Doris Rittmann

Engineering of a Glycerol Utilization Pathway for Amino Acid Production by Corynebacterium glutamicum

ABSTRACT The amino acid-producing organism Corynebacterium glutamicum cannot utilize glycerol, a stoichiometric by-product of biodiesel production. By heterologous expression of Escherichia coli glycerol utilization genes, C. glutamicum was engineered to grow on glycerol. While expression of the E. coli genes for glycerol kinase (glpK) and glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (glpD) was sufficient for growth on glycerol as the sole carbon and energy source, additional expression of the aquaglyceroporin gene glpF from E. coli increased growth rate and biomass formation. Glutamate production from glycerol was enabled by plasmid-borne expression of E. coli glpF, glpK, and glpD in C. glutamicum wild type. In addition, a lysine-producing C. glutamicum strain expressing E. coli glpF, glpK, and glpD was able to produce lysine from glycerol as the sole carbon substrate as well as from glycerol-glucose mixtures.

DNA microarray analyses of the long-term adaptive response of Escherichia coli to acetate and propionate

ABSTRACT In its natural environment, Escherichia coli is exposed to short-chain fatty acids, such as acetic acid or propionic acid, which can be utilized as carbon sources but which inhibit growth at higher concentrations. DNA microarray experiments revealed expression changes during exponential growth on complex medium due to the presence of sodium acetate or sodium propionate at a neutral external pH. The adaptive responses to acetate and propionate were similar and involved genes in three categories. First, the RNA levels for chemotaxis and flagellum genes increased. Accordingly, the expression of chromosomal fliC′-′lacZ and flhDC′-′lacZ fusions and swimming motility increased after adaptation to acetate or propionate. Second, the expression of many genes that are involved in the uptake and utilization of carbon sources decreased, indicating some kind of catabolite repression by acetate and propionate. Third, the expression of some genes of the general stress response increased, but the increases were more pronounced after short-term exposure for this response than for the adaptive response. Adaptation to propionate but not to acetate involved increased expression of threonine and isoleucine biosynthetic genes. The gene expression changes after adaptation to acetate or propionate were not caused solely by uncoupling or osmotic effects but represented specific characteristics of the long-term response of E. coli to either compound.

MmpL Genes Are Associated with Mycolic Acid Metabolism in Mycobacteria and Corynebacteria

Summary Mycolic acids are vital components of the cell wall of the tubercle bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis and are required for viability and virulence. While mycolic acid biosynthesis is studied extensively, components involved in mycolate transport remain unidentified. We investigated the role of large membrane proteins encoded by mmpL genes in mycolic acid transport in mycobacteria and the related corynebacteria. MmpL3 was found to be essential in mycobacteria and conditional depletion of MmpL3 in Mycobacterium smegmatis resulted in loss of cell wall mycolylation, and of the cell wall-associated glycolipid, trehalose dimycolate. In parallel, an accumulation of trehalose monomycolate (TMM) was observed, suggesting that mycolic acids were transported as TMM. In contrast to mycobacteria, we found redundancy in the role of two mmpL genes, in Corynebacterium glutamicum; a complete loss of trehalose-associated and cell wall bound corynomycolates was observed in an NCgl0228-NCgl2769 double mutant, but not in individual single mutants. Our studies highlight the role of mmpL genes in mycolic acid metabolism and identify potential new targets for anti-TB drug development.

Global Expression Profiling and Physiological Characterization of Corynebacterium glutamicum Grown in the Presence of L-Valine

ABSTRACT Addition of l-valine (50 to 200 mM) to glucose minimal medium had no effect on the growth of wild-type Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 but inhibited the growth of the derived valine production strain VAL1 [13032 ΔilvA ΔpanBC(pJC1ilvBNCD)] in a concentration-dependent manner. In order to explore this strain-specific valine effect, genomewide expression profiling was performed using DNA microarrays, which showed that valine caused an increased ilvBN mRNA level in VAL1 but not in the wild type. This unexpected result was confirmed by an increased cellular level of the ilvB protein product, i.e., the large subunit of acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS), and by an increased AHAS activity of valine-treated VAL1 cells. The conclusion that valine caused the limitation of another branched-chain amino acid was confirmed by showing that high concentrations of l-isoleucine could relieve the valine effect on VAL1 whereas l-leucine had the same effect as valine. The valine-caused isoleucine limitation was supported by the finding that the inhibitory valine effect was linked to the ilvA deletion that results in isoleucine auxotrophy. Taken together, these results implied that the valine effect is caused by competition for uptake of isoleucine by the carrier BrnQ, which transports all branched-chained amino acids. Indeed, valine inhibition could also be relieved by supplementing VAL1 with the dipeptide isoleucyl-isoleucine, which is taken up by a dipeptide transport system rather than by BrnQ. Interestingly, addition of external valine stimulated valine production by VAL1. This effect is most probably due to a reduced carbon usage for biomass production and to the increased expression of ilvBN, indicating that AHAS activity may still be a limiting factor for valine production in the VAL1 strain.

Crude glycerol-based production of amino acids and putrescine by Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Corynebacterium glutamicum possesses genes for glycerol kinase and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase that were shown to support slow growth with glycerol only when overexpressed from a plasmid. Pure glycerol and crude glycerol from biodiesel factories were tested for growth of recombinant strains expressing glpF, glpK and glpD from Escherichia coli. Some, but not all crude glycerol lots served as good carbon sources. Although the inhibitory compound(s) present in these crude glycerol lots remained unknown, the addition of substoichiometric glucose concentrations (below 10% by weight) enabled the utilization of some of the inhibitory crude glycerol lots. Besides growth, production of the amino acids L-glutamate, L-lysine, L-ornithine and L-arginine as well as of the diamine putrescine based on crude glycerol qualities from biodiesel factories was demonstrated.

Cloning, sequence analysis, expression and inactivation of the Corynebacterium glutamicum pta-ack operon encoding phosphotransacetylase and acetate kinase.

The Corynebacterium glutamicum ack and pta genes encoding the acetate-activating enzymes acetate kinase and phosphotransacetylase were isolated, subcloned on a plasmid and re-introduced into Corynebacterium glutamicum. Relative to the wild-type, the recombinant strains showed about tenfold higher specific activities of both enzymes. Sequence analysis of a 3657 bp DNA fragment revealed that the ack and pta genes are contiguous in the corynebacterial chromosome, with pta upstream and the last nucleotide of the pta stop codon (TAA) overlapping the first of the ack start codon (ATG). The predicted gene product of pta consists of 329 amino acids (Mr 35242), that of ack consists of 397 amino acids (Mr 43098) and the amino acid sequences of the two polypeptides show up to 60 % (phosphotransacetylase) and 53% (acetate kinase) identity in comparison with respective enzymes from other organisms. Northern (RNA) blot hybridizations using pta- and ack-specific probes and transcriptional cat fusion experiments revealed that the two genes are transcribed as a 2.5 kb bicistronic mRNA and that the expression of this operon is induced when Corynebacterium glutamicum grows on acetate instead of glucose as a carbon source. Directed inactivation of the chromosomal pta and ack genes led to the absence of detectable phosphotransacetylase and acetate kinase activity in the respective mutants and to their inability to grow on acetate. These data indicate that no isoenzymes of acetate kinase and phosphotransacetylase are present in Corynebacterium glutamicum and that a functional acetate kinase/phosphotransacetylase pathway is essential for growth of this organism on acetate.

Roles of pyruvate kinase and malic enzyme in Corynebacterium glutamicum for growth on carbon sources requiring gluconeogenesis

In many bacteria, pyruvate kinase serves a well-defined function in glycolysis, catalyzing an ATP-generating reaction. However, its role during growth on carbon sources requiring glucoeneogenesis is less well investigated. We analyzed a defined pyruvate kinase gene (pyk) deletion mutant of Corynebacterium glutamicum, which is unable to grow on ribose as sole carbon source. Unexpectedly, the pyk deletion mutant was also unable to grow on acetate or citrate as sole carbon sources unless low amounts of pyruvate were added to the growth medium. A spontaneous suppressor mutant of the pyk deletion strain that regained the ability to grow on acetate was isolated. DNA microarray experiments revealed increased expression of the malic enzyme gene malE. The point mutation upstream of malE identified in this mutant was responsible for the loss of carbon-source-dependent regulation, as revealed by transcriptional fusion analysis. Overexpression of malE was sufficient to restore growth of the pyk deletion strain on acetate or citrate. The requirement of increased malic enzyme levels to re-route the carbon flux at the interface between glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle in order to compensate for the absence of pyruvate kinase indicates a metabolic flux bifurcation at the metabolic node phosphoenolpyruvate. Whereas during growth of C. glutamicum on acetate or citrate most of the phosphoenolpyruvate generated from oxaloacetate is metabolized in gluconeogenesis, a fraction is converted by pyruvate kinase in the glycolytic direction to sustain proper pyruvate availability for biomass synthesis.

Biosynthesis of mycobacterial arabinogalactan: identification of a novel α(1→3) arabinofuranosyltransferase

The cell wall mycolyl‐arabinogalactan–peptidoglycan complex is essential in mycobacterial species, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is the target of several antitubercular drugs. For instance, ethambutol targets arabinogalactan biosynthesis through inhibition of the arabinofuranosyltransferases Mt‐EmbA and Mt‐EmbB. A bioinformatics approach identified putative integral membrane proteins, MSMEG2785 in Mycobacterium smegmatis, Rv2673 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and NCgl1822 in Corynebacterium glutamicum, with 10 predicted transmembrane domains and a glycosyltransferase motif (DDX), features that are common to the GT‐C superfamily of glycosyltransferases. Deletion of M. smegmatis MSMEG2785 resulted in altered growth and glycosyl linkage analysis revealed the absence of AG α(1→3)‐linked arabinofuranosyl (Araf) residues. Complementation of the M. smegmatis deletion mutant was fully restored to a wild‐type phenotype by MSMEG2785 and Rv2673, and as a result, we have now termed this previously uncharacterized open reading frame, arabinofuranosyltransferase C (aftC). Enzyme assays using the sugar donor β‐d‐arabinofuranosyl‐1‐monophosphoryl‐decaprenol (DPA) and a newly synthesized linear α(1→5)‐linked Ara5 neoglycolipid acceptor together with chemical identification of products formed, clearly identified AftC as a branching α(1→3) arabinofuranosyltransferase. This newly discovered glycosyltransferase sheds further light on the complexities of Mycobacterium cell wall biosynthesis, such as in M. tuberculosis and related species and represents a potential new drug target.

Identification of an α(1→6) mannopyranosyltransferase (MptA), involved in Corynebacterium glutamicum lipomanann biosynthesis, and identification of its orthologue in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Corynebacterium glutamicum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis share a similar cell wall architecture, and the availability of their genome sequences has enabled the utilization of C. glutamicum as a model for the identification and study of, otherwise essential, mycobacterial genes involved in lipomannan (LM) and lipoarabinomannan (LAM) biosynthesis. We selected the putative glycosyltransferase‐Rv2174 from M. tuberculosis and deleted its orthologue NCgl2093 from C. glutamicum. This resulted in the formation of a novel truncated lipomannan (Cg‐t‐LM) and a complete ablation of LM/LAM biosynthesis. Purification and characterization of Cg‐t‐LM revealed an overall decrease in molecular mass, a reduction of α(1→6) and α(1→2) glycosidic linkages illustrating a reduced degree of branching compared with wild‐type LM. The deletion mutants biochemical phenotype was fully complemented by either NCgl2093 or Rv2174. Furthermore, the use of a synthetic neoglycolipid acceptor in an in vitro cell‐free assay utilizing the sugar donor β‐d‐mannopyranosyl‐1‐monophosphoryl‐decaprenol together with the neoglycolipid acceptor α‐d‐Manp‐(1→6)‐α‐d‐Manp‐O‐C8 as a substrate, confirmed NCgl2093 and Rv2174 as an α(1→6) mannopyranosyltransferase (MptA), involved in the latter stages of the biosynthesis of the α(1→6) mannan core of LM. Altogether, these studies have identified a new mannosyltransferase, MptA, and they shed further light on the biosynthesis of LM/LAM in Corynebacterianeae.

Identification of a novel α(1→6) mannopyranosyltransferase MptB from Corynebacterium glutamicum by deletion of a conserved gene, NCgl1505, affords a lipomannan-and lipoarabinomannan-deficient mutant

Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Corynebacterium glutamicum share a similar cell wall structure and orthologous enzymes involved in cell wall assembly. Herein, we have studied C. glutamicum NCgl1505, the orthologue of putative glycosyltransferases Rv1459c from M. tuberculosis and MSMEG3120 from Mycobacterium smegmatis. Deletion of NCgl1505 resulted in the absence of lipomannan (Cg‐LM‐A), lipoarabinomannan (Cg‐LAM) and a multi‐mannosylated polymer (Cg‐LM‐B) based on a 1,2‐di‐O‐C16/C18:1‐(α‐D‐glucopyranosyluronic acid)‐(1→3)‐glycerol (GlcAGroAc2) anchor, while syntheses of triacylated‐phosphatidyl‐myo‐inositol dimannoside (Ac1PIM2) and Man1GlcAGroAc2 were still abundant in whole cells. Cell‐free incubation of C. glutamicum membranes with GDP‐[14C]Man established that C. glutamicum synthesized a novel α(1→6)‐linked linear form of Cg‐LM‐A and Cg‐LM‐B from Ac1PIM2 and Man1GlcAGroAc2 respectively. Furthermore, deletion of NCgl1505 also led to the absence of in vitro synthesized linear Cg‐LM‐A and Cg‐LM‐B, demonstrating that NCgl1505 was involved in core α(1→6) mannan biosynthesis of Cg‐LM‐A and Cg‐LM‐B, extending Ac1PI[14C]M2 and [14C]Man1GlcAGroAc2 primers respectively. Use of the acceptor α‐D‐Manp‐(1→6)‐α‐D‐Manp‐O‐C8 in an in vitro cell‐free assay confirmed NCgl1505 as an α(1→6) mannopyranosyltransferase, now termed MptB. While Rv1459c and MSMEG3120 demonstrated similar in vitroα(1→6) mannopyranosyltransferase activity, deletion of the Rv1459c homologue in M. smegmatis did not result in loss of mycobacterial LM/LAM, indicating a functional redundancy for this enzyme in mycobacteria.