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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The effect of substitution of diaminopimelic acid by 4-hydroxy-diaminopimelic acid on the synthesis and degradation of murein in Escherichia coli 173-25.

Defects in the formation of the septum and gradually autolysis of cells occur when the dap-dependent mutant of Escherichia coli is grown in a medium with 4-hydroxy-diaminopimelic acid. When the culture grown in the presence of the labelled analogue is supplemented with the non-radioactive diaminopimelic acid a portion of the TCA-soluble radioactivity is released from the cells during 20 min after the addition of diaminopimelic acid. During this time interval the elongated forms formed in the presence of the analogue divide, however, only on the condition that the above forms are not irreversibly damaged. The increased concentration of the analogue in the medium substantially suppresses the irregularities in the development of the septum as well as the degradation of analogue containing cell wall. However, the growth rate in the presence of the analogue is always slightly lower than that in the presence of diaminopimelic acid. The cell wall pulse-labelled with diaminopimelic acid or its analogue for a time interval shorter than 1/4 of the generation time exhibits the same or only slightly higher rate of diaminopimelic acid is probably utilized less effectively for the synthesis of murein than diaminopimelic acid. However, its incorporation into the wall does not result in pronounced damage of the cell.

Cell Division↗

2-(4-Amino-4-carboxybutyl)aziridine-2-carboxylic acid. A potent irreversible inhibitor of diaminopimelic acid epimerase. Spontaneous formation from alpha-(halomethyl)diaminopimelic acids.

2-(4-Amino-4-carboxybutyl)aziridine-2-carboxylic acid (3) (aziridino-DAP) was identified as the product of spontaneous hydrolysis of alpha-(halomethyl)diaminopimelic acids (alpha-halomethyl-DAPs) 2a-c. Under physiological conditions, 3 is an extremely potent irreversible inhibitor of the bacterial enzyme diaminopimelic acid epimerase (DAP-epimerase; EC 5.1.1.7). This unusual mode of action of an alpha-halomethyl amino acid with a non-pyridoxal enzyme is investigated. Synthesis and characterization of 2a-c and 3, kinetics of spontaneous formation of 3 from alpha-halomethyl-DAPs, and kinetics of enzyme inhibition by both 3 and by alpha-halomethyl-DAPs are reported.

Amino Acid Isomerases↗

Synthesis and proinflammatory properties of muramyl tripeptides containing lysine and diaminopimelic acid moieties.

The unusual amino acid diaminopimelic acid (DAP) was prepared by cross metathesis of appropriately protected vinyl glycine and allyl glycine derivatives. Catalytic hydrogenation of the cross-coupling product resulted in reduction of the double bond and the removal of protecting groups. The resulting compounds were appropriately protected for the polymer-supported and solution-phase synthesis of muramyl tripeptides 2 and 3, which differ in the amidation of the alpha-carboxylic acids of the isoglutamine and DAP moieties. Muramyl dipeptide (1, MDP), the DAP-containing muramyl tripeptide 3, and the lysine-containing muramyl tripeptides 4 and 5 induced TNF-alpha gene expression without TNF-alpha protein production in a human monocytic cell line. The observed block in translation could be removed by co-incubation with LPS, resulting in an apparent synergistic effect. Compound 2 did not induce TNF-alpha gene expression, neither did it exhibit a synergistic effect with LPS; this indicates that amidation of the alpha-carboxylic acids of the isoglutamine and DAP moieties results in a loss of biological activity. It is proposed that amidation of alpha-carboxylic acids is a strategy that may be used by pathogens to avoid detection by the innate immune system. Furthermore, the pattern recognition receptors Nod1 and Nod2 have been implicated in the possible induction of a synergistic effect of muropeptides with LPS.

Acetylmuramyl-Alanyl-Isoglutamine↗

A simple HPLC method for analysing diaminopimelic acid diastereomers in cell walls of Gram-positive bacteria.

A simple and sensitive method for separating and detecting the LL, DD and meso diastereomers of the dibasic amino acid diaminopimelic acid (DAP) in the peptidoglycan of Gram-positive bacteria is described. This method is based on reverse phase HPLC separation of chiral derivatives of DAP followed by fluorescence detection of the o-phthaldehyde derivatives. Its application to the analyses of cell walls of several Gram-positive bacteria is described, where 10 mg or less of dry cells is required.

Cell Wall↗

Aspartate kinase-independent lysine synthesis in an extremely thermophilic bacterium, Thermus thermophilus: lysine is synthesized via alpha-aminoadipic acid not via diaminopimelic acid.

An aspartate kinase-deficient mutant of Thermus thermophilus, AK001, was constructed. The mutant strain did not grow in a minimal medium, suggesting that T. thermophilus contains a single aspartate kinase. Growth of the mutant strain was restored by addition of both threonine and methionine, while addition of lysine had no detectable effect on growth. To further elucidate the lysine biosynthetic pathway in T. thermophilus, lysine auxotrophic mutants of T. thermophilus were obtained by chemical mutagenesis. For all lysine auxotrophic mutants, growth in a minimal medium was not restored by addition of diaminopimelic acid, whereas growth of two mutants was restored by addition of alpha-aminoadipic acid, a precursor of lysine in biosynthetic pathways of yeast and fungi. A BamHI fragment of 4.34 kb which complemented the lysine auxotrophy of a mutant was cloned. Determination of the nucleotide sequence suggested the presence of homoaconitate hydratase genes, termed hacA and hacB, which could encode large and small subunits of homoaconitate hydratase, in the cloned fragment. Disruption of the chromosomal copy of hacA yielded mutants showing lysine auxotrophy which was restored by addition of alpha-aminoadipic acid or alpha-ketoadipic acid. All of these results indicated that in T. thermophilus, lysine was not synthesized via the diaminopimelic acid pathway, believed to be common to all bacteria, but via a pathway using alpha-aminoadipic acid as a biosynthetic intermediate.

2-Aminoadipic Acid↗

Bacillus cohnii sp. nov., a new, obligately alkaliphilic, oval-spore-forming Bacillus species with ornithine and aspartic acid instead of diaminopimelic acid in the cell wall.

A group of 20 alkaliphilic Bacillus strains in which all strains revealed the same unique comination of properties--obligate alkaliphily, oval spores distending the sporangium, and ornithine and aspartic acid instead of diaminopimelic acid in the cell wall--was examined. Most of the strains had been isolated by a five-step enrichment and isolation procedure. The G+C content was determined to span a range from 33.5 to 35.0 mol%. Unsaturated fatty acids amounted to 17 to 28% of the total cellular fatty acids. Through DNA-DNA hybridization experiments 11 strains could be grouped in one species. Low homology values with the type strains of validly published Bacillus species with similar G+C contents suggest that these strains belong to a hitherto undescribed species for which the name Bacillus cohnii is proposed. The type strain of the new species is strain RSH (= DSM 6307).

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Inhibition of Escherichia coli growth and diaminopimelic acid epimerase by 3-chlorodiaminopimelic acid.

The diaminopimelic acid (DAP) analog, 3-chloro-DAP, was synthesized and tested as the racemic acid for antibacterial activity and for inhibition of DAP epimerase. 3-Chloro-DAP was a potent inhibitor of DAP epimerase purified from Escherichia coli (Ki = 200 nM), and it is argued that 3-chloro-DAP is converted to a tight-binding transition state analog at the active site of this enzyme. Furthermore, 3-chloro-DAP inhibited growth of two E. coli mutants. In one of the mutants known for supersusceptibility to beta-lactams, inhibition was not seen until the mid-log phase of growth, while in the other mutant, a DAP auxotroph, inhibition occurred much earlier. Growth inhibition was reversed by DAP in both strains. In the auxotroph, the reversal was specific for meso-DAP, indicating that DAP epimerase was the target for 3-chloro-DAP. Thus we suggest a novel mechanism of bacterial growth inhibition which depends on DAP epimerase inhibition by a DAP analog.

Amino Acid Isomerases↗

Peptides of 2-aminopimelic acid: antibacterial agents that inhibit diaminopimelic acid biosynthesis.

Succinyl-CoA:tetrahydrodipicolinate-N-succinyltransferase is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of diaminopimelic acid (DAP), a component of the cell wall peptidoglycan of nearly all bacteria. This enzyme converts the cyclic precursor tetrahydrodipicolinic acid (THDPA) to a succinylated acyclic product. L-2-Aminopimelic acid (L-1), an acyclic analogue of THDPA, was found to be a good substrate for this enzyme and was shown to cause a buildup of THDPA in a cell-free enzyme system but was devoid of antibacterial activity. Incorporation of 1 into a di- or tripeptide yielded derivatives that exhibited antibacterial activity against a range of Gram-negative organisms. Of the five peptide derivatives tested, (L-2-aminopimelyl)-L-alanine (6) was the most potent. These peptides were shown to inhibit DAP production in intact resting cells. High levels (30 mM) of 2-aminopimelic acid were achieved in the cytoplasm of bacteria as a result of efficient uptake of the peptide derivatives through specific peptide transport systems followed, presumably, by cleavage by intracellular peptidases. Finally, the antibacterial activity of these peptides could be reversed by DAP or a DAP-containing peptide. These results demonstrate that the peptides containing L-2-aminopimelic acid exert their antibacterial action by inhibition of diaminopimelic acid biosynthesis.

Acyltransferases↗

Purification and properties of diaminopimelic acid epimerase from Escherichia coli.

Diaminopimelic acid epimerase was purified from Escherichia coli. The enzyme is a monomer of Mr = 34,000. Diaminopimelic acid epimerase is not a pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzyme: there is no evidence for pyridoxal phosphate in the ultraviolet spectrum of the purified enzyme, and the epimerase is not inactivated by carbonyl reagents such as hydroxylamine and sodium borohydride. Exchange of the alpha-protons of the substrates, DL- and LL-diaminopimelic acid, with solvent accompanies epimerization; and exchange of 3H from solvent into diaminopimelic acid gives 3H primarily (80-90%) in the product isomer, regardless of whether the DL- or LL-isomer is substrate. From these results it is concluded that the epimerase utilizes a two-base mechanism for proton translocation. In these major aspects of its mechanism, diaminopimelic acid epimerase resembles proline racemase. It is argued that the relative values of the isotope fractionation factors for the two proton acceptor sites on the enzyme can be estimated from the isotope effects for the DL- and LL-isomers of diaminopimelic acid. The observed difference in the isotope effects predicts that one, but not both, of the proton acceptor sites is a thiol, and it is demonstrated that diaminopimelic acid epimerase has a single thiol which is necessary for activity and which reacts with iodoacetamide.

Amino Acid Isomerases↗

Occurrence of bound muramic acid and alpha, epsilon-diaminopimelic acid in soil and comparison of their contents with bacterial biomass.

The occurrence of bound muramic and alpha, epsilon-diaminopimelic acids in soil, both within and without the bacterial biomass has been studied. The obtained results show that both compounds occur in this environment mainly extracellularly; they also occur in humic acids, into which they are easily incorporated from dead bacterial cells in the processes of humus synthesis and then released during its mineralization.

Amino Acids, Diamino↗

Effect of analogues of diaminopimelic acid on the meso-diaminopimelate-adding enzyme from Escherichia coli.

Several analogues of diaminopimelic acid (A2pm) were tested as substrates or inhibitors of the meso-diaminopimelate-adding enzyme from Escherichia coli. They included lanthionine derivatives, a phosphonic analogue, heterocyclic compounds, 3-fluoro-A2pm, 4-methylene-A2pm and N-hydroxy-A2pm. The best substrates were, in decreasing order of specific enzyme activity, (2S,3R,6S)-3-fluoro-A2pm, meso-lanthionine sulfoxide and N-hydroxy-A2pm (mixture of stereoisomers). In those cases where all the stereoisomers were available, the specificity could be described as meso > > DD approximately to LL. N-Hydroxy-A2pm (mixture of stereoisomers) strongly inhibited the addition of radioactive meso-A2pm to UDP-N-acetylmuramoyl-dipeptide.

Diaminopimelic Acid↗