John Werner

Diet and the evolution of human amylase gene copy number variation

Starch consumption is a prominent characteristic of agricultural societies and hunter-gatherers in arid environments. In contrast, rainforest and circum-arctic hunter-gatherers and some pastoralists consume much less starch. This behavioral variation raises the possibility that different selective pressures have acted on amylase, the enzyme responsible for starch hydrolysis. We found that copy number of the salivary amylase gene (AMY1) is correlated positively with salivary amylase protein level and that individuals from populations with high-starch diets have, on average, more AMY1 copies than those with traditionally low-starch diets. Comparisons with other loci in a subset of these populations suggest that the extent of AMY1 copy number differentiation is highly unusual. This example of positive selection on a copy number–variable gene is, to our knowledge, one of the first discovered in the human genome. Higher AMY1 copy numbers and protein levels probably improve the digestion of starchy foods and may buffer against the fitness-reducing effects of intestinal disease.

YfiO stabilizes the YaeT complex and is essential for outer membrane protein assembly in Escherichia coli.

Recent advances in the study of bacterial membranes have led to the identification of a multicomponent YaeT complex in the outer membrane (OM) of Gram‐negative bacteria that is involved in the targeting and folding of β‐barrel outer membrane proteins (OMPs). In Escherichia coli, this complex consists of an essential OMP, YaeT, and three OM lipoproteins, YfgL, NlpB and YfiO. YfiO is the only essential lipoprotein component of the complex. We show that this lipoprotein is required for the proper assembly and/or targeting of OMPs to the OM but not the assembly of lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Depletion of YfiO causes similar phenotypes as does the depletion of YaeT, and we conclude that YfiO plays a critical role in YaeT‐mediated OMP folding. We demonstrate that YfiO and YfgL directly interact with YaeT in vitro, while NlpB interacts directly with YfiO. Genetic analysis verifies the importance of YfiO and its interactions with NlpB in maintaining the functional integrity of the YaeT complex.

The metabolic enzyme CTP synthase forms cytoskeletal filaments

Filament-forming cytoskeletal proteins are essential for the structure and organization of all cells. Bacterial homologues of the major eukaryotic cytoskeletal families have now been discovered, but studies suggest that yet more remain to be identified. We demonstrate that the metabolic enzyme CTP synthase (CtpS) forms filaments in Caulobacter crescentus. CtpS is bifunctional, as the filaments it forms regulate the curvature of C. crescentus cells independently of its catalytic function. The morphogenic role of CtpS requires its functional interaction with the intermediate filament, crescentin (CreS). Interestingly, the Escherichia coli CtpS homologue also forms filaments both in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that CtpS polymerization may be widely conserved. E. coli CtpS can replace the enzymatic and morphogenic functions of C. crescentus CtpS, indicating that C. crescentus has adapted a conserved filament-forming protein for a secondary role. These results implicate CtpS as a novel bifunctional member of the bacterial cytoskeleton and suggest that localization and polymerization may be important properties of metabolic enzymes.

YaeT (Omp85) affects the assembly of lipid‐dependent and lipid‐independent outer membrane proteins of Escherichia coli

The Omp85 family of proteins has been found in all Gram‐negative bacteria and even several eukaryotic organisms. The previously uncharacterized Escherichia coli member of this family is YaeT. The results of this study, consistent with previous Omp85 studies, show that the yaeT gene encodes for an essential cellular function. Direct examinations of the outer membrane fraction and protein assembly revealed that cells depleted for YaeT are severely defective in the biogenesis of outer membrane proteins (OMPs). Interestingly, assemblies of the two distinct groups of OMPs that follow either SurA‐ and lipopolysaccharide‐dependent (OmpF/C) or ‐independent (TolC) folding pathways were affected, suggesting that YaeT may act as a general OMP assembly factor. Depletion of cells for YaeT led to the accumulation of OMPs in the fraction enriched for periplasm, thus indicating that YaeT facilitates the insertion of soluble assembly intermediates from the periplasm to the outer membrane. Our data suggest that YaeTs role in the assembly of OMPs is not mediated through a role in lipid biogenesis, as debated for Omp85 in Neisseria, thus advocating a conserved OMP assembly function of Omp85 homologues.

Quantitative genome-scale analysis of protein localization in an asymmetric bacterium

Despite the importance of subcellular localization for cellular activities, the lack of high-throughput, high-resolution imaging and quantitation methodologies has limited genomic localization analysis to a small number of archival studies focused on C-terminal fluorescent protein fusions. Here, we develop a high-throughput pipeline for generating, imaging, and quantitating fluorescent protein fusions that we use for the quantitative genomic assessment of the distributions of both N- and C-terminal fluorescent protein fusions. We identify nearly 300 localized Caulobacter crescentus proteins, up to 10-fold more than were previously characterized. The localized proteins tend to be involved in spatially or temporally dynamic processes and proteins that function together and often localize together as well. The distributions of the localized proteins were quantitated by using our recently described projected system of internal coordinates from interpolated contours (PSICIC) image analysis toolkit, leading to the identification of cellular regions that are over- or under-enriched in localized proteins and of potential differences in the mechanisms that target proteins to different subcellular destinations. The Caulobacter localizome data thus represent a resource for studying both global properties of protein localization and specific protein functions, whereas the localization analysis pipeline is a methodological resource that can be readily applied to other systems.

Location and architecture of the Caulobacter crescentus chemoreceptor array

A new method for recording both fluorescence and cryo‐EM images of small bacterial cells was developed and used to identify chemoreceptor arrays in cryotomograms of intact Caulobacter crescentus cells. We show that in wild‐type cells preserved in a near‐native state, the chemoreceptors are hexagonally packed with a lattice spacing of 12 nm, just a few tens of nanometers away from the flagellar motor that they control. The arrays were always found on the convex side of the cell, further demonstrating that Caulobacter cells maintain dorsal/ventral as well as anterior/posterior asymmetry. Placing the known crystal structure of a trimer of receptor dimers at each vertex of the lattice accounts well for the density and agrees with other constraints. Based on this model for the arrangement of receptors, there are between one and two thousand receptors per array.

Differential Effects of yfgL Mutation on Escherichia coli Outer Membrane Proteins and Lipopolysaccharide

YfgL together with NlpB, YfiO, and YaeT form a protein complex to facilitate the insertion of proteins into the outer membrane of Escherichia coli. Without YfgL, the levels of OmpA, OmpF, and LamB are significantly reduced, while OmpC levels are slightly reduced. In contrast, the level of TolC significantly increases in a yfgL mutant. When cells are depleted of YaeT or YfiO, levels of all outer membrane proteins examined, including OmpC and TolC, are severely reduced. Thus, while the assembly pathways of various nonlipoprotein outer membrane proteins may vary through the step involving YfgL, all assembly pathways in Escherichia coli converge at the step involving the YaeT/YfiO complex. The negative effect of yfgL mutation on outer membrane proteins may in part be due to elevated sigma E activity, which has been shown to downregulate the synthesis of various outer membrane proteins while upregulating the synthesis of periplasmic chaperones, foldases, and lipopolysaccharide. The data presented here suggest that the yfgL effect on outer membrane proteins also stems from a defective assembly apparatus, leading to aberrant outer membrane protein assembly, except for TolC, which assembles independent of YfgL. Consistent with this view, the simultaneous absence of YfgL and the major periplasmic protease DegP confers a synthetic lethal phenotype, presumably due to the toxic accumulation of unfolded outer membrane proteins. The results support the hypothesis that TolC and major outer membrane proteins compete for the YaeT/YfiO complex, since mutations that adversely affect synthesis or assembly of major outer membrane proteins lead to elevated TolC levels.

Assembly of TolC, a Structurally Unique and Multifunctional Outer Membrane Protein of Escherichia coli K-12

TolC is a multifunctional outer membrane protein of Escherichia coli that folds into a novel alpha-beta-barrel conformation absent in the other model outer membrane proteins used in assembly studies. The data presented in this work show that the unique folded structure of TolC reflects a unique assembly pathway. During its assembly, the newly translocated nascent TolC monomers are released in the periplasm. Maturation of these nascent monomers, and possibly their oligomerization, in the periplasm precedes their insertion in the outer membrane. The completion of the assembly process is signaled by the development of a characteristic proteinase K-resistant fragment generated by cleavage at a single, periplasmically exposed, protease-sensitive site of the membrane-anchored trimer. None of the assembly steps of TolC is affected by known folding factors, such as SurA, Skp, and lipopolysaccharide, which have profound effects on the assembly of other model trimeric outer membrane proteins. Two assembly-defective TolC mutants were isolated and characterized. One of the mutants (TolC(I106N)) was defective in the folding of nascent monomers, while the other (TolC(S350F)) was impaired in steps involving trimerization and membrane insertion of folded monomers.

Imaging-Based Identification of a Critical Regulator of FtsZ Protofilament Curvature in Caulobacter

FtsZ is an essential bacterial GTPase that polymerizes at midcell, recruits the division machinery, and may generate constrictive forces necessary for cytokinesis. However, many of the mechanistic details underlying these functions are unknown. We sought to identify FtsZ-binding proteins that influence FtsZ function in Caulobacter crescentus. Here, we present a microscopy-based screen through which we discovered two FtsZ-binding proteins, FzlA and FzlC. FzlA is conserved in α-proteobacteria and was found to be functionally critical for cell division in Caulobacter. FzlA altered FtsZ structure both in vivo and in vitro, forming stable higher-order structures that were resistant to depolymerization by MipZ, a spatial determinant of FtsZ assembly. Electron microscopy revealed that FzlA organizes FtsZ protofilaments into striking helical bundles. The degree of curvature induced by FzlA depended on the nucleotide bound to FtsZ. Induction of FtsZ curvature by FzlA carries implications for regulating FtsZ function by modulating its superstructure.

High-throughput screening of bacterial protein localization.

The ever-increasing number of sequenced genomes and subsequent sequence-based analysis has provided tremendous insight into cellular processes; however, the ability to experimentally manipulate this genomic information in the laboratory requires the development of new high-throughput methods. To translate this genomic information into information on protein function, molecular and cell biological techniques are required. One strategy to gain insight into protein function is to observe where each specific protein is subcellularly localized. We have developed a pipeline of methods that allows rapid, efficient, and scalable gene cloning, imaging, and image analysis. This work focuses on a high-throughput screen of the Caulobacter crescentus proteome to identify proteins with unique subcellular localization patterns. The cloning, imaging, and image analysis techniques described here are applicable to any organism of interest.