Structure of the open conformation of a functional chimeric NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase

Two catalytic domains, bearing FMN and FAD cofactors, joined by a connecting domain, compose the core of the NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR). The FMN domain of CPR mediates electron shuttling from the FAD domain to cytochromes P450. Together, both enzymes form the main mixed-function oxidase system that participates in the metabolism of endo- and xenobiotic compounds in mammals. Available CPR structures show a closed conformation, with the two cofactors in tight proximity, which is consistent with FAD-to-FMN, but not FMN-to-P450, electron transfer. Here, we report the 2.5 Å resolution crystal structure of a functionally competent yeast–human chimeric CPR in an open conformation, compatible with FMN-to-P450 electron transfer. Comparison with closed structures shows a major conformational change separating the FMN and FAD cofactors from 86 Å

Cloning, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of a chimeric NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase

A 2.5 Å resolution data set was collected from a crystal of a soluble chimeric form of NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) produced using a fusion gene composed of the yeast FMN and the human FAD domains. The chimeric protein was crystallized in a modified conformation compared with the previously solved structures

Cloning, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of a bacterial GABA receptor with a Venus flytrap fold

A 1.35 Å resolution data set was collected from a crystal of the periplasmic GABA receptor Atu2422 from A. tumefaciens. Atu2422 adopts a closed Venus flytrap conformation

Quorum quenching: role in nature and applied developments.

International audienceQuorum sensing (QS) refers to the capacity of bacteria to monitor their population density and regulate gene expression accordingly: the QS-regulated processes deal with multicellular behaviors (e.g. growth and development of biofilm), horizontal gene transfer and host-microbe (symbiosis and pathogenesis) and microbe-microbe interactions. QS signaling requires the synthesis, exchange and perception of bacterial compounds, called autoinducers or QS signals (e.g. N-acylhomoserine lactones). The disruption of QS signaling, also termed quorum quenching (QQ), encompasses very diverse phenomena and mechanisms which are presented and discussed in this review. First, we surveyed the QS-signal diversity and QS-associated responses for a better understanding of the targets of the QQ phenomena that organisms have naturally evolved and are currently actively investigated in applied perspectives. Next the mechanisms, targets and molecular actors associated with QS interference are presented, with a special emphasis on the description of natural QQ enzymes and chemicals acting as QS inhibitors. Selected QQ paradigms are detailed to exemplify the mechanisms and biological roles of QS inhibition in microbe-microbe and host-microbe interactions. Finally, some QQ strategies are presented as promising tools in different fields such as medicine, aquaculture, crop production and anti-biofouling area

Concerted transfer of the virulence Ti plasmid and companion at plasmid in the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-induced plant tumour

International audienceThe plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciensC58 harbours three independent type IV secretion (T4SS) machineries. T4SS(T-DNA) promotes the transfer of the T-DNA to host plant cells, provoking tumour development and accumulation of opines such as nopaline and agrocinopines. T4SS(pTi) and T4SS(pAt) control the bacterial conjugation of the Ti and At plasmids respectively. Expression of T4SS(pTi) is controlled by the agrocinopine-responsive transcriptional repressor AccR. In this work, we compared the genome-wide transcriptional profile of the wild-type A.tumefaciens strain C58 with that of its accR KO-mutant to delineate the AccR regulon. In addition to the genes that encode agrocinopine catabolism and T4SS(pTi), we found that AccR also regulated genes coding for nopaline catabolism and T4SS(pAt). Further opine detection and conjugation assays confirmed the enhancement of nopaline consumption and At plasmid conjugation frequency in accR. Moreover, co-regulation of the T4SS(pTi) and T4SS(pAt) correlated with the co-transfer of the At and Ti plasmids both in vitro and in plant tumours. Finally, unlike T4SS(pTi), T4SS(pAt) activation does not require quorum-sensing. Overall this study highlights the regulatory interplays between opines, At and Ti plasmids that contribute to a concerted dissemination of the two replicons in bacterial populations colonizing the plant tumour

Functional and structural characterization of two Bacillus megaterium nitroreductases biotransforming the herbicide mesotrione.

International audienceMesotrione is a selective herbicide belonging to the triketone family, commonly used on maize cultures since 2003. A mesotrione-transforming Bacillus megaterium Mes11 strain isolated from an agricultural soil was used as a model to identify the key enzymes initiating the biotransformation of this herbicide. Two enzymes (called NfrA1 and NfrA2/YcnD) were identified, and functionally and structurally characterized. Both belong to the NfsA FRP family of the nitro-FMN reductase superfamily (type I oxygen-insensitive nitroreductase) and show optimal pH and temperature of 6-6.5 and 23-25°C, respectively. Both undergo a Ping Pong Bi Bi mechanism, with NADPH and NADPH/NADH as cofactors for NfrA1 and NfrA2/YcnD, respectively. It is interesting that both can also reduce various nitro compounds including pesticides, antibiotics, one prodrug and 4-methylsulfonyl-2-nitrobenzoic acid, one of the mesotrione metabolites retrieved from the environment. The present study constitutes the first identification of mesotrione-transforming enzymes. These enzymes (or their corresponding genes) could be used as biomarkers to predict the capacity of ecosystems to transform mesotrione and assess their contamination by both the parent molecule and/or the metabolites

Kinetic and structural analysis of human ALDH9A1

International audienceAldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) constitute a superfamily of NAD(P)+-dependent enzymes, which detoxify aldehydes produced in various metabolic pathways to the corresponding carboxylic acids. Among the 19 human ALDHs, the cytosolic ALDH9A1 has so far never been fully enzymatically characterized and its structure is still unknown. Here, we report complete molecular and kinetic properties of human ALDH9A1 as well as three crystal forms at 2.3 Å, 2.9 Å and 2.5 Å resolution. We show that ALDH9A1 exhibits wide substrate specificity to aminoaldehydes, aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes with a clear preference for γ -trimethylaminobutyraldehyde (TMABAL). The structure of ALDH9A1 reveals that the enzyme assembles as a tetramer. Each ALDH monomer displays a typical ALDHs fold composed of an oligomerization domain, a coenzyme domain, a catalytic domain and an inter-domain linker highly conserved in amino-acid sequence and folding. Nonetheless, structural comparison reveals a position and a fold of the inter-domain linker of ALDH9A1 never observed in any other ALDH so far. This unique difference is not compatible with the presence of a bound substrate and a large conformational rearrangement of the linker up to 30 Å has to occur to allow the access of the substrate channel. Moreover, the αβE region consisting of an α-helix and a β-strand of the coenzyme domain at the dimer interface are disordered, likely due to the loss of interactions with the inter-domain linker, which leads to incomplete NAD+ binding pocket