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Light-powering Escherichia coli with proteorhodopsin.

ABSTRACT: Proteorhodopsin (PR) is a light-powered proton pump identified by community sequencing of ocean samples. Previous studies have established the ecological distribution and enzymatic activity of PR, but its role in powering cells and participation in ocean energy fluxes remains unclear. Here, we show that when cellular respiration is inhibited by depleting oxygen or by the respiratory poison azide, Escherichia coli cells expressing PR become light-powered. Illumination of these cells with light coinciding with PR's absorption spectrum creates a proton motive force (pmf) that turns the flagellar motor, yielding cells that swim when illuminated with green light. By measuring the pmf of individual illuminated cells, we quantify the coupling between light-driven and respiratory proton currents, estimate the Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) of PR (10(3) photons per second/nm2), and show that light-driven pumping by PR can fully replace respiration as a cellular energy source in some environmental conditions. Moreover, sunlight-illuminated PR+ cells are less sensitive to azide than PR- cells, consistent with PR+ cells possessing an alternative means of maintaining cellular pmf and, thus, viability. Proteorhodopsin allows Escherichia coli cells to withstand environmental respiration challenges by harvesting light energy.

SUBMITTER: Walter JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1892948 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Solar energy is the ultimate energy source on the Earth. The conversion of solar energy into fuels and energy sources can be an ideal solution to address energy problems. The recent discovery of proteorhodopsin in uncultured marine ?-proteobacteria has made it possible to construct recombinant Escherichia coli with the function of light-driven proton pumps. Protons that translocate across membranes by proteorhodopsin generate a proton motive force for ATP synthesis by ATPase. Excess protons can also be substrates for hydrogen (H(2)) production by hydrogenase in the periplasmic space. In the present work, we investigated the effect of the co-expression of proteorhodopsin and hydrogenase on H(2) production yield under light conditions. RESULTS: Recombinant E. coli BL21(DE3) co-expressing proteorhodopsin and [NiFe]-hydrogenase from Hydrogenovibrio marinus produced ~1.3-fold more H(2) in the presence of exogenous retinal than in the absence of retinal under light conditions (70 ?mole photon/(m2·s)). We also observed the synergistic effect of proteorhodopsin with endogenous retinal on H(2) production (~1.3-fold more) with a dual plasmid system compared to the strain with a single plasmid for the sole expression of hydrogenase. The increase of light intensity from 70 to 130 ?mole photon/(m(2)·s) led to an increase (~1.8-fold) in H(2) production from 287.3 to 525.7 mL H(2)/L-culture in the culture of recombinant E. coli co-expressing hydrogenase and proteorhodopsin in conjunction with endogenous retinal. The conversion efficiency of light energy to H(2) achieved in this study was ~3.4%. CONCLUSION: Here, we report for the first time the potential application of proteorhodopsin for the production of biohydrogen, a promising alternative fuel. We showed that H(2) production was enhanced by the co-expression of proteorhodopsin and [NiFe]-hydrogenase in recombinant E. coli BL21(DE3) in a light intensity-dependent manner. These results demonstrate that E. coli can be applied as light-powered cell factories for biohydrogen production by introducing proteorhodopsin.

Project description:Genes encoding the photoreactive protein proteorhodopsin (PR) have been found in a wide range of marine bacterial species, reflecting the significant contribution that PR makes to energy flux and carbon cycling in ocean ecosystems. PR can also confer advantages to enhance the ability of marine bacteria to survive periods of starvation. Here, we investigate the effect of heterologously produced PR on the viability of Escherichia coli Quantitative mass spectrometry shows that E. coli, exogenously supplied with the retinal cofactor, assembles as many as 187,000 holo-PR molecules per cell, accounting for approximately 47% of the membrane area; even cells with no retinal synthesize ∼148,000 apo-PR molecules per cell. We show that populations of E. coli cells containing PR exhibit significantly extended viability over many weeks, and we use single-cell Raman spectroscopy (SCRS) to detect holo-PR in 9-month-old cells. SCRS shows that such cells, even incubated in the dark and therefore with inactive PR, maintain cellular levels of DNA and RNA and avoid deterioration of the cytoplasmic membrane, a likely basis for extended viability. The substantial proportion of the E. coli membrane required to accommodate high levels of PR likely fosters extensive intermolecular contacts, suggested to physically stabilize the cell membrane and impart a long-term benefit manifested as extended viability in the dark. We propose that marine bacteria could benefit similarly from a high PR content, with a stabilized cell membrane extending survival when those bacteria experience periods of severe nutrient or light limitation in the oceans.IMPORTANCE Proteorhodopsin (PR) is part of a diverse, abundant, and widespread superfamily of photoreactive proteins, the microbial rhodopsins. PR, a light-driven proton pump, enhances the ability of the marine bacterium Vibrio strain AND4 to survive and recover from periods of starvation, and heterologously produced PR extends the viability of nutrient-limited Shewanella oneidensis We show that heterologously produced PR enhances the viability of E. coli cultures over long periods of several weeks and use single-cell Raman spectroscopy (SCRS) to detect PR in 9-month-old cells. We identify a densely packed and consequently stabilized cell membrane as the likely basis for extended viability. Similar considerations are suggested to apply to marine bacteria, for which high PR levels represent a significant investment in scarce metabolic resources. PR-stabilized cell membranes in marine bacteria are proposed to keep a population viable during extended periods of light or nutrient limitation, until conditions improve.

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Light-powering Escherichia coli with proteorhodopsin.

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