Nitrogenase cofactor biosynthesis using proteins produced in mitochondria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Biological nitrogen fixation, the conversion of inert N2 to metabolically tractable NH3, is only performed by certain microorganisms called diazotrophs and is catalyzed by the nitrogenases. A [7Fe-9S-C-Mo-R-homocitrate]-cofactor, designated FeMo-co, provides the catalytic site for N2 reduction in the Mo-dependent nitrogenase. Thus, achieving FeMo-co formation in model eukaryotic organisms, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, represents an important milestone toward endowing them with a capacity for Mo-dependent biological nitrogen fixation. A central player in FeMo-co assembly is the scaffold protein NifEN upon which processing of NifB-co, an [8Fe-9S-C] precursor produced by NifB, occurs. Prior work established that NifB-co can be produced in S. cerevisiae mitochondria. In the present work, a library of nifEN genes from diverse diazotrophs was expressed in S. cerevisiae, targeted to mitochondria, and surveyed for their ability to produce soluble NifEN protein complexes. Many such NifEN variants supported FeMo-co formation when heterologously produced in the diazotroph A. vinelandii. However, only three of them accumulated in soluble forms in mitochondria of aerobically cultured S. cerevisiae. Of these, two variants were active in the in vitro FeMo-co synthesis assay. NifEN, NifB, and NifH proteins from different species, all of them produced in and purified from S. cerevisiae mitochondria, were combined to establish successful FeMo-co biosynthetic pathways. These findings demonstrate that combining diverse interspecies nitrogenase FeMo-co assembly components could be an effective and, perhaps, the only approach to achieve and optimize nitrogen fixation in a eukaryotic organism.IMPORTANCEBiological nitrogen fixation, the conversion of inert N2 to metabolically usable NH3, is a process exclusive to diazotrophic microorganisms and relies on the activity of nitrogenases. The assembly of the nitrogenase [7Fe-9S-C-Mo-R-homocitrate]-cofactor (FeMo-co) in a eukaryotic cell is a pivotal milestone that will pave the way to engineer cereals with nitrogen fixing capabilities and therefore independent of nitrogen fertilizers. In this study, we identified NifEN protein complexes that were functional in the model eukaryotic organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. NifEN is an essential component of the FeMo-co biosynthesis pathway. Furthermore, the FeMo-co biosynthetic pathway was recapitulated in vitro using only proteins expressed in S. cerevisiae. FeMo-co biosynthesis was achieved by combining nitrogenase FeMo-co assembly components from different species, a promising strategy to engineer nitrogen fixation in eukaryotic organisms.

A colorimetric method to measure in vitro nitrogenase functionality for engineering nitrogen fixation.

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the reduction of N2 into NH3 in a group of prokaryotes by an extremely O2-sensitive protein complex called nitrogenase. Transfer of the BNF pathway directly into plants, rather than by association with microorganisms, could generate crops that are less dependent on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and increase agricultural productivity and sustainability. In the laboratory, nitrogenase activity is commonly determined by measuring ethylene produced from the nitrogenase-dependent reduction of acetylene (ARA) using a gas chromatograph. The ARA is not well suited for analysis of large sample sets nor easily adapted to automated robotic determination of nitrogenase activities. Here, we show that a reduced sulfonated viologen derivative (S2Vred) assay can replace the ARA for simultaneous analysis of isolated nitrogenase proteins using a microplate reader. We used the S2Vred to screen a library of NifH nitrogenase components targeted to mitochondria in yeast. Two NifH proteins presented properties of great interest for engineering of nitrogen fixation in plants, namely NifM independency, to reduce the number of genes to be transferred to the eukaryotic host; and O2 resistance, to expand the half-life of NifH iron-sulfur cluster in a eukaryotic cell. This study established that NifH from Dehalococcoides ethenogenes did not require NifM for solubility, [Fe-S] cluster occupancy or functionality, and that NifH from Geobacter sulfurreducens was more resistant to O2 exposure than the other NifH proteins tested. It demonstrates that nitrogenase components with specific biochemical properties such as a wider range of O2 tolerance exist in Nature, and that their identification should be an area of focus for the engineering of nitrogen-fixing crops.

Biosynthesis of cofactor-activatable iron-only nitrogenase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Engineering nitrogenase in eukaryotes is hampered by its genetic complexity and by the oxygen sensitivity of its protein components. Of the three types of nitrogenases, the Fe-only nitrogenase is considered the simplest one because its function depends on fewer gene products than the homologous and more complex Mo and V nitrogenases. Here, we show the expression of stable Fe-only nitrogenase component proteins in the low-oxygen mitochondria matrix of S. cerevisiae. As-isolated Fe protein (AnfH) was active in electron donation to NifDK to reduce acetylene into ethylene. Ancillary proteins NifU, NifS and NifM were not required for Fe protein function. The FeFe protein existed as apo-AnfDK complex with the AnfG subunit either loosely bound or completely unable to interact with it. Apo-AnfDK could be activated for acetylene reduction by the simple addition of FeMo-co in vitro, indicating preexistence of the P-clusters even in the absence of coexpressed NifU and NifS. This work reinforces the use of Fe-only nitrogenase as simple model to engineer nitrogen fixation in yeast and plant mitochondria.

Adaptation of the GoldenBraid modular cloning system and creation of a toolkit for the expression of heterologous proteins in yeast mitochondria.

BACKGROUND: There is a need for the development of synthetic biology methods and tools to facilitate rapid and efficient engineering of yeast that accommodates the needs of specific biotechnology projects. In particular, the manipulation of the mitochondrial proteome has interesting potential applications due to its compartmentalized nature. One of these advantages resides in the fact that metalation occurs after protein import into mitochondria, which contains pools of iron, zinc, copper and manganese ions that can be utilized in recombinant metalloprotein metalation reactions. Another advantage is that mitochondria are suitable organelles to host oxygen sensitive proteins as a low oxygen environment is created within the matrix during cellular respiration. RESULTS: Here we describe the adaptation of a modular cloning system, GoldenBraid2.0, for the integration of assembled transcriptional units into two different sites of the yeast genome, yielding a high expression level. We have also generated a toolkit comprising various promoters, terminators and selection markers that facilitate the generation of multigenic constructs and allow the reconstruction of biosynthetic pathways within Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To facilitate the specific expression of recombinant proteins within the mitochondrial matrix, we have also included in the toolkit an array of mitochondrial targeting signals and tested their efficiency at different growth conditions. As a proof of concept, we show here the integration and expression of 14 bacterial nitrogen fixation (nif) genes, some of which are known to require specific metallocluster cofactors that contribute to their stability yet make these proteins highly sensitive to oxygen. For one of these genes, nifU, we show that optimal production of this protein is achieved through the use of the Su9 mitochondrial targeting pre-sequence and glycerol as a carbon source to sustain aerobic respiration. CONCLUSIONS: We present here an adapted GoldenBraid2.0 system for modular cloning, genome integration and expression of recombinant proteins in yeast. We have produced a toolkit that includes inducible and constitutive promoters, mitochondrial targeting signals, terminators and selection markers to guarantee versatility in the design of recombinant transcriptional units. By testing the efficiency of the system with nitrogenase Nif proteins and different mitochondrial targeting pre-sequences and growth conditions, we have paved the way for future studies addressing the expression of heterologous proteins in yeast mitochondria.

Formation of Nitrogenase NifDK Tetramers in the Mitochondria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Transferring the prokaryotic enzyme nitrogenase into a eukaryotic host with the final aim of developing N2 fixing cereal crops would revolutionize agricultural systems worldwide. Targeting it to mitochondria has potential advantages because of the organelle's high O2 consumption and the presence of bacterial-type iron-sulfur cluster biosynthetic machinery. In this study, we constructed 96 strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in which transcriptional units comprising nine Azotobacter vinelandii nif genes (nifHDKUSMBEN) were integrated into the genome. Two combinatorial libraries of nif gene clusters were constructed: a library of mitochondrial leading sequences consisting of 24 clusters within four subsets of nif gene expression strength, and an expression library of 72 clusters with fixed mitochondrial leading sequences and nif expression levels assigned according to factorial design. In total, 29 promoters and 18 terminators were combined to adjust nif gene expression levels. Expression and mitochondrial targeting was confirmed at the protein level as immunoblot analysis showed that Nif proteins could be efficiently accumulated in mitochondria. NifDK tetramer formation, an essential step of nitrogenase assembly, was experimentally proven both in cell-free extracts and in purified NifDK preparations. This work represents a first step toward obtaining functional nitrogenase in the mitochondria of a eukaryotic cell.