Cryo-EM structure of arabinosyltransferase EmbB from Mycobacterium smegmatis.

Arabinosyltransferase B (EmbB) belongs to a family of membrane-bound glycosyltransferases that build the lipidated polysaccharides of the mycobacterial cell envelope, and are targets of anti-tuberculosis drug ethambutol. We present the 3.3 Å resolution single-particle cryo-electron microscopy structure of Mycobacterium smegmatis EmbB, providing insights on substrate binding and reaction mechanism. Mutations that confer ethambutol resistance map mostly around the putative active site, suggesting this to be the location of drug binding.

Cryo-EM snapshots of mycobacterial arabinosyltransferase complex EmbB2-AcpM2.

Inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) cell wall assembly is an established strategy for anti-TB chemotherapy. Arabinosyltransferase EmbB, which catalyzes the transfer of arabinose from the donor decaprenyl-phosphate-arabinose (DPA) to its arabinosyl acceptor is an essential enzyme for Mtb cell wall synthesis. Analysis of drug resistance mutations suggests that EmbB is the main target of the front-line anti-TB drug, ethambutol. Herein, we report the cryo-EM structures of Mycobacterium smegmatis EmbB in its "resting state" and DPA-bound "active state". EmbB is a fifteen-transmembrane-spanning protein, assembled as a dimer. Each protomer has an associated acyl-carrier-protein (AcpM) on their cytoplasmic surface. Conformational changes upon DPA binding indicate an asymmetric movement within the EmbB dimer during catalysis. Functional studies have identified critical residues in substrate recognition and catalysis, and demonstrated that ethambutol inhibits transferase activity of EmbB by competing with DPA. The structures represent the first step directed towards a rational approach for anti-TB drug discovery.

Structure of xyloglucan xylosyltransferase 1 reveals simple steric rules that define biological patterns of xyloglucan polymers.

The plant cell wall is primarily a polysaccharide mesh of the most abundant biopolymers on earth. Although one of the richest sources of biorenewable materials, the biosynthesis of the plant polysaccharides is poorly understood. Structures of many essential plant glycosyltransferases are unknown and suitable substrates are often unavailable for in vitro analysis. The dearth of such information impedes the development of plants better suited for industrial applications. Presented here are structures of Arabidopsis xyloglucan xylosyltransferase 1 (XXT1) without ligands and in complexes with UDP and cellohexaose. XXT1 initiates side-chain extensions from a linear glucan polymer by transferring the xylosyl group from UDP-xylose during xyloglucan biosynthesis. XXT1, a homodimer and member of the GT-A fold family of glycosyltransferases, binds UDP analogously to other GT-A fold enzymes. Structures here and the properties of mutant XXT1s are consistent with a SNi-like catalytic mechanism. Distinct from other systems is the recognition of cellohexaose by way of an extended cleft. The XXT1 dimer alone cannot produce xylosylation patterns observed for native xyloglucans because of steric constraints imposed by the acceptor binding cleft. Homology modeling of XXT2 and XXT5, the other two xylosyltransferases involved in xyloglucan biosynthesis, reveals a structurally altered cleft in XXT5 that could accommodate a partially xylosylated glucan chain produced by XXT1 and/or XXT2. An assembly of the three XXTs can produce the xylosylation patterns of native xyloglucans, suggesting the involvement of an organized multienzyme complex in the xyloglucan biosynthesis.

Structures of aminoarabinose transferase ArnT suggest a molecular basis for lipid A glycosylation.

Polymyxins are antibiotics used in the last line of defense to combat multidrug-resistant infections by Gram-negative bacteria. Polymyxin resistance arises through charge modification of the bacterial outer membrane with the attachment of the cationic sugar 4-amino-4-deoxy-l-arabinose to lipid A, a reaction catalyzed by the integral membrane lipid-to-lipid glycosyltransferase 4-amino-4-deoxy-L-arabinose transferase (ArnT). Here, we report crystal structures of ArnT from Cupriavidus metallidurans, alone and in complex with the lipid carrier undecaprenyl phosphate, at 2.8 and 3.2 angstrom resolution, respectively. The structures show cavities for both lipidic substrates, which converge at the active site. A structural rearrangement occurs on undecaprenyl phosphate binding, which stabilizes the active site and likely allows lipid A binding. Functional mutagenesis experiments based on these structures suggest a mechanistic model for ArnT family enzymes.

The monomeric, tetrameric, and fibrillar organization of Fib: the dynamic building block of the bacterial linear motor of Spiroplasma melliferum BC3.

Spiroplasmas belong to the class Mollicutes, representing the minimal, free-living, and self-replicating forms of life. Spiroplasmas are helical wall-less bacteria and the only ones known to swim by means of a linear motor (rather than the near-universal rotary bacterial motor). The linear motor follows the shortest path along the cell's helical membranal tube. The motor is composed of a flat monolayered ribbon of seven parallel fibrils and is believed to function in controlling cell helicity and motility through dynamic, coordinated, differential length changes in the fibrils. The latter cause local perturbations of helical symmetry, which are essential for net directional displacement in environments with a low Reynolds number. The underlying fibrils' core building block is a circular tetramer of the 59-kDa protein Fib. The fibrils' differential length changes are believed to be driven by molecular switching of Fib, leading consequently to axial ratio and length changes in tetrameric rings. Using cryo electron microscopy, diffractometry, single-particle analysis of isolated ribbons, and sequence analyses of Fib, we determined the overall molecular organization of the Fib monomer, tetramer, fibril, and linear motor of Spiroplasma melliferum BC3 that underlies cell geometry and motility. Fib appears to be a bidomained molecule, of which the N-terminal half is apparently a globular phosphorylase. By a combination of reversible rotation and diagonal shift of Fib monomers, the tetramer adopts either a cross-like nonhanded conformation or a ring-like handed conformation. The sense of Fib rotation may determine the handedness of the linear motor and, eventually, of the cell. A further change in the axial ratio of the ring-like tetramers controls fibril lengths and the consequent helical geometry. Analysis of tetramer quadrants from adjacent fibrils clearly demonstrates local differential fibril lengths.

Crystal structure of tRNA-guanine transglycosylase: RNA modification by base exchange.

tRNA-guanine transglycosylases (TGT) are enzymes involved in the modification of the anticodon of tRNAs specific for Asn, Asp, His and Tyr, leading to the replacement of guanine-34 at the wobble position by the hypermodified base queuine. In prokaryotes TGT catalyzes the exchange of guanine-34 with the queuine (.)precursor 7-aminomethyl-7-deazaguanine (preQ1). The crystal structure of TGT from Zymomonas mobilis was solved by multiple isomorphous replacement and refined to a crystallographic R-factor of 19% at 1.85 angstrom resolution. The structure consists of an irregular (beta/alpha)8-barrel with a tightly attached C-terminal zinc-containing subdomain. The packing of the subdomain against the barrel is mediated by an alpha-helix, located close to the C-terminus, which displaces the eighth helix of the barrel. The structure of TGT in complex with preQ1 suggests a binding mode for tRNA where the phosphate backbone interacts with the zinc subdomain and the U33G34U35 sequence is recognized by the barrel. This model for tRNA binding is consistent with a base exchange mechanism involving a covalent tRNA-enzyme intermediate. This structure is the first example of a (beta/alpha)-barrel protein interacting specifically with a nucleic acid.