we report the crystal structure of cOTC from the lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus hilgardii (Lh-cOTC) refined to 2.1 A resolution. The structure reveals that Lh-cOTC forms a hexameric assembly, which was also confirmed by gel-filtration chromatography and analytical ultracentrifugation. The homohexamer, with 32 point group symmetry, represents a new oligomeric state within the members of the ornithine transcarbamylase family that are typically homotrimeric or homododecameric. The C-terminal end from each subunit constitutes a key structural element for the stabilization of the hexameric assembly in solution. Additionally, the structure reveals, for the first time in the ornithine transcarbamylase family, a metal-binding site located at the 3-fold molecular symmetry axis of each trimer.

Acetylornithine transcarbamylase: a novel enzyme in arginine biosynthesis

Ornithine transcarbamylase is a highly conserved enzyme in arginine biosynthesis and the urea cycle. In Xanthomonas campestris, the protein annotated as ornithine transcarbamylase, and encoded by the argF gene, is unable to synthesize citrulline directly from ornithine. We cloned and overexpressed this X. campestris gene in Escherichia coli and show that it catalyzes the formation of N-acetyl-L-citrulline from N-acetyl-L-ornithine and carbamyl phosphate. We now designate this enzyme as an acetylornithine transcarbamylase. The K(m) values for N-acetylornithine and carbamyl phosphate were 1.05 mM and 0.01 mM, respectively. Additional putative transcarbamylases that might also be misannotated were found in the genomes of members of other xanthomonads, Cytophaga, and Bacteroidetes as well as in DNA sequences of bacteria from environmental isolates. It appears that these different paths for arginine biosynthesis arose very early in evolution and that the canonical ornithine transcarbamylase-dependent pathway became the prevalent form. A potent inhibitor, N(alpha)-acetyl-N(delta)-phosphonoacetyl-L-ornithine, was synthesized and showed a midpoint of inhibition at approximately 22 nM; this compound may prove to be a useful starting point for designing inhibitors specific to this novel family of transcarbamylases.

Linker insertion mutagenesis based on IS21 transposition: isolation of an AMP-insensitive variant of catabolic ornithine carbamoyltransferase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The bacterial insertion sequence IS21 when repeated in tandem efficiently promotes non-replicative cointegrate formation in Escherichia coli. An IS21-IS21 junction region which had been engineered to contain unique SalI and BglII sites close to the IS21 termini was not affected in the ability to form cointegrates with target plasmids. Based on this finding, a novel procedure of random linker insertion mutagenesis was devised. Suicide plasmids containing the engineered junction region (pME5 and pME6) formed cointegrates with target plasmids in an E.coli host strain expressing the IS21 transposition proteins in trans. Cointegrates were resolved in vitro by restriction with SalI or BglII and ligation; thus, insertions of four or 11 codons, respectively, were created in the target DNA, practically at random. The cloned Pseudomonas aeruginosa arcB gene encoding catabolic ornithine carbamoyltransferase was used as a target. Of 20 different four-codon insertions in arcB, 11 inactivated the enzyme. Among the remaining nine insertion mutants which retained enzyme activity, three enzyme variants had reduced affinity for the substrate ornithine and one had lost recognition of the allosteric activator AMP. The linker insertions obtained illustrate the usefulness of the method in the analysis of structure-function relationships of proteins.

Allosteric regulation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa catabolic ornithine carbamoyltransferase revisited: association of concerted homotropic cooperative interactions and local heterotropic effects

The allosteric catabolic ornithine carbamoyltransferase (OTCase) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a dodecamer build up of four trimers of identical subunits, shows strong carbamoylphosphate homotropic co-operativity. Its activity is allosterically inhibited by spermidine and activated by AMP. Modified forms of the enzyme exhibiting substantial alterations in both homotropic and heterotropic interactions were recently obtained. We report here the first detailed kinetic characterization of homotropic and heterotropic modulations in allosteric wild-type and in engineered OTCases. Homotropic co-operativity for the saturation either by citrulline or arsenate was also observed when arsenate was utilised as an alternate substrate of the reverse reaction. Amino acid substitution of glutamate 105 by a glycine produces an enzyme devoid of homotropic interactions between the catalytic sites for carbamoylphosphate. This mutant, which is blocked in an active conformation, is still sensitive to the allosteric effector AMP, which increases affinity with respect to the substrate, carbamoylphosphate. It is also observed that homotropic co-operative interactions do not reappear in the E105G enzyme upon strong inhibition by the allosteric inhibitor of the wild-type enzyme, spermidine.Replacement of residues 34 to 101 of the native enzyme by the homologous amino acids of anabolic Escherichia coli OTCase produces a trimeric enzyme which retains reduced homotropic co-operativity. Activation by AMP and inhibition by spermidine of this chimaeric OTCase do not affect carbamoylphosphate homotropic co-operativity. AMP acts by reducing the concentration of substrate at half maximum velocity while spermidine acts in the inverse way. These observations indicate that in the two mutant forms of OTCase, homotropic and heterotropic interactions can be uncoupled and therefore must involve different molecular mechanisms. Furthermore, the results of stimulation of enzyme activity by phosphate, arsenate, pyrophosphate and phosphonoacetyl-l-ornithine on wild-type and mutant OTCases suggest that the physiological substrate phosphate, besides acting at the catalytic site, may act at an allosteric site. On the other hand, pyrophosphate and phosphonoacetyl-l-ornithine activation results exclusively from interactions of this effector with the active site residues.