Jerry Eichler

Posttranslational Protein Modification in Archaea

SUMMARY One of the first hurdles to be negotiated in the postgenomic era involves the description of the entire protein content of the cell, the proteome. Such efforts are presently complicated by the various posttranslational modifications that proteins can experience, including glycosylation, lipid attachment, phosphorylation, methylation, disulfide bond formation, and proteolytic cleavage. Whereas these and other posttranslational protein modifications have been well characterized in Eucarya and Bacteria, posttranslational modification in Archaea has received far less attention. Although archaeal proteins can undergo posttranslational modifications reminiscent of what their eucaryal and bacterial counterparts experience, examination of archaeal posttranslational modification often reveals aspects not previously observed in the other two domains of life. In some cases, posttranslational modification allows a protein to survive the extreme conditions often encountered by Archaea. The various posttranslational modifications experienced by archaeal proteins, the molecular steps leading to these modifications, and the role played by posttranslational modification in Archaea form the focus of this review.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy as a Tool for Probing Specific Biochemical Components in Bacteria

Treatment of bacteria with silver yields intense and highly specific surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) spectra from various cellular chemical components located in the vicinity of the silver colloids. In particular, we demonstrate an extreme sensitivity to flavin components associated with the cell envelope and to their state of oxidation. Different spectra, possibly associated with DNA, carboxylates, and perhaps phosphates, are obtained from the soluble interior fraction of the cell.

Biotechnological uses of archaeal extremozymes.

Archaea have developed a variety of molecular strategies to survive the often harsh environments in which they exist. Although the rules that allow archaeal enzymes to fulfill their catalytic functions under extremes of salinity, temperature or pressure are not completely understood, the stability of these extremophilic enzymes, or extremozymes, in the face of adverse conditions has led to their use in a variety of biotechnological applications in which such tolerances are advantageous. In the following, examples of commercially important archaeal extremozymes are presented, potentially useful archaeal extremozyme sources are identified and solutions to obstacles currently hindering wider use of archaeal extremozymes are discussed.

Biogenesis of the Gram-Negative Bacterial Envelope

We thank Pamela Silver, Charles Barlowe, Carol Kumamoto, and (especially) Tony Pugsley for critical comments. Work in our laboratory has been supported by NIH grant GM23377. J. E. received fellowship support from the Human Frontier Science Program Organization and F. D. from the Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer and the Institut de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale.

Not just for Eukarya anymore: protein glycosylation in Bacteria and Archaea

Of the many post-translational modifications proteins can undergo, glycosylation is the most prevalent and the most diverse. Today, it is clear that both N-glycosylation and O-glycosylation, once believed to be restricted to eukaryotes, also transpire in Bacteria and Archaea. Indeed, prokaryotic glycoproteins rely on a wider variety of monosaccharide constituents than do those of eukaryotes. In recent years, substantial progress in describing the enzymes involved in bacterial and archaeal glycosylation pathways has been made. It is becoming clear that enhanced knowledge of bacterial glycosylation enzymes may be of therapeutic value, while the demonstrated ability to introduce bacterial glycosylation genes into Escherichia coli represents a major step forward in glyco-engineering. A better understanding of archaeal protein glycosylation provides insight into this post-translational modification across evolution as well as protein processing under extreme conditions. Here, we discuss new structural and biosynthetic findings related to prokaryotic protein glycosylation, until recently a neglected topic.

Protein glycosylation in Archaea: Sweet and Extreme

While each of the three domains of life on Earth possesses unique traits and relies on characteristic biological strategies, some processes are common to Eukarya, Bacteria and Archaea. Once believed to be restricted to Eukarya, it is now clear that Bacteria and Archaea are also capable of performing N-glycosylation. However, in contrast to Bacteria, where this posttranslational modification is still considered a rare event, numerous species of Archaea, isolated from a wide range of environments, have been reported to contain proteins bearing Asn-linked glycan moieties. Analysis of the chemical composition of the Asn-linked polysaccharides decorating archaeal proteins has, moreover, revealed the use of a wider variety of sugar subunits than seen in either eukaryal or bacterial glycoproteins. Still, although first reported some 30 years ago, little had been known of the steps or components involved in the archaeal version of this universal posttranslational modification. Now, with the availability of sufficient numbers of genome sequences and the development of appropriate experimental tools, molecular analysis of archaeal N-glycosylation pathways has become possible. Accordingly using halophilic, methanogenic and thermophilic model species, insight into the biosynthesis and attachment of N-linked glycans decorating archaeal glycoproteins is starting to amass. In this review, current understanding of N-glycosylation in Archaea is described.

N-Linked Glycosylation in Archaea: a Structural, Functional, and Genetic Analysis

SUMMARY N-glycosylation of proteins is one of the most prevalent posttranslational modifications in nature. Accordingly, a pathway with shared commonalities is found in all three domains of life. While excellent model systems have been developed for studying N-glycosylation in both Eukarya and Bacteria, an understanding of this process in Archaea was hampered until recently by a lack of effective molecular tools. However, within the last decade, impressive advances in the study of the archaeal version of this important pathway have been made for halophiles, methanogens, and thermoacidophiles, combining glycan structural information obtained by mass spectrometry with bioinformatic, genetic, biochemical, and enzymatic data. These studies reveal both features shared with the eukaryal and bacterial domains and novel archaeon-specific aspects. Unique features of N-glycosylation in Archaea include the presence of unusual dolichol lipid carriers, the use of a variety of linking sugars that connect the glycan to proteins, the presence of novel sugars as glycan constituents, the presence of two very different N-linked glycans attached to the same protein, and the ability to vary the N-glycan composition under different growth conditions. These advances are the focus of this review, with an emphasis on N-glycosylation pathways in Haloferax, Methanococcus, and Sulfolobus.

Protein N-glycosylation in Archaea: defining Haloferax volcanii genes involved in S-layer glycoprotein glycosylation.

In this study, characterization of the N‐glycosylation process in the haloarchaea Haloferax volcanii was undertaken. Initially, putative Hfx. volcanii homologues of genes involved in eukaryal or bacterial N‐glycosylation were identified by bioinformatics. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) confirmed that the proposed N‐glycosylation genes are transcribed, indicative of true proteins being encoded. Where families of related gene sequences were detected, differential transcription of family members under a variety of physiological and environmental conditions was shown. Gene deletions point to certain genes, like alg11, as being essential yet revealed that others, such as the two versions of alg5, are not. Deletion of alg5‐A did, however, lead to slower growth and interfered with surface (S)‐layer glycoprotein glycosylation, as detected by modified migration on SDS‐PAGE and glycostaining approaches. As deletion of stt3, the only component of the oligosaccharide transferase complex detected in Archaea, did not affect cell viability, it appears that N‐glycosylation is not essential in Hfx. volcanii. Deletion of stt3 did, nonetheless, hinder both cell growth and S‐layer glycoprotein glycosylation. Thus, with genes putatively involved in Hfx. volcanii protein glycosylation identified and the ability to address the roles played by the encoded polypeptides in modifying a reporter glycoprotein, the steps of the archaeal N‐glycosylation pathway can be defined.

Sweet to the extreme: protein glycosylation in Archaea

Post‐translational modifications account for much of the biological diversity generated at the proteome level. Of these, glycosylation is the most prevalent. Long thought to be unique to Eukarya, it is now clear that both Bacteria and Archaea are also capable of N‐glycosylation, namely the covalent linkage of oligosaccharides to select target asparagine residues. However, while the eukaryal and bacterial N‐glycosylation pathways are relatively well defined, little is known of the parallel process in Archaea. Of late, however, major advances have been made in describing the process of archaeal N‐glycosylation. Such efforts have shown, as is often the case in archaeal biology, that protein N‐glycosylation in Archaea combines particular aspects of the eukaryal and bacterial pathways along with traits unique to this life form. For instance, while the oligosaccharides of archaeal glycoproteins include nucleotide‐activated sugars formed by bacterial pathways, the lipid carrier on which such oligosaccharides are assembled is the same as used in eukaryal N‐glycosylation. By contrast, transfer of assembled oligosaccharides to their protein targets shows Archaea‐specific properties. Finally, addressing N‐glycosylation from an archaeal perspective is providing new general insight into this event, as exemplified by the solution of the first crystal structure of an oligosaccharide transferase from an archaeal source.

Extreme sweetness: protein glycosylation in archaea.

Although N-glycosylation was first reported in archaea almost 40 years ago, detailed insights into this process have become possible only recently, with the availability of complete genome sequences for almost 200 archaeal species and the development of appropriate molecular tools. As a result of these advances, recent efforts have not only succeeded in delineating the pathways involved in archaeal N-glycosylation, but also begun to reveal how such post-translational protein modification helps archaea to survive in some of the harshest environments on the planet.