Carol S. Giometti

Analytical techniques for cell fractions

Abstract The ISO-DALT system of two-dimensional electrophoresis allows high-resolution separations of proteins and protein subunits. However, the conventional isoelectric focusing employed in this system does not give satisfactory resolution of the more basic proteins, such as histones. The BASO-DALT system was designed to obtain improved resolution of these basic proteins in the first dimension. In this system, phosphatidyl choline is used as the solubilization agent, and allows resolution of many low molecular weight basic proteins that were not seem with more conventional detergents. Using the BASO-DALT system, Novikoff hepatoma chromosomal proteins have been analyzed, and the five histones identified.

Transcriptional and Proteomic Analysis of a Ferric Uptake Regulator (Fur) Mutant of Shewanella oneidensis: Possible Involvement of Fur in Energy Metabolism, Transcriptional Regulation, and Oxidative Stress

ABSTRACT The iron-directed, coordinate regulation of genes depends on the fur (ferric uptake regulator) gene product, which acts as an iron-responsive, transcriptional repressor protein. To investigate the biological function of a fur homolog in the dissimilatory metal-reducing bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, a fur knockout strain (FUR1) was generated by suicide plasmid integration into this gene and characterized using phenotype assays, DNA microarrays containing 691 arrayed genes, and two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Physiological studies indicated that FUR1 was similar to the wild-type strain when they were compared for anaerobic growth and reduction of various electron acceptors. Transcription profiling, however, revealed that genes with predicted functions in electron transport, energy metabolism, transcriptional regulation, and oxidative stress protection were either repressed (ccoNQ, etrA, cytochrome b and c maturation-encoding genes, qor, yiaY, sodB, rpoH, phoB, and chvI) or induced (yggW, pdhC, prpC, aceE, fdhD, and ppc) in the fur mutant. Disruption of fur also resulted in derepression of genes (hxuC, alcC, fhuA, hemR, irgA, and ompW) putatively involved in iron uptake. This agreed with the finding that the fur mutant produced threefold-higher levels of siderophore than the wild-type strain under conditions of sufficient iron. Analysis of a subset of the FUR1 proteome (i.e., primarily soluble cytoplasmic and periplasmic proteins) indicated that 11 major protein species reproducibly showed significant (P < 0.05) differences in abundance relative to the wild type. Protein identification using mass spectrometry indicated that the expression of two of these proteins (SodB and AlcC) correlated with the microarray data. These results suggest a possible regulatory role of S. oneidensis MR-1 Fur in energy metabolism that extends the traditional model of Fur as a negative regulator of iron acquisition systems.

Identification of 2D-gel proteins: A comparison of MALDI/TOF peptide mass mapping to μ LC-ESI tandem mass spectrometry

A comparative analysis of protein identification for a total of 162 protein spots separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis from two fully sequenced archaea, Methanococcus jannaschii and Pyrococcus furiosus, using MALDI-TOF peptide mass mapping (PMM) and μLC-MS/MS is presented. 100% of the gel spots analyzed were successfully matched to the predicted proteins in the two corresponding open reading frame databases by μLC-MS/MS while 97% of them were identified by MALDI-TOF PMM. The high success rate from the PMM resulted from sample desalting/concentrating with ZipTipC18 and optimization of several PMM search parameters including a 25 ppm average mass tolerance and the application of two different protein molecular weight search windows. By using this strategy, low-molecular weight (<23 kDa) proteins could be identified unambiguously with less than 5 peptide matches. Nine percent of spots were identified as containing multiple proteins. By using μLC-MS/MS, 50% of the spots analyzed were identified as containing multiple proteins. μLC-MS/MS demonstrated better protein sequence coverage than MALDI-TOF PMM over the entire mass range of proteins identified. MALDI-TOF and PMM produced unique peptide molecular weight matches that were not identified by μLC-MS/MS. By incorporating amino acid sequence modifications into database searches, combined sequence coverage obtained from these two complimentary ionization methods exceeded 50% for ∼70% of the 162 spots analyzed. This improved sequence coverage in combination with enzymatic digestions of different specificity is proposed as a method for analysis of post-translational modification from 2D-gel separated proteins.

Gene and Protein Expression Profiles of Shewanella oneidensis during Anaerobic Growth with Different Electron Acceptors

Changes in mRNA and protein expression profiles of Shewanella oneidenesis MR-1 during switch from aerobic to fumarate-, Fe(III)-, or nitrate-reducing conditions were examined using DNA microarrays and two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE). In response to changes in growth conditions, 121 of the 691 arrayed genes displayed at least a two-fold difference in transcript abundance as determined by microarray analysis. Genes involved in aerobic respiration encoding cytochrome c and d oxidases and TCA cycle enzymes were repressed under anaerobic conditions. Genes induced during anaerobic respiration included those involved in cofactor biosynthesis and assembly (moaACE, ccmHF, nosD, cysG), substrate transport (cysUP, cysTWA, dcuB), and anaerobic energy metabolism (dmsAB, psrC, pshA, hyaABC, hydA). Transcription of genes encoding a periplasmic nitrate reductase (napBHGA), cytochrome c552, and prismane was elevated 8- to 56-fold in response to the presence of nitrate, while cymA, ifcA, and frdA were specifically induced three- to eightfold under fumarate-reducing conditions. The mRNA levels for two oxidoreductase-like genes of unknown function and several cell envelope genes involved in multidrug resistance increased two- to fivefold specifically under Fe(III)-reducing conditions. Analysis of protein expression profiles under aerobic and anaerobic conditions revealed 14 protein spots that showed significant differences in abundance on 2-D gels. Protein identification by mass spectrometry indicated that the expression of prismane, dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferase, and alcaligin siderophore biosynthesis protein correlated with the microarray data.

Comparative systems biology across an evolutionary gradient within the Shewanella genus

To what extent genotypic differences translate to phenotypic variation remains a poorly understood issue of paramount importance for several cornerstone concepts of microbiology including the species definition. Here, we take advantage of the completed genomic sequences, expressed proteomic profiles, and physiological studies of 10 closely related Shewanella strains and species to provide quantitative insights into this issue. Our analyses revealed that, despite extensive horizontal gene transfer within these genomes, the genotypic and phenotypic similarities among the organisms were generally predictable from their evolutionary relatedness. The power of the predictions depended on the degree of ecological specialization of the organisms evaluated. Using the gradient of evolutionary relatedness formed by these genomes, we were able to partly isolate the effect of ecology from that of evolutionary divergence and to rank the different cellular functions in terms of their rates of evolution. Our ranking also revealed that whole-cell protein expression differences among these organisms, when the organisms were grown under identical conditions, were relatively larger than differences at the genome level, suggesting that similarity in gene regulation and expression should constitute another important parameter for (new) species description. Collectively, our results provide important new information toward beginning a systems-level understanding of bacterial species and genera.

Low-Temperature Growth of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1

ABSTRACT Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is a mesophilic bacterium with a maximum growth temperature of ≈35°C but the ability to grow over a wide range of temperatures, including temperatures near zero. At room temperature (≈22°C) MR-1 grows with a doubling time of about 40 min, but when moved from 22°C to 3°C, MR-1 cells display a very long lag phase of more than 100 h followed by very slow growth, with a doubling time of ≈67 h. In comparison to cells grown at 22°C, the cold-grown cells formed long, motile filaments, showed many spheroplast-like structures, produced an array of proteins not seen at higher temperature, and synthesized a different pattern of cellular lipids. Frequent pilus-like structures were observed during the transition from 3 to 22°C.

Analytical techniques for cell fractions. XXVII. Use of heart proteins as reference standards in two-dimensional electrophoresis.

The preparation and use of rat heart whole homogenate as a standard for the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) electrophoresis dimension of two-dimensional electrophoresis is described. By including the rat heart homogenate in the agarose overlay used to hold an isofocusing gel (first dimension) in contact with a slab gel (second dimension), 80 horizontal lines can be superimposed on a two-dimensional electrophoresis pattern. Such an internal standard is useful as a reference marker for the intercomparison of many gels and also, when calibrated, can be used to determine the approximate molecular weight of proteins.

Proteomic analysis of Psychrobacter cryohalolentis K5 during growth at subzero temperatures.

It is crucial to examine the physiological processes of psychrophiles at temperatures below 4°C, particularly to facilitate extrapolation of laboratory results to in situ activity. Using two dimensional electrophoresis, we examined patterns of protein abundance during growth at 16, 4, and −4°C of the eurypsychrophile Psychrobacter cryohalolentis K5 and report the first identification of cold inducible proteins (CIPs) present during growth at subzero temperatures. Growth temperature substantially reprogrammed the proteome; the relative abundance of 303 of the 618 protein spots detected (∼31% of the proteins at each growth temperature) varied significantly with temperature. Five CIPs were detected specifically at −4°C; their identities (AtpF, EF-Ts, TolC, Pcryo_1988, and FecA) suggested specific stress on energy production, protein synthesis, and transport during growth at subzero temperatures. The need for continual relief of low-temperature stress on these cellular processes was confirmed via identification of 22 additional CIPs whose abundance increased during growth at −4°C (relative to higher temperatures). Our data suggested that iron may be limiting during growth at subzero temperatures and that a cold-adapted allele was employed at −4°C for transport of iron. In summary, these data suggest that low-temperature stresses continue to intensify as growth temperatures decrease to −4°C.

GELBANK: a database of annotated two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis patterns of biological systems with completed genomes

GELBANK is a publicly available database of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) gel patterns of proteomes from organisms with known genome information (available at http://gelbank.anl.gov and ftp://bioinformatics.anl.gov/gelbank/). Currently it includes 131 completed, mostly microbial proteomes available from the National Center for Biotechnology Information. A web interface allows the upload of 2D gel patterns and their annotation for registered users. The images are organized by species, tissue type, separation method, sample type and staining method. The database can be queried based on protein or 2DE-pattern attributes. A web interface allows registered users to assign molecular weight and pH gradient profiles to their own 2D gel patterns as well as to link protein identifications to a given spot on the pattern. The website presents all of the submitted 2D gel patterns where the end-user can dynamically display the images or parts of images along with molecular weight, pH profile information and linked protein identification. A collection of images can be selected for the creation of animations from which the user can select sub-regions of interest and unlimited 2D gel patterns for visualization. The website currently presents 233 identifications for 81 gel patterns for Homo sapiens, Methanococcus jannaschii, Pyro coccus furiosus, Shewanella oneidensis, Escherichia coli and Deinococcus radiodurans.

Imaging metals in proteins by combining electrophoresis with rapid x-ray fluorescence mapping.

Growing evidence points toward a very dynamic role for metals in biology. This suggests that physiological circumstance may mandate metal ion redistribution among ligands. This work addresses a critical need for technology that detects, identifies, and measures the metal-containing components of complex biological matrixes. We describe a direct, user-friendly approach for identifying and quantifying metal-protein adducts in complex samples using native- or SDS-PAGE, blotting, and rapid synchrotron X-ray fluorescence mapping with micro-XANES (X-ray absorption near-edge structure) of entire blots. The identification and quantification of each metal bound to a protein spot has been demonstrated, and the technique has been applied in two exemplary cases. In the first, the speciation of the in vitro binding of exogenous chromium to blood serum proteins was influenced markedly by both the oxidation state of chromium exposed to the serum proteins and the treatment conditions, which is of relevance to the biochemistry of Cr dietary supplements. In the second case, in vivo changes in endogenous metal speciation were examined to probe the influence of oxygen depletion on iron speciation in Shewanella oneidensis.