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Journal of Bacteriology, March 2002, p. 1253-1261, Vol. 184, No. 5
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.5.1253-1261.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

PduA Is a Shell Protein of Polyhedral Organelles Involved in Coenzyme B12-Dependent Degradation of 1,2-Propanediol in Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium LT2{dagger}

*** Gregory D. Havemann, Edith M. Sampson, and Thomas A. Bobik*

Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611

Received 14 September 2001/ Accepted 10 December 2001

Salmonella enterica forms polyhedral organelles involved in coenzyme B12-dependent 1,2-propanediol degradation. These organelles are thought to consist of a proteinaceous shell that encases coenzyme B12-dependent diol dehydratase and perhaps other enzymes involved in 1,2-propanediol degradation. The function of these organelles is unknown, and no detailed studies of their structure have been reported. Genes needed for organelle formation and for 1,2-propanediol degradation are located at the 1,2-propanediol utilization (pdu) locus, but the specific genes involved in organelle formation have not been identified. Here, we show that the pduA gene encodes a shell protein required for the formation of polyhedral organelles involved in coenzyme B12-dependent 1,2-propanediol degradation. A His6-PduA fusion protein was purified from a recombinant Escherichia coli strain and used for the preparation of polyclonal antibodies. The anti-PduA antibodies obtained were partially purified by a subtraction procedure and used to demonstrate that the PduA protein localized to the shell of the polyhedral organelles. In addition, electron microscopy studies established that strains with nonpolar pduA mutations were unable to form organelles. These results show that the pduA gene is essential for organelle formation and indicate that the PduA protein is a structural component of the shell of these organelles. Physiological studies of nonpolar pduA mutants were also conducted. Such mutants grew similarly to the wild-type strain at low concentrations of 1,2-propanediol but exhibited a period of interrupted growth in the presence of higher concentrations of this growth substrate. Growth tests also showed that a nonpolar pduA deletion mutant grew faster than the wild-type strain at low vitamin B12 concentrations. These results suggest that the polyhedral organelles formed by S. enterica during growth on 1,2-propanediol are not involved in the concentration of 1,2-propanediol or coenzyme B12, but are consistent with the hypothesis that these organelles moderate aldehyde production to minimize toxicity.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, Building 981, Room 1220, Gainesville, FL 32611. Phone: (352) 846-0957. Fax: (352) 392-5922. E-mail: bobik{at}ufl.edu.

{dagger} Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series no. R-08598.


Journal of Bacteriology, March 2002, p. 1253-1261, Vol. 184, No. 5
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.5.1253-1261.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




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Copyright © 2002 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.