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Journal of Bacteriology, September 2003, p. 5086-5095, Vol. 185, No. 17
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.17.5086-5095.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Received 11 March 2003/ Accepted 21 May 2003
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Salmonella enterica utilizes 1,2-PD as a carbon and energy source in an Ado-B12-dependent fashion (19). Degradation occurs aerobically, or anaerobically if tetrathionate is added as a terminal electron acceptor (26). Based on biochemical studies, a pathway for 1,2-PD degradation has been proposed (24, 37). Breakdown initiates with the conversion of 1,2-PD to propionaldehyde by Ado-B12-dependent diol dehydratase (1). The propionaldehyde is then reduced to propanol or oxidized to propionic acid via propionyl coenzyme A (propionyl-CoA) and propionyl-phosphate. Reduction of propionaldehyde serves to regenerate NAD from NADH, while its oxidation provides a source of ATP and cell carbon.
Because the pathway of 1,2-PD degradation appeared relatively straightforward, it was somewhat surprising when DNA sequence analyses indicated that the 1,2-PD utilization (pdu) locus included 23 genes (9). Of these, six pdu genes are thought to encode enzymes needed for the 1,2-PD degradative pathway (pduCDEPQW); two are involved in transport and regulation (pduF and pocR); two are probably used for diol dehydratase reactivation (pduGH); one is needed for the conversion of CN-B12 to Ado-B12 (pduO); five are of unknown function (pduLMSVX); and seven (pduABJKNTU) share similarity to genes needed for the formation of carboxysomes, polyhedral organelles involved in autotrophic CO2 fixation (8-10, 13, 15, 20, 31, 32).
The finding that the pdu locus included several homologues of carboxysome genes led to recent studies which showed that S. enterica forms polyhedral organelles during Ado-B12-dependent growth on 1,2-PD (9). Like carboxysomes, the pdu organelles are 100 to 150 nm in diameter and are composed of a proteinaceous interior surrounded by a 3- to 4-nm protein shell (9, 17). However, carboxysomes and the S. enterica organelles differ in a number of ways. Carboxysomes function to enhance autotrophic growth at low CO2 concentrations (2, 21, 25, 33), and the carboxysomes of Halothiobacillus neapolitanus (which are the best studied) consist of a protein shell composed of at least six different proteins which encases most of the cell's ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (RuBisCO) (3, 4, 14, 16, 18). In contrast, the organelles of S. enterica do not contain RuBisCO but instead consist of Ado-B12-dependent diol dehydratase and a protein shell composed of the PduA protein as well as other unidentified proteins (9, 17). It has been proposed that the S. enterica organelles function to minimize aldehyde toxicity by moderating propionaldehyde production through control of Ado-B12 availability (17). However, this function has not been established, and a great deal remains to be learned about their structure.
Here we report the purification and structural characterization of the unusual organelles involved in 1,2-PD degradation by S. enterica. The analyses performed include one and two-dimensional electrophoresis, immunoblotting, N-terminal sequencing, and protein mass fingerprinting via matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). By these methods, 15 proteins of the organelles were identified. These included Ado-B12-dependent diol dehydratase (PduCDE), CoA-dependent propionaldehyde dehydrogenase (PduP), adenosyltransferase (PduO), the large (PduG) and small (PduH) subunits of the putative diol dehydratase-reactivating factor, the PduA shell protein and six additional probable structural proteins (pduBB'JKTU), and one unidentified protein. Densitometry results indicated that of the seven possible structural proteins, PduABB'J are the more abundant structural proteins while PduKTU appear to be more minor structural elements. These findings are consistent with a role for the pdu organelles in aldehyde detoxification and also show that these organelles represent a complex mode of subcellular organization.
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Organelle purification. For organelle purification, S. enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2 was grown in 2.8-liter Fernbach flasks containing 1 liter of NCE minimal medium (7, 40) supplemented with 1% succinate and 0.4% 1,2-PD, but without added B12. The inoculum was a 5-ml Luria-Bertani broth culture, and incubation was at 37°C with shaking at 275 rpm. Under these conditions, growth is supported by succinate but the 1,2-PD is not metabolized, assuring continued high induction of the pdu operon (10, 15). After cultures reached late log phase (optical density at 600 nm between 1 and 1.2), cells from 2 liters of medium were harvested by centrifugation at 4,000 x g for 10 min at room temperature. The pelleted cells (5 to 6 g) were washed with 300 ml of lysozyme buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, 0.6 M sucrose, 5 mM EDTA, 0.2% 1,2-PD [pH 8.0]), resuspended in 30 ml of the same buffer containing lysozyme (2 mg/ml), and incubated at 37°C for 2 h with occasional agitation. Subsequent to digestion with lysozyme all steps were performed at 0 to 4°C. Cells were pelleted by centrifugation (7,740 x g, 15 min), washed with lysozyme buffer and resuspended in sonication buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, 2 mM EDTA, 0.2% 1,2-PD [pH 8.0]) at a concentration of 0.1 g of wet cell mass per ml. Cells were then lysed by sonication (four 30-s bursts with 1-min cooling intervals on ice) using a VirSonic 300 sonicator (The Virtis Company, Inc., Gardiner, N.Y.) with a 10-mm-diameter disruptor horn and an output setting of 10. After sonication, the crude cell extract was diluted with an equal amount of BPER-II supplemented with 400 mM NaCl and 20 mM MgCl2 and then incubated at 4°C for 30 min on a rotary shaker set at 18 rpm. Unlysed cells and cell debris were removed by centrifugation at 12,000 x g for 10 min, and the resulting supernatant was then subjected to high-speed centrifugation (Beckman SW-27 rotor, 49,000 x g, 90 min). The pellet was resuspended in 5 ml of TEMP buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, 1 mM EDTA, 10 mM MgCl2, 0.2% 1,2-PD [pH 8.0]) and then clarified by low-speed centrifugation (12,000 x g, 10 min). The clarified preparation was layered over two 35-ml, 35-to-65%, continuous sucrose gradients in 38.5-ml tubes and centrifuged for 12 h (Beckman SW-27 rotor, 104,000 x g). The polyhedral organelles formed a white translucent band about two-thirds of the way down the centrifuge tube, whereas membrane fragments and amorphous debris formed an opaque tan band below. The fraction containing the polyhedra was collected from each gradient with a plastic pipette, diluted to 38.5 ml with TEMP buffer, and centrifuged at 52,000 x g for 90 min. The pellets were resuspended in 1 ml of TEMP buffer and clarified by centrifugation for 10 min at 12,000 x g using an Eppendorf 5415C microcentrifuge. The supernatant containing the purified organelles was carefully removed and stored at 4°C prior to analysis.
General protein and molecular methods. Protein concentration was determined using the Bio-Rad protein assay and bovine serum albumin as the standard. Other molecular and protein methods were performed as previously described (28).
Electron microscopy. Samples of polyhedral organelles were placed on 300 or 400 mesh copper grids, fixed by adding an equal amount of Trump's reagent (22) and incubating at room temperature for 5 min., washed with double-deionized H2O, and then stained with 1% uranyl acetate. Samples were viewed and photographed with a Zeiss EM-10CA transmission electron microscope.
Western blots. Purified polyhedral organelles (20 µg) were concentrated using a Vivaspin centrifugal filtration device (Sartorius AG, Goettingen, Germany) with a 5,000-molecular-weight cutoff and then subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) using a 4-to-20% gradient gel (Bio-Rad). After electrophoresis, the proteins were transferred to a Hybond P membrane (Amersham Biosciences Corp., Piscataway, N.J.) and probed as described previously (17) using primary antisera at the following dilutions: anti-PduAJ, 1:3,500; anti-diol dehydratase, 1:1,000; anti-PduA, 1:3,500; anti-PduO, 1:1,000; and anti-PduP, 1:1,000.
Diol dehydratase assays. Diol dehydratase assays were performed using the 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone method as previously described (39). One unit of activity is defined as the amount of enzyme that catalyzes the formation of 1 µmol of propionaldehyde per min per mg protein.
Glycoprotein staining. To test for the presence of glycosylated proteins, Pierce glycosylation stain was used according to the manufacturer's instructions.
N-terminal sequencing. Prior to N-terminal sequencing, organelle proteins were separated by two-dimensional (2D) electrophoresis that employed isoelectric focusing and SDS-PAGE (2D-IEF-SDS-PAGE). Purified polyhedral organelles (230 µg) were concentrated to a 20-µl volume using a Vivaspin filtration device (Sartorius AG) with a 5,000-molecular-weight cutoff and mixed with 150 µl of rehydration solution: 7 M urea, 2 M thiourea, 4% 3-[(3-sholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS), 0.1% SDS, 65 mM dithiothreitol, and 1% immobilized pH gradient (IPG) buffer, pH 3 to 10 (Amersham Biosciences Corp). This sample was then used to rehydrate a 7-cm nonlinear pH 3 to 10 IPG strip (Amersham Biosciences Corp.) and isoelectric focusing was performed at 19° C, and 3,500 V, for 63 V · h. Subsequent to isoelectric focusing, the IPG strip was equilibrated with 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 6.8), 6 M urea, 30% (vol/vol) glycerol, 2% (wt/vol) SDS, 2.5% iodoacetamide, and a trace amount of bromophenol blue. The strip was then sealed on top of a 4-to-20% Tris-glycine gel (10 by 10 cm; Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) with warm 0.5% agarose made in 25 mM Tris (pH 8.3), 192 mM glycine, and 0.1% SDS. The gel was run for 20 min at 20 V to load the sample and then an additional 90 min at 125 V to resolve the organelle proteins. After electrophoresis, the organelle proteins were transferred to an Immobilon P membrane (Millipore, Billerica, Mass.) by trans-blotting (14.5 h at 20 V and 4°C) and stained with Coomassie brilliant blue R-250. N-terminal sequencing of the organelle proteins separated by 2D PAGE was performed by the University of Florida, Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research, Protein Chemistry Core Facility using an Applied Biosystems model 494 HT sequencer and standard blot cartridge cycles.
MALDI-TOF MS. The protein components of purified polyhedral organelles (115 µg) were separated by 2D-IEF-SDS-PAGE as described above, but with the following modifications. The IEF dimension employed a 17-cm linear pH 4 to 7 IPG strip (Bio-Rad) and was focused for a total of 95 kV · h. After the IEF dimension, the IPG strip was sealed onto an 8-to-16% polyacrylamide gel (18.3 by 19.3 cm; Bio-Rad) and run for 20 min at 10 mA to load the sample and then another 5 to 6 h at 24 mA to resolve the organelle proteins. Following 2D electrophoresis, the gel was stained with colloidal blue (Genomic Solutions, Ann Arbor, Mich.) and organelle proteins were excised, washed, dried, digested with trypsin, purified using a Millipore ZipTip, and then analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS.
For MS, a calibration mixture of Angiotensin I, ACTH (clip 1 to 17), and ACTH (clip 18 to 39) (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.) was prepared according to the manufacturer instructions. It was combined with the sample as an internal standard at a concentration of 1 pmol/µl each protein standard. Tryptic digests were cocrystallized with a matrix of
-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo.) and analyzed using an Applied Biosystems Voyager-DE Pro MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer operated in the delayed-extraction, reflector mode. This instrument was equipped with a nitrogen laser delivering pulses of UV light (337 nm) and spectra from 100 individual laser shots were collected for each sample. An accelerating voltage of 20 kV, grid voltage of 72%, and extraction delay time of 200 ns were used.
Peptide mass fingerprinting. Two Web-based programs dedicated to protein mass-fingerprinting were used to analyze MALDI-TOF spectra: MS-Fit (http://prospector.ucsf.edu), and Profound (http://129.85.19.192/profound_bin/webProFound.exe) (42). Profound was used to search the NCBI nonredundant protein database, and MS-Fit was used to search one or more of the following databases: Swiss-Prot, GenBank (Genpept), and the NCBI nonredundant database. The following standard parameters were used with both programs: charge state, MH+; protein mass range, 1 to 100 kDa; all species allowed; full range of pI; one missed cleavage allowed; possible modification of cysteine by acrylamide or carbamidomethylation; possible modification of methionine by oxidation; and peptide mass tolerance of ±50 ppm. Possible adjustments to the above parameters included the following: the protein mass range and pI range were narrowed or extended according to the 2D gel information; S. enterica serovar Typhimurium species was selected, if allowable; and the number of missed cleavages allowed was increased if larger peptides were present in the spectra. The number of tryptic peptides included in the search was determined as follows: the peptide masses from the spectra were corrected for isotopic content and ordered according to peak intensity, the threshold for peak detection was set at 2% Base Peak Intensity to filter out noise and then the entire list was uploaded to the MS-Fit or Profound search program. Calibration standards, trypsin autoproteolysis peptides, and possibly known keratin peaks were placed on an exclusion list and not included in the database search. Possible adjustments to the peptide list included the use of fewer peptides if review of raw spectra showed very few peptides above the baseline noise and/or a second search listing only the most intense peaks (top 5, 10, 20, etc.).
Densitometry analysis. Organelle proteins were resolved by 2D-IEF-SDS-PAGE as described above under "N-terminal sequencing" with the following changes. The organelle preparation used contained 17 µg of protein, and the IEF buffer contained a lower concentration of CHAPS (2%) and was supplemented with 1% dodecyl-maltoside. Following 2D electrophoresis, staining was done with Bio-Rad Sypro Ruby protein gel stain, and the relative amounts of organelle proteins were quantitated using an IS-1000 Digital Imaging system (Alpha Innotech Corporation, San Leandro, Calif.).
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FIG. 1. Electron micrographs of polyhedral organelles purified from S. enterica. (A) Magnification, x53,000. (B) Magnification, x122,000. The marker bars are 100 nm. Prior to electron microscopy, organelles were fixed with Trump's reagent and then negatively stained with uranyl-acetate.
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FIG. 2. Analysis of the organelle purification protocol by SDS-PAGE. Lane 1, molecular mass markers; lane 2, crude lysate; lane 3, detergent-treated crude lysate; lane 4, supernatant from centrifugation at 12,000 x g; lane 5, pellet from centrifugation at 48,000 x g; lane 6, clarified supernatant from centrifugation at 12,000 x g; lane 7, density gradient-purified polyhedral organelles. Molecular masses in kilodaltons are shown at the left. Lanes 2 to 7 each contained 20 µg of protein.
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TABLE 1. Diol dehydratase activity during organelle purification
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After sonication, soluble extracts were treated with the proprietary detergent BPER-II, sodium chloride, and magnesium chloride and centrifuged at 12,000 x g. This removed the majority of lipid vesicles and separated the polyhedra from the remaining vesicles and glycogen rosettes. The subsequent 48,000 x g centrifugation yielded a pellet highly enriched in polyhedra and separated from soluble proteins, while the final low-speed and sucrose density gradient centrifugation steps removed the remaining high-molecular-weight contaminants.
Electron microscopy indicated that the purified organelles were nearly homogenous (Fig. 1). Purified preparations contained many polyhedra, but no cells, membrane vesicles, or glycogen rosettes were observed. The polyhedral organelles ranged in size from 100 to 150 nm in diameter and had a 3- to 4-nm-thick shell surrounding a heterogeneous interior. The general appearance of the polyhedra remained unchanged throughout the purification. Furthermore, the majority of the polyhedra appeared to be intact and only a small number of broken organelles were observed. In this regard, we point out that fixation prior to negative staining (as described in Materials and Methods) was required to prevent breakdown of the polyhedral organelles during electron microscopy.
SDS-PAGE analysis. The progress of the polyhedral organelle purification was also followed by SDS-PAGE (Fig. 2). Purified organelles were found to be composed of at least 14 proteins with molecular masses ranging from 10.6 to 58.6 kDa (Fig. 2, lane 7). Among these proteins the 10.6-, 11.1-, 17.6-, 27.2-, 29.5-, 38.5-, 42.6-, 51.9-, and 58.6-kDa proteins appeared to be the most abundant. These major protein components of the polyhedra were not easily observed in the crude lysate (Fig. 2, lane 2), the BPER-II-extracted lysate (Fig. 2, lane 3), or the 12,000 x g supernatant (Fig. 2, lane 4). However, they became apparent in the 48,000 x g pellet (Fig. 2, lane 5) and were further purified following low-speed (Fig. 2, lane 6) and sucrose gradient centrifugation (Fig. 2, lane 7).
Diol dehydratase activity of the polyhedral organelles. Since diol dehydratase was previously shown to be associated with the polyhedral organelles (9, 17), the activity of this enzyme was also used to monitor the organelle purification (Table 1). The specific activity of diol dehydratase was unchanged by the detergent treatment, but this step was necessary to remove lipid vesicles. The 12,000 x g centrifugation that followed the detergent treatment resulted in a small decrease in the specific activity of diol dehydratase. However, this step was needed to remove aggregates, which included many organelles that were not released from vesicles by the detergent treatment. Following aggregate removal, the polyhedral organelles were pelleted by centrifugation at 48,000 x g, resuspended in buffer, and clarified by a second centrifugation at 12,000 x g. These two steps proved very effective and increased the specific activity of diol dehydratase from 1.6 to 27.9 µmol/min/mg. The final sucrose density gradient step typically resulted in a slight drop in the specific activity of diol dehydratase (Table 1). The reason is uncertain. It may have been due to removal of an unknown factor that enhances diol dehydratase activity or due to partial enzyme inactivation.
For the complete purification, the specific activity of diol dehydratase increased approximately 10-fold, from 2.7 to 27.5 µmol/min/mg protein (Table 1). This indicates that the polyhedral organelles constitute about 10% of the total cell protein, which is consistent with previous electron microscopy, which showed that these structures occupy a significant portion of the cytoplasm of S. enterica grown under the conditions used for organelle purification (9, 17).
Western blot analysis of purified polyhedral organelles. To examine their composition, Western blots were performed on purified polyhedral organelles using antisera against diol dehydratase (PduCDE) and the PduAJOP proteins. An antiserum previously shown to be specific for the PduA protein (17) recognized a single band at 11 kDa (Fig. 3 lane 3). This is near the expected value for PduA (9.6-kDa), indicating that this protein is a component of the purified organelles. A second antiserum, shown in a prior study to react with both the PduA and PduJ proteins (17), recognized one band at 11 kDa (PduA) as well as a second band near the predicted molecular mass of PduJ (10.6 kDa) (Fig. 3, lane 4). Thus, it appears that the PduJ protein is also an organelle component.
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FIG. 3. Western analysis of purified polyhedral organelles. Lane 1, molecular mass markers; lanes 2 to 7 each contained 20 µg of purified polyhedral organelles. Lane 2 was stained with Coomassie brilliant blue and lanes 3 to 7 were probed with the following antisera: lane 3, anti-PduA; lane 4, anti-PduAJ; lane 5, anti-diol dehydratase; lane 6, anti-PduO; lane 7, anti-PduP.
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The reaction of purified organelles with anti-diol dehydratase antibody was also tested. This antibody preparation reacted with proteins of 58.6, 30, and 18 kDa (Fig. 3, lane 5). These are the approximate sizes of the three subunits of diol dehydratase (60.3, 24.2, and 19.1 kDa). Prior studies showed that the antiserum used reacts with diol dehydratase (9, 17, 36), but clearly there was also some cross-reactivity, as a number of other protein bands were recognized. Nonetheless, three protein bands near the expected molecular masses for the three subunits of diol dehydratase were identified supporting the enzyme assays described above which indicated that diol dehydratase is associated with the purified organelles.
Glycoprotein staining of organelle proteins. Prior studies showed that the Csos2 protein of carboxysomes is glycosylated (3, 18). Since some components of the pdu organelles share homology with the carboxysome proteins, we tested the polyhedral organelles purified from S. enterica for the presence of glycoproteins. Organelles proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE and stained for glycoproteins using a commercial kit that is based on the periodic acid-Schiff staining method (41). No glycosylated proteins were detected in the polyhedral organelle preparation (20 µg); however, glycosylation was detected in the positive control, 20 µg horseradish peroxidase (data not shown).
Two-dimensional electrophoresis of purified polyhedral organelles. Samples of purified polyhedral organelles were separated by 2D-IEF-SDS-PAGE (Fig. 4) Seventeen major spots (spots 1 to 12, 16, 18, and 20 to 22) and five minor protein spots (spots 13 to 15 and 17 and 19) were observed. Each protein present in Fig. 4 was reproducibly observed following 2D electrophoresis of three different organelle preparations.
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FIG. 4. Two-dimensional electrophoresis of purified polyhedral organelles of S. enterica. A purified polyhedral organelle preparation (115 µg of protein) was subjected to 2D-IEF-SDS-PAGE followed by colloidal blue staining. Molecular mass is indicated to the left and IEF pH at the top of the gel.
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TABLE 2. Proteins identified using N-terminal sequencing
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TABLE 3. Results of peptide mass fingerprintinga
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Unidentified proteins of the purified polyhedral organelles. Each protein spot in Fig. 4 was assigned an identity, with the exception of 19. This spot had an apparent pI of 6.8 and an observed molecular mass of 8.6-kDa. These values do not match well to any known pdu protein and protein mass fingerprinting did not match this spot to any protein found in the S. enterica genome.
Relative abundance, molecular mass, and pI values of polyhedral organelle proteins separated by 2D electrophoresis. Following 2D electrophoresis of the purified organelles, the molecular mass, and pI values for each organelle protein were determined. In addition, protein spots were quantitated by densitometry so that the relative abundance of each organelle protein could be determined (Table 4) Of the presumed organelle structural proteins, PduABB'J were major components and PduKTU were minor components, both in terms of percent of total protein and molar ratios, the latter of which were as follows: J:A:B':B:K:T:U = 15:10:7:6:1:1:2.
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TABLE 4. Molecular mass, pI, and densitometry analyses
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The best studied polyhedral organelles, the carboxysomes of H. neapolitanus, are composed of at least 9 proteins: six shell proteins, Csos1A, Csos1B, Csos1C, Csos2A, Csos2B, and Csos3; one protein of unknown function; and the large and small subunits of RuBisCO, CbbL, and CbbS (14, 18). Thus far, the only protein shown to be part of the shell of the S. enterica organelles is the PduA protein (17), which is a homologue of the Csos1A, Csos1B, and Csos1C proteins (9, 31). However, the PduJKT proteins also have at least 27% amino acid sequence identity to Csos1 (9), and all are constituents of the S. enterica organelles (this study) suggesting that these proteins may also be shell components of the pdu organelles. Likewise, the PduB, PduB', and PduU organelle proteins are distantly related to Csos1 (9) and hence may also serve as shell components. This suggests that the shell of the pdu organelles may be quite complex indeed.
In addition to the putative shell proteins, four enzymes were shown to be components of the purified pdu organelles: Ado-B12-dependent diol dehydratase (PduCDE), propionaldehyde dehydrogenase (PduP), adenosyltransferase (PduO), and a putative diol dehydratase reactivating factor (PduGH). As a group, these enzymes are sufficient to mediate the conversion of 1,2-PD to propionyl-CoA. Ado-B12-dependent diol dehydratase catalyzes the conversion of 1,2-PD to propionaldehyde, which is then converted to propionyl-CoA by the CoA-dependent propionaldehyde dehydrogenase (1, 24, 37). Adenosyltransferase and the PduGH reactivating factor are needed to maintain diol dehydratase in an active form (20). Thus, the pdu organelles include all the enzymatic activities needed for the conversion of 1,2-PD to propionyl-CoA.
Previously, we proposed that the pdu organelles function to minimize aldehyde toxicity during the growth of S. enterica on 1,2-PD (17). Based on the findings reported here, we propose a model for how this occurs (Fig. 5) In the model, the conversion of 1,2-PD to propionyl-CoA occurs within the lumen of the organelle, but the remaining steps of 1,2-PD degradation take place in the cytoplasm of the cell. Sequestration and/or channeling assures that the majority of the propionaldehyde is converted to propionyl-CoA inside the organelle, thus protecting cytoplasmic components. This model is supported by the findings that Ado-B12-dependent diol dehydratase and propionaldehyde dehydrogenase are major organelle components, and by the fact that a putative propanol dehydrogenase (PduQ), propionate kinase (PduW), and phosphotransacylase were undetectable in the purified organelles indicating that these enzymes function in the cytoplasm of the cell (this study). In addition, since previous studies indicated that the pdu organelles also reduce aldehyde toxicity by regulation of diol dehydratase activity (17), it is proposed that the pdu organelles function via a combined mechanism of aldehyde channeling and/or sequestration augmented by control of diol dehydratase activity to fine tune aldehyde production and consumption.
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FIG. 5. A model for the role of the pdu organelles in 1,2-PD degradation. The dashed line indicates the multiprotein shell of the organelle. The enzymes of the organelle are indicated graphically and in the legend. The pathway of 1,2-PD degradation is also shown. The proposed function of the organelles is to protect cytoplasmic components from the cytotoxic effects of propionaldehyde.
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We thank Scott McClung and Charity Hartmann for performing the N-terminal sequencing and Scott McMillen and Li Zhang for conducting the MALDI-TOF analyses at the Protein Chemistry Core Facility, Biotechnology Program, University of Florida. We also thank Marjorie Chow and Alexia Lunberg for performing the 2D electrophoresis at the Molecular Biomarkers Core Facility, Biotechnology Program, University of Florida. We also acknowledge Henry C. Aldrich, Donna S. Williams, and Lorraine M. McDowell for their invaluable assistance with the electron microscopy studies and Tetsuo Toraya, Nicole A. Leal, and Celeste L. V. Johnson for providing the anti-diol dehydratase, anti-PduP, and anti-PduO antisera used in the immunoblots.
Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series no. R-09558. ![]()
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