Yoshie Nagahashi

Contribution of Cysteine Desulfurase (NifS Protein) to the Biotin Synthase Reaction of Escherichia coli

The contribution of cysteine desulfurase, the NifS protein of Klebsiella pneumoniae and the IscS protein of Escherichia coli, to the biotin synthase reaction was investigated in in vitro and in vivo reaction systems with E. coli. When the nifS and nifU genes of K. pneumoniae were coexpressed in E. coli, NifS and NifU proteins in complex (NifU/S complex) and NifU monomer forms were observed. Both the NifU/S complex and the NifU monomer stimulated the biotin synthase reaction in the presence of L-cysteine in an in vitro reaction system. The NifU/S complex enhanced the production of biotin from dethiobiotin by the cells growing in an in vivo reaction system. Moreover, the IscS protein of E. coli stimulated the biotin synthase reaction in the presence of L-cysteine in the cell-free system. These results strongly suggest that cysteine desulfurase participates in the biotin synthase reaction, probably by supplying sulfur to the iron-sulfur cluster of biotin synthase.

Cloning and characterization of biotin biosynthetic genes of Kurthia sp.

The biotin biosynthesis genes of Kurthia sp., which is an aerobic gram-positive bacterium, were cloned from Kurthia sp. 538-KA26 and characterized. Eleven biotin biosynthetic genes have been identified in Kurthia sp. Kurthia sp. has two genes coding for KAPA synthase, bioF and bioFII, and also has two genes coding for BioH protein, bioH and bioHII. In addition, three genes, orf1, orf2, and orf3, whose functions are unknown, were found in the biotin gene clusters of Kurthia sp. The bioA, bioD, and orf1 genes are arranged in a gene cluster in the order orf1bioDA, and the bioB, bioF, and orf2 genes are arranged in a gene cluster in the order orf2bioFB. These gene clusters proceed to both directions; the face to face promoters and two 40-bp of palindrome sequences exist upstream of the orf1 and orf2 genes. The bioC, bioFII, and bioHII genes are arranged in a gene cluster in the order bioFIIHIIC; a 40-bp of palindrome sequence exists upstream of the bioFII gene. The bioH and orf3 genes are arranged in a gene cluster in the order bioHorf3; a palindrome sequence was not found upstream of the bioH gene. These palindrome sequences are extremely similar to each other, suggesting that the orf1bioDA, orf2bioFB, and bioFIIHIIC gene clusters are regulated by biotin. Kurthia sp. does not have the bioW gene coding pimeloyl-CoA synthase, suggesting that pimeloyl-CoA may be produced by a different pathway than that of gram-positive bacterium B. subtilis or B. sphaericus, further suggesting a modified fatty acid synthesis pathway via acetyl-CoA instead as E. coli has.

Biotin synthase ofBacillus subtilis shows less reactivity than that ofEscherichia coil in in vitro reaction systems

The biotin synthases ofBacillus subtilis andEscherichia coli were compared in a physiological reduction system using cell-free extracts and in a artificial reduction system using photo-reduced deazariboflavin. The biotin synthase ofB. subtilis was less active than that ofE. coli in both reaction systems and showed at least tenfold less biotin-forming activity than that ofE. coli in the artificial reduction system. The physiological reduction system using the biotin synthases and cell-free extracts ofB. subtilis andE. coli showed species specificity. The results suggest that the activity of the physiological reduction system ofB. subtilis is weaker than that ofE. coli. Addition of excess dethiobiotin inhibited biotin formation by growing cells ofB. subtilis, but not byE. coli.

Cloning of the Pyridoxine 5′-Phosphate Phosphatase Gene (pdxP) and Vitamin B6 Production in pdxP Recombinant Sinorhizobium meliloti

A novel gene (pdxP) encoding a pyridoxine 5′-phosphate (PNP) phosphatase involved in the last step of pyridoxine biosynthesis was cloned from Sinorhizobium meliloti IFO 14782 on the basis of the peptide sequences of the natural enzyme. The pdxP gene is an open reading frame (708 bp) encoding 235 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular weight of 26,466. From its deduced amino acid sequence, it was predicted that the enzyme belongs to the haloacid dehalogenase superfamily. Transformants of Escherichia coli and S. meliloti by pdxP gene expression plasmids showed stimulated PNP phosphatase activities. When pdxP was overexpressed together with the PNP synthase gene (pdxJ) in S. meliloti, the recombinant strain produced 149 mg/l of pyridoxine, 46% and 16% higher than the host strain and the pdxJ recombinant of S. meliloti respectively.