Analysis of Lsm Protein-Mediated Regulation in the Haloarchaeon Haloferax mediterranei.

The Sm protein superfamily includes Sm, like-Sm (Lsm), and Hfq found in the Eukarya, Archaea, and Bacteria domains. Archaeal Lsm proteins have been shown to bind sRNAs and are probably involved in various cellular processes, suggesting a similar function in regulating sRNAs by Hfq in bacteria. Moreover, archaeal Lsm proteins probably represent the ancestral Lsm domain from which eukaryotic Sm proteins have evolved. In this work, Haloferax mediterranei was used as a model organism because it has been widely used to investigate the nitrogen cycle and its regulation in Haloarchaea. Predicting this protein's secondary and tertiary structures has resulted in a three-dimensional model like the solved Lsm protein structure of Archaeoglobus fulgidus. To obtain information on the oligomerization state of the protein, homologous overexpression and purification by means of molecular exclusion chromatography have been performed. The results show that this protein can form hexameric complexes, which can aggregate into 6 or 12 hexameric rings depending on the NaCl concentration and without RNA. In addition, the study of transcriptional expression via microarrays has allowed us to obtain the target genes regulated by the Lsm protein under nutritional stress conditions: nitrogen or carbon starvation. Microarray analysis has shown the first universal stress proteins (USP) in this microorganism that mediate survival in situations of nitrogen deficiency.

New proposal of nitrogen metabolism regulation by small RNAs in the extreme halophilic archaeon Haloferax mediterranei.

The regulatory networks involved in the uptake and metabolism of different nitrogen sources in response to their availability are crucial in all organisms. Nitrogen metabolism pathways have been studied in detail in archaea such as the extreme halophilic archaeon Haloferax mediterranei. However, knowledge about nitrogen metabolism regulation in haloarchaea is very scarce, and no transcriptional regulators involved in nitrogen metabolism have been identified to date. Advances in the molecular biology field have revealed that many small RNAs (sRNAs) are involved in the regulation of a diverse metabolic pathways. Surprisingly, no studies on regulation mediated by sRNAs have focused on the response to environmental fluctuations in nitrogen in haloarchaea. To identify sRNAs involved in the transcriptional regulation of nitrogen assimilation genes in Haloferax mediterranei and, thus, propose a novel regulatory mechanism, RNA-Seq was performed using cells grown in the presence of two different nitrogen sources. The differential transcriptional expression analysis of the RNA-Seq data revealed differences in the transcription patterns of 102 sRNAs according to the nitrogen source, and the molecular functions, cellular locations and biological processes with which the target genes were associated were predicted. These results enabled the identification of four sRNAs that could be directly related to the regulation of genes involved in nitrogen metabolism. This work provides the first proposed regulatory mechanism of nitrogen assimilation-related gene expression by sRNAs in haloarchaea as an alternative to transcriptional regulation mediated by proteins.

Lrp as a potential transcriptional regulator involved in stress response in Haloferax mediterranei.

The Archaea domain consists of a heterogeneous group of microorganisms with unique physiological properties that occupy a wide variety of niches in nature. Haloferax mediterranei is an extremely halophilic archaeon classified in the Phylum Euryarchaeota, which requires a high concentration of inorganic salts for optimal growth. In haloarchaea, transcription factors play a fundamental role in an adequate adaptation to environmental and nutritional changes, preserving the survival and integrity of the organism. To deepen knowledge of the Lrp/AsnC transcriptional regulator family, a lrp gene (HFX_RS01210) from this family has been studied. Site-directed mutagenesis has allowed us to identify the TATA-box and two potential sites of the transcriptional factor (TF) to its own promoter and autoregulate itself. Several approaches were carried out to elucidate whether this transcriptional regulator is involved in stresses due to heavy metals and limited nitrogen conditions. Characterization of the lrp deletion mutant and the Lrp overexpressed strain, suggests that the level of lrp expression depends on the nitrogen source and the presence of cobalt. The most striking results were obtained in the presence of nitrate as a nitrogen source due to the inability of the deletion mutant to grow. All these results confirm that Lrp is a powerful candidate for a regulatory role in the stress response, particularly under N-limiting conditions and the presence of cobalt.

Archaea: current and potential biotechnological applications.

Archaea are microorganisms with great ability to colonize some of the most inhospitable environments in nature, managing to survive in places with extreme characteristics for most microorganisms. Its proteins and enzymes are stable and can act under extreme conditions in which other proteins and enzymes would degrade. These attributes make them ideal candidates for use in a wide range of biotechnological applications. This review describes the most important applications, both current and potential, that archaea present in Biotechnology, classifying them according to the sector to which the application is directed. It also analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of its use.

Comprehensive Bioinformatics Analysis of the Biodiversity of Lsm Proteins in the Archaea Domain.

The Sm protein superfamily includes Sm, like-Sm (Lsm), and Hfq proteins. Sm and Lsm proteins are found in the Eukarya and Archaea domains, respectively, while Hfq proteins exist in the Bacteria domain. Even though Sm and Hfq proteins have been extensively studied, archaeal Lsm proteins still require further exploration. In this work, different bioinformatics tools are used to understand the diversity and distribution of 168 Lsm proteins in 109 archaeal species to increase the global understanding of these proteins. All 109 archaeal species analyzed encode one to three Lsm proteins in their genome. Lsm proteins can be classified into two groups based on molecular weight. Regarding the gene environment of lsm genes, many of these genes are located adjacent to transcriptional regulators of the Lrp/AsnC and MarR families, RNA-binding proteins, and ribosomal protein L37e. Notably, only proteins from species of the class Halobacteria conserved the internal and external residues of the RNA-binding site identified in Pyrococcus abyssi, despite belonging to different taxonomic orders. In most species, the Lsm genes show associations with 11 genes: rpl7ae, rpl37e, fusA, flpA, purF, rrp4, rrp41, hel308, rpoD, rpoH, and rpoN. We propose that most archaeal Lsm proteins are related to the RNA metabolism, and the larger Lsm proteins could perform different functions and/or act through other mechanisms of action.

Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase: a key enzyme in the assimilation of starch by the halophilic archaeon Haloferax mediterranei.

A cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase, EC 2.4.1.19) was successfully isolated and characterized from the halophilic archaeon Haloferax mediterranei. The enzyme is a monomer with a molecular mass of 77 kDa and optimum activity at 55°C, pH 7.5 and 1.5 M NaCl. The enzyme displayed many activities related to the degradation and transformation of starch. Cyclization was found to be the predominant activity, yielding a mixture of cyclodextrins, mainly α-CD, followed by hydrolysis and to a lesser extent coupling and disproportionation activities. Gene encoding H. mediterranei CGTase was cloned and heterologously overexpressed. Sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame of 2142 bp that encodes a protein of 713 amino acids. The amino acid sequence displayed high homology with those belonging to the α-amylase family. The CGTase is secreted to the extracellular medium by the Tat pathway. Upstream of the CGTase gene, four maltose ABC transporter genes have been sequenced (malE, malF, malG, malK). The expression of the CGTase gene yielded a fully active CGTase with similar kinetic behavior to the wild-type enzyme. The H. mediterranei CGTase is the first halophilic archaeal CGTase characterized, sequenced and expressed.

Functional analysis of Lsm protein under multiple stress conditions in the extreme haloarchaeon Haloferax mediterranei.

The Sm, like-Sm, and Hfq proteins belonging to the Sm superfamily of proteins are represented in all domains of life. These proteins are involved in several RNA metabolism pathways. The functions of bacterial Hfq and eukaryotic Sm proteins have been described, but knowledge about the in vivo functions of archaeal Sm proteins remains limited. This study aims to improve the understanding of Lsm proteins and their role using the haloarchaeon Haloferax mediterranei as a model microorganism. The Haloferax mediterranei genome contains one lsm gene that overlaps with the rpl37e gene. To determine the expression of lsm and rpl37e genes and the co-transcription of both, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses were performed under different standard and stress conditions. The results suggest that the expression of lsm and rpl37e is constitutive. Co-transcription occurs at sub-optimal salt concentrations and temperatures, depending on the growth phase. The halophilic Lsm protein contains two Sm motifs, Sm1 and Sm2, and the sequence encoding the Sm2 motif also constitutes the promoter of the rpl37e gene. To investigate their biological functions, the lsm deletion mutant and the Sm1 motif deletion mutant, where the Sm2 motif remained intact, were generated and characterised. Comparison of the lsm deletion mutant, Sm1 deletion mutant, and the parental strain HM26 under standard and stress growth conditions revealed growth differences. Finally, swarming assays in complex and defined media showed greater swarming capacity in the deletion mutants.

Towards the Elucidation of Assimilative nasABC Operon Transcriptional Regulation in Haloferax mediterranei.

The assimilatory pathway of the nitrogen cycle in the haloarchaeon Haloferax mediterranei has been well described and characterized in previous studies. However, the regulatory mechanisms involved in the gene expression of this pathway remain unknown in haloarchaea. This work focuses on elucidating the regulation at the transcriptional level of the assimilative nasABC operon (HFX_2002 to HFX_2004) through different approaches. Characterization of its promoter region using ß-galactosidase as a reporter gene and site-directed mutagenesis has allowed us to identify possible candidate binding regions for a transcriptional factor. The identification of a potential transcriptional regulator related to nitrogen metabolism has become a real challenge due to the lack of information on haloarchaea. The investigation of protein-DNA binding by streptavidin bead pull-down analysis combined with mass spectrometry resulted in the in vitro identification of a transcriptional regulator belonging to the Lrp/AsnC family, which binds to the nasABC operon promoter (p.nasABC). To our knowledge, this study is the first report to suggest the AsnC transcriptional regulator as a powerful candidate to play a regulatory role in nasABC gene expression in Hfx. mediterranei and, in general, in the assimilatory nitrogen pathway.

Novel Glutamate-Putrescine Ligase Activity in Haloferax mediterranei: A New Function for glnA-2 Gene.

The genome of the halophilic archaea Haloferax mediterranei contains three ORFs that show homology with glutamine synthetase (GS) (glnA-1, glnA-2, and glnA-3). Previous studies have focused on the role of GlnA-1, suggesting that proteins GlnA-2 and GlnA-3 could play a different role to that of GS. Glutamine synthetase (EC 6.3.1.2) belongs to the class of ligases, including 20 subclasses of other different enzymes, such as aspartate-ammonia ligase (EC 6.3.1.1), glutamate-ethylamine ligase (EC 6.3.1.6), and glutamate-putrescine ligase (EC 6.3.1.11). The reaction catalyzed by glutamate-putrescine ligase is comparable to the reaction catalyzed by glutamine synthetase (GS). Both enzymes can bind a glutamate molecule to an amino group: ammonium (GS) or putrescine (glutamate-putrescine ligase). In addition, they present the characteristic catalytic domain of GS, showing significant similarities in their structure. Although these proteins are annotated as GS, the bioinformatics and experimental results obtained in this work indicate that the GlnA-2 protein (HFX_1688) is a glutamate-putrescine ligase, involved in polyamine catabolism. The most significant results are those related to glutamate-putrescine ligase's activity and the analysis of the transcriptional and translational expression of the glnA-2 gene in the presence of different nitrogen sources. This work confirms a new metabolic pathway in the Archaea domain which extends the knowledge regarding the utilization of alternative nitrogen sources in this domain.

Small RNAs of Haloferax mediterranei: Identification and Potential Involvement in Nitrogen Metabolism.

Small RNAs have been studied in detail in domains Bacteria and Eukarya but, in the case of the domain Archaea, the knowledge is scarce and the physiological function of these small RNAs (sRNAs) is still uncertain. To extend the knowledge of sRNAs in the domain Archaea and their possible role in the regulation of the nitrogen assimilation metabolism in haloarchaea, Haloferax mediterranei has been used as a model microorganism. The bioinformatic approach has allowed for the prediction of 295 putative sRNAs genes in the genome of H. mediterranei, 88 of which have been verified by means of RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq). The secondary structure of these sRNAs and their possible targets have been identified. Curiously, some of them present as possible target genes relating to nitrogen assimilation, such as glutamate dehydrogenase and the nitrogen regulatory PII protein. Analysis of RNA-Seq data has also revealed differences in the expression pattern of 16 sRNAs according to the nitrogen source. Consequently, RNomic and bioinformatic approaches used in this work have allowed for the identification of new sRNAs in H. mediterranei, some of which show different expression patterns depending on the nitrogen source. This suggests that these sRNAs could be involved in the regulation of nitrogen assimilation and can constitute an important gene regulatory network.

Analysis of multiple haloarchaeal genomes suggests that the quinone-dependent respiratory nitric oxide reductase is an important source of nitrous oxide in hypersaline environments.

Microorganisms, including Bacteria and Archaea, play a key role in denitrification, which is the major mechanism by which fixed nitrogen returns to the atmosphere from soil and water. While the enzymology of denitrification is well understood in Bacteria, the details of the last two reactions in this pathway, which catalyse the reduction of nitric oxide (NO) via nitrous oxide (N2 O) to nitrogen (N2 ), are little studied in Archaea, and hardly at all in haloarchaea. This work describes an extensive interspecies analysis of both complete and draft haloarchaeal genomes aimed at identifying the genes that encode respiratory nitric oxide reductases (Nors). The study revealed that the only nor gene found in haloarchaea is one that encodes a single subunit quinone dependent Nor homologous to the qNor found in bacteria. This surprising discovery is considered in terms of our emerging understanding of haloarchaeal bioenergetics and NO management.

An octameric prokaryotic glutamine synthetase from the haloarchaeon Haloferax mediterranei.

The glutamine synthetase (EC 6.3.1.2) from the haloarchaeon Haloferax mediterranei has been purified and characterized in order to understand the ammonium assimilation in haloarchaea. Based on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel-filtration chromatography, the enzyme consists of eight subunits of 51.7 kDa, suggesting that this enzyme belongs to the glutamine synthetase type II. The purified enzyme has been characterized with respect to its optimum temperature (45 degrees C) and pH value (8.0). The optimal NaCl or KCl concentrations for the reaction were 0.5 and 0.25 M, respectively. The effect of l-methionine-d, l-sulphoximine and different divalent metal ions has also been tested. The glutamine synthetase presented here is unusual; it shows the typical characteristic of eukaryotic and soil bacteria glutamine synthetases.

Effects of nitrogen sources on the nitrate assimilation in Haloferax mediterranei: growth kinetics and transcriptomic analysis.

The haloarchaeon Haloferax mediterranei is able to grow in a defined culture media not only in the presence of inorganic nitrogen salt but also with amino acid as the sole nitrogen source. Assimilatory nitrate and nitrite reductases, respectively, catalyze the first and second reactions. The genes involved in this process are nasA, which encodes nitrate reductase and is found within the operon nasABC, and nasD, which encodes nitrite reductase. These genes are subjected to transcriptional regulation, being repressed in the presence of ammonium and induced with either nitrate or nitrite. This type of regulation has also been described when the amino acids are used as nitrogen source in the minimal media. Furthermore, it has been observed that the microorganism growth depends on nitrogen source, obtaining the lowest growth rate in the presence of nitrate and aspartate. In this paper, we present the results of a comparative study of microorganism growth and transcriptomic analysis of the operon nasABC and gene nasD in different nitrogen sources. The results are the first ever produced in relation to amino acids as nitrogen sources within the Halobacteriaceae family.