Yersinia enterocolitica type III secretion depends on the proton motive force but not on the flagellar motor components MotA and MotB.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Wilharm G
PROVIDER: S-EPMC427454 | biostudies-other | 2004 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:The bacterial flagellar motor (BFM) is a rotary molecular motor embedded in the cell membrane of numerous bacteria. It turns a flagellum which acts as a propeller, enabling bacterial motility and chemotaxis. The BFM is rotated by stator units, inner membrane protein complexes that stochastically associate to and dissociate from individual motors at a rate which depends on the mechanical and electrochemical environment. Stator units consume the ion motive force (IMF), the electrochemical gradient across the inner membrane that results from cellular respiration, converting the electrochemical energy of translocated ions into mechanical energy, imparted to the rotor. Here, we review some of the main results that form the base of our current understanding of the relationship between the IMF and the functioning of the flagellar motor. We examine a series of studies that establish a linear proportionality between IMF and motor speed, and we discuss more recent evidence that the stator units sense the IMF, altering their rates of dynamic assembly. This, in turn, raises the question of to what degree the classical dependence of motor speed on IMF is due to stator dynamics vs. the rate of ion flow through the stators. Finally, while long assumed to be static and homogeneous, there is mounting evidence that the IMF is dynamic, and that its fluctuations control important phenomena such as cell-to-cell signaling and mechanotransduction. Within the growing toolbox of single cell bacterial electrophysiology, one of the best tools to probe IMF fluctuations may, ironically, be the motor that consumes it. Perfecting our incomplete understanding of how the BFM employs the energy of ion flow will help decipher the dynamical behavior of the bacterial IMF.
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Project description:Yersinia enterocolitica maintains three different pathways for type III protein secretion. Each pathway requires the activity of a specific multicomponent apparatus or type III secretion system (TTSS). Two of the TTSSs are categorized as contact-dependent systems which have been shown in a number of different symbiotic and pathogenic bacteria to influence interactions with host organisms by targeting effector proteins into the cytosol of eukaryotic cells. The third TTSS is required for the assembly of flagella and the secretion of the phospholipase YplA, which has been implicated in Y. enterocolitica virulence. In this study, YplA was expressed from a constitutive promoter in strains that contained only a single TTSS. It was determined that each of the three TTSSs is individually sufficient for YplA secretion. Environmental factors such as temperature, calcium availability, and sodium chloride concentration affected the contribution of each system to extracellular protein secretion and, under some conditions, more than one TTSS appeared to operate simultaneously. This suggests that some proteins might normally be exported by more than one TTSS in Y. enterocolitca.
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Project description:The transport of proteins across or into membranes is a vital biological process, achieved in every cell by the conserved Sec machinery. In bacteria, SecYEG combines with the SecA motor protein for secretion of preproteins across the plasma membrane, powered by ATP hydrolysis and the transmembrane proton-motive force (PMF). The activities of SecYEG and SecA are modulated by membrane lipids, particularly cardiolipin (CL), a specialized phospholipid known to associate with a range of energy-transducing machines. Here, we identify two specific CL binding sites on the Thermotoga maritima SecA-SecYEG complex, through application of coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. We validate the computational data and demonstrate the conserved nature of the binding sites using in vitro mutagenesis, native mass spectrometry, biochemical analysis, and fluorescence spectroscopy of Escherichia coli SecYEG. The results show that the two sites account for the preponderance of functional CL binding to SecYEG, and mediate its roles in ATPase and protein transport activity. In addition, we demonstrate an important role for CL in the conferral of PMF stimulation of protein transport. The apparent transient nature of the CL interaction might facilitate proton exchange with the Sec machinery, and thereby stimulate protein transport, by a hitherto unexplored mechanism. This study demonstrates the power of coupling the high predictive ability of coarse-grained simulation with experimental analyses, toward investigation of both the nature and functional implications of protein-lipid interactions.
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Project description:There is a growing need for new antibiotics. Compounds that target the proton motive force (PMF), uncouplers, represent one possible class of compounds that might be developed because they are already used to treat parasitic infections, and there is interest in their use for the treatment of other diseases, such as diabetes. Here, we tested a series of compounds, most with known antiinfective activity, for uncoupler activity. Many cationic amphiphiles tested positive, and some targeted isoprenoid biosynthesis or affected lipid bilayer structure. As an example, we found that clomiphene, a recently discovered undecaprenyl diphosphate synthase inhibitor active against Staphylococcus aureus, is an uncoupler. Using in silico screening, we then found that the anti-glioblastoma multiforme drug lead vacquinol is an inhibitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis tuberculosinyl adenosine synthase, as well as being an uncoupler. Because vacquinol is also an inhibitor of M. tuberculosis cell growth, we used similarity searches based on the vacquinol structure, finding analogs with potent (?0.5-2 ?g/mL) activity against M. tuberculosis and S. aureus. Our results give a logical explanation of the observation that most new tuberculosis drug leads discovered by phenotypic screens and genome sequencing are highly lipophilic (logP ?5.7) bases with membrane targets because such species are expected to partition into hydrophobic membranes, inhibiting membrane proteins, in addition to collapsing the PMF. This multiple targeting is expected to be of importance in overcoming the development of drug resistance because targeting membrane physical properties is expected to be less susceptible to the development of resistance.
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Project description:There is considerable interest in improving plant productivity by altering the dynamic responses of photosynthesis in tune with natural conditions. This is exemplified by the 'energy-dependent' form of non-photochemical quenching (qE), the formation and decay of which can be considerably slower than natural light fluctuations, limiting photochemical yield. In addition, we recently reported that rapidly fluctuating light can produce field recombination-induced photodamage (FRIP), where large spikes in electric field across the thylakoid membrane (Δψ) induce photosystem II recombination reactions that produce damaging singlet oxygen (1O2). Both qE and FRIP are directly linked to the thylakoid proton motive force (pmf), and in particular, the slow kinetics of partitioning pmf into its ΔpH and Δψ components. Using a series of computational simulations, we explored the possibility of 'hacking' pmf partitioning as a target for improving photosynthesis. Under a range of illumination conditions, increasing the rate of counter-ion fluxes across the thylakoid membrane should lead to more rapid dissipation of Δψ and formation of ΔpH. This would result in increased rates for the formation and decay of qE while resulting in a more rapid decline in the amplitudes of Δψ-spikes and decreasing 1O2 production. These results suggest that ion fluxes may be a viable target for plant breeding or engineering. However, these changes also induce transient, but substantial mismatches in the ATP : NADPH output ratio as well as in the osmotic balance between the lumen and stroma, either of which may explain why evolution has not already accelerated thylakoid ion fluxes. Overall, though the model is simplified, it recapitulates many of the responses seen in vivo, while spotlighting critical aspects of the complex interactions between pmf components and photosynthetic processes. By making the programme available, we hope to enable the community of photosynthesis researchers to further explore and test specific hypotheses.This article is part of the themed issue 'Enhancing photosynthesis in crop plants: targets for improvement'.
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Project description:The SecY/61 complex forms the protein-channel component of the ubiquitous protein secretion and membrane protein insertion apparatus. The bacterial version SecYEG interacts with the highly conserved YidC and SecDF-YajC subcomplex, which facilitates translocation into and across the membrane. Together, they form the holo-translocon (HTL), which we have successfully overexpressed and purified. In contrast to the homo-dimeric SecYEG, the HTL is a hetero-dimer composed of single copies of SecYEG and SecDF-YajC-YidC. The activities of the HTL differ from the archetypal SecYEG complex. It is more effective in cotranslational insertion of membrane proteins and the posttranslational secretion of a ?-barreled outer-membrane protein driven by SecA and ATP becomes much more dependent on the proton-motive force. The activity of the translocating copy of SecYEG may therefore be modulated by association with different accessory subcomplexes: SecYEG (forming SecYEG dimers) or SecDF-YajC-YidC (forming the HTL). This versatility may provide a means to refine the secretion and insertion capabilities according to the substrate. A similar modularity may also be exploited for the translocation or insertion of a wide range of substrates across and into the endoplasmic reticular and mitochondrial membranes of eukaryotes.
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Project description:Pathogenic Yersinia spp. secrete Yop proteins via the type III pathway. yopQ codons 1 to 15 were identified as a signal necessary and sufficient for the secretion of a fused reporter protein. Frameshift mutations that alter codons 2 to 15 with little alteration of yopQ mRNA sequence do not abolish type III transport, suggesting a model in which yopQ mRNA may provide a signal for secretion (D. M. Anderson and O. Schneewind, Mol. Microbiol. 31:1139-1148, 2001). In a recent study, the yopE signal was truncated to codons 1 to 12. All frameshift mutations introduced within the first 12 codons of yopE abolished secretion. Also, multiple synonymous mutations that changed the mRNA sequence of yopE codons 1 to 12 without altering the amino acid sequence did not affect secretion. These results favor a model whereby an N-terminal signal peptide initiates YopE into the type III pathway (S. A. Lloyd et al., Mol. Microbiol. 39:520-531, 2001). It is reported here that codons 1 to 10 of yopQ act as a minimal secretion signal. Further truncation of yopQ, either at codon 10 or at codon 2, abolished secretion. Replacement of yopQ AUG with either of two other start codons, UUG or GUG, did not affect secretion. However, replacement of AUG with CUG or AAA and initiating translation at the fusion site with npt did not permit Npt secretion, suggesting that the translation of yopQ codons 1 to 15 is a prerequisite for secretion. Frameshift mutations of yopQ codons 1 to 10, 1 to 11, and 1 to 12 abolished secretion signaling, whereas frameshift mutations of yopQ codons 1 to 13, 1 to 14, and 1 to 15 did not. Codon changes at yopQ positions 2 and 10 affected secretion signaling when placed within the first 10 codons but had no effect when positioned in the larger fusion of yopQ codons 1 to 15. An mRNA mutant of yopQ codons 1 to 10, generated by a combination of nine synonymous mutations, was defective in secretion signaling, suggesting that the YopQ secretion signal is not proteinaceous. A model is discussed whereby the initiation of YopQ polypeptide into the type III pathway is controlled by properties of yopQ mRNA.
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