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Mutations alter the sodium versus proton use of a Bacillus clausii flagellar motor and confer dual ion use on Bacillus subtilis motors.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial flagella contain membrane-embedded stators, Mot complexes, that harness the energy of either transmembrane proton or sodium ion gradients to power motility. Use of sodium ion gradients is associated with elevated pH and sodium concentrations. The Mot complexes studied to date contain channels that use either protons or sodium ions, with some bacteria having only one type and others having two distinct Mot types with different ion-coupling. Here, alkaliphilic Bacillus clausii KSM-K16 was shown to be motile in a pH range from 7 to 11 although its genome encodes only one Mot (BCl-MotAB). Assays of swimming as a function of pH, sodium concentration, and ion-selective motility inhibitors showed that BCl-MotAB couples motility to sodium at the high end of its pH range but uses protons at lower pH. This pattern was confirmed in swimming assays of a statorless Bacillus subtilis mutant expressing either BCl-MotAB or one of the two B. subtilis stators, sodium-coupled Bs-MotPS or proton-coupled Bs-MotAB. Pairs of mutations in BCl-MotB were identified that converted the naturally bifunctional BCl-MotAB to stators that preferentially use either protons or sodium ions across the full pH range. We then identified trios of mutations that added a capacity for dual-ion coupling on the distinct B. subtilis Bs-MotAB and Bs-MotPS motors. Determinants that alter the specificity of bifunctional and single-coupled flagellar stators add to insights from studies of other ion-translocating transporters that use both protons and sodium ions.

SUBMITTER: Terahara N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2567154 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mutations alter the sodium versus proton use of a Bacillus clausii flagellar motor and confer dual ion use on Bacillus subtilis motors.

Terahara Naoya N Krulwich Terry A TA Ito Masahiro M

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20080916 38

Bacterial flagella contain membrane-embedded stators, Mot complexes, that harness the energy of either transmembrane proton or sodium ion gradients to power motility. Use of sodium ion gradients is associated with elevated pH and sodium concentrations. The Mot complexes studied to date contain channels that use either protons or sodium ions, with some bacteria having only one type and others having two distinct Mot types with different ion-coupling. Here, alkaliphilic Bacillus clausii KSM-K16 wa ...[more]

PMID: 18796609

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Project description:While the protein complex responsible for controlling the direction (clockwise [CW] or counterclockwise [CCW]) of flagellar rotation has been fairly well studied in Escherichia coli and Salmonella, less is known about the switch complex in Bacillus subtilis or other Gram-positive species. Two component proteins (FliG and FliM) are shared between E. coli and B. subtilis, but in place of the protein FliN found in E. coli, the B. subtilis complex contains the larger protein FliY. Notably, in B. subtilis the signaling protein CheY-phosphate induces a switch from CW to CCW rotation, opposite to its action in E. coli Here, we have examined the architecture and function of the switch complex in B. subtilis using targeted cross-linking, bacterial two-hybrid protein interaction experiments, and characterization of mutant phenotypes. In major respects, the B. subtilis switch complex appears to be organized similarly to that in E. coli The complex is organized around a ring built from the large middle domain of FliM; this ring supports an array of FliG subunits organized in a similar way to that of E. coli, with the FliG C-terminal domain functioning in the generation of torque via conserved charged residues. Key differences from E. coli involve the middle domain of FliY, which forms an additional, more outboard array, and the C-terminal domains of FliM and FliY, which are organized into both FliY homodimers and FliM heterodimers. Together, the results suggest that the CW and CCW conformational states are similar in the Gram-negative and Gram-positive switches but that CheY-phosphate drives oppositely directed movements in the two cases.IMPORTANCE Flagellar motility plays key roles in the survival of many bacteria and in the harmful action of many pathogens. Bacterial flagella rotate; the direction of flagellar rotation is controlled by a multisubunit protein complex termed the switch complex. This complex has been extensively studied in Gram-negative model species, but little is known about the complex in Bacillus subtilis or other Gram-positive species. Notably, the switch complex in Gram-positive species responds to its effector CheY-phosphate (CheY-P) by switching to CCW rotation, whereas in E. coli or Salmonella CheY-P acts in the opposite way, promoting CW rotation. In the work here, the architecture of the B. subtilis switch complex has been probed using cross-linking, protein interaction measurements, and mutational approaches. The results cast light on the organization of the complex and provide a framework for understanding the mechanism of flagellar direction control in B. subtilis and other Gram-positive species.

Project description:BACKGROUND:?-Mannanase catalyzes the cleavage of ?-1,4-linked internal linkages of mannan backbone randomly to produce new chain ends. Alkaline and thermostable ?-mannanases provide obvious advantages for many applications in biobleaching of pulp and paper, detergent industry, oil grilling operation and enzymatic production of mannooligosaccharides. However, only a few of them are commercially exploited as wild or recombinant enzymes, and none heterologous and secretory expression of alkaline ?-mannanase in Bacillus subtilis expression system was reported. Alkaliphilic Bacillus clausii S10 showed high ?-mannanase activity at alkaline condition. In this study, this ?-mannanase was cloned, purified and characterized. The high-level secretory expression in B. subtilis was also studied. RESULTS:A thermo-alkaline ?-mannanase (BcManA) gene encoding a 317-amino acid protein from alkaliphilic Bacillus clausii strain was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified mature BcManA exhibited maximum activity at pH 9.5 and 75 °C with good stability at pH 7.0-11.5 and below 80 °C. BcManA demonstrated high cleavage capability on polysaccharides containing ?-1,4-mannosidic linkages, such as konjac glucomannan, locust bean gum, guar gum and sesbania gum. The highest specific activity of 2366.2 U mg-1 was observed on konjac glucomannan with the Km and kcat value of 0.62 g l-1 and 1238.9 s-1, respectively. The hydrolysis products were mainly oligosaccharides with a higher degree of polymerization than biose. BcManA also cleaved manno-oligosaccharides with polymerization degree more than 3 without transglycosylation. Furthermore, six signal peptides and two strong promoters were used for efficiently secreted expression optimization in B. subtilis WB600 and the highest extracellular activity of 2374 U ml-1 with secretory rate of 98.5% was obtained using SPlipA and P43 after 72 h cultivation in 2?×?SR medium. By medium optimization using cheap nitrogen and carbon source of peanut meal and glucose, the extracellular activity reached 6041 U ml-1 after 72 h cultivation with 6% inoculum size by shake flask fermentation. CONCLUSIONS:The thermo-alkaline ?-mannanase BcManA showed good thermal and pH stability and high catalytic efficiency towards konjac glucomannan and locust bean gum, which distinguished from other reported ?-mannanases and was a promising thermo-alkaline ?-mannanase for potential industrial application. The extracellular BcManA yield of 6041 U ml-1, which was to date the highest reported yield by flask shake, was obtained in B. subtilis with constitutive expression vector. This is the first report for secretory expression of alkaline ?-mannanase in B. subtilis protein expression system, which would significantly cut down the production cost of this enzyme. Also this research would be helpful for secretory expression of other ?-mannanases in B. subtilis.

Dataset Information

Mutations alter the sodium versus proton use of a Bacillus clausii flagellar motor and confer dual ion use on Bacillus subtilis motors.

Publications

Mutations alter the sodium versus proton use of a Bacillus clausii flagellar motor and confer dual ion use on Bacillus subtilis motors.

Similar Datasets

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