Stabilization of F-actin by Salmonella effector SipA resembles the structural effects of inorganic phosphate and phalloidin

Entry of Salmonella into host enterocytes relies on its pathogenicity island 1 effector SipA. We found that SipA binds to F-actin in a 1:2 stoichiometry with sub-nanomolar affinity. A cryo-EM reconstruction revealed that SipA's globular core binds at the groove between actin strands, whereas the extended C-terminal arm penetrates deeply into the inter-strand space, stabilizing F-actin from within. The unusually strong binding of SipA is achieved by a combination of fast association via the core and very slow dissociation dictated by the arm. Similar to Pi, BeF3, and phalloidin, SipA potently inhibited actin depolymerization by actin depolymerizing factor (ADF)/cofilin, which correlated with increased filament stiffness, supporting the hypothesis that F-actin's mechanical properties contribute to the recognition of its nucleotide state by protein partners. The remarkably strong binding to F-actin maximizes the toxin's effects at the injection site while minimizing global influence on the cytoskeleton and preventing pathogen detection by the host cell.

Limitations of an in vitro model of the poultry digestive tract on the evaluation of the catalytic performance of phytases

BACKGROUND

The study aims to investigate the limitation of a poultry digestive tract model developed by Menezes-Blackburn et al. [J Agric Food Chem 63: 6142-6149 (2015)] on the evaluation of the bioefficacy of phytases.

RESULTS

It was confirmed that the in vitro model does not mimic the in vivo situation in the birds sufficiently well to identify the best phytase product under real conditions, or to draw conclusion on the effect of phytate concentration, phytate source or feed composition on the bioefficacy of phytase. Addition of calcium ion (Ca²⁺ ) up to a concentration of 10 g kg^-1 to the feed substrate, for example, did not affect enzymatic phytate dephosphorylation in the in vitro model in contrast to the observation in poultry.

CONCLUSION

The in vitro approach was shown to be applicable as a complementary tool in the pre-selection of promising phytase candidates, resulting in a reduction in the number of feeding trials in the initial screening phase. © 2020 The Author. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Coated Diammonium Phosphate Combined With Humic Acid Improves Soil Phosphorus Availability and Photosynthesis and the Yield of Maize

Controlled release phosphorus (P) fertilizers and humic acid (HA) applications are two effective and significant techniques or measures for preventing P loss and enhancing maize development. However, the underlying physiological mechanism of how the controlled release P fertilizers combined with HA affect the maize production and P-use efficiency (PUE) remains unknown. The effects of applying coated diammonium phosphate (CDAP) and HA together on soil nutrient supply intensity, soil phosphatase activity, photosynthesis, endogenous hormone contents, and yield of maize, as well as PUE, were examined in this study. In a pot experiment, two types of P fertilizers-CDAP and diammonium phosphate (DAP)- as well as two HA application rates (0 and 45 kg ha^-1) and two P levels (60 and 75 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1) were utilized. Results showed that the key elements that influence the growth and yield of the maize were the availability of P content in soil, plant photosynthesis, and hormone levels. The combination of CDAP and HA had a greater impact on yield and PUE over the course of 2 years than either DAP alone or DAP combined with HA. Besides, using CDAP in combination with HA increased the yield and PUE by 4.2 and 8.4%, respectively, as compared to the application of CDAP alone at 75 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1. From the twelve-leaf to milk stages, the available P content in the soil was increased by an average of 38.6% with the combination of CDAP and HA compared to the application of CDAP alone at 75 kg P₂O₅ ha^-1. In addition, the application of CDAP combined with HA boosted the activities of ATP synthase, as well as the content of cytokinin (CTK), and hence improved the maize photosynthetic rate (Pn). When compared to the application of CDAP alone or DAP combined with HA, the Pn of CDAP + HA treatments was enhanced by 17.9-35.1% at the same P rate. In conclusion, as an environmentally friendly fertilizer, the combined application of CDAP and HA improved the intensity of the soil nutrient supply, regulated photosynthetic capabilities, and increased the yield and PUE, which is important for agricultural production, P resource conservation, and environmental protection.

Structural Effects and Functional Implications of Phalloidin and Jasplakinolide Binding to Actin Filaments

Actin undergoes structural transitions during polymerization, ATP hydrolysis, and subsequent release of inorganic phosphate. Several actin-binding proteins sense specific states during this transition and can thus target different regions of the actin filament. Here, we show in atomic detail that phalloidin, a mushroom toxin that is routinely used to stabilize and label actin filaments, suspends the structural changes in actin, likely influencing its interaction with actin-binding proteins. Furthermore, high-resolution cryoelectron microscopy structures reveal structural rearrangements in F-actin upon inorganic phosphate release in phalloidin-stabilized filaments. We find that the effect of the sponge toxin jasplakinolide differs from the one of phalloidin, despite their overlapping binding site and similar interactions with the actin filament. Analysis of structural conformations of F-actin suggests that stabilizing agents trap states within the natural conformational space of actin.

Single molecule mechanics resolves the earliest events in force generation by cardiac myosin

Key steps of cardiac mechanochemistry, including the force-generating working stroke and the release of phosphate (P_i), occur rapidly after myosin-actin attachment. An ultra-high-speed optical trap enabled direct observation of the timing and amplitude of the working stroke, which can occur within <200 μs of actin binding by β-cardiac myosin. The initial actomyosin state can sustain loads of at least 4.5 pN and proceeds directly to the stroke or detaches before releasing ATP hydrolysis products. The rates of these processes depend on the force. The time between binding and stroke is unaffected by 10 mM P_i which, along with other findings, indicates the stroke precedes phosphate release. After P_i release, P_i can rebind enabling reversal of the working stroke. Detecting these rapid events under physiological loads provides definitive indication of the dynamics by which actomyosin converts biochemical energy into mechanical work.

[Effects and Differences of the Release of Dissolved Organic and Inorganic Phosphorus in Different Sediments Covered by Different Materials of Erhai Lake]

In this work, the effects of four covering materials on the release of total dissolved phosphorus (DTP), dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP), and soluble reactive P (SRP) in different sediments of Erhai Lake were simulated. The results showed that the max release of DTP was reduced in covering material, which attributed to the changes of pH, Eh and characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) by the effect of covering material. The application of iron oxide material significant reduced the release of DTP in the northern and southern part of the lake, with decrease rate of 44.3% and 35.7%, respectively. by contrast, the application of aluminum oxide material significant reduced the release of DTP in the middle part sediment, with decrease rate of 29.6%. Furthermore, the release of SRP and DOP in different sediments has significant difference after added different material. In northern part of sediment, the release of SRP and DOP reduced by 35.6% and 36.2% after added iron oxide material. This is because iron oxide can reduce the pH and Eh but increase the availability of DOM in northern, and then benefits for inhibiting the release of SRP and DOP. In the middle, the release of sediment SRP and DOP reduced by 28.9% and 31.6% after added aluminum oxide material. This is because the aluminum oxide can facilitate the availability of DOM in middle, and then inhibits the release of SRP and DOP. In southern part of the lake, the release of sediment SRP and DOP reduced by 47.4% and 16.5% after added iron oxide material. This is largely attributed to the effect of iron oxide on the pH and Eh. Therefore, to control the release of P in the sediment from Lake Erhai, iron oxide material should be selected in the northern and southern parts, whereas aluminum oxide should be selected in the middle part of the lake.

Heart failure drug changes the mechanoenzymology of the cardiac myosin powerstroke

Omecamtiv mecarbil (OM), a putative heart failure therapeutic, increases cardiac contractility. We hypothesize that it does this by changing the structural kinetics of the myosin powerstroke. We tested this directly by performing transient time-resolved FRET on a ventricular cardiac myosin biosensor. Our results demonstrate that OM stabilizes myosin's prepowerstroke structural state, supporting previous measurements showing that the drug shifts the equilibrium constant for myosin-catalyzed ATP hydrolysis toward the posthydrolysis biochemical state. OM slowed the actin-induced powerstroke, despite a twofold increase in the rate constant for actin-activated phosphate release, the biochemical step in myosin's ATPase cycle associated with force generation and the conversion of chemical energy into mechanical work. We conclude that OM alters the energetics of cardiac myosin's mechanical cycle, causing the powerstroke to occur after myosin weakly binds to actin and releases phosphate. We discuss the physiological implications for these changes.

Direct real-time detection of the structural and biochemical events in the myosin power stroke

A principal goal of molecular biophysics is to show how protein structural transitions explain physiology. We have developed a strategic tool, transient time-resolved FRET [(TR)(2)FRET], for this purpose and use it here to measure directly, with millisecond resolution, the structural and biochemical kinetics of muscle myosin and to determine directly how myosin's power stroke is coupled to the thermodynamic drive for force generation, actin-activated phosphate release, and the weak-to-strong actin-binding transition. We find that actin initiates the power stroke before phosphate dissociation and not after, as many models propose. This result supports a model for muscle contraction in which power output and efficiency are tuned by the distribution of myosin structural states. This technology should have wide application to other systems in which questions about the temporal coupling of allosteric structural and biochemical transitions remain unanswered.

How release of phosphate from mammalian F1-ATPase generates a rotary substep

ATP, the fuel of life, is produced in the mitochondria of living cells by a molecular machine consisting of two motors linked by a rotor. One motor generates rotation by consuming energy derived from sugars and fats in foodstuffs; the other uses energy transmitted by the rotor to synthesize ATP molecules from their building blocks, ADP and phosphate. The synthetic motor can be uncoupled from the machine, and its rotary action can be studied by driving the motor backward with energy from ATP, releasing ADP and phosphate in the process. Each cycle has three 120° steps, each made of substeps of 65°, 25°, and 30° in humans. We have explained how release of phosphate from the machine generates the 25° rotary substep.

The rotation of the central stalk of F₁-ATPase is driven by energy derived from the sequential binding of an ATP molecule to its three catalytic sites and the release of the products of hydrolysis. In human F₁-ATPase, each 360° rotation consists of three 120° steps composed of substeps of about 65°, 25°, and 30°, with intervening ATP binding, phosphate release, and catalytic dwells, respectively. The F₁-ATPase inhibitor protein, IF₁, halts the rotary cycle at the catalytic dwell. The human and bovine enzymes are essentially identical, and the structure of bovine F₁-ATPase inhibited by IF₁ represents the catalytic dwell state. Another structure, described here, of bovine F₁-ATPase inhibited by an ATP analog and the phosphate analog, thiophosphate, represents the phosphate binding dwell. Thiophosphate is bound to a site in the α_Eβ_E-catalytic interface, whereas in F₁-ATPase inhibited with IF₁, the equivalent site is changed subtly and the enzyme is incapable of binding thiophosphate. These two structures provide a molecular mechanism of how phosphate release generates a rotary substep as follows. In the active enzyme, phosphate release from the β_E-subunit is accompanied by a rearrangement of the structure of its binding site that prevents released phosphate from rebinding. The associated extrusion of a loop in the β_E-subunit disrupts interactions in the α_Eβ_E-catalytic interface and opens it to its fullest extent. Other rearrangements disrupt interactions between the γ-subunit and the C-terminal domain of the α_E-subunit. To restore most of these interactions, and to make compensatory new ones, the γ-subunit rotates through 25°–30°.

Temperature shifts for extraction and purification of zygomycetes chitosan with dilute sulfuric acid

The temperature-dependent hydrolysis and solubility of chitosan in sulfuric acid solutions offer the possibility for chitosan extraction from zygomycetes mycelia and separation from other cellular ingredients with high purity and high recovery. In this study, Rhizomucor pusillus biomass was initially extracted with 0.5 M NaOH at 120 °C for 20 min, leaving an alkali insoluble material (AIM) rich in chitosan. Then, the AIM was subjected to two steps treatment with 72 mM sulfuric acid at (i) room temperature for 10 min followed by (ii) 120 °C for 45 min. During the first step, phosphate of the AIM was released into the acid solution and separated from the chitosan-rich residue by centrifugation. In the second step, the residual AIM was re-suspended in fresh 72 mM sulfuric acid, heated at 120 °C and hot filtered, whereby chitosan was extracted and separated from the hot alkali and acid insoluble material (HAAIM). The chitosan was recovered from the acid solution by precipitation at lowered temperature and raised pH to 8–10. The treatment resulted in 0.34 g chitosan and 0.16 g HAAIM from each gram AIM. At the start, the AIM contained at least 17% phosphate, whereas after the purification, the corresponding phosphate content of the obtained chitosan was just 1%. The purity of this chitosan was higher than 83%. The AIM subjected directly to the treatment with hot sulfuric acid (at 120 °C for 45 min) resulted in a chitosan with a phosphate impurity of 18.5%.

Distinct functions of elongation factor G in ribosome recycling and translocation

Elongation factor G (EF-G) promotes the translocation step in bacterial protein synthesis and, together with ribosome recycling factor (RRF), the disassembly of the post-termination ribosome. Unlike translocation, ribosome disassembly strictly requires GTP hydrolysis by EF-G. Here we report that ribosome disassembly is strongly inhibited by vanadate, an analog of inorganic phosphate (Pi), indicating that Pi release is required for ribosome disassembly. In contrast, the function of EF-G in single-round translocation is not affected by vanadate, while the turnover reaction is strongly inhibited. We also show that the antibiotic fusidic acid blocks ribosome disassembly by EF-G/RRF at a 1000-fold lower concentration than required for the inhibition of EF-G turnover in vitro and close to the effective inhibitory concentration in vivo, suggesting that the antimicrobial activity of fusidic acid is primarily due to the direct inhibition of ribosome recycling. Our results indicate that conformational coupling between EF-G and the ribosome is principally different in translocation and ribosome disassembly. Pi release is not required for the mechanochemical function of EF-G in translocation, whereas the interactions between RRF and EF-G introduce tight coupling between the conformational change of EF-G induced by Pi release and ribosome disassembly.