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Journal of Bacteriology, December 2000, p. 6679-6686, Vol. 182, No. 23
Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein
College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461
Received 19 June 2000/Accepted 18 September 2000
Legionella pneumophila, the causative organism of
Legionnaires' pneumonia, contains two enzymes with catalatic and
peroxidatic activity, KatA and KatB. To address the issue of redundant,
overlapping, or discrete in vivo functions of highly homologous
catalase-peroxidases, the gene for katA was cloned and its
function was studied in L. pneumophila and
Escherichia coli and compared with prior studies of
katB in this laboratory. katA is induced during
exponential growth and is the predominant peroxidase in stationary
phase. When katA is inactivated, L. pneumophila
is more sensitive to exogenous hydrogen peroxide and less virulent in
the THP-1 macrophage cell line, similar to katB.
Catalatic-peroxidatic activity with different peroxidatic cosubstrates
is comparable for KatA and KatB, but KatA is five times more active
towards dianisidine. In contrast with these examples of redundant or
overlapping function, stationary-phase survival is decreased by 100- to
10,000-fold when katA is inactivated, while no change from
wild type is seen for the katB null. The principal clue for
understanding this discrete in vivo function was the demonstration that
KatA is periplasmic and KatB is cytosolic. This stationary-phase
phenotype suggests that targets sensitive to hydrogen peroxide are
present outside the cytosol in stationary phase or that the peroxidatic
activity of KatA is critical for stationary-phase redox reactions in
the periplasm, perhaps disulfide bond formation. Since
starvation-induced stationary phase is a prerequisite to acquisition of
virulence by L. pneumophila, further studies on the
function and regulation of katA in stationary phase may
give insights on the mechanisms of infectivity of this pathogen.
Heme-containing hydroperoxidases
were among the first enzymes discovered and have been studied
extensively. Three types are found in bacteria: monofunctional
catalases, monofunctional peroxidases, and bifunctional
catalase-peroxidases. The monofunctional catalases and peroxidases
display, respectively, catalatic activity
(2H2O2 Studies of the physiological function of monofunctional catalases and
bifunctional catalase-peroxidases have focused on the catalatic enzyme
activity and an in vivo role in protection from oxidative damage by
H2O2 or hydroxyl radical formed from it. Null mutants in aerobic species are often identical to wild type in growth
rate but more sensitive to added H2O2 (6,
7, 14, 32, 51, 55). This suggests that these enzymes are
important in defense against exogenous H2O2 but
that the defense against endogenous H2O2 from
aerobic respiration is redundant and that other defenses exist or are
induced in the nulls. Sources of exogenous H2O2
include environmental chemical reactions, commensal microorganisms, and
the respiratory burst in response to bacterial infection. The
peroxidatic activity of bifunctional catalase-peroxidases may be
important physiologically (28, 29, 31, 36), but no in vivo
peroxidatic cosubstrates have been definitively identified.
Studies of physiological function are more complex when multiple heme
hydroperoxidases are present in a single bacterial cell. Escherichia coli K-12 contains a monofunctional catalase,
KatE, and a bifunctional catalase-peroxidase, KatG. Differences in
regulation are a critical factor in understanding the in vivo roles of
these two enzymes. KatG catalase-peroxidase increases during
exponential growth in proportion to the rate of endogenous
H2O2 production and is induced in response to
exogenous H2O2 (21). The principal transcriptional regulator of katG is OxyR (44, 53,
62). KatE monofunctional catalase is important for
H2O2 resistance in stationary phase,
principally under control of the stress response sigma factor
rpoS (25, 35).
Legionella pneumophila, the causative organism of
Legionnaires' pneumonia, contains two bifunctional
catalase-peroxidases and no monofunctional catalase or peroxidase
(6). The fundamental question that we are addressing is
whether the two bifunctional enzymes are redundant, overlapping, or
independent in their in vivo function. Here we describe cloning and
functional studies of the gene encoding KatA. Although KatA function is
qualitatively similar to that of L. pneumophila KatB, which
we described earlier (6), in macrophage infection,
resistance to respiratory and exogenous H2O2,
and the growth phase dependence of its expression, the katA
gene is required for viability in stationary phase, while inactivation
of katB is without effect. We report investigations into
this in vivo functional difference and the possible importance of
differential subcellular localization in the role of these catalase-peroxidases in stationary-phase phenomena.
Media and growth conditions.
The cloning strain was E. coli DH5
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Catalase-Peroxidases of Legionella
pneumophila: Cloning of the katA Gene and Studies
of KatA Function
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ABSTRACT
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
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INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
H2O + O2)
and peroxidatic activity (AH2 + H2O2
A + 2H2O),
predominantly. Bifunctional catalase-peroxidases display both, but
catalatic activity is larger by far, typically a ratio of >100 for
catalatic-dianisidine peroxidatic activity, expressed as micromoles of
H2O2 reduced per milligram of protein (11,
28, 29, 31).
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MATERIALS AND METHODS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
grown in Luria-Bertani medium (48) and
antibiotics (final concentrations: sodium ampicillin, 100, kanamycin
sulfate, 50, gentamicin sulfate, 5, and chloramphenicol, 25 µg/ml).
For L. pneumophila, AYE broth (30) and CYE plates (16) were generally used with antibiotics as indicated:
kanamycin sulfate (25 µg/ml), gentamicin sulfate (5 or 10 µg/ml),
and chloramphenicol (5 µg/ml). CAYE broth for stationary-phase
survival experiments contained 2 g of yeast extract and 10 g
of casamino acids (Difco) per liter and other ingredients identical to
those in AYE broth. The parental L. pneumophila strain was
wild-type strain JR32. See Table 1 for
strains and plasmids used. All culturing was done at 37°C.
TABLE 1.
Bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study
Cloning of L. pneumophila katA. Southern blots of BamHI-digested genomic DNA showed two bands when hybridized with a fragment of the E. coli katG catalase-peroxidase gene. The entire katA gene was in the 6.7-kb band, and the 5' end of katB was in the 5.7-kb band (6). A pUC12 library was constructed from the gel-purified 6.7-kb region and patched to a grid. The katA clone was identified by hybridization of blots of BamHI-digested plasmid DNA from progressively smaller pools from the library grid.
PCR methodology.
PCR was used to amplify fragments with
restriction sites at their ends suitable for cloning into pJBZ281 to
make the katA::lacZ translational
fusion vector and into pMMB207
B-Km14 to make the katA
complementation vector. The PCR protocol was described previously (6). See Fig. 1 for primer
location and sequence.
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Construction of a lacZ fusion vector.
The PCR
fragment described in the legend to Fig. 1 (1,733 nucleotides [nt]
upstream of the katA ATG to 8 codons downstream of the ATG;
1,861 nt total) was cloned using BamHI and PstI
into pJBZ281 (Kmr) to make an in-frame translational
fusion. The construct was LacZ+ by X-Gal
(5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-
-D-galactopyranoside) in E. coli strain DH5
, indicating that the L. pneumophila katA promoter is recognized in E. coli.
After transformation into L. pneumophila strain JR32,
Kmr transformants were repeatedly subcultured in the
absence of kanamycin. Although the ColE1 origin of pJBZ281 is not well
maintained in the absence of drug selection, it was not possible to
obtain a chromosomal integrant as was done with a similar pJBZ
construct for L. pneumophila katB (6). Therefore,
strain JR32 was transformed with pJBZ281::katA,
and expression studies were performed with the plasmid fusion with
kanamycin in the culture medium.
Construction of a complementing vector.
The PCR fragment
described in the legend to Fig. 1 (191 nt upstream of katA
ATG to 267 nt downstream of the UAA translational stop; 2,715 nt
total) was cloned into the BamHI site of pMMB207
B-Km14 (45). The construct was transformed into L. pneumophila strains by electroporation and maintained by using
chloramphenicol in the culture medium.
Construction of null mutants. A katA null mutant was made by gene disruption using an internal fragment of katA (63). The 919-nt EcoRI-EcoRI fragment from the 5' end of katA (Fig. 1) was cloned into the EcoRI site of pAM6 Bluescript, with a gentamicin resistance (Gmr) cassette ligated into the HindIII site. L. pneumophila wild-type strain JR32 and katB null strain PB117 (6) were transformed to Gmr by electroporation with this construct. Transformants were subjected to three rounds of overnight culturing in the absence of gentamicin, each followed by plating on CYE with gentamicin (CYE-Gm). Gentamicin-resistant colonies were analyzed by zymogram staining for catalase and peroxidase activities and Southern blotting of BamHI- and PstI-digested genomic DNA probed with the 919-nt katA fragment. These analyses established that the katA and katA katB null mutants arose from the expected gene disruption by single crossover events.
Growth of L. pneumophila in human macrophage-like cell lines. THP-1 cells were maintained in RPMI 1640 containing 10% fetal calf serum, 2 mM glutamine, and 1 mM sodium pyruvate (46, 52). To promote adherence, 10 pmol of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate was added per well (0.5 ml of medium, 3 × 105 cells). After 16 to 20 h, the monolayer was washed twice and then incubated with 0.5 ml of RPMI containing 2 mM glutamine, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, and 20% normal human serum (Gemini Bio-Products). Overnight cultures of L. pneumophila in AYE were diluted in RPMI-normal human serum and added at an initial multiplicity of infection of 0.1. Aliquots were taken from the medium and plated on CYE agar without antibiotics for colony counts. The zero time aliquot was taken 30 to 60 min after infection.
Measurement of resistance to hydrogen peroxide. Overnight cultures in AYE with appropriate antibiotic (0.1 ml) were spread on CYE plates without antibiotic in 3 ml of 0.8% top agar without nutrients. Whatman 3MM disks (7-mm diameter) received 10 µl of freshly diluted H2O2. Zones of inhibition were measured after 48 h.
Spheroplasting procedure. Periplasm and cytosol fractions of E. coli were prepared by lysozyme-EDTA treatment (50, 60). Unwashed overnight cultures of E. coli strain UM383 katE katG containing plasmid katA or plasmid katB were treated with 0.1 M Tris-HCl (pH 8.0)-0.25 M sucrose-0.25 mM EDTA-30 µg of lysozyme per ml at room temperature for 30 to 40 min. Spheroplasts were stabilized with 20 mM magnesium chloride, removed by centrifugation, and then lysed by freeze-thawing and sonication.
Enzyme assays.
Supernatants from sonic disruption of cell
pellets (49) were quantitatively analyzed for enzyme
activities by spectrophotometry. Catalase activity was assayed by
monitoring decomposition of 10 mM H2O2 in 50 mM
potassium phosphate (pH 7.2) (
240 = 39.4 M
1 cm
1 [1]). Peroxidase
activity was assayed in 10 mM potassium phosphate (pH 6.4)-0.17%
Triton X-100-1 mM H2O2. Peroxidatic
cosubstrates were 0.2 mM NADH or NADPH (
340 = 6.22 × 103 M
1 cm
1), 42 mM
pyrogallol (
420 = 2.47 × 103
M
1 cm
1 [36]), or 0.34 mM
dianisidine (
460 = 11.3 × 103
M
1 cm
1 [11]). Alkaline
phosphatase was assayed by monitoring hydrolysis of 4.8 mM
p-nitrophenyl phosphate (
410 = 18.5 × 103 M
1 cm
1) in 100 mM Tris
(pH 8.5). Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase was assayed by monitoring
oxidation of 3.3 mM glucose 6-phosphate by 0.18 mM NADP+
(
340 = 6.22 × 103
M
1 cm
1) in 50 mM Tris (pH 8.0)-3 mM
magnesium chloride. One unit of activity was defined as 1 µmol of
substrate (H2O2, peroxidase cosubstrate,
p-nitrophenyl phosphate, or glucose
6-phosphate/NADP+) converted per min.
-Galactosidase
activity was assayed with o-nitrophenyl-
-D-galactoside as the
substrate, and activity was expressed in Miller units (37).
Nucleotide sequence accession number. The GenBank accession number for the katA locus is AF276752. Nucleotide and protein sequences were analyzed using programs of the Genetics Computer Group (University of Wisconsin).
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RESULTS |
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Cloning the gene for KatA catalase-peroxidase.
L. pneumophila
katA was cloned by hybridization in a 6.7-kbp genomic
BamHI fragment. A total of 5,249 nt were sequenced,
including the katA catalase-peroxidase gene (Fig. 1). The
katA open reading frame (ORF) encodes 749 amino acids that
are 59% identical to the KatB catalase-peroxidase, previously studied
by us (6). Nucleotide sequences upstream and downstream of
katA showed no homologies to sequences of known function.
After we cloned and sequenced katA, Amemura-Maekawa et al.
reported the sequence of L. pneumophila katA cloned by PCR
amplification from genomic DNA (3). Their sequence of 2,587 nt (GenBank accession number AB017595) corresponds to nt 2,184 to 4,770 in our sequence (AF276752). The sequences are identical except for two
differences
160 nt before the ATG start codon. Nucleotides G42 and
C44 in AB017595 are C2229 and G2231 in AF276752.
Construction of katA null mutants.
Beginning with
wild-type strain JR32 and katB::Cmr
null strain pB117, katA and katA katB null
strains were made by interruption of katA via a single
crossover with an internal fragment of katA (Fig. 1) cloned
in a Gmr ColE1 vector. Zymograms for catalatic and
diaminobenzidine peroxidase activity demonstrated absence of KatA
activity in the katA null and absence of both KatA and KatB
activity in the katA katB double null (Fig.
2, lanes 1 and 2). Southern blotting
confirmed the expected interruption of wild-type katA (data
not shown).
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Effect of katA null on aerobic growth and
H2O2 resistance.
No change in doubling
time was observed when either katA or katB alone
(6) was inactivated, but the doubling time increased twofold
when both genes were inactivated (Table
2). Null mutants of individual
catalase-peroxidases were more sensitive to exogenous H2O2 than the wild type, and the
katA null was consistently more sensitive than the
katB null (Table 2). In nearly all instances, the katA
katB double null was not significantly more sensitive to
H2O2 than either single null. This suggested
that the absence of both catalase-peroxidases elicited a compensatory
gene expression not found with either single null which decreased
H2O2 sensitivity.
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Effect of katA null on growth in human macrophages. The ability of L. pneumophila to invade, replicate within, and lyse macrophages can be quantified by measuring the increase in titer after addition of L. pneumophila to adherent macrophage-like cell lines, because L. pneumophila is unable to replicate in the tissue culture medium in the absence of macrophages. We previously showed that L. pneumophila was virulent in the absence of KatB and ultimately reached titers comparable to wild-type titers, although the time course of infection was delayed by ~2 days (6). The katA and katA katB strains constructed in this study were similarly virulent and reproducibly showed a delay of ~1 day in their infection curves (data not shown). Complementation of the katA null established that this delay phenotype was attributable to loss of katA. With plasmid pMMB207 mobA katA+, the infection curve of the katA null was identical to that of wild-type strain JR32, while the empty vector had no effect on the katA delay phenotype (data not shown). A compensatory change in gene expression in the katA katB double null may account for its 1-day delay phenotype in contrast to the 2-day delay of the katB single null.
Importance of katA in stationary-phase survival.
Decreases in stationary-phase plating efficiency of several orders of
magnitude have been reported for catalase-peroxidase null mutants of
Caulobacter crescentus (51) and Rhodobacter capsulatus (27). A similar deficit in stationary-phase
survival was found for the L. pneumophila katA null (Fig.
3). Four days after inoculation, survival
was decreased 100-fold. After 5 days no CFU were seen, compared to a
titer of >104/ml for the wild type. The survival deficit
was completely complemented by the pMMB207 mobA
katA+ plasmid, indicating that this phenotype was
attributable to katA inactivation and not to polar effects
or second-site mutations (Fig. 3). Survival of the katA katB
double null in stationary phase was similar to that of the
katA null (data not shown), consistent with our earlier
observation that inactivation of katB is without effect on
this phenotype (6).
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Regulation of catalase-peroxidase expression.
Expression of
katA increased during exponential growth and then decreased
in stationary phase by
50%, as assessed by a plasmid translational
lacZ fusion (Fig. 4). This
pattern is similar to our previous observations for L. pneumophila katB using a chromosomal lacZ fusion
(6). Expression patterns were assessed directly in
exponential- and stationary-phase cultures of wild-type L. pneumophila by catalase and diaminobenzidine peroxidase zymograms (Fig. 2, lanes 3 to 5). The zymograms were consistent with the lacZ fusion results in demonstrating an increase in both
KatA and KatB during exponential growth. However, the zymograms showed that activity levels of each catalase-peroxidase were higher in stationary than in exponential phase.
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Substrate specificity of KatA and KatB.
Cloned L. pneumophila katA and katB were expressed in an E. coli strain lacking katE monofunctional catalase and
katG catalase-peroxidase. All catalase and peroxidase
activity in cell extracts was from the expressed L. pneumophila genes. Activity with four peroxidase cosubstrates was
compared to catalatic activity (Table 3).
Many bifunctional catalase-peroxidases have NAD(P)H peroxidatic
activity, 0.01 to 1% of the catalatic activity, and reduced pyridine
nucleotides have been proposed as physiological peroxidatic
cosubstrates (28, 31, 36). The peroxidatic activity of
L. pneumophila KatA and KatB catalase-peroxidases towards
reduced pyridine nucleotides was in this range (0.02% of catalatic
activity, Table 3) and was identical for KatA and KatB. KatA and KatB
differed in their relative dianisidine peroxidatic activity, with that
of KatA being five times higher. This was consistent with our earlier
prediction from measurements of activity in L. pneumophila extracts (6). The relative activity of KatA
and KatB towards pyrogallol was comparable (Table 3).
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Intracellular localization of KatA and katB in E. coli. The stationary-phase survival deficit of the L. pneumophila katA null mutant was very similar to what we observed for a null mutant of periplasmic L. pneumophila copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD [52]). Spheroplasting studies were performed to determine if KatA was also periplasmic. Cytosol and periplasm fractions were cross-contaminated, as judged by their respective markers, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (Zwf) and alkaline phosphatase (PhoA), when spheroplasting was attempted in L. pneumophila. Therefore, spheroplasting was done with E. coli katE katG strains expressing L. pneumophila katA or katB from a plasmid.
The ratio of enzyme activity in the cytosol to that in the periplasm (Table 4, last column) clearly showed that L. pneumophila KatA was periplasmic, KatB was cytosolic, and the Zwf and PhoA markers localized in their expected subcellular fractions in E. coli. After our spheroplasting studies were completed, Amemura-Maekawa et al. (3) reported that L. pneumophila KatA is periplasmic by expression of a plasmid gene in E. coli. Our results were consistent and additionally demonstrated the cytosolic location of KatB and quantitative data for intracellular locations. The presence of a signal peptide in L. pneumophila katA (3) and independent experiments by ourselves and others (3) establish the periplasmic location of KatA beyond a reasonable doubt.
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DISCUSSION |
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If a single cell contains multiple enzymes with the same in vitro
activity, do the enzymes have redundant, overlapping, or independent
functions in bacterial physiology or ecology (4)? We are
addressing this question in L. pneumophila, a free-living aquatic bacterium, an intracellular parasite of aquatic amoeba, and a
pathogen of pulmonary macrophages (17, 46, 47). L. pneumophila contains two bifunctional catalase-peroxidases, KatA and KatB,
60% identical in nucleotide and amino acid sequence (3, 6). Our studies show that, depending on the
physiological function, KatA and KatB may be either redundant,
overlapping, or independent.
Function of catalase-peroxidases in aerobic growth.
Since
L. pneumophila is an obligate aerobe, one might expect
that growth would be impaired by eliminating enzymes that defend against reactive oxygen produced in aerobic respiration. However, neither katA nor katB is essential for
exponentially growing cultures in complex medium. Null mutants for
either have a doubling time identical to that of the wild type. When
both catalase-peroxidases are absent, the doubling time increases
twofold. These data show that L. pneumophila KatA and KatB
are functionally redundant in defense against endogenously produced
H2O2. If one catalase-peroxidase is absent, the
other
plus any changes in gene expression consequent to the null
mutation
compensates to prevent the increased doubling time of the
katA katB double null. Since KatA and KatB account for all
catalatic and peroxidatic activity in cell extracts, the viability of
the katA katB null indicates that neither catalatic nor
peroxidatic activity is essential for aerobic survival. Presumably other players in the defense against oxidative stress
superoxide dismutases, alkylhydroperoxide reductase, glutathione, and/or repair
mechanisms
can partially compensate for the absence of those
activities and sustain aerobic survival, albeit at a reduced growth rate.
Function of catalase-peroxidases in macrophage infection.
The
infectivity of certain bacterial pathogens is attenuated by
inactivation of antioxidant enzymes via null mutations or antisense RNA
(13, 15, 20, 32, 58, 59). This has been attributed to a
compromise of the bacterial defense against reactive oxygen species
generated in the respiratory burst following infection. Null mutants in
katA or katB catalase-peroxidase (6)
or both show a virulence defect akin to some icm and
dot mutants of L. pneumophila that display
attenuated infectivity, in particular the infection delay seen in the
icmF mutant (41, 46, 54). It has been argued that
the respiratory burst is not triggered by L. pneumophila
because it enters macrophages by the CR1 and CR3 complement receptors
(39), whose activation is not ordinarily linked with a burst
(61). One explanation of the infection delays in
katA and katB nulls is that
H2O2 is in fact generated in an L. pneumophila infection despite its mechanism of entry.
Alternatively, KatA and KatB may be important for changes in
bacterial metabolism related to virulence. Environmental stress
in the
form of nutrient deprivation or growth within an amoeba host
enhances
the ability of L. pneumophila to infect bone marrow-derived
macrophages, peripheral blood monocytes, or cultured macrophage-like
cell lines (9, 10, 24). In this study, we observed that
katA is a major player in stationary-phase survival, i.e.,
in surviving the stress of nutrient deprivation. Thus, further studies
of the regulation and function of katA may clarify the
linkage between environmental stress and L. pneumophila virulence.
Function of catalase-peroxidases in stationary-phase survival. The most intriguing finding of this study is that inactivation of katA decreases stationary-phase survival by 100- to 10,000-fold, while inactivation of katB is without effect. This clear example of independent physiological roles was investigated by studying the regulation, substrate specificity, and intracellular locations of KatA and KatB. Such a survival deficit is absent from E. coli, in which the maximum decrease in stationary-phase survival in katE, katG, or katE katG nulls is sixfold (34, 38, 51).
Our data indicate that differences in regulation are an unlikely explanation for the different roles of L. pneumophila katA and katB in stationary-phase survival. The katA and katB genes are expressed similarly during growth. Levels of each catalase-peroxidase increase steadily during log phase. Neither is induced by exogenous H2O2 during exponential growth, an adaptive response seen with some other bacterial catalase-peroxidases (22, 51) and catalases (33, 56). In addition, katA was not preferentially induced in stationary phase, even though katA is critical for stationary-phase survival. This contrasts with C. crescentus katG, whose inactivation also decreases stationary-phase survival by >1,000-fold, which is induced 50- to 90-fold in stationary phase (51). Characterization of the peroxidatic substrate specificity was not revealing about stationary-phase function. The dianisidine peroxidase-catalatic activity of KatA activity is five times greater than that of KatB, but dianisidine is not a physiological substrate. With the potential physiological cosubstrates NADH and NADPH, KatA and KatB catalase-peroxidases have identical ratios of catalatic to peroxidatic activity. The most compelling clue for understanding the discrete roles of KatA and KatB in stationary-phase survival is their intracellular location, KatA in the periplasm and KatB in the cytosol. Although E. coli KatG is no longer believed to be periplasmic (26), other examples of periplasmic heme hydroperoxidases are known. KatP, a plasmid-encoded periplasmic catalase-peroxidase, is found in the enterohemorrhagic E. coli strain O157:H7 (8), and multiple monofunctional catalases are found in the periplasm of the phytopathogen Pseudomonas syringae (33). Discrete roles for katA and katB in stationary-phase survival define a physiological context for which cytosolic hydroperoxidase activity cannot substitute for periplasmic activity. What periplasm-specific function could be furnished by KatA? One possibility is decomposition of H2O2 outside the cytosol. Cytosolic catalase activity can defend against external H2O2 because H2O2 readily passes through the inner membrane. If scavenging of H2O2 by KatA is critical in stationary phase, then the outer membrane, periplasm, or outer surface of the inner membrane may contain targets so sensitive to H2O2 that they cannot be adequately protected by cytosolic KatB. In support of this proposal, we found that the mutant lacking periplasmic KatA is in fact more sensitive to external H2O2 than the mutant lacking cytosolic KatB. Another possibility is that the peroxidatic activity of KatA is critical for maintaining the periplasmic redox potential in stationary phase. The best-characterized periplasmic redox reactions are those in which sulfhydryl groups of periplasmic proteins are oxidized to disulfide bonds via Dsb proteins (43). DsbB, an inner membrane protein, donates electrons to ubiquinone (5), making the electron transport chain the ultimate source of oxidizing power for sustaining periplasmic sulfhydryl oxidation. In stationary phase, electron transport to oxygen is reduced. Therefore, the capacity of electron transport to sustain periplasmic disulfide bond formation will be reduced. Periplasmic KatA may be critical in stationary-phase survival by peroxidatically oxidizing ubiquinol or another periplasmic or inner membrane component using H2O2 as an electron acceptor. This function could maintain periplasmic sulfhydryl oxidation when the oxidizing capacity of the electron transport is diminished. Periplasmic KatA is one of four antioxidant enzymes known to be essential for stationary-phase survival in gram-negative species. Among the others, L. pneumophila CuZnSOD is also periplasmic (52), but the catalase-peroxidases of C. crescentus (51) and R. capsulatus (18, 19, 27, 29) have not been subjected to localization studies and are not predicted to contain a signal peptide (PSORT Prediction, http://psort.nibb.ac.jp/form.html; Signal P V1.1, http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/signalP/). Our studies raise the question of whether a periplasmic location is a sine qua non for the stationary-phase function. This can be studied in L. pneumophila katA by determining if katA without the signal peptide complements the survival deficit of the katA null. The 100- to 10,000-fold deficit in stationary-phase survival is a strong phenotype for identifying suppressors of the katA null. Future studies such as these will give insights on KatA function in stationary phase and on the role of starvation stress in L. pneumophila virulence.| |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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This work was supported by grants MCB-9513076 and MCB-980992 to H.M.S. from the National Science Foundation.
We thank Howard Shuman, Laura Hales, and Gil Segal (Columbia
University) for plasmids pMMB207
B-Km14 and pBluescript
Gmr (pAM6), Peter Loewen (University of Manitoba) for
E. coli strain UM383, and the DNA Sequencing/Synthesis
Services Facility at Albert Einstein College of Medicine for DNA
sequencing and synthetic oligonucleotides.
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461. Phone: (718) 430-3010. Fax: (718) 430-8565. E-mail: steinman{at}aecom.yu.edu.
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