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M E Winkler

Publications and source records attributed to M E Winkler.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

4-Phospho-hydroxy-L-threonine is an obligatory intermediate in pyridoxal 5'-phosphate coenzyme biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12.

We show that thrB-encoded homoserine kinase is required for growth of Escherichia coli K-12 pdxB mutants on minimal glucose medium supplemented with 4-hydroxy-L-threonine (synonym, 3-hydroxyhomoserine) or D-glycolaldehyde. This result is consistent with a model in which 4-phospho-hydroxy-L-threonine (synonym, 3-hydroxyhomoserine phosphate), rather than 4-hydroxy-L-threonine, is an obligatory intermediate in pyridoxal 5'-phosphate biosynthesis. Ring closure using 4-phospho-hydroxy-L-threonine as a substrate would lead to formation of pyridoxine 5'-phosphate, and not pyridoxine, as the first B6-vitamer synthesized de novo. These considerations suggest that E. coli pyridoxal/pyridoxamine/pyridoxine kinase is not required for the main de novo pathway of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate biosynthesis, and instead plays a role only in the B6-vitamer salvage pathway.

Acetaldehyde↗
PubMed1996

A novel alpha-ketoglutarate reductase activity of the serA-encoded 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase of Escherichia coli K-12 and its possible implications for human 2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria.

Escherichia coli serA-encoded 3-phosphoglycerate (3PG) dehydrogenase catalyzes the first step of the major phosphorylated pathway of L-serine (Ser) biosynthesis. The SerA enzyme is evolutionarily related to the pdxB gene product, 4-phosphoerythronate dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the second step in one branch of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate coenzyme biosynthesis. Both the Ser and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate biosynthetic pathways use the serC(pdxF)-encoded transaminase in their next steps. In an analysis of these parallel pathways, we attempted to couple the transaminase and dehydrogenase reactions in the reverse direction. Unexpectedly, we found that the SerA enzyme catalyzes a previously undetected reduction of alpha-ketoglutarate (alpha KG) to 2-hydroxyglutaric acid (HGA). Numerous criteria ruled out the possibility that this SerA alpha KG reductase activity was caused by contamination in the substrate or purified enzyme preparations. HGA was confirmed as the product of the SerA alpha KG reductase reaction by thin-layer chromatography and by enzyme assays showing that both the D- and L-isomers of HGA were substrates for the reverse (dehydrogenase) reaction. Detailed steady-state kinetic analyses showed that alpha KG reduction (apparent Michaelis-Menten constant [Km(app)] = 88 microM; apparent catalytic constant [kcat(app)] = 33.3 s-1) and 3-phosphohydroxypyruvate reduction (Km(app) = 3.2 microM; kcatapp = 27.8 s-1), which is the reverse reaction of 3PG oxidation, were the major in vitro activities of the SerA enzyme. The SerA alpha KG reductase was inhibited by Ser, D-HGA, 3PG, and glycine (Gly), whereas the D-HGA dehydrogenase was inhibited by Ser, alpha KG, 3-phosphohydroxypyruvate, and Gly. The implications of these findings for the regulation of Ser biosynthesis, the recycling of NADH, and the enzymology of 2-hydroxyacid dehydrogenases are discussed. Since the same pathway of Ser biosynthesis seems to be present in all organisms, these results suggest that a mutation in the human SerA homolog may contribute to the neurometabolic diseases D- and L-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria, which lead to the accumulation of D-HGA and L-HGA, respectively.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
PubMed1996

Depletion of the cellular amounts of the MutS and MutH methyl-directed mismatch repair proteins in stationary-phase Escherichia coli K-12 cells.

The MutL, MutS, and MutH proteins mediate methyl-directed mismatch (MDM) repair and help to maintain chromosome stability in Escherichia coli. We determined the amounts of the MDM repair proteins in exponentially growing, stationary-phase, and nutrient-starved bacteria by quantitative Western immunoblotting. Extracts of null mutants containing various amounts of purified MDM repair proteins were used as quantitation standards. In bacteria growing exponentially in enriched minimal salts-glucose medium, about 113 MutL dimers, 186 MutS dimers, and 135 MutH monomers were present per cell. Calculations with the in vitro dissociation constants of MutS binding to different mismatches suggested that MutS is not present in excess, and may be nearly limiting in some cases, for MDM repair in exponentially growing cells. Remarkably, when bacteria entered late stationary phase or were deprived of a utilizable carbon source for several days, the cellular amount of MutS dropped at least 10-fold and became barely detectable by the methods used. In contrast, the amount of MutH dropped only about threefold and the amount of MutL remained essentially constant in late-stationary-phase and carbon-starved cells compared with those in exponentially growing bacteria. RNase T2 protection assays showed that the amounts of mutS, mutH, and mutL, but not miaA, transcripts decreased to undetectable levels in late-stationary-phase cells. These results suggested that depletion of MutS in nutritionally stressed cells was possibly caused by the relative instability of MutS compared with MutL and MutH. Our findings suggest that the MDM repair capacity is repressed in nutritionally stressed bacteria and correlate with conclusions from recent studies of adaptive mutagenesis. On the other hand, we did not detect induction of MutS or MutL in cells containing stable mismatches in multicopy single-stranded DNA encoded by bacterial retrons.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1996

Isolation of a pdxJ point mutation that bypasses the requirement for the PdxH oxidase in pyridoxal 5' -phosphate coenzyme biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12.

We isolated 26 suppressor mutations that allowed growth of a delta pdxH::omega null mutant in the absence of pyridoxal. Each suppressor mapped to pdxJ, and the eight suppressors sequenced contained the same glycine-to-serine change in the PdxJ polypeptide. This bypass suppression suggests that PdxJ may participate in formation of the pyridine ring of pyridoxine 5'-phosphate.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1995

Biochemical characterization of gapB-encoded erythrose 4-phosphate dehydrogenase of Escherichia coli K-12 and its possible role in pyridoxal 5'-phosphate biosynthesis.

One step in de novo pyridoxine (vitamin B6) and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate biosynthesis was predicted to be an oxidation catalyzed by an unidentified D-erythrose-4-phosphate dehydrogenase (E4PDH). To help identify this E4PDH, we purified the Escherichia coli K-12 gapA- and gapB-encoded dehydrogenases to homogeneity and tested whether either uses D-erythrose-4-phosphate (E4P) as a substrate. gapA (gap1) encodes the major D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GA3PDH). The function of gapB (gap2) is unknown, although it was suggested that gapB encodes a second form of GA3PDH or is a cryptic gene. We found that the gapB-encoded enzyme is indeed an E4PDH and not a second GA3PDH, whereas gapA-encoded GA3PDH used E4P poorly, if at all, as a substrate under the in vitro reaction conditions used in this study. The amino terminus of purified E4PDH matched the sequence predicted from the gapB DNA sequence. Purified E4PDH was a heat-stable tetramer with a native molecular mass of 132 kDa. E4PDH had an apparent Km value for E4P [Kmapp(E4P)] of 0.96 mM, an apparent kcat catalytic constant for E4P [kcatapp(E4P)] of 200 s-1, Kmapp(NAD+) of 0.074 mM, and kcatapp(NAD+) of 169 s-1 in steady-state reactions in which NADH formation was determined. From specific activities in crude extracts, we estimated that there are at least 940 E4PDH tetramer molecules per bacterium growing in minimal salts medium plus glucose at 37 degrees C. Thin-layer chromatography confirmed that the product of the E4PDH reaction was likely the aldonic acid 4-phosphoerythronate. To establish a possible role of E4PDH in pyridoxal 5'-phosphate biosynthesis, we showed that 4-phosphoerythronate is a likely substrate for the 2-hydroxy-acid dehydrogenase encoded by the pdxB gene. Implications of these findings in the evolution of GA3PDHs are also discussed. On the basis of these results, we propose renaming gapB as epd (for D-erythrose-4-phosphate dehydrogenase).

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
PubMed1995

Kinetic limitation and cellular amount of pyridoxine (pyridoxamine) 5'-phosphate oxidase of Escherichia coli K-12.

We report the purification and enzymological characterization of Escherichia coli K-12 pyridoxine (pyridoxamine) 5'-phosphate (PNP/PMP) oxidase, which is a key committed enzyme in the biosynthesis of the essential coenzyme pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP). The enzyme encoded by pdxH was overexpressed and purified to electrophoretic homogeneity by four steps of column chromatography. The purified PdxH enzyme is a thermally stable 51-kDa homodimer containing one molecule of flavin mononucleotide (FMN). In the presence of molecular oxygen, the PdxH enzyme uses PNP or PMP as a substrate (Km = 2 and 105 microM and kcat = 0.76 and 1.72 s-1 for PNP and PMP, respectively) and produces hydrogen peroxide. Thus, under aerobic conditions, the PdxH enzyme acts as a classical monofunctional flavoprotein oxidase with an extremely low kcat turnover number. Comparison of kcat/Km values suggests that PNP rather than PMP is the in vivo substrate of E. coli PdxH oxidase. In contrast, the eukaryotic enzyme has similar kcat/Km values for PNP and PMP and seems to act as a scavenger. E. coli PNP/PMP oxidase activities were competitively inhibited by the pathway end product, PLP, and by the analog, 4-deoxy-PNP, with Ki values of 8 and 105 microM, respectively. Immunoinhibition studies suggested that the catalytic domain of the enzyme may be composed of discontinuous residues on the polypeptide sequence. Two independent quantitation methods showed that PNP/PMP oxidase was present in about 700 to 1,200 dimer enzyme molecules per cell in E. coli growing exponentially in minimal medium plus glucose at 37 degrees C. Thus, E. coli PNP/PMP oxidase is an example of a relatively abundant, but catalytically sluggish, enzyme committed to PLP coenzyme biosynthesis.

Escherichia coli↗
PubMed1995

Single-step purifications of His6-MutH, His6-MutL and His6-MutS repair proteins of escherichia coli K-12.

The MutS, MutH and MutL proteins mediate methyl-directed-mismatch (MDM) repair in Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. These proteins have been developed into powerful tools for screening genomes for polymorphisms and detecting and localizing mutations. In an ongoing study of the regulation of MDM repair, we developed one-step schemes to purify the E. coli MutS, MutH and MutL proteins fused to a polyhistidine (His6) affinity tag. The E. coli K-12 mutS+, mutH+ and mutL+ genes were cloned from the Clarke-Carbon plasmid or Kohara-phage library into expression vector pET-15b, which allows fusion to the His6 affinity tag. Each of the resulting recombinant plasmids complemented the corresponding mutHLS mutation in the Cupples-Miller CC106 mutator tester strain, indicating that the His6-MutHLS fusion proteins were individually functional in vivo. The His6-MutHLS proteins were separately purified by variations of batch binding to Ni(2+)-chelation affinity resin. The yield of purified His6-MutHLS proteins from these procedures was 0.4-0.6 mg from 40 mL of induced culture. The binding properties of one-step-purified His6-MutS protein were characterized further. His6-MutS exhibited the same mismatch-binding activity and specificity as native MutS in side-by-side bandshift assays. These constructs and purification methods should be useful to laboratories wishing to apply or develop MutS-mismatch mapping and to other applications or studies of the E. coli MutHLS repair proteins.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1994

Transcriptional patterns of the mutL-miaA superoperon of Escherichia coli K-12 suggest a model for posttranscriptional regulation.

The complex amiB-mutL-miaA-hfq-hflX-hflK-hflC superoperon of E coli contains important genes for several fundamental cellular processes, including cell-wall hydrolysis (amiB), DNA repair (mutL), tRNA modification (miaA) and proteolysis (hflX-hflK-hflC). We report here the transcriptional pattern and possible posttranscriptional regulation of mutL, miaA and hfq genes of this superoperon. RNase protection analysis of mRNA transcribed from the bacterial chromosome demonstrated that there is co-transcription of mutL and miaA. In addition, two internal promoters, PmiaA and P1hfq were identified and mapped to 201 and 837 nucleotides upstream from the respective translation start sites. PmiaA contains poor matches to the -10 and -35 regions of the sigma-70 RNA polymerase consensus sequences, but it contains multiple potential Fis-binding sites and an upstream AT-rich region with poly(A) sequences. The basic arrangement of Fis-binding sites followed by an AT rich region is shared with promoters for rRNA operons and some of the tRNA and tRNA modification genes. As part of an initial study of mutL and miaA regulation, we measured transcript amounts in isogenic rne, rnc and rne rnc double mutants which are deficient in RNase E, RNase III or both. The amounts of steady state level mutL-miaA cotranscript, PmiaA transcript and P1hfq transcript increased eight-, nine- and three-fold respectively in an rne3071 mutant when compared to the rne+ parent. In contrast, amounts of the three transcripts were the same in an rnc105 mutant and its rnc+ parent. These results indicate that mutL, miaA, and hfq expression could be regulated by multiple mechanisms, including degree of cotranscription from upstream genes, modulation of internal promoter strength, and by RNase E activity. A model is presented for RNase E-mediated posttranscriptional regulation that may coordinate mutL expression with replication and miaA with tRNA amounts under different growth conditions, especially during nutrient upshifts.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

The mutL repair gene of Escherichia coli K-12 forms a superoperon with a gene encoding a new cell-wall amidase.

We report a molecular genetic analysis of the region immediately upstream from the Escherichia coli mutL DNA repair gene at 94.8 min. An open reading frame ending 9 bp upstream from the start of mutL corresponds to a 48 kDa polypeptide detected previously in minicells. The predicted amino acid sequence of this 48 kDa polypeptide shows homology to the major N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase autolysin of Bacillus subtilis, a known amidase of Bacillus licheniformis, and the product of a Salmonella typhimurium gene that maps near 50 min. Insertions in this upstream gene, which we named amiB, or in mutL did not affect cell shape or viability; however, overexpression of the AmiB polypeptide caused cell lysis, hypersensitivity to osmotic shock and treatment with water, and temporary autolysis by low levels of antibiotics, which are all consistent with AmiB acting as a cell-wall hydrolase. Analysis of chromosomal transcription demonstrated that amiB forms a complex operon with mutL and two additional upstream genes. mutL transcripts also originated from an internal promoter, designated PmutL, located in amiB 312 bp upstream from the translational start of mutL. Together, these results suggest that E. coli contains a second amidase possibly involved in cell-wall hydrolysis, septation, or recycling, and that transcription of this amidase is directly linked to a gene central for DNA repair.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1994

Characterization of broadly pleiotropic phenotypes caused by an hfq insertion mutation in Escherichia coli K-12.

The region immediately downstream from the miaA tRNA modification gene at 94.8 min contains the hfq gene and the hflA region, which are important in the bacteriophage Q beta and lambda life cycles. The roles of these genes in bacteria remain largely unknown. We report here the characterization of two chromosomal hfq insertion mutations. An omega (omega) cassette insertion near the end of hfq resulted in phenotypes only slightly different from the parent, although transcript mapping demonstrated that the insertion was completely polar on hflX expression. In contrast, an equally polar omega cassette insertion near the beginning of hfq caused pronounced pleiotropic phenotypes, including decreased growth rates and yields, decreased negative supercoiling of plasmids in stationary phase, increased cell size, osmosensitivity, increased oxidation of carbon sources, increased sensitivity to ultraviolet light, and suppression of bgl activation by hns mutations. hfq::omega mutant phenotypes were distinct from those caused by omega insertions early in the miaA tRNA modification gene. On the other hand, both hfq insertions interfered with lambda phage plaque formation, probably by means of polarity at the hflA region. Together, these results show that hfq function plays a fundamental role in Escherichia coli physiology and that hfq and the hflA-region are in the amiB-mutL-miaA-hfq-hflX superoperon.

Alkyl and Aryl Transferases↗
PubMed1994

An Escherichia coli K-12 tktA tktB mutant deficient in transketolase activity requires pyridoxine (vitamin B6) as well as the aromatic amino acids and vitamins for growth.

We show that a tktA tktB double mutant, which is devoid of the two known transketolase isoenzymes of Escherichia coli K-12, requires pyridoxine (vitamin B6) as well as the aromatic amino acids and vitamins for growth. This pyridoxine requirement can also be satisfied by 4-hydroxy-L-threonine or glycolaldehyde. These results provide direct evidence that D-erythrose-4-phosphate is a precursor of the pyridine ring of pyridoxine. In addition, they show that the two major E. coli transketolase isoenzymes are not required for the biosynthesis of D-1-deoxyxylulose, which is thought to be another precursor of pyridoxine.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1993

Solution structure of human type-alpha transforming growth factor determined by heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy and refined by energy minimization with restraints.

Human type-alpha transforming growth factor (hTGF alpha) is a small mitogenic protein containing 50 amino acids and 3 disulfide bonds. Homo- and heteronuclear NMR spectra were used to determine nearly complete sequence-specific 1H and 15N resonance assignments for hTGF alpha under three conditions: pH 6.5 and a temperature of 10 degrees C, pH 6.5 and a temperature of 30 degrees C, and pH 3.5 and a temperature of 30 degrees C. The 15N-enriched samples of hTGF alpha allowed determination of many 3J(HN-H alpha) vicinal coupling constants. Solution structures of human type-alpha transforming growth factor (hTGF alpha) at pH 6.5 and a temperature of 10 degrees C were determined from NMR data using molecular structure generation calculations and restrained energy minimization. These structures are based on 425 conformational constraints, including 357 NOE-derived upper-bound distance constraints, constraints on the ranges of 26 dihedral angles based on measurements of vicinal coupling constants, 42 upper- and lower-bound constraints associated with 6 hydrogen bonds and 3 disulfide bonds, and several stereospecific 1H resonance assignments. The overall structure is similar to that described recently for hTGF alpha by other groups [Kline et al. (1990) Biochemistry 29, 7805-7813; Harvey et al. (1991). Eur. J. Biochem. 198, 555-562], but there are differences in some structural details. The resonance frequencies, vicinal coupling constants, and NOEs form the basis for comparisons of the solution structure of hTGF alpha at neutral and acidic pH. At pH 3.5 the protein structure is partially disordered, with most of the hydrogen-bonded backbone structure still intact. The hTGF alpha structure is also compared with that of murine epidermal growth factor. Coordinates for the set of hTGF alpha structures described in this paper have been deposited in the Protein Data Bank.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Characterization of the complex pdxH-tyrS operon of Escherichia coli K-12 and pleiotropic phenotypes caused by pdxH insertion mutations.

We report the first molecular genetic analysis of a pyridoxine 5'-phosphate oxidase, the PdxH gene product of Escherichia coli K-12. Chromosomal insertions in and around pdxH were generated with various transposons, and the resulting phenotypes were characterized. The DNA sequence of pdxH was determined, and the promoters of pdxH and the downstream gene tyrS, which encodes tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase, were mapped by RNase T2 protection assays of chromosomal transcripts. These combined approaches led to the following conclusions: (i) pdxH is transcribed from a sigma 70-type promoter and shares its transcript with tyrS; (ii) tyrS is additionally transcribed from a relatively strong, nonconventional internal promoter that may contain an upstream activating sequence but whose expression is unaffected by a fis mutation; (iii) PdxH oxidase is basic, has a molecular mass of 25,545 Da, and shares striking homology (greater than 40% identity) with the developmentally regulated FprA protein of Myxococcus xanthus; (iv) mild pyridoxal 5'-phosphate limitation of pdxH mutants inhibits cell division and leads to formation of unsegregated nucleoids; (v) E. coli PdxH oxidase is required aerobically and anaerobically, but second-site suppressors that replace pdxH function entirely can be isolated; and (vi) pdxH mutants excrete significant amounts of L-glutamate and a compound, probably alpha-ketoisovalerate, that triggers L-valine inhibition of E. coli K-12 strains. These findings extend earlier observations that pyridoxal 5'-phosphate biosynthetic and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase genes are often members of complex, multifunctional operons. Our results also show that loss of pdxH function seriously disrupts cellular metabolism in unanticipated ways.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Suppression of insertions in the complex pdxJ operon of Escherichia coli K-12 by lon and other mutations.

Complementation analyses using minimal recombinant clones showed that all known pdx point mutations, which cause pyridoxine (vitamin B6) or pyridoxal auxotrophy, are located in the pdxA, pdxB, serC, pdxJ, and pdxH genes. Antibiotic enrichments for chromosomal transposon mutants that require pyridoxine (vitamin B6) or pyridoxal led to the isolation of insertions in pdxA, pdxB, and pdxH but not in pdxJ. This observation suggested that pdxJ, like pdxA, pdxB, and serC, might be in a complex operon. To test this hypothesis, we constructed stable insertion mutations in and around pdxJ in plasmids and forced them into the bacterial chromosome. Physiological properties of the resulting insertion mutants were characterized, and the DNA sequence of pdxJ and adjacent regions was determined. These combined approaches led to the following conclusions: (i) pdxJ is the first gene in a two-gene operon that contains a gene, temporarily designated dpj, essential for Escherichia coli growth; (ii) expression of the rnc-era-recO and pdxJ-dpj operons can occur independently, although the pdxJ-dpj promoter may lie within recO; (iii) pdxJ encodes a 26,384-Da polypeptide whose coding region is preceded by a PDX box, and dpj probably encodes a basic, 14,052-Da polypeptide; (iv) mini-Mud insertions in dpj and pdxJ, which are polar on dpj, severely limit E. coli growth; and (v) three classes of suppressors, including mutations in lon and suppressors of lon, that allow faster growth of pdxJ::mini-Mud mutants can be isolated. A model to account for the action of dpj suppressors is presented, and aspects of this genetic analysis are related to the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate biosynthetic pathway.

ATP-Dependent Proteases↗
PubMed1991

Absence of hisT-mediated tRNA pseudouridylation results in a uracil requirement that interferes with Escherichia coli K-12 cell division.

We show that hisT function is required for normal growth of Escherichia coli K-12, since a lack of hisT-mediated pseudouridine tRNA modification causes a uracil requirement that interferes with cell division. We also show that hisT transcription is positively growth rate regulated in exponentially growing bacteria and is induced during the transition from exponential to stationary growth phase.

Cell Division↗