Hailong Liu

Development of pyrF-based gene knockout systems for genome-wide manipulation of the archaea Haloferax mediterranei and Haloarcula hispanica

The haloarchaea Haloferax mediterranei and Haloarcula hispanica are both polyhydroxyalkanoate producers in the domain Archaea, and they are becoming increasingly attractive for research and biotechnology due to their unique genetic and metabolic features. To accelerate their genome-level genetic and metabolic analyses, we have developed specific and highly efficient gene knockout systems for these two haloarchaea. These gene knockout systems consist of a suicide plasmid vector with the pyrF gene as the selection marker and a uracil auxotrophic haloarchaeon (ΔpyrF) as the host. For in-frame deletion of a target gene, the suicide plasmid carrying the flanking region of the target gene was transferred into the corresponding ΔpyrF host. After positive selection of the single-crossover integration recombinants (pop-in) on AS-168SY medium without uracil and counterselection of the double-crossover pyrF-excised recombinants (pop-out) with 5-fluoroorotic acid (5-FOA), the target gene knockout mutants were confirmed by PCR and Southern blot analysis. We have demonstrated the effectiveness of these systems by knocking out the crtB gene which encodes a phytoene synthase in these haloarchaea. In conclusion, these well-developed knockout systems would greatly accelerate the functional genomic research of these halophilic archaea.

Wide Distribution among Halophilic Archaea of a Novel Polyhydroxyalkanoate Synthase Subtype with Homology to Bacterial Type III Synthases

ABSTRACT Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are accumulated as intracellular carbon and energy storage polymers by various bacteria and a few haloarchaea. In this study, 28 strains belonging to 15 genera in the family Halobacteriaceae were investigated with respect to their ability to synthesize PHAs and the types of their PHA synthases. Fermentation results showed that 18 strains from 12 genera could synthesize polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) or poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV). For most of these haloarchaea, selected regions of the phaE and phaC genes encoding PHA synthases (type III) were cloned via PCR with consensus-degenerate hybrid oligonucleotide primers (CODEHOPs) and were sequenced. The PHA synthases were also examined by Western blotting using haloarchaeal Haloarcula marismortui PhaC (PhaCHm) antisera. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the type III PHA synthases from species of the Halobacteriaceae and the Bacteria domain clustered separately. Comparison of their amino acid sequences revealed that haloarchaeal PHA synthases differed greatly in both molecular weight and certain conserved motifs. The longer C terminus of haloarchaeal PhaC was found to be indispensable for its enzymatic activity, and two additional amino acid residues (C143 and C190) of PhaCHm were proved to be important for its in vivo function. Thus, we conclude that a novel subtype (IIIA) of type III PHA synthase with unique features that distinguish it from the bacterial subtype (IIIB) is widely distributed in haloarchaea and appears to be involved in PHA biosynthesis.

Complete Genome Sequence of the Metabolically Versatile Halophilic Archaeon Haloferax mediterranei, a Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate-co-3-Hydroxyvalerate) Producer

Haloferax mediterranei, an extremely halophilic archaeon, has shown promise for production of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) from unrelated cheap carbon sources. Here we report the complete genome (3,904,707 bp) of H. mediterranei CGMCC 1.2087, consisting of one chromosome and three megaplasmids.

Identification of the Haloarchaeal Phasin (PhaP) That Functions in Polyhydroxyalkanoate Accumulation and Granule Formation in Haloferax mediterranei

ABSTRACT The polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) granule-associated proteins (PGAPs) are important for PHA synthesis and granule formation, but currently little is known about the haloarchaeal PGAPs. This study focused on the identification and functional analysis of the PGAPs in the haloarchaeon Haloferax mediterranei. These PGAPs were visualized with two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–tandem time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF MS). The most abundant protein on the granules was identified as a hypothetical protein, designated PhaP. A genome-wide analysis revealed that the phaP gene is located upstream of the previously identified phaEC genes. Through an integrative approach of gene knockout/complementation and fermentation analyses, we demonstrated that this PhaP is involved in PHA accumulation. The ΔphaP mutant was defective in both PHA biosynthesis and cell growth compared to the wild-type strain. Additionally, transmission electron microscopy results indicated that the number of PHA granules in the ΔphaP mutant cells was significantly lower, and in most of the ΔphaP cells only a single large granule was observed. These results demonstrated that the H. mediterranei PhaP was the predominant structure protein (phasin) on the PHA granules involved in PHA accumulation and granule formation. In addition, BLASTp and phylogenetic results indicate that this type of PhaP is exclusively conserved in haloarchaea, implying that it is a representative of the haloarchaeal type PHA phasin.

Identification of the Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)-Specific Acetoacetyl Coenzyme A Reductase among Multiple FabG Paralogs in Haloarcula hispanica and Reconstruction of the PHA Biosynthetic Pathway in Haloferax volcanii

ABSTRACT Genome-wide analysis has revealed abundant FabG (β-ketoacyl-ACP reductase) paralogs, with uncharacterized biological functions, in several halophilic archaea. In this study, we identified for the first time that the fabG1 gene, but not the other five fabG paralogs, encodes the polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)-specific acetoacetyl coenzyme A (acetoacetyl-CoA) reductase in Haloarcula hispanica. Although all of the paralogous fabG genes were actively transcribed, only disruption or knockout of fabG1 abolished PHA synthesis, and complementation of the ΔfabG1 mutant with the fabG1 gene restored both PHA synthesis capability and the NADPH-dependent acetoacetyl-CoA reductase activity. In addition, heterologous coexpression of the PHA synthase genes (phaEC) together with fabG1, but not its five paralogs, reconstructed the PHA biosynthetic pathway in Haloferax volcanii, a PHA-defective haloarchaeon. Taken together, our results indicate that FabG1 in H. hispanica, and possibly its counterpart in Haloarcula marismortui, has evolved the distinct function of supplying precursors for PHA biosynthesis, like PhaB in bacteria. Hence, we suggest the renaming of FabG1 in both genomes as PhaB, the PHA-specific acetoacetyl-CoA reductase of halophilic archaea.

Multiple Propionyl Coenzyme A-Supplying Pathways for Production of the Bioplastic Poly(3-Hydroxybutyrate-co-3-Hydroxyvalerate) in Haloferax mediterranei

ABSTRACT Haloferax mediterranei is able to accumulate the bioplastic poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) with more than 10 mol% 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV) from unrelated carbon sources. However, the pathways that produce propionyl coenzyme A (propionyl-CoA), an important precursor of 3HV monomer, have not yet been determined. Bioinformatic analysis of H. mediterranei genome indicated that this strain uses multiple pathways for propionyl-CoA biosynthesis, including the citramalate/2-oxobutyrate pathway, the aspartate/2-oxobutyrate pathway, the methylmalonyl-CoA pathway, and a novel 3-hydroxypropionate pathway. Cofeeding of pathway intermediates and inactivating pathway-specific genes supported that these four pathways were indeed involved in the biosynthesis of 3HV monomer. The novel 3-hydroxypropionate pathway that couples CO2 assimilation with PHBV biosynthesis was further confirmed by analysis of 13C positional enrichment in 3HV. Notably, 13C metabolic flux analysis showed that the citramalate/2-oxobutyrate pathway (53.0% flux) and the 3-hydroxypropionate pathway (30.6% flux) were the two main generators of propionyl-CoA from glucose. In addition, genetic perturbation on the transcriptome of the ΔphaEC mutant (deficient in PHBV accumulation) revealed that a considerable number of genes in the four propionyl-CoA synthetic pathways were significantly downregulated. We determined for the first time four propionyl-CoA-supplying pathways for PHBV production in haloarchaea, particularly including a new 3-hydroxypropionate pathway. These results would provide novel strategies for the production of PHBV with controllable 3HV molar fraction.

Complete Genome Sequence of Haloarcula hispanica, a Model Haloarchaeon for Studying Genetics, Metabolism, and Virus-Host Interaction

Haloarcula hispanica is an extremely halophilic archaeon that has an unusually low restriction barrier and is therefore significant for studying archaeal genetics, metabolism, and virus-host interactions. Here we report the complete genome sequence (3,890,005 bp) of H. hispanica strain CGMCC 1.2049, consisting of two chromosomes and one megaplasmid.

Characterization of CRISPR RNA Biogenesis and Cas6 Cleavage-Mediated Inhibition of a Provirus in the Haloarchaeon Haloferax mediterranei

The adaptive immune system comprising CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) arrays and cas (CRISPR-associated) genes has been discovered in a wide range of bacteria and archaea and has recently attracted comprehensive investigations. However, the subtype I-B CRISPR-Cas system in haloarchaea has been less characterized. Here, we investigated Cas6-mediated RNA processing in Haloferax mediterranei. The Cas6 cleavage site, as well as the CRISPR transcription start site, was experimentally determined, and processing of CRISPR transcripts was detected with a progressively increasing pattern from early log to stationary phase. With genetic approaches, we discovered that the lack of Cas1, Cas3, or Cas4 unexpectedly resulted in a decrease of CRISPR transcripts, while Cas5, Cas6, and Cas7 were found to be essential in stabilizing mature CRISPR RNA (crRNA). Intriguingly, we observed a CRISPR- and Cas3-independent inhibition of a defective provirus, in which the putative Cascade (CRISPR-associated complex for antiviral defense) proteins (Cas5, Cas6, Cas7, and Cas8b) were indispensably required. A sequence carried by a proviral transcript was found to be homologous to the CRISPR repeat RNA and vulnerable to Cas6-mediated cleavage, implying a distinct interference mechanism that may account for this unusual inhibition. These results provide fundamental information for the subtype I-B CRISPR-Cas system in halophilic archaea and suggest diversified mechanisms and multiple physiological functions for the CRISPR-Cas system.

Multiple replication origins with diverse control mechanisms in Haloarcula hispanica

The use of multiple replication origins in archaea is not well understood. In particular, little is known about their specific control mechanisms. Here, we investigated the active replication origins in the three replicons of a halophilic archaeon, Haloarcula hispanica, by extensive gene deletion, DNA mutation and genome-wide marker frequency analyses. We revealed that individual origins are specifically dependent on their co-located cdc6 genes, and a single active origin/cdc6 pairing is essential and sufficient for each replicon. Notably, we demonstrated that the activities of oriC1 and oriC2, the two origins on the main chromosome, are differently controlled. A G-rich inverted repeat located in the internal region between the two inverted origin recognition boxes (ORBs) plays as an enhancer for oriC1, whereas the replication initiation at oriC2 is negatively regulated by an ORB-rich region located downstream of oriC2-cdc6E, likely via Cdc6E-titrating. The oriC2 placed on a plasmid is incompatible with the wild-type (but not the ΔoriC2) host strain, further indicating that strict control of the oriC2 activity is important for the cell. This is the first report revealing diverse control mechanisms of origins in haloarchaea, which has provided novel insights into the use and coordination of multiple replication origins in the domain of Archaea.

Diversity and evolution of multiple orc/cdc6-adjacent replication origins in haloarchaea

BackgroundWhile multiple replication origins have been observed in archaea, considerably less is known about their evolutionary processes. Here, we performed a comparative analysis of the predicted (proved in part) orc/cdc6-associated replication origins in 15 completely sequenced haloarchaeal genomes to investigate the diversity and evolution of replication origins in halophilic Archaea.ResultsMultiple orc/cdc6-associated replication origins were predicted in all of the analyzed haloarchaeal genomes following the identification of putative ORBs (origin recognition boxes) that are associated with orc/cdc6 genes. Five of these predicted replication origins in Haloarcula hispanica were experimentally confirmed via autonomous replication activities. Strikingly, several predicted replication origins in H. hispanica and Haloarcula marismortui are located in the distinct regions of their highly homologous chromosomes, suggesting that these replication origins might have been introduced as parts of new genomic content. A comparison of the origin-associated Orc/Cdc6 homologs and the corresponding predicted ORB elements revealed that the replication origins in a given haloarchaeon are quite diverse, while different haloarchaea can share a few conserved origins. Phylogenetic and genomic context analyses suggested that there is an original replication origin (oriC1) that was inherited from the ancestor of archaea, and several other origins were likely evolved and/or translocated within the haloarchaeal species.ConclusionThis study provides detailed information about the diversity of multiple orc/cdc6-associated replication origins in haloarchaeal genomes, and provides novel insight into the evolution of multiple replication origins in Archaea.