María Teresa Bes

Interaction of FurA from Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 with DNA: A Reducing Environment and the Presence of Mn2+ are Positive Effectors in the Binding to isiB and furA Promoters

The Fur (ferric uptake regulator) protein is a global regulator in most prokaryotes that controls a large number of genes. Fur is a classical repressor that uses ferrous iron as co-repressor and binds to specific DNA sequences (iron boxes) as a dimer. Three different genes coding for Fur homologues have been identified in Anabaena sp. PCC 7120. FurA controls the transcription of flavodoxin, the product of the isiB gene, and is moderately autoregulated. In this work, the promoter of the furA gene was defined and the FurA protected regions in the furA and isiB promoters were identified, showing that the binding sites for Anabaena FurA contain A/T-rich sequences with a variable arrangement compared to the conventional 19-base pair Fur consensus. The influence of different factors on the interaction between FurA and the promoters was evaluated in vitro. The affinity of FurA for the DNA targets was significantly affected by the redox status of this regulator and the presence of Mn2+. The optimal binding conditions were observed in the presence of both Mn2+ and DTT. Those results suggest that, in addition to iron availability, FurA–DNA interaction is modulated by redox conditions.

Exploring the interaction of microcystin-LR with proteins and DNA.

The physiological role of microcystin-LR is still under discussion, and since binding of microcystin-LR to proteins different from their main cellular targets was described, we have performed experiments in order to explore this interaction. A non-specific interaction of microcystin-LR with a variety of soluble proteins in vitro is disrupted when using organic solvents such as methanol. The isoelectric point of proteins is not affected by their interaction with microcystin-LR, even though the presence of microcystin-LR alters the pool of peptides obtained by tryptic digestions. Under the conditions tested, microcystin-LR does not exhibit affinity for DNA. Although it is unlikely that the non-specific binding of microcystin-LR to proteins has a physiological meaning, one must be aware of the fact that determinations of the toxin extracted from any biological sample may be affected by the presence of proteins in the extracts. Consequently, we strongly recommend use organic solvents and to lyophilise the tissue samples to guarantee the accessibility of these organic solvents to microcystin-LR when performing experiments with tissue or cell extracts.

Chapter Four - Functional Genomics of Metalloregulators in Cyanobacteria

Abstract Cyanobacterial metabolism relies on the activity of many enzymes and other proteins containing metal-rich cofactors that are absent in nonphotosynthetic organisms. Most of those micronutrients play key roles in or are associated to photosystems, respiratory electron transport chains and many enzymes involved in nitrogen metabolism. Since metal homeostasis is crucial for the ecological success of cyanobacteria, trace metal bio-uptake is strictly regulated by a number of metal-sensor proteins and regulatory proteins that often also contain metals. This chapter discusses functional studies undertaken to-date from a genomic point of view, as well as the main structural and mechanistic insights into the major families of metalloregulators in cyanobacteria. Reverse genetics, transcriptomics and other assays used for the identification of metal-regulated genes reveal interesting connections between metabolic networks and interactivity between major regulons. These data provide a better understanding of cyanobacterial physiology including maintenance of metal homeostasis, strategies to deal with different stresses and the basis of cyanotoxicity.

Microcystin-LR Binds Iron, and Iron Promotes Self-Assembly

The microcystin-producing Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 and its close strain, the nonproducing Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7005, grow similarly in the presence of 17 μM iron. Under severe iron deficient conditions (0.05 μM), the toxigenic strain grows slightly less than in iron-replete conditions, while the nonproducing microcystin strain is not able to grow. Isothermal titration calorimetry performed at cyanobacterial cytosol or meaningful environmental pHs values shows a microcystin-LR dissociaton constant for Fe2+ and Fe3+ of 2.4 μM. Using atomic force microscopy, 40% of microcystin-LR dimers were observed, and the presence of iron promoted its oligomerization up to six units. Microcystin-LR binds also Mo6+, Cu2+, and Mn2+. Polymeric microcystin binding iron may be related with a toxic cell colony advantage, providing enhanced iron bioavailability and perhaps affecting the structure of the gelatinous sheath. Inside cells, with microcystin implicated in the fitness of the photosynthetic machinery under stress conditions, the toxin would be involved in avoiding metal-dependent Fenton reactions when photooxidation causes disassembly of the iron-rich photosystems. Additionally, it could be hypothesized that polymerization-depolymerization dynamics may be an additional signal that could trigger changes (for example, in the binding of microcystin to proteins).

Pivotal Role of Iron in the Regulation of Cyanobacterial Electron Transport.

Iron-containing metalloproteins are the main cornerstones for efficient electron transport in biological systems. The abundance and diversity of iron-dependent proteins in cyanobacteria makes those organisms highly dependent of this micronutrient. To cope with iron imbalance, cyanobacteria have developed a survey of adaptation strategies that are strongly related to the regulation of photosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism and other central electron transfer pathways. Furthermore, either in its ferrous form or as a component of the haem group, iron plays a crucial role as regulatory signalling molecule that directly or indirectly modulates the composition and efficiency of cyanobacterial redox reactions. We present here the major mechanism used by cyanobacteria to couple iron homeostasis to the regulation of electron transport, making special emphasis in processes specific in those organisms.

FurA from Anabaena PCC 7120: New insights on its regulation and the interaction with DNA

Fur (ferric uptake regulator) proteins are global regulatory proteins involved in the maintenance of iron homeostasis. They recognize specific DNA sequences denoted iron boxes. It is assumed that Fur proteins act as classical repressors. Under iron‐rich conditions, Fur dimers complexed with ferrous ions bind to iron boxes, preventing transcription. In addition to iron homeostasis, Fur proteins control the concerted response to oxidative and acidic stresses in heterotrophic prokaryotes. Our group studies the interaction between Fur proteins and target DNA sequences. Moreover, the regulation of FurA in the nitrogen‐fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, whose genome codes for three fur homologues has been investigated. We present an overview about the different factors involved in the regulation of FurA and analyze the parameters that influence FurA‐DNA interaction in the cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC 7120.