Promoter-proximal elongation regulates transcription in archaea.

Recruitment of RNA polymerase and initiation factors to the promoter is the only known target for transcription activation and repression in archaea. Whether any of the subsequent steps towards productive transcription elongation are involved in regulation is not known. We characterised how the basal transcription machinery is distributed along genes in the archaeon Saccharolobus solfataricus. We discovered a distinct early elongation phase where RNA polymerases sequentially recruit the elongation factors Spt4/5 and Elf1 to form the transcription elongation complex (TEC) before the TEC escapes into productive transcription. TEC escape is rate-limiting for transcription output during exponential growth. Oxidative stress causes changes in TEC escape that correlate with changes in the transcriptome. Our results thus establish that TEC escape contributes to the basal promoter strength and facilitates transcription regulation. Impaired TEC escape coincides with the accumulation of initiation factors at the promoter and recruitment of termination factor aCPSF1 to the early TEC. This suggests two possible mechanisms for how TEC escape limits transcription, physically blocking upstream RNA polymerases during transcription initiation and premature termination of early TECs.

The Impact of Pyroglutamate: Sulfolobus acidocaldarius Has a Growth Advantage over Saccharolobus solfataricus in Glutamate-Containing Media.

Microorganisms are well adapted to their habitat but are partially sensitive to toxic metabolites or abiotic compounds secreted by other organisms or chemically formed under the respective environmental conditions. Thermoacidophiles are challenged by pyroglutamate, a lactam that is spontaneously formed by cyclization of glutamate under aerobic thermoacidophilic conditions. It is known that growth of the thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon Saccharolobus solfataricus (formerly Sulfolobus solfataricus) is completely inhibited by pyroglutamate. In the present study, we investigated the effect of pyroglutamate on the growth of S. solfataricus and the closely related crenarchaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. In contrast to S. solfataricus, S. acidocaldarius was successfully cultivated with pyroglutamate as a sole carbon source. Bioinformatical analyses showed that both members of the Sulfolobaceae have at least one candidate for a 5-oxoprolinase, which catalyses the ATP-dependent conversion of pyroglutamate to glutamate. In S. solfataricus, we observed the intracellular accumulation of pyroglutamate and crude cell extract assays showed a less effective degradation of pyroglutamate. Apparently, S. acidocaldarius seems to be less versatile regarding carbohydrates and prefers peptidolytic growth compared to S. solfataricus. Concludingly, S. acidocaldarius exhibits a more efficient utilization of pyroglutamate and is not inhibited by this compound, making it a better candidate for applications with glutamate-containing media at high temperatures.

Indications for a moonlighting function of translation factor aIF5A in the crenarchaeum Sulfolobus solfataricus.

Translation factor a/eIF5A is highly conserved in Eukarya and Archaea. The eukaryal eIF5A protein is required for transit of ribosomes across consecutive proline codons, whereas the function of the archaeal orthologue remains unknown. Here, we provide a first hint for an involvement of Sulfolobus solfataricus (Sso) aIF5A in translation. CRISPR-mediated knock down of the aif5A gene resulted in strong growth retardation, underlining a pivotal function. Moreover, in vitro studies revealed that Sso aIF5A is endowed with endoribonucleolytic activity. Thus, aIF5A appears to be a moonlighting protein that might be involved in protein synthesis as well as in RNA metabolism.

Diverse CRISPR-Cas responses and dramatic cellular DNA changes and cell death in pKEF9-conjugated Sulfolobus species.

The Sulfolobales host a unique family of crenarchaeal conjugative plasmids some of which undergo complex rearrangements intracellularly. Here we examined the conjugation cycle of pKEF9 in the recipient strain Sulfolobus islandicus REY15A. The plasmid conjugated and replicated rapidly generating high average copy numbers which led to strong growth retardation that was coincident with activation of CRISPR-Cas adaptation. Simultaneously, intracellular DNA was extensively degraded and this also occurred in a conjugated Δcas6 mutant lacking a CRISPR-Cas immune response. Furthermore, the integrated forms of pKEF9 in the donor Sulfolobus solfataricus P1 and recipient host were specifically corrupted by transposable orfB elements, indicative of a dual mechanism for inactivating free and integrated forms of the plasmid. In addition, the CRISPR locus of pKEF9 was progressively deleted when conjugated into the recipient strain. Factors influencing activation of CRISPR-Cas adaptation in the recipient strain are considered, including the first evidence for a possible priming effect in Sulfolobus The 3-Mbp genome sequence of the donor P1 strain is presented.

Expanding the Limits of Thermoacidophily in the Archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus by Adaptive Evolution.

Extremely thermoacidophilic Crenarchaeota belonging to the order Sulfolobales flourish in hot acidic habitats that are strongly oxidizing. The pH extremes of these habitats, however, often exceed the acid tolerance of type species and strains. Here, adaptive laboratory evolution was used over a 3-year period to test whether such organisms harbor additional thermoacidophilic capacity. Three distinct cell lines derived from a single type species were subjected to high-temperature serial passage while culture acidity was gradually increased. A 178-fold increase in thermoacidophily was achieved after 29 increments of shifted culture pH resulting in growth at pH 0.8 and 80°C. These strains were named super-acid-resistant Crenarchaeota (SARC). Mathematical modeling using growth parameters predicted the limits of acid resistance, while genome resequencing and transcriptome resequencing were conducted for insight into mechanisms responsible for the evolved trait. Among the mutations that were detected, a set of eight nonsynonymous changes may explain the heritability of increased acid resistance despite an unexpected lack of transposition. Four multigene components of the SARC transcriptome implicated oxidative stress as a primary challenge accompanying growth at acid extremes. These components included accelerated membrane biogenesis, induction of the mer operon, and an increased capacity for the generation of energy and reductant.

First experimental evidence for the presence of a CRISPR toxin in sulfolobus.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (cas) genes constitute the adaptive immune system in bacteria and archaea. Although the CRISPR-Cas systems have been hypothesized to encode potential toxins, no experimental data supporting the hypothesis are available in the literature. In this work, we provide the first experimental evidence for the presence of a toxin gene in the type I-A CRISPR system of hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus. csa5, under the control of its native promoter in a shuttle vector, could not be transformed into CRISPR-deficient mutant Sulfolobus solfataricus Sens1, demonstrating a strong toxicity in the cells. A single-amino-acid mutation destroying the intersubunit bridge of Csa5 attenuated the toxicity, indicative of the importance of Csa5 oligomerization for its toxicity. In line with the absence of Csa5 toxicity in S. solfataricus InF1 containing functional CRISPR systems, the expression of csa5 is repressed in InF1 cells. Induced from the arabinose promoter in Sens1 cells, Csa5 oligomers resistant to 1% SDS co-occur with chromosome degradation and cell death, reinforcing the connection between Csa5 oligomerization and its toxicity. Importantly, a rudivirus was shown to induce Csa5 expression and the formation of SDS-resistant Csa5 oligomers in Sulfolobus cells. This demonstrates that the derepression of csa5 and the subsequent Csa5 oligomerization take place in native virus-host systems. Thus, csa5 is likely to act as a suicide gene under certain circumstances to inhibit virus spreading.

Structures of mesophilic and extremophilic citrate synthases reveal rigidity and flexibility for function.

Citrate synthase (CS) catalyses the entry of carbon into the citric acid cycle and is highly-conserved structurally across the tree of life. Crystal structures of dimeric CSs are known in both "open" and "closed" forms, which differ by a substantial domain motion that closes the substrate-binding clefts. We explore both the static rigidity and the dynamic flexibility of CS structures from mesophilic and extremophilic organisms from all three evolutionary domains. The computational expense of this wide-ranging exploration is kept to a minimum by the use of rigidity analysis and rapid all-atom simulations of flexible motion, combining geometric simulation and elastic network modeling. CS structures from thermophiles display increased structural rigidity compared with the mesophilic enzyme. A CS structure from a psychrophile, stabilized by strong ionic interactions, appears to display likewise increased rigidity in conventional rigidity analysis; however, a novel modified analysis, taking into account the weakening of the hydrophobic effect at low temperatures, shows a more appropriate decreased rigidity. These rigidity variations do not, however, affect the character of the flexible dynamics, which are well conserved across all the structures studied. Simulation trajectories not only duplicate the crystallographically observed symmetric open-to-closed transitions, but also identify motions describing a previously unidentified antisymmetric functional motion. This antisymmetric motion would not be directly observed in crystallography but is revealed as an intrinsic property of the CS structure by modeling of flexible motion. This suggests that the functional motion closing the binding clefts in CS may be independent rather than symmetric and cooperative.

A new pepstatin-insensitive thermopsin-like protease overproduced in peptide-rich cultures of Sulfolobus solfataricus.

In this study, we gain insight into the extracellular proteolytic system of Sulfolobus solfataricus grown on proteinaceous substrates, providing further evidence that acidic proteases were specifically produced in response to peptide-rich media. The main proteolytic component was the previously isolated SsMTP (Sulfolobus solfataricus multi-domain thermopsin-like protease), while the less abundant (named SsMTP-1) one was purified, characterized and identified as the sso1175 gene-product. The protein revealed a multi-domain organization shared with the cognate SsMTP with a catalytic domain followed by several tandemly-repeated motifs. Moreover, both enzymes were found spread across the Crenarchaeota phylum and belonging to the thermopsin family, although segregated into diverse phylogenetic clusters. SsMTP-1 showed a 75-kDa molecular mass and was stable in the temperature range 50-90 °C, with optimal activity at 70 °C and pH 2.0. Serine, metallo and aspartic protease inhibitors did not affect the enzyme activity, designating SsMTP-1 as a new member of the pepstatin-insensitive aspartic protease family. The peptide-bond-specificity of SsMTP-1 in the cleavage of the oxidized insulin B chain was uncommon amongst thermopsins, suggesting that it could play a distinct, but cooperative role in the protein degradation machinery. Interestingly, predictions of the transmembrane protein topology of SsMTP and SsMTP-1 strongly suggest a possible contribution in signal-transduction pathways.

The identification and molecular characterization of the first archaeal bifunctional exo-ß-glucosidase/N-acetyl-ß-glucosaminidase demonstrate that family GH116 is made of three functionally distinct subfamilies.

BACKGROUND: ß-N-acetylhexosaminidases, which are involved in a variety of biological processes including energy metabolism, cell proliferation, signal transduction and in pathogen-related inflammation and autoimmune diseases, are widely distributed in Bacteria and Eukaryotes, but only few examples have been found in Archaea so far. However, N-acetylgluco- and galactosamine are commonly found in the extracellular storage polymers and in the glycans decorating abundantly expressed glycoproteins from different Crenarchaeota Sulfolobus sp., suggesting that ß-N-acetylglucosaminidase activities could be involved in the modification/recycling of these cellular components. METHODS: A thermophilic ß-N-acetylglucosaminidase was purified from cellular extracts of S. solfataricus, strain P2, identified by mass spectrometry, and cloned and expressed in E. coli. Glycosidase assays on different strains of S. solfataricus, steady state kinetic constants, substrate specificity analysis, and the sensitivity to two inhibitors of the recombinant enzyme were also reported. RESULTS: A new ß-N-acetylglucosaminidase from S. solfataricus was unequivocally identified as the product of gene sso3039. The detailed enzymatic characterization demonstrates that this enzyme is a bifunctional ß-glucosidase/ß-N-acetylglucosaminidase belonging to family GH116 of the carbohydrate active enzyme (CAZy) classification. CONCLUSIONS: This study allowed us to propose that family GH116 is composed of three subfamilies, which show distinct substrate specificities and inhibitor sensitivities. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: The characterization of SSO3039 allows, for the first time in Archaea, the identification of an enzyme involved in the metabolism ß-N-acetylhexosaminide, an essential component of glycoproteins in this domain of life, and substantially increases our knowledge on the functional role and phylogenetic relationships amongst the GH116 CAZy family members.

Back to translation: removal of aIF2 from the 5'-end of mRNAs by translation recovery factor in the crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus.

The translation initiation factor aIF2 of the crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus (Sso) recruits initiator tRNA to the ribosome and stabilizes mRNAs by binding via the γ-subunit to their 5'-triphosphate end. It has been hypothesized that the latter occurs predominantly during unfavorable growth conditions, and that aIF2 or aIF2-γ is released on relief of nutrient stress to enable in particular anew translation of leaderless mRNAs. As leaderless mRNAs are prevalent in Sso and aIF2-γ bound to the 5'-end of a leaderless RNA inhibited ribosome binding in vitro, we aimed at elucidating the mechanism underlying aIF2/aIF2-γ recycling from mRNAs. We have identified a protein termed Trf (translation recovery factor) that co-purified with trimeric aIF2 during outgrowth of cells from prolonged stationary phase. Subsequent in vitro studies revealed that Trf triggers the release of trimeric aIF2 from RNA, and that Trf directly interacts with the aIF2-γ subunit. The importance of Trf is further underscored by an impaired protein synthesis during outgrowth from stationary phase in a Sso trf deletion mutant.

Extremophiles survival to simulated space conditions: an astrobiology model study.

In this work we investigated the ability of four extremophilic bacteria from Archaea and Bacteria domains to resist to space environment by exposing them to extreme conditions of temperature, UV radiation, desiccation coupled to low pressure generated in a Mars' conditions simulator. All the investigated extremophilic strains (namely Sulfolobus solfataricus, Haloterrigena hispanica, Thermotoga neapolitana and Geobacillus thermantarcticus) showed a good resistance to the simulation of the temperature variation in the space; on the other hand irradiation with UV at 254 nm affected only slightly the growth of H. hispanica, G. thermantarcticus and S. solfataricus; finally exposition to Mars simulated condition showed that H. hispanica and G. thermantarcticus were resistant to desiccation and low pressure.

Biochemical, transcriptional and translational evidences of the phenol-meta-degradation pathway by the hyperthermophilic Sulfolobus solfataricus 98/2.

Phenol is a widespread pollutant and a model molecule to study the biodegradation of monoaromatic compounds. After a first oxidation step leading to catechol in mesophilic and thermophilic microorganisms, two main routes have been identified depending on the cleavage of the aromatic ring: ortho involving a catechol 1,2 dioxygenase (C12D) and meta involving a catechol 2,3 dioxygenase (C23D). Our work aimed at elucidating the phenol-degradation pathway in the hyperthermophilic archaea Sulfolobus solfataricus 98/2. For this purpose, the strain was cultivated in a fermentor under different substrate and oxygenation conditions. Indeed, reducing dissolved-oxygen concentration allowed slowing down phenol catabolism (specific growth and phenol-consumption rates dropped 55% and 39%, respectively) and thus, evidencing intermediate accumulations in the broth. HPLC/Diode Array Detector and LC-MS analyses on culture samples at low dissolved-oxygen concentration (DOC  =  0.06 mg x L(-1)) suggested, apart for catechol, the presence of 2-hydroxymuconic acid, 4-oxalocrotonate and 4-hydroxy-2-oxovalerate, three intermediates of the meta route. RT-PCR analysis on oxygenase-coding genes of S. solfataricus 98/2 showed that the gene coding for the C23D was expressed only on phenol. In 2D-DIGE/MALDI-TOF analysis, the C23D was found and identified only on phenol. This set of results allowed us concluding that S. solfataricus 98/2 degrade phenol through the meta route.

Unraveling the function of the two Entner-Doudoroff branches in the thermoacidophilic Crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus P2.

Sulfolobus solfataricus P2 is a thermoacidophilic archaeon that metabolizes glucose and galactose via an unusual branched Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway, which is characterized by a non-phosphorylative (np) and a semi-phosphorylative (sp) branch. However, so far the physiological significance of the two pathway branches is unknown. In order to address these questions two key enzymes of the branched ED pathway, the class II glycerate kinase (GK) of the np-ED branch and the 2-keto-3-deoxygluconate kinase (KDGK) of the sp-ED branch in S. solfataricus, were investigated. GK was recombinantly purified and characterized with respect to its kinetic properties. Mg(2+) dependent Sso-GK (glycerate + ATP → 2-phosphoglycerate + ADP) showed unusual regulatory properties, i.e. substrate inhibition and cooperativity by D-glycerate and ATP, and a substrate-inhibition model was established fitting closely to the experimental data. Furthermore, deletion of the sp-ED key enzyme KDGK in S. solfataricus PBL2025 resulted in a similar growth phenotype on glucose as substrate compared with the wild-type. In contrast, the mutant showed strongly increased concentrations of np-ED intermediates whereas the hexose and pentose phosphates as well as trehalose were decreased. Together the results indicate (a) that the np-ED pathway is able to compensate for the missing sp-ED branch in glucose catabolism, (b) that in addition to its catabolic function the sp-ED pathway has an additional although not essential role in providing sugar phosphates for anabolism/gluconeogenesis and (c) that GK, with its unusual regulatory properties, seems to play a major role in controlling the flux between the glycolytic np-ED and the glycolytic/gluconeogenetic sp-ED pathway.

Carbohydrate hydrolysis and transport in the extreme thermoacidophile Sulfolobus solfataricus.

Extremely thermoacidophilic microbes, such as Sulfolobus solfataricus, are strict chemoheterotrophs despite their geologic niche. To clarify their ecophysiology, the overlapping roles of endoglucanases and carbohydrate transporters were examined during growth on soluble cellodextrins as the sole carbon and energy source. Strain-specific differences in genome structure implied a unique role for one of three endogenous endoglucanases. Plasmid-based endoglucanase expression promoted the consumption of oligosaccharides, including cellohexaose (G6) through cellonanaose (G9). Protein transporters required for cellodextrin uptake were identified through mutagenesis and complementation of an ABC transporter cassette, including a putative oligosaccharide binding protein. In addition, ablation of the binding protein compromised growth on glucose and alpha-linked oligosaccharides while inactivation of a previously described glucose transporter had no apparent impact. These data demonstrate that S. solfataricus employs a redundant mechanism for soluble cellodextrin catabolism having both substrate uptake and extracytoplasmic hydrolytic components.

Growth phase-dependent gene regulation in vivo in Sulfolobus solfataricus.

Ribosomal genes are strongly regulated dependent on growth phase in all organisms, but this regulation is poorly understood in Archaea. Moreover, very little is known about growth phase-dependent gene regulation in Archaea. SSV1-based lacS reporter gene constructs containing the Sulfolobus 16S/23S rRNA gene core promoter, the TF55α core promoter, or the native lacS promoter were tested in Sulfolobus solfataricus cells lacking the lacS gene. The 42-bp 16S/23S rRNA gene and 39-bp TF55α core promoters are sufficient for gene expression in S. solfataricus. However, only gene expression driven by the 16S/23S rRNA gene core promoter is dependent on the culture growth phase. This is the smallest known regulated promoter in Sulfolobus. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show growth phase-dependent rRNA gene regulation in Archaea.

Phenol biodegradation by the thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus 98/2 in a fed-batch bioreactor.

Toxic at low concentrations, phenol is one of the most common organic pollutants in air and water. In this work, phenol biodegradation was studied in extreme conditions (80°C, pH = 3.2) in a 2.7 l bioreactor with the thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus 98/2. The strain was first acclimatized to phenol on a mixture of glucose (2000 mg l(-1)) and phenol (94 mg l(-1)) at a constant dissolved oxygen concentration of 1.5 mg l(-1). After a short lag-phase, only glucose was consumed. Phenol degradation then began while glucose was still present in the reactor. When glucose was exhausted, phenol was used for respiration and then for biomass build-up. After several batch runs (phenol < 365 mg l(-1)), specific growth rate (µ(X)) was 0.034 ± 0.001 h(-1), specific phenol degradation rate (q(P)) was 57.5 ± 2 mg g(-1) h(-1), biomass yield (Y(X/P)) was 52.2 ± 1.1 g mol(-1), and oxygen yield factor (Y(X/O2)) was 9.2 ± 0.2 g mol(-1). A carbon recovery close to 100% suggested that phenol was exclusively transformed into biomass (35%) and CO(2) (65%). Molar phenol oxidation constant (Y(O2/P)) was calculated from stoichiometry of phenol oxidation and introducing experimental biomass and CO(2) conversion yields on phenol, leading to values varying between 4.78 and 5.22 mol mol(-1). Respiratory quotient was about 0.84 mol mol(-1), very close to theoretical value (0.87 mol mol(-1)). Carbon dioxide production, oxygen demand and redox potential, monitored on-line, were good indicators of growth, substrate consumption and exhaustion, and can therefore be usefully employed for industrial phenol bioremediation in extreme environments.

A novel esterase Sso2518 from Sulfolobus solfataricus with a much lower temperature optimum than the growth temperature.

An esterase, Sso2518, from Sulfolobus solfataricus P2 was over-expressed in E. coli. and characterized after purification. The maximum activity was at pH 7.5 and 50 degrees C. The half life of Sso2518 was about 30 min at 85 degrees C and the enzyme was activated by Cu(2+). The catalytic triad of Sso2518 was comprised of residues Ser151, Asp176, and His328. Sso2518 showed the highest activity with p-nitrophenyl caproate (C6) and could also hydrolyze olive oil. Under native conditions, Sso2518 consists of 125 kDa homotrimers.

Characterization of a functional DnaG-type primase in archaea: implications for a dual-primase system.

We have biochemically characterized the bacterial-like DnaG primase contained within the hyperthermophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus (Sso) and compared in vitro priming kinetics with those of the eukaryotic-type primase (PriSL) also found in Sso. SsoDnaG exhibited metal- and temperature-dependent profiles consistent with priming at high temperatures. The distribution of primer products was discrete but highly similar to the distribution of primer products produced by the homologous Escherichia coli DnaG. The predominate primer length was 13 bases, although less abundant products are present. SsoDnaG was found to bind DNA cooperatively as a dimer with a moderate dissociation constant. Mutation of the conserved glutamate in the active site severely inhibited priming activity, suggesting a functional homology with E. coli DnaG. SsoDnaG was also found to have a greater than fourfold faster rate of DNA priming over that of SsoPriSL under optimal in vitro conditions. The presence of both enzymatically functional primase families in archaea suggests that the DNA priming role may be shared on leading or lagging strands during DNA replication.

Effect of O2 concentrations on Sulfolobus solfataricus P2.

Sulfolobus solfataricus P2 was grown aerobically at various O(2) concentrations. Based on growth parameters in microcosms, four types of behavior could be distinguished. At 35% O(2) (v/v; gas phase), the cultures did not grow, indicating a lethal dose of oxygen. For 26-32% O(2), the growth was significantly affected compared with the reference (21%), suggesting a moderate toxicity by O(2). For 16-24% O(2), standard growth was observed. For 1.5-15% O(2), growth was comparable with the reference, but the yield on O(2) indicated a more efficient use of oxygen. These results indicate that S. solfataricus P2 grows optimally in the range of 1.5-24% O(2), most likely by adjusting its energy-transducing machinery. To gain some insight into control of the respiratory system, transcriptomes of the strain cultivated at different O(2) concentrations, corresponding to each behavior (1.5%, 21% and 26%), were compared using a DNA microarray approach. It showed differential expression of several genes encoding terminal oxidases, indicating an adaptation of the strain's respiratory system in response to fluctuating oxygen concentrations.

Conditions for gene disruption by homologous recombination of exogenous DNA into the Sulfolobus solfataricus genome.

The construction of directed gene deletion mutants is an essential tool in molecular biology that allows functional studies on the role of genes in their natural environment. For hyperthermophilic archaea, it has been difficult to obtain a reliable system to construct such mutants. However, during the past years, systems have been developed for Thermococcus kodakarensis and two Sulfolobus species, S. acidocaldarius and derivatives of S. solfataricus 98/2. Here we describe an optimization of the method for integration of exogenous DNA into S. solfataricus PBL 2025, an S. solfataricus 98/2 derivative, based on lactose auxotrophy that now allows for routine gene inactivation.