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M E Lidstrom

Publications and source records attributed to M E Lidstrom.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

New unified nomenclature for genes involved in the oxidation of methanol in gram-negative bacteria.

The system involving the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde in Gram-negative methylotrophic bacteria is complex. A total of 32 genes have been reported, termed mox, for methanol oxidation, and it is possible that more will be identified. Some mox genes carrying out completely different functions have been given the same designations by different laboratories and others have been given separate designations that were later discovered to be the same. It is now important to change the mox nomenclature to remedy this confusing situation. This communication proposes a new nomenclature for genes involved in methanol oxidation based on currently known linkage groups.

Genes, Bacterial↗
PubMed1994

Genetic organization of the mau gene cluster in Methylobacterium extorquens AM1: complete nucleotide sequence and generation and characteristics of mau mutants.

The nucleotide sequence of the methylamine utilization (mau) gene region from Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 was determined. Open reading frames for 11 genes (mauFBEDACJGLMN) were found, all transcribed in the same orientation. The mauB, mauA, and mauC genes encode the periplasmic methylamine dehydrogenase (MADH) large and small subunit polypeptides and amicyanin, respectively. The products of mauD, mauG, mauL, and mauM were also predicted to be periplasmic. The products of mauF, mauE, and mauN were predicted to be membrane associated. The mauJ product is the only polypeptide encoded by the mau gene cluster which is predicted to be cytoplasmic. Computer analysis showed that the MauG polypeptide contains two putative heme binding sites and that the MauM and MauN polypeptides have four and two FeS cluster signatures, respectively. Mutants generated by insertions in mauF, mauB, mauE, mauD, mauA, mauG, and mauL were not able to grow on methylamine or any other primary amine as carbon sources, while a mutant generated from an insertion in mauC was not able to utilize methylamine as a source of carbon but utilized C2 to C4 n-alkylamines as carbon sources. Insertion mutations in mauJ, mauM, and mauN did not impair the ability of the mutants to utilize primary n-alkylamines as carbon sources. All mau mutants were able to utilize methylamine as a nitrogen source, implying the existence of an alternative (methyl)amine oxidation system, and a low activity of N-methylglutamate dehydrogenase was detected. The mauD, mauE, and mauF mutants were found to lack the MADH small subunit polypeptide and have a decreased amount of the MADH large subunit polypeptide. In the mauG and mauL mutants, the MADH large and small subunit polypeptides were present at wild-type levels, although the MADHs in these strains were not functional. In addition, MauG has sequence similarity to cytochrome c peroxidase from Pseudomonas sp. The mauA, mauD, and mauE genes from Paracoccus denitrificans and the mauD and mauG genes from Methylophilus methylotrophus W3A1 were able to complement corresponding mutants of M. extorquens AM1, confirming their functional equivalence. Comparison of amino acid sequences of polypeptides encoded by mau genes from M. extorquens AM1, P. denitrificans, and Thiobacillus versutus shows that they have considerable similarity.

Amines↗
PubMed1994

Organization of the methylamine utilization (mau) genes in Methylophilus methylotrophus W3A1-NS.

The organization of genes involved in utilization of methylamine (mau genes) was studied in Methylophilus methylotrophus W3A1. The strain used was a nonmucoid variant termed NS (nonslimy). The original mucoid strain was shown to be identical to the NS strains on the basis of chromosomal digest and hybridization patterns. An 8-kb PstI fragment of the chromosome from M. methylotrophus W3A1-NS encoding the mau genes was cloned and a 6,533-bp region was sequenced. Eight open reading frames were found inside the sequenced area. On the basis of a high level of sequence identity with the Mau polypeptides from Methylobacterium extorquens AM1, the eight open reading frames were identified as mauFBEDAGLM. The mau gene cluster from M. methylotrophus W3A1 is missing two genes, mauC (amicyanin) and mauJ (whose function is unknown), which have been found between mauA and mauG in all studied mau gene clusters. Mau polypeptides sequenced so far from five different bacteria show considerable identity. A mauA mutant of M. methylotrophus W3A1-NS that was constructed lost the ability to grow on all amines as sources of nitrogen but still retained the ability to grow on trimethylamine as a source of carbon. Thus, unlike M. extorquens AM1 and Methylobacillus flagellatum KT, M. methylotrophus W3A1-NS does not have an additional methylamine dehydrogenase system for amine oxidation. Using a promoter-probe vector, we identified a promoter upstream of mauF and used it to construct a potential expression vector, pAYC229.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Genetics of the serine cycle in Methylobacterium extorquens AM1: cloning, sequence, mutation, and physiological effect of glyA, the gene for serine hydroxymethyltransferase.

The gene (glyA) of Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 encoding serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT), one of the key enzymes of the serine cycle for C1 assimilation, was isolated by using a synthetic oligonucleotide with a sequence based on amino acid sequence conserved in SHMTs from different sources. The amino acid sequence deduced from the gene revealed high similarity to those of known SHMTs. The cloned gene was inactivated by insertion of a kanamycin resistance gene, and recombination of this insertion derivative with the wild-type gene produced an SHMT null mutant. Surprisingly, this mutant had lost its ability to grow on C1 as well as on C2 compounds but was still able to grow on succinate. The DNA fragment containing glyA was shown not to be linked with fragments carrying serine cycle genes identified earlier, making it the fourth chromosomal region of M. extorquens AM1 to be indicated as being involved in C1 assimilation.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Genetics of the serine cycle in Methylobacterium extorquens AM1: identification, sequence, and mutation of three new genes involved in C1 assimilation, orf4, mtkA, and mtkB.

In a recent paper we reported the sequence of the beginning of a serine cycle gene cluster on the Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 chromosome, containing the genes encoding serine glyoxylate aminotransferase (sgaA), hydroxypyruvate reductase (hprA), and 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (mtdA) (L. V. Chistoserdova and M. E. Lidstrom J. Bacteriol. 176:1957-1968, 1994). Here we present the sequence of the adjacent downstream region containing three full and one partial open reading frames. The first of the full open reading frames (orf4) remains unidentified, while the other two (mtkA and mtkB) code for the two subunits of malate thiokinase, and the fourth, a partial open reading frame (ppcA), apparently encodes phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. Mutants containing insertion mutations in orf4, mtdA, and mtdB all were unable to grow on C1 compounds, showing that these three newly identified genes are indispensable for the operation of the serine cycle. Mutants in orf4 were also unable to grow on C2 compounds, but growth was restored by glyoxylate, suggesting that orf4 might be required for the conversion of acetyl coenzyme A to glyoxylate.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Isolation, phenotypic characterization, and complementation analysis of mutants of Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 unable to synthesize pyrroloquinoline quinone and sequences of pqqD, pqqG, and pqqC.

Aerobic gram-negative methylotrophs oxidize methanol to formaldehyde by using a methanol dehydrogenase that has pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) as a prosthetic group. Seventy-two mutants which are unable to grow on methanol unless the growth medium is supplemented with PQQ have been isolated in the facultative methanol utilizer Methylobacterium extorquens AM1. In addition, 12 previously isolated methanol oxidation mutants of M. extorquens AM1 were shown to be able to grow on methanol in the presence of PQQ. These putative PQQ biosynthesis mutants have been complemented by using previously isolated clones containing M. extorquens AM1 DNA, which were known to contain genes necessary for oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde (mox genes). Subcloning and transposon mutagenesis experiments have assigned these mutants to five complementation groups in two gene clusters. Representatives of each complementation group were shown to lack detectable PQQ in the growth medium and in cell extracts and to contain methanol dehydrogenase polypeptides that were inactive. Therefore, these mutants all appear to be defective in PQQ biosynthesis. PQQ biosynthesis mutants of Methylobacterium organophilum DSM 760 and M. organophilum XX were complemented by using M. extorquens AM1 subclones, and PQQ biosynthesis mutants of M. extorquens AM1 and M. organophilum XX were complemented by using M. organophilum DSM 760 subclones. This analysis suggested that a total of six PQQ biosynthesis complementation groups were present in M. extorquens AM1 and M. organophilum DSM 760. A 2-kb M. extorquens AM1 DNA fragment that complemented the MoxO class of PQQ biosynthesis mutants was sequenced and found to contain two complete open reading frames and the N-terminal sequence of a third. These genes designated pqqDGC, had predicted gene products with substantial similarity to the gene products of corresponding pqq genes in Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. pqqD encodes a 29-amino-acid peptide which contains a tyrosine residue and glutamate residue that are conserved in the equivalent peptides of K. pneumoniae, PqqA (23 amino acids), and A. calcoaceticus, PqqIV (24 amino acids), and are thought to be the precursors for PQQ biosynthesis. The organizations of a cluster of five PQQ biosynthetic genes appear to be similiar in four different bacteria (M. extorquens AM1, M. organophilum DSM 760, K. pneumoniae, and A. calcoaceticus). Our results show that a total of seven pqq genes are present in M. extorquens AM1, and these have been designated pqqDGCBA and pqqEF.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Genetics of the serine cycle in Methylobacterium extorquens AM1: identification of sgaA and mtdA and sequences of sgaA, hprA, and mtdA.

In a previous paper, we reported identification of the 5' part of hprA of Methylobacterium extorquens AM1, which encodes the serine cycle enzyme hydroxypyruvate reductase (L. V. Chistoserdova and M. E. Lidstrom, J. Bacteriol. 174:71-77, 1992). Here we present the complete sequence of hprA and partial sequence of genes adjacent to hprA. Upstream of hprA, the 3' part of an open reading frame was discovered, separated from hprA by 263 bp. This open reading frame was identified as the gene encoding another serine cycle enzyme, serine glyoxylate aminotransferase (sgaA). Cells containing an insertion mutation into sgaA were unable to grow on C1 compounds, demonstrating that the gene is required for C1 metabolism. Sequencing downstream of hprA has revealed the presence of another open reading frame (mtdA), which is probably cotranscribed with hprA. This open reading frame was identified as the gene required for the synthesis of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase. Our data suggest that this enzyme plays an integral role in methylotrophic metabolism in M. extorquens AM1, either in formaldehyde oxidation or as part of the serine cycle.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
PubMed1993

Methanol oxidation genes in the marine methanotroph Methylomonas sp. strain A4.

Methanol dehydrogenase has been purified from the type I marine methanotroph Methylomonas sp. strain A4 and found to be similar to other methanol dehydrogenase enzymes in subunit composition, molecular mass, and N-terminal sequence of the two subunits. A heterologous gene probe and a homologous oligonucleotide have been used to identify a DNA fragment from Methylomonas sp. strain A4 which contains moxF, the gene encoding the large subunit of methanol dehydrogenase. Protein expression experiments with Escherichia coli, immunoblotting of expression extracts, and partial DNA sequence determination have confirmed the presence of moxF on this DNA fragment. In addition, expression and immunoblot experiments have shown the presence of the genes for the small subunit of methanol dehydrogenase (moxI) and for the methanol dehydrogenase-specific cytochrome c (moxG). The moxG gene product has been shown to be cytochrome c552. The expression experiments have also shown that two other genes are present on this DNA fragment, and our evidence suggests that these are the homologs of moxJ and moxR, whose functions are unknown. Our data suggest that the order of these genes in Methylomonas sp. strain A4 is moxFJGIR, the same as in the facultative methylotrophs. The transcriptional start site for moxF was mapped. The sequence 5' to the transcriptional start does not resemble other promoter sequences, including the putative moxF promoter sequence of facultative methylotrophs. These results suggest that although the order of these genes and the N-terminal amino acid sequence of MoxF and MoxI are conserved between distantly related methylotrophs, the promoters for this gene cluster differ substantially.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
PubMed1993

Genetics of serine pathway enzymes in Methylobacterium extorquens AM1: phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and malyl coenzyme A lyase.

Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 is a facultative methylotrophic bacterium that uses the serine pathway for formaldehyde incorporation as its assimilation pathway during growth on one-carbon compounds. A DNA region from M. extorquens AM1 previously shown to contain genes for the serine pathway enzymes malyl coenzyme A (CoA) lyase and hydroxypyruvate reductase has been characterized in more detail. Insertion mutagenesis revealed an additional region required for growth on one-carbon compounds, and all of the insertion mutants in this region lacked activity for another serine pathway enzyme, the acetyl-CoA-independent phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylase. Expression analysis with Escherichia coli of DNA fragments that included the malyl-CoA lyase and PEP carboxylase regions identified five polypeptides, all transcribed in the same direction. Three of these polypeptides were expressed from the region necessary for the acetyl-CoA-independent PEP carboxylase, one was expressed from the region containing the malyl-CoA lyase gene, and the fifth was expressed from a region immediately downstream from the gene encoding hydroxypyruvate reductase. All six genes are transcribed in the same direction, but the transposon insertion data suggest that they are not all cotranscribed.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1992

The genetic organization of the mau gene cluster of the facultative autotroph Paracoccus denitrificans.

The mau gene cluster from Paracoccus denitrificans was cloned. The regions of a cloned fragment carrying genes for the small and the large subunit of the methylamine dehydrogenase were identified and sequenced. Open reading frames for the MADH small subunit gene and the MADH large subunit gene were identified. Three other open reading frames coding polypeptides with unknown function were found in the sequence. The small subunit gene sequence data reveal that the MADH small subunit polypeptide from P. denitrificans has an unusual leader sequence and contains the tryptophan tryptophyl quinone cofactor. The MADH small subunit genes and the parts of the open reading frames found upstream of them in the genome of M. extorquens AM1 and P. denitrificans have considerable similarity. The sequence data have been used for refinement of the X-ray crystallographic structure of the MADH from P. denitrificans, and key conserved residues have been identified.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Cloning, mutagenesis, and physiological effect of a hydroxypyruvate reductase gene from Methylobacterium extorquens AM1.

The gene encoding the serine cycle hydroxypyruvate reductase of Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 was isolated by using a synthetic oligonucleotide with a sequence based on a known N-terminal amino acid sequence. The cloned gene was inactivated by insertion of a kanamycin resistance gene, and recombination of this insertion derivative with the wild-type gene produced a serine cycle hydroxypyruvate reductase null mutant. This mutant had lost its ability to grow on C-1 compounds but retained the ability to grow on C-2 compounds, showing that the hydroxypyruvate reductase operating in the serine cycle is not involved in the conversion of acetyl coenzyme A to glycine as previously proposed. A second hydroxypyruvate-reducing enzyme with a low level of activity was found in M. extorquens AM1; this enzyme was able to interconvert glyoxylate and glycollate. The gene encoding hydroxypyruvate reductase was shown to be located about 3 kb upstream of two other serine cycles genes encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and malyl coenzyme A lyase.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
PubMed1992

Cloning of a methanol-inducible moxF promoter and its analysis in moxB mutants of Methylobacterium extorquens AM1rif.

In Methylobacterium extorquens AM1, gene encoding methanol dehydrogenase polypeptides are transcriptionally regulated in response to C1 compounds, including methanol (M. E. Lidstrom and D. I. Stirling, Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 44:27-57, 1990). In order to study this regulation, a transcriptional fusion has been constructed between a beta-galactosidase reporter gene and a 1.55-kb XhoI-SalI fragment of M. extorquens AM1rif DNA encoding the N terminus of the methanol dehydrogenase large subunit (moxF) and 1,289 bp of upstream DNA. The fusion exhibited orientation-specific promoter activity in M. extorquens AM1rif but was expressed constitutively when the transcriptional fusion was located on the plasmid. However, correct regulation was restored when the construction was inserted in the M. extorquens AM1rif chromosome. This DNA fragment was shown to contain both the moxFJGI promoter and the sequences necessary in cis for its transcriptional regulation by methanol. Transcription from this promoter was studied in the M. extorquens AM1rif moxB mutant strains UV4rif and UV25rif, which have a pleiotropic phenotype with regard to the components of methanol oxidation. In these mutants, beta-galactosidase activity from the fusion was reduced to a level equal to that of the vector background when the fusion was present in both plasmid and chromosomal locations. Since both constitutive and methanol-inducible promoter activities were lost in the mutants, moxB appears to be required for transcription of the genes encoding the methanol dehydrogenase polypeptides.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
PubMed1991

A new cofactor in a prokaryotic enzyme: tryptophan tryptophylquinone as the redox prosthetic group in methylamine dehydrogenase.

Methylamine dehydrogenase (MADH), an alpha 2 beta 2 enzyme from numerous methylotrophic soil bacteria, contains a novel quinonoid redox prosthetic group that is covalently bound to its small beta subunit through two amino acyl residues. A comparison of the amino acid sequence deduced from the gene sequence of the small subunit for the enzyme from Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 with the published amino acid sequence obtained by the Edman degradation method, allowed the identification of the amino acyl constituents of the cofactor as two tryptophyl residues. This information was crucial for interpreting 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectral data collected for the semicarbazide- and carboxymethyl-derivatized bis(tripeptidyl)-cofactor of MADH from bacterium W3A1. The cofactor is composed of two cross-linked tryptophyl residues. Although there are many possible isomers, only one is consistent with all the data: The first tryptophyl residue in the peptide sequence exists as an indole-6,7-dione, and is attached at its 4 position to the 2 position of the second, otherwise unmodified, indole side group. Contrary to earlier reports, the cofactor of MADH is not 2,7,9-tricarboxypyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), a derivative thereof, or pro-PQQ. This appears to be the only example of two cross-linked, modified amino acyl residues having a functional role in the active site of an enzyme, in the absence of other cofactors or metal ions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Identification and organization of carbon dioxide fixation genes in Xanthobacter flavus H4-14.

The genes encoding the large (cfxL) and small (cfxS) subunits of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBisC/O) from Xanthobacter flavus H4-14 were identified and characterized. The RuBisC/O genes are separated by 11 bp and cotranscribed in Escherichia coli from the lac promoter in the order cfxLS. Primer extension and R-loop experiments with RNA isolated from autotrophically grown X. flavus H4-14 showed that transcription of cfxL and cfxS initiated 22 bp upstream from cfxL and resulted in a mRNA of at least 2.3 kb. DNA sequence analysis identified the start of an open reading frame transcribed divergently from cfxL, and displaying significant similarities with genes belonging to the lysR family of transcriptional activators. Downstream from cfxS an additional open reading frame was identified with unknown function. Expression studies showed that the genes encoding fructosebisphosphatase (cfxF) and phosphoribulokinase (cfxP) are located downstream from cfxLS. The cfxF and cfxP genes are cotranscribed in the same direction as cfxLS in the order cfxFP.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Genetic organization of methylamine utilization genes from Methylobacterium extorquens AM1.

An isolated 5.2-kb fragment of Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 DNA was found to contain a gene cluster involved in methylamine utilization. Analysis of polypeptides synthesized in an Escherichia coli T7 expression system showed that five genes were present. Two of the genes encoded the large and small subunits of methylamine dehydrogenase, and a third encoded amicyanin, the presumed electron acceptor for methylamine dehydrogenase, but the function of the other two genes is not known. The order on the 5.2-kb fragment was found to be large-subunit gene, the two genes of unknown function, small-subunit gene, amicyanin gene. The gene for azurin, another possible electron acceptor in methylamine oxidation, does not appear to be present within this cluster of methylamine utilization genes.

Azurin↗
PubMed1991

The small-subunit polypeptide of methylamine dehydrogenase from Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 has an unusual leader sequence.

The nucleotide sequence for the N-terminal region of the small subunit of methylamine dehydrogenase from Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 has revealed a leader sequence that is unusual in both its length and composition. Gene fusions to lacZ and phoA show that this leader sequence does not function in Escherichia coli but does function in M. extorquens AM1.

Amino Acid Sequence↗