Responses of the marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana to changes in CO2 concentration: a proteomic approach

The concentration of CO2 in many aquatic systems is variable, often lower than the KM of the primary carboxylating enzyme Rubisco, and in order to photosynthesize efficiently, many algae operate a facultative CO2 concentrating mechanism (CCM). Here we measured the responses of a marine diatom, Thalassiosira pseudonana, to high and low concentrations of CO2 at the level of transcripts, proteins and enzyme activity. Low CO2 caused many metabolic pathways to be remodeled. Carbon acquisition enzymes, primarily carbonic anhydrase, stress, degradation and signaling proteins were more abundant while proteins associated with nitrogen metabolism, energy production and chaperones were less abundant. A protein with similarities to the Ca2+/ calmodulin dependent protein kinase II_association domain, having a chloroplast targeting sequence, was only present at low CO2. This protein might be a specific response to CO2 limitation since a previous study showed that other stresses caused its reduction. The protein sequence was found in other marine diatoms and may play an important role in their response to low CO2 concentration

Comparative secretome analyses of two Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30 and CL847 hypersecretory strains

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Due to its capacity to produce large amounts of cellulases, Trichoderma reesei is increasingly been researched in various fields of white biotechnology, especially in biofuel production from lignocellulosic biomass. The commercial enzyme mixtures produced at industrial scales are not well characterized, and their proteinaceous components are poorly identified and quantified. The development of proteomic methods has made it possible to comprehensively overview the enzymes involved in lignocellulosic biomass degradation which are secreted under various environmental conditions. RESULTS: The protein composition of the secretome produced by industrial T. reesei (strain CL847) grown on a medium promoting the production of both cellulases and hemicellulases was explored using two-dimensional electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF or LC-MS/MS protein identification. A total of 22 protein species were identified. As expected, most of them are potentially involved in biomass degradation. The 2D map obtained was then used to compare the secretomes produced by CL847 and another efficient cellulolytic T. reesei strain, Rut-C30, the reference cellulase-overproducing strain using lactose as carbon source and inducer of cellulases. CONCLUSION: This study provides the most complete mapping of the proteins secreted by T. reesei to date. We report on the first use of proteomics to compare secretome composition between two cellulase-overproducing strains Rut-C30 and CL847 grown under similar conditions. Comparison of protein patterns in both strains highlighted many unexpected differences between cellulase cocktails. The results demonstrate that 2D electrophoresis is a promising tool for studying cellulase production profiles, whether for industrial characterization of an entire secretome or for a more fundamental study on cellulase expression at genome-wide scale

Rules Governing Selective Protein Carbonylation

BACKGROUND:Carbonyl derivatives are mainly formed by direct metal-catalysed oxidation (MCO) attacks on the amino-acid side chains of proline, arginine, lysine and threonine residues. For reasons unknown, only some proteins are prone to carbonylation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:we used mass spectrometry analysis to identify carbonylated sites in: BSA that had undergone in vitro MCO, and 23 carbonylated proteins in Escherichia coli. The presence of a carbonylated site rendered the neighbouring carbonylatable site more prone to carbonylation. Most carbonylated sites were present within hot spots of carbonylation. These observations led us to suggest rules for identifying sites more prone to carbonylation. We used these rules to design an in silico model (available at http://www.lcb.cnrs-mrs.fr/CSPD/), allowing an effective and accurate prediction of sites and of proteins more prone to carbonylation in the E. coli proteome. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:We observed that proteins evolve to either selectively maintain or lose predicted hot spots of carbonylation depending on their biological function. As our predictive model also allows efficient detection of carbonylated proteins in Bacillus subtilis, we believe that our model may be extended to direct MCO attacks in all organisms

Phosphoribulokinase from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: a Benson–Calvin cycle enzyme enslaved to its cysteine residues

International audiencePhosphoribulokinase (PRK) in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a finely regulated and well-studied enzyme of the Benson–Calvin cycle. PRK can form a complex with glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and the small chloroplast protein CP12. This study aimed to determine the molecular determinants on PRK involved in the complex and the mechanism of action of a recently described novel regulation of PRK that involves glutathionylation. A combination of mass spectrometry, mutagenesis and activity analyses showed that Cys16, besides its role as the binding site of ATP, was also the site for S-glutathionylation. Previous kinetic analysis of the C55S mutant showed that in the oxidized inactive form of PRK, this residue formed a disulfide bridge with the Cys16 residue. This is the only bridge reported for PRK in the literature. Our data show for the first time that a disulfide bridge between Cys243 and Cys249 on PRK is required to form the PRK–GAPDH–CP12 complex. These results uncover a new mechanism for the PRK–GAPDH–CP12 formation involving a thiol disulfide exchange reaction with CP12 and identify Cys16 of PRK as a target of glutathionylation acting against oxidative stress. Although Cys16 is the key residue involved in binding ATP and acting as a defense against oxidative damage, the formation of the algal ternary complex requires the formation of another disulfide bridge on PRK involving Cys243 and Cys249

Carbonylated Proteins Are Detectable Only in a Degradation-Resistant Aggregate State in Escherichia coli▿

Carbonylation is currently used as a marker for irreversible protein oxidative damage. Several studies indicate that carbonylated proteins are more prone to degradation than their nonoxidized counterparts. In this study, we observed that in Escherichia coli, more than 95% of the total carbonyl content consisted of insoluble protein and most were cytosolic proteins. We thereby demonstrate that, in vivo, carbonylated proteins are detectable mainly in an aggregate state. Finally, we show that detectable carbonylated proteins are not degraded in vivo. Here we propose that some carbonylated proteins escape degradation in vivo by forming carbonylated protein aggregates and thus becoming nondegradable. In light of these findings, we provide evidence that the accumulation of nondegradable carbonylated protein presented in an aggregate state contributes to the increases in carbonyl content observed during senescence

DnaJ (Hsp40 Protein) Binding to Folded Substrate Impacts KplE1 Prophage Excision Efficiency

International audienceTemperate phages mediate gene transfer and can modify the properties of their host organisms through the acquisition of novel genes, a process called lysogeny. The KplE1 prophage is one of the 10 prophage regions in Escherichia coli K12 MG1655. KplE1 is defective for lysis but fully competent for site-specific recombination. The TorI recombination directionality factor is strictly required for prophage excision from the host genome. We have previously shown that DnaJ promotes KplE1 excision by increasing the affinity of TorI for its site-specific recombination DNA target. Here, we provide evidence of a direct association between TorI and DnaJ using in vitro cross-linking assays and limited proteolysis experiments that show that this interaction allows both proteins to be transiently protected from trypsin digestion. Interestingly, NMR titration experiments showed that binding of DnaJ involves specific regions of the TorI structure. These regions, mainly composed of -helices, are located on a surface opposite the DNA-binding site. Taken together, we propose that DnaJ, without the aid of DnaK/GrpE, is capable of increasing the efficiency of KplE1 excision by causing a conformational stabilization that allows TorI to adopt a more favorable conformation for binding to its specific DNA target

The intriguing CP12-like tail of adenylate kinase 3 from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

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Expression of terminal oxidases under nutrient-starved conditions in Shewanella oneidensis: detection of the A-type cytochrome c oxidase

International audienceShewanella species are facultative anaerobic bacteria that colonize redox-stratified habitats where O2 and nutrient concentrations fluctuate. The model species Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 possesses genes coding for three terminal oxidases that can perform O2 respiration: a bd-type quinol oxidase and cytochrome c oxidases of the cbb3-type and the A-type. Whereas the bd- and cbb3-type oxidases are routinely detected, evidence for the expression of the A-type enzyme has so far been lacking. Here, we investigated the effect of nutrient starvation on the expression of these terminal oxidases under different O2 tensions. Our results reveal that the bd-type oxidase plays a significant role under nutrient starvation in aerobic conditions. The expression of the cbb3-type oxidase is also modulated by the nutrient composition of the medium and increases especially under iron-deficiency in exponentially growing cells. Most importantly, under conditions of carbon depletion, high O2 and stationary-growth, we report for the first time the expression of the A-type oxidase in S. oneidensis, indicating that this terminal oxidase is not functionally lost. The physiological role of the A-type oxidase in energy conservation and in the adaptation of S. oneidensis to redox-stratified environments is discussed

A biochemical approach to study the role of the terminal oxidases in aerobic respiration in Shewanella oneidensis MR-1.

The genome of the facultative anaerobic γ-proteobacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 encodes for three terminal oxidases: a bd-type quinol oxidase and two heme-copper oxidases, a A-type cytochrome c oxidase and a cbb 3-type oxidase. In this study, we used a biochemical approach and directly measured oxidase activities coupled to mass-spectrometry analysis to investigate the physiological role of the three terminal oxidases under aerobic and microaerobic conditions. Our data revealed that the cbb 3-type oxidase is the major terminal oxidase under aerobic conditions while both cbb 3-type and bd-type oxidases are involved in respiration at low-O2 tensions. On the contrary, the low O2-affinity A-type cytochrome c oxidase was not detected in our experimental conditions even under aerobic conditions and would therefore not be required for aerobic respiration in S. oneidensis MR-1. In addition, the deduced amino acid sequence suggests that the A-type cytochrome c oxidase is a ccaa 3-type oxidase since an uncommon extra-C terminal domain contains two c-type heme binding motifs. The particularity of the aerobic respiratory pathway and the physiological implication of the presence of a ccaa 3-type oxidase in S. oneidensis MR-1 are discussed