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Mutational and bioinformatic analysis of haloarchaeal lipobox-containing proteins.

ABSTRACT: A conserved lipid-modified cysteine found in a protein motif commonly referred to as a lipobox mediates the membrane anchoring of a subset of proteins transported across the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane via the Sec pathway. Sequenced haloarchaeal genomes encode many putative lipoproteins and recent studies have confirmed the importance of the conserved lipobox cysteine for signal peptide processing of three lipobox-containing proteins in the model archaeon Haloferax volcanii. We have extended these in vivo analyses to additional Hfx. volcanii substrates, supporting our previous in silico predictions and confirming the diversity of predicted Hfx. volcanii lipoproteins. Moreover, using extensive comparative secretome analyses, we identified genes encodining putative lipoproteins across a wide range of archaeal species. While our in silico analyses, supported by in vivo data, indicate that most haloarchaeal lipoproteins are Tat substrates, these analyses also predict that many crenarchaeal species lack lipoproteins altogether and that other archaea, such as nonhalophilic euryarchaeal species, transport lipoproteins via the Sec pathway. To facilitate the identification of genes that encode potential haloarchaeal Tat-lipoproteins, we have developed TatLipo, a bioinformatic tool designed to detect lipoboxes in haloarchaeal Tat signal peptides. Our results provide a strong foundation for future studies aimed at identifying components of the archaeal lipoprotein biogenesis pathway.

SUBMITTER: Storf S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2945643 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mutational and bioinformatic analysis of haloarchaeal lipobox-containing proteins.

Storf Stefanie S Pfeiffer Friedhelm F Dilks Kieran K Chen Zhong Qiang ZQ Imam Saheed S Pohlschröder Mechthild M

Archaea (Vancouver, B.C.) 20100916

A conserved lipid-modified cysteine found in a protein motif commonly referred to as a lipobox mediates the membrane anchoring of a subset of proteins transported across the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane via the Sec pathway. Sequenced haloarchaeal genomes encode many putative lipoproteins and recent studies have confirmed the importance of the conserved lipobox cysteine for signal peptide processing of three lipobox-containing proteins in the model archaeon Haloferax volcanii. We have extended ...[more]

PMID: 20886060

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Project description:The hexameric MCM complex is the catalytic core of the replicative helicase in eukaryotic and archaeal cells. Here we describe the first in vivo analysis of archaeal MCM protein structure and function relationships using the genetically tractable haloarchaeon Haloferax volcanii as a model system. Hfx. volcanii encodes a single MCM protein that is part of the previously identified core group of haloarchaeal MCM proteins. Three structural features of the N-terminal domain of the Hfx. volcanii MCM protein were targeted for mutagenesis: the β7-β8 and β9-β10 β-hairpin loops and putative zinc binding domain. Five strains carrying single point mutations in the β7-β8 β-hairpin loop were constructed, none of which displayed impaired cell growth under normal conditions or when treated with the DNA damaging agent mitomycin C. However, short sequence deletions within the β7-β8 β-hairpin were not tolerated and neither was replacement of the highly conserved residue glutamate 187 with alanine. Six strains carrying paired alanine substitutions within the β9-β10 β-hairpin loop were constructed, leading to the conclusion that no individual amino acid within that hairpin loop is absolutely required for MCM function, although one of the mutant strains displays greatly enhanced sensitivity to mitomycin C. Deletions of two or four amino acids from the β9-β10 β-hairpin were tolerated but mutants carrying larger deletions were inviable. Similarly, it was not possible to construct mutants in which any of the conserved zinc binding cysteines was replaced with alanine, underlining the likely importance of zinc binding for MCM function. The results of these studies demonstrate the feasibility of using Hfx. volcanii as a model system for reverse genetic analysis of archaeal MCM protein function and provide important confirmation of the in vivo importance of conserved structural features identified by previous bioinformatic, biochemical and structural studies.

Project description:Recent studies have shown that haloarchaea employ leaderless and Shine-Dalgarno (SD)-less mechanisms for translation initiation of leaderless transcripts with a 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) of <10 nucleotides (nt) and leadered transcripts with a 5' UTR of ?10 nt, respectively. However, whether the two mechanisms can operate on the same naturally occurring haloarchaeal transcript carrying multiple potential start codons is unknown. In this study, the transcript of the sptA gene (encoding an extracellular serine protease of Natrinema sp. strain J7-2) was experimentally determined and found to contain two potential in-frame AUG codons (AUG(1) and AUG(2)) located 5 and 29 nt, respectively, downstream of the transcription start site. Mutational analysis revealed that both AUGs can function as the translation start codon for production of active SptA, although AUG(1) is more efficient than AUG(2) for translation initiation. Insertion of a stable stem-loop structure between the two AUGs completely abolished initiation at AUG(1) but did not affect initiation at AUG(2), indicating that AUG(2)-initiated translation does not involve ribosome scanning from the 5' end of the transcript. Furthermore, the efficiency of AUG(2)-initiated translation was not influenced by an upstream SD-like sequence. In addition, both AUG(1) and AUG(2) contribute to transcript stability, probably by recruiting ribosomes to protect the transcript against degradation. These data suggest that depending on which of two in-frame start codons is used, the sptA transcript can act as either a leaderless or a leadered transcript for SptA production in haloarchaea.In eukaryotes and bacteria, alternative translation start sites contribute to proteome complexity and can be used as a functional mechanism to increase translation efficiency. However, little is known about alternative translation initiation in archaea. Our results demonstrate that leaderless and SD-less mechanisms can be used for translation initiation of the sptA transcript from two in-frame start codons, raising the possibility that in haloarchaea, alternative translation initiation on one transcript functions to increase translation efficiency and/or contribute to proteome complexity.

Dataset Information

Mutational and bioinformatic analysis of haloarchaeal lipobox-containing proteins.

Publications

Mutational and bioinformatic analysis of haloarchaeal lipobox-containing proteins.

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