5 research outputs found

    Influence of intraperitoneally administered amino acids on amino acid patterns of ehrlich ascites tumor cells and brain in mice.

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    Cardiolipin (CL), a membrane phospholipid in bacteria and mitochondria, has been hypothesized to facilitate movement of protons on the outer surface of membranes in support of respiration-dependent ATP synthesis, oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). If so, the high levels of membrane CL found in alkaliphilic bacteria, such as Bacilluspseudofirmus OF4, might facilitate its robust OXPHOS at pH 10.5, where the bulk protonmotive (PMF) force is low. To address the role of CL in Bacillus pseudofirmus OF4, we studied strains in which genes (cls) potentially encoding a CL synthase (CLs) were deleted: three single (AclsA, AclsB, and AclsC), one double (AclsA/B), and one triple (AclsA/B/C) mutant. Two-dimensional thin layer chromatography analyses of lipid extracts from 32P-labeled strains showed that the wild-type CL content was 15% of total phospholipids at pH 10.5 versus 3% at pH 7.5 during log phase. The % CL was higher (28-33%) at both pH values during stationary phase. The clsA gene plays a major role in CL biosynthesis as no detectable CL was found in AclsA-containing mutants, whereas the CL precursor phosphatidylglycerol was elevated. The AclsB mutant exhibited no significant reduction in CL, but clsB expression was up-regulated and appeared to support growth at pH 7.5. In the absence of detectable CL, the alkaliphile showed no significant deficits in non-fermentative growth, respiration-dependent ATP synthesis, or salt tolerance. Minor deficits in respiration and ATP synthase assembly were noted in individual mutants. In long term survival experiments, significant growth defects were found in AclsA strains and the AclsC strain at pH 10.5. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc

    Cardiolipin is required in vivo for the stability of bacterial translocon and optimal membrane protein translocation and insertion

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    © 2020, The Author(s). Translocation of preproteins across the Escherichia coli inner membrane requires anionic lipids by virtue of their negative head-group charge either in vivo or in situ. However, available results do not differentiate between the roles of monoanionic phosphatidylglycerol and dianionic cardiolipin (CL) in this essential membrane-related process. To define in vivo the molecular steps affected by the absence of CL in protein translocation and insertion, we analyzed translocon activity, SecYEG stability and its interaction with SecA in an E. coli mutant devoid of CL. Although no growth defects were observed, co- and post-translational translocation of α-helical proteins across inner membrane and the assembly of outer membrane β-barrel precursors were severely compromised in CL-lacking cells. Components of proton-motive force which could impair protein insertion into and translocation across the inner membrane, were unaffected. However, stability of the dimeric SecYEG complex and oligomerization properties of SecA were strongly compromised while the levels of individual SecYEG translocon components, SecA and insertase YidC were largely unaffected. These results demonstrate that CL is required in vivo for the stability of the bacterial translocon and its efficient function in co-translational insertion into and translocation across the inner membrane of E. coli

    Phospholipid distribution in the cytoplasmic membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is highly asymmetric, dynamic, and cell shape-dependent

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    © 2020 The Authors. The distribution of phospholipids across the inner membrane (IM) of Gram-negative bacteria is unknown. We demonstrate that the IMs of Escherichia coli and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis are asymmetric, with a 75%/25% (cytoplasmic/periplasmic leaflet) distribution of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) in rod-shaped cells and an opposite distribution in E. coli filamentous cells. In initially filamentous PE-lacking E. coli cells, nascent PE appears first in the periplasmic leaflet. As the total PE content increases from nearly zero to 75%, cells progressively adopt a rod shape and PE appears in the cytoplasmic leaflet of the IM. The redistribution of PE influences the distribution of the other lipids between the leaflets. This correlates with the tendency of PE and cardiolipin to regulate antagonistically lipid order of the bilayer. The results suggest that PE asymmetry is metabolically controlled to balance temporally the net rates of synthesis and translocation, satisfy envelope growth capacity, and adjust bilayer chemical and physical properties
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