Youichi Niimura

Adaptive Responses to Oxygen Stress in Obligatory Anaerobes Clostridium acetobutylicum and Clostridium aminovalericum

ABSTRACT Clostridium acetobutylicum and Clostridium aminovalericum, both obligatory anaerobes, grow normally after growth conditions are changed from anoxic to microoxic, where the cells consume oxygen proficiently. In C. aminovalericum, a gene encoding a previously characterized H2O-forming NADH oxidase, designated noxA, was cloned and sequenced. The expression of noxA was strongly upregulated within 10 min after the growth conditions were altered to a microoxic state, indicating that C. aminovalericum NoxA is involved in oxygen metabolism. In C. acetobutylicum, genes suggested to be involved in oxygen metabolism and genes for reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging were chosen from the genome database. Although no clear orthologue of C. aminovalericum NoxA was found, Northern blot analysis identified many O2-responsive genes (e.g., a gene cluster [CAC2448 to CAC2452 ] encoding an NADH rubredoxin oxidoreductase-A-type flavoprotein-desulfoferrodoxin homologue-MerR family-like protein-flavodoxin, an operon [CAC1547 to CAC1549 ] encoding a thioredoxin-thioredoxin reductase-glutathione peroxidase-like protein, an operon [CAC1570 and CAC1571 ] encoding two glutathione peroxidase-like proteins, and genes encoding thiol peroxidase, bacterioferritin comigratory proteins, and superoxide dismutase) whose expression was quickly and synchronously upregulated within 10 min after flushing with 5% O2. The corresponding enzyme activities, such as NAD(P)H-dependent peroxide (H2O2 and alkyl hydroperoxides) reductase, were highly induced, indicating that microoxic growth of C. acetobutylicum is associated with the expression of a number of genes for oxygen metabolism and ROS scavenging.

Response of the Microaerophilic Bifidobacterium Species, B. boum and B. thermophilum, to Oxygen

ABSTRACT We investigated the effects of O2 on Bifidobacterium species using liquid shaking cultures under various O2 concentrations. Although most of the Bifidobacterium species we selected showed O2 sensitivity, two species, B. boum and B. thermophilum, demonstrated microaerophilic profiles. The growth of B. bifidum and B. longum was inhibited under high-O2 conditions accompanied by the accumulation of H2O2 in the medium, and growth was restored by adding catalase to the medium. B. boum and B. thermophilum grew well even under 20% O2 conditions without H2O2 accumulation, and growth was stimulated compared to anoxic growth. H2O-forming NADH oxidase activities were detected dominantly in cell extracts of B. boum and B. thermophilum under acidic reaction conditions (pH 5.0 to 6.0).

A Hydrogen Peroxide-Forming NADH Oxidase That Functions as an Alkyl Hydroperoxide Reductase in Amphibacillus xylanus

The Amphibacillus xylanus NADH oxidase, which catalyzes the reduction of oxygen to hydrogen peroxide with beta-NADH, can also reduce hydrogen peroxide to water in the presence of free flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) or the small disulfide-containing Salmonella enterica AhpC protein. The enzyme has two disulfide bonds, Cys128-Cys131 and Cys337-Cys340, which can act as redox centers in addition to the enzyme-bound FAD (K. Ohnishi, Y. Niimura, M. Hidaka, H. Masaki, H. Suzuki, T. Uozumi, and T. Nishino, J. Biol. Chem. 270:5812-5817, 1995). The NADH-FAD reductase activity was directly dependent on the FAD concentration, with a second-order rate constant of approximately 2.0 x 10(6) M(-1) s(-1). Rapid-reaction studies showed that the reduction of free flavin occurred through enzyme-bound FAD, which was reduced by NADH. The peroxidase activity of NADH oxidase in the presence of FAD resulted from reduction of peroxide by free FADH(2) reduced via enzyme-bound FAD. This peroxidase activity was markedly decreased in the presence of oxygen, since the free FADH(2) is easily oxidized by oxygen, indicating that this enzyme system is unlikely to be functional in aerobic growing cells. The A. xylanus ahpC gene was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. When the NADH oxidase was coupled with A. xylanus AhpC, the peroxidase activity was not inhibited by oxygen. The V(max) values for hydrogen peroxide and cumene hydroperoxide reduction were both approximately 150 s(-1). The K(m) values for hydrogen peroxide and cumene hydroperoxide were too low to allow accurate determination of their values. Both AhpC and NADH oxidase were induced under aerobic conditions, a clear indication that these proteins are involved in the removal of peroxides under aerobic growing conditions.

Purification and molecular characterization of subtilisin‐like alkaline protease BPP‐A from Bacillus pumilus strain MS‐1

Aims:  The present study was conducted by screening zein‐degrading bacteria in an attempt to obtain zein‐degrading protease.

Effect of oxygen on the growth of Clostridium butyricum (type species of the genus Clostridium), and the distribution of enzymes for oxygen and for active oxygen species in Clostridia

Clostridia are well-known obligatory anaerobic bacteria which cannot utilize oxygen, or otherwise die in oxygenated environments. Clostridium butyricum, the type species of the genus Clostridium, possesses the ability to consume oxygen in amounts proportional to the size of the inoculum. Oxygen consumption was observed when NADH and NADPH were added to the cell extract of this strain. NADH oxidase and NADPH oxidase activities were also detected in all of the tested strains of the genus Clostridium. C. butyricum ceased growing while consuming oxygen in the medium. After consumption of all the dissolved oxygen, C. butyricum resumed growth at a rate equivalent to its anaerobic growth rate, suggesting that no oxidative damage based on oxygen reduction occurs in vivo. As scavengers for active oxygen species, the activities of NADHNADPH peroxidase and SOD were detected in C. butyricum. Furthermore, the activities of these enzymes are distributed widely in the genus Clostridium.

Identification of O2‐induced peptides in an obligatory anaerobe, Clostridium acetobutylicum

Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM792 (=ATCC824), a solvent producing obligate anaerobe, grew well after a shift in growth conditions from anoxic to microoxic at the mid exponential phase. In two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis, a spot migrating at 45 kDa and three spots at 23 kDa accumulated after 30 min of flushing with 5% O2/95% N2. Based on peptide mass fingerprints, the 45 kDa polypeptide was determined to be NP_347663 (A‐type flavoprotein homologue) and the 23 kDa polypeptides were determined to be NP_350180 or NP_350181 (novel type rubrerythrin homologue). Northern blot analysis indicated that the expressions of these peptide transcripts were upregulated within 10 min after flushing with 5% O2/95% N2.

Hydrogen peroxide-forming NADH oxidase belonging to the peroxiredoxin oxidoreductase family: existence and physiological role in bacteria.

Amphibacillus xylanus and Sporolactobacillus inulinus NADH oxidases belonging to the peroxiredoxin oxidoreductase family show extremely high peroxide reductase activity for hydrogen peroxide and alkyl hydroperoxides in the presence of the small disulfide redox protein, AhpC (peroxiredoxin). In order to investigate the distribution of this enzyme system in bacteria, 15 bacterial strains were selected from typical aerobic, facultatively anaerobic, and anaerobic bacteria. AhpC-linked alkyl hydroperoxide reductase activities were detected in most of the tested strains, and especially high activities were shown in six bacterial species that grow well under aerobic conditions, including aerobic bacteria (Alcaligenes faecalis and Bacillus licheniformis) and facultatively anaerobic bacteria (Amphibacillus xylanus, Sporolactobacillus inulinus, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium). In the absence of AhpC, the purified enzymes from A. xylanus and S. inulinus catalyze the NADH-linked reduction of oxygen to hydrogen peroxide. Similar activities were observed in the cell extracts from each of these six strains. The cell extract of B. licheniformis revealed the highest AhpC-linked alkyl hydroperoxide reductase activity in the four strains, with V(max) values for hydrogen peroxide and alkyl hydroperoxides being similar to those for the enzymes from A. xylanus and S. inulinus. Southern blot analysis of the three strains probed with the A. xylanus peroxiredoxin reductase gene revealed single strong bands, which are presumably derived from the individual peroxiredoxin reductase genes. Single bands were also revealed in other strains which show high AhpC-linked reductase activities, suggesting that the NADH oxidases belonging to the peroxiredoxin oxidoreductase family are widely distributed and possibly play an important role both in the peroxide-scavenging systems and in an effective regeneration system for NAD in aerobically growing bacteria.

Reaction Mechanism of Amphibacillus xylanus NADH Oxidase/Alkyl Hydroperoxide Reductase Flavoprotein

NADH oxidase from Amphibacillus xylanus is a potent alkyl hydroperoxide reductase in the presence of the small disulfide-containing protein (AhpC) of Salmonella typhimurium. In the presence of saturating AhpC, kcat values for reduction of hydroperoxides are approximately 180 s−1, and the double mutant flavoprotein enzyme C337S/C340S cannot support hydroperoxide reduction (Niimura, Y., Poole, L. B., and Massey, V. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 25645-25650). Kinetics of reduction of wild-type and mutant enzymes are reported here with wild-type enzyme; reduction by NADH was triphasic, with consumption of 2.6 equivalents of NADH, consistent with the known composition of one FAD and two disulfides per subunit. Rate constants for the first two phases (each approximately 200 s−1) where FAD and one disulfide are reduced are slightly greater than kcat values for AhpC-linked hydroperoxide reduction. The rate constant for the third phase (reduction to the 6-electron level) is too small for catalysis. Only the first phase of the wild-type enzyme occurs with the mutant enzyme. These results and the stoichiometry of NADH consumption indicate Cys337 and Cys340 as the active site disulfide of the flavoprotein and that electrons from FADH2 must pass through this disulfide to reduce the disulfide of AhpC.

Purification and characterization of extracellular alkaline serine protease from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain S-1.

Aims:  The present study was conducted by screening soil bacteria in an attempt to isolate a bacterium that produced extracellular alkaline protease, and for purification and characterization of the protease.

O2 and reactive oxygen species detoxification complex, composed of O2-responsive NADH:rubredoxin oxidoreductase-flavoprotein A2-desulfoferrodoxin operon enzymes, rubperoxin, and rubredoxin, in Clostridium acetobutylicum.

ABSTRACT Clostridium acetobutylicum, an obligate anaerobe, grows normally under continuous-O2-flow culture conditions, where the cells consume O2 proficiently. An O2-responsive NADH:rubredoxin oxidoreductase operon composed of three genes (nror, fprA2, and dsr), encoding NROR, functionally uncharacterized flavoprotein A2 (FprA2), and the predicted superoxide reductase desulfoferrodoxin (Dsr), has been proposed to participate in defense against O2 stress. To functionally characterize these proteins, native NROR from C. acetobutylicum, recombinant NROR (rNROR), FprA2, Dsr, and rubredoxin (Rd) expressed in Escherichia coli were purified. Purified native NROR and rNROR both exhibited weak H2O2-forming NADH oxidase activity that was slightly activated by Rd. A mixture of NROR, Rd, and FprA2 functions as an efficient H2O-forming NADH oxidase with a high affinity for O2 (the Km for O2 is 2.9 ± 0.4 μM). A mixture of NROR, Rd, and Dsr functions as an NADH-dependent O2− reductase. A mixture of NROR, Rd, and rubperoxin (Rpr, a rubrerythrin homologue) functions as an inefficient H2O-forming NADH oxidase but an efficient NADH peroxidase with a low affinity for O2 and a high affinity for H2O2 (the Kms for O2 and H2O2 are 303 ± 39 μM and ≤1 μM, respectively). A gene encoding Rd is dicistronically transcribed with a gene encoding a glutaredoxin (Gd) homologue, and the expression levels of the genes encoding Gd and Rd were highly upregulated upon exposure to O2. Therefore, nror operon enzymes, together with Rpr, efficiently function to scavenge O2, O2−, and H2O2 by using an O2-responsive rubredoxin as a common electron carrier protein.