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Journal of Bacteriology, September 2000, p. 5147-5152, Vol. 182, No. 18
Department of Microbiology, SmithKline
Beecham Pharmaceuticals, Collegeville, Pennsylvania
19426,1 and Departments of
Biochemistry2 and Biological
Sciences,3 Purdue University, West Lafayette,
Indiana 47907
Received 21 April 2000/Accepted 12 June 2000
Sequence comparisons have implied the presence of genes encoding
enzymes of the mevalonate pathway for isopentenyl diphosphate biosynthesis in the gram-positive pathogen Staphylococcus
aureus. In this study we showed through genetic disruption
experiments that mvaA, which encodes a putative class II
3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, is essential
for in vitro growth of S. aureus. Supplementation of media
with mevalonate permitted isolation of an auxotrophic mvaA
null mutant that was attenuated for virulence in a murine hematogenous
pyelonephritis infection model. The mvaA gene was cloned
from S. aureus DNA and expressed with an N-terminal His tag
in Escherichia coli. The encoded protein was affinity
purified to apparent homogeneity and was shown to be a class II HMG-CoA
reductase, the first class II eubacterial biosynthetic enzyme isolated.
Unlike most other HMG-CoA reductases, the S. aureus enzyme
exhibits dual coenzyme specificity for NADP(H) and NAD(H), but NADP(H)
was the preferred coenzyme. Kinetic parameters were determined for all
substrates for all four catalyzed reactions using either NADP(H) or
NAD(H). In all instances optimal activity using NAD(H) occurred at a pH
one to two units more acidic than that using NADP(H). pH profiles
suggested that His378 and Lys263, the apparent cognates of the
active-site histidine and lysine of Pseudomonas mevalonii
HMG-CoA reductase, function in catalysis and that the general catalytic
mechanism is valid for the S. aureus enzyme. Fluvastatin
inhibited competitively with HMG-CoA, with a Ki
of 320 µM, over 104 higher than that for a class I
HMG-CoA reductase. Bacterial class II HMG-CoA reductases thus are
potential targets for antibacterial agents directed against
multidrug-resistant gram-positive cocci.
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Essentiality, Expression, and Characterization of
the Class II 3-Hydroxy-3-Methylglutaryl Coenzyme A Reductase of
Staphylococcus aureus
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, 1250 South College Rd., Collegeville, PA 19426. Phone: (610) 917-7749. Fax: (610) 917-4989. E-mail: Mick_Gwynn-1{at}sbphrd.com.
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