Substrate recognition mechanism of tRNA-targeting ribonuclease, colicin D, and an insight into tRNA cleavage-mediated translation impairment.

Colicin D is a plasmid-encoded bacteriocin that specifically cleaves tRNAArg of sensitive Escherichia coli cells. E. coli has four isoaccepting tRNAArgs; the cleavage occurs at the 3' end of anticodon-loop, leading to translation impairment in the sensitive cells. tRNAs form a common L-shaped structure and have many conserved nucleotides that limit tRNA identity elements. How colicin D selects tRNAArgs from the tRNA pool of sensitive E. coli cells is therefore intriguing. Here, we reveal the recognition mechanism of colicin D via biochemical analyses as well as structural modelling. Colicin D recognizes tRNAArgICG, the most abundant species of E. coli tRNAArgs, at its anticodon-loop and D-arm, and selects it as the most preferred substrate by distinguishing its anticodon-loop sequence from that of others. It has been assumed that translation impairment is caused by a decrease in intact tRNA molecules due to cleavage. However, we found that intracellular levels of intact tRNAArgICG do not determine the viability of sensitive cells after such cleavage; rather, an accumulation of cleaved ones does. Cleaved tRNAArgICG dominant-negatively impairs translation in vitro. Moreover, we revealed that EF-Tu, which is required for the delivery of tRNAs, does not compete with colicin D for binding tRNAArgICG, which is consistent with our structural model. Finally, elevation of cleaved tRNAArgICG level decreases the viability of sensitive cells. These results suggest that cleaved tRNAArgICG transiently occupies ribosomal A-site in an EF-Tu-dependent manner, leading to translation impairment. The strategy should also be applicable to other tRNA-targeting RNases, as they, too, recognize anticodon-loops.Abbreviations: mnm5U: 5-methylaminomethyluridine; mcm5s2U: 5-methoxycarbonylmethyl-2-thiouridine.

Crystal structure of the central and the C-terminal RNase domains of colicin D implicated its translocation pathway through inner membrane of target cell.

Colicins are protein toxins produced by and toxic to Escherichia coli strains. Colicin D consists of an N-terminal domain (NTD), central domain (CD) and C-terminal RNase domain (CRD). The cognate immunity protein, ImmD, is co-synthesized in producer cells to block the toxic tRNase activity of the CRD. Previous studies have reported the crystal structure of CRD/ImmD complex. Colicin D hijacks the surface receptor FepA and the energy transducer TonB system using the NTD for translocation across the outer membrane of the target cells. The CD is required for endoproteolytic processing and the translocation of CRD across the inner membrane, and the membrane-associated protease FtsH and the signal peptidase LepB are exploited in this process. Although several regions of the CD have been identified in interactions with the hijacked inner membrane system or immunity protein, the structural basis of the CD is unknown. In this study, we determined the crystal structure of colicin D, containing both the CD and CRD. The full-length colicin D/ImmD heterodimer structure was built by superimposing the CD-CRD structure with the previously determined partial structures. The overall translocation process of colicin D, including the interaction between CD and LepB, is discussed.

Isolation of colonization-defective Escherichia coli mutants reveals critical requirement for fatty acids in bacterial colony formation.

Most bacterial cells in nature exhibit extremely low colony-forming activity, despite showing various signs of viability, impeding the isolation and utilization of many bacterial resources. However, the general causes responsible for this state of low colony formation are largely unknown. Because liquid cultivation typically yields more bacterial cell cultures than traditional solid cultivation, we hypothesized that colony formation requires one or more specific gene functions that are dispensable or less important for growth in liquid media. To verify our hypothesis and reveal the genetic background limiting colony formation among bacteria in nature, we isolated Escherichia coli mutants that had decreased frequencies of colony formation but could grow in liquid medium from a temperature-sensitive mutant collection. Mutations were identified in fabB, which is essential for the synthesis of long unsaturated fatty acids. We then constructed a fabB deletion mutant in a wild-type background. Detailed behavioural analysis of the mutant revealed that under fatty acid-limited conditions, colony formation on solid media was more sensitively and seriously impaired than growth in liquid media. Furthermore, growth under partial inhibition of fatty acid synthesis with cerulenin or triclosan brought about similar phenotypes, not only in E. coli but also in Bacillus subtilis and Corynebacterium glutamicum. These results indicate that fatty acids have a critical importance in colony formation and that depletion of fatty acids in the environment partly accounts for the low frequency of bacterial colony formation.

Linear Regression Links Transcriptomic Data and Cellular Raman Spectra.

Raman microscopy is an imaging technique that has been applied to assess molecular compositions of living cells to characterize cell types and states. However, owing to the diverse molecular species in cells and challenges of assigning peaks to specific molecules, it has not been clear how to interpret cellular Raman spectra. Here, we provide firm evidence that cellular Raman spectra and transcriptomic profiles of Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Escherichia coli can be computationally connected and thus interpreted. We find that the dimensions of high-dimensional Raman spectra and transcriptomes measured by RNA sequencing can be reduced and connected linearly through a shared low-dimensional subspace. Accordingly, we were able to predict global gene expression profiles by applying the calculated transformation matrix to Raman spectra, and vice versa. Highly expressed non-coding RNAs contributed to the Raman-transcriptome linear correspondence more significantly than mRNAs in S. pombe. This demonstration of correspondence between cellular Raman spectra and transcriptomes is a promising step toward establishing spectroscopic live-cell omics studies.

cAMP-CRP acts as a key regulator for the viable but non-culturable state in Escherichia coli.

A variety of bacteria, including Escherichia coli, are known to enter the viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state under various stress conditions. During this state, cells lose colony-forming activities on conventional agar plates while retaining signs of viability. Diverse environmental stresses including starvation induce the VBNC state. However, little is known about the genetic mechanism inducing this state. Here, we aimed to reveal the genetic determinants of the VBNC state of E. coli. We hypothesized that the VBNC state is a process wherein specific gene products important for colony formation are depleted during the extended period of stress conditions. If so, higher expression of these genes would maintain colony-forming activities, thereby restraining cells from entering the VBNC state. From an E. coli plasmid-encoded ORF library, we identified genes that were responsible for maintaining high colony-forming activities after exposure to starvation condition. Among these, cpdA encoding cAMP phosphodiesterase exhibited higher performance in the maintenance of colony-forming activities. As cpdA overexpression decreases intracellular cAMP, cAMP or its complex with cAMP-receptor protein (CRP) may negatively regulate colony-forming activities under stress conditions. We confirmed this using deletion mutants lacking adenylate cyclase or CRP. These mutants fully maintained colony-forming activities even after a long period of starvation, while wild-type cells lost most of this activity. Thus, we concluded that the lack of cAMP-CRP effectively retains high colony-forming activities, indicating that cAMP-CRP acts as a positive regulator necessary for the induction of the VBNC state in E. coli.

Detection of diastereomer peptides as the intermediates generating D-amino acids during acid hydrolysis of peptides.

In this study, we investigated whether the amino acid residues within peptides were isomerized (and the peptides converted to diastereomers) during the early stages of acid hydrolysis. We demonstrate that the model dipeptides L-Ala-L-Phe and L-Phe-L-Ala are epimerized to produce the corresponding diastereomers at a very early stage, prior to their acid hydrolytic cleavage to amino acids. Furthermore, the sequence-inverted dipeptides were generated via formation of a diketopiperazine during hydrolytic incubation, and these dipeptides were also epimerized. The proportion of diastereomers increased rapidly during incubation for 0.5-2 h. During acid hydrolysis, C-terminal residues of the model dipeptides were isomerized faster than N-terminal residues, consistent with the observation that the D-amino acid values of the C-terminal residues determined by the 0 h-extrapolating method were larger than those of the N-terminal residues. Thus, the artificial D-amino acid contents determined by the 0 h-extrapolating method appear to be products of the isomerization of amino acid residues during acid hydrolysis.

Transfer-messenger RNA and SmpB mediate bacteriostasis in Escherichia coli cells against tRNA cleavage.

RNAs, such as mRNA, rRNA and tRNA, are essential macromolecules for cell survival and maintenance. Any perturbation of these molecules, such as by degradation or mutation, can be toxic to cells and may occasionally induce cell death. Therefore, cells have mechanisms known as quality control systems to eliminate abnormal RNAs. Although tRNA is a stable molecule, the anticodon loop is quite susceptible to tRNA-targeting RNases such as colicin E5 and colicin D. However, the mechanism underlying cellular reaction to tRNA cleavage remains unclear. It had long been believed that tRNA cleavage by colicins E5 and D promptly induces cell death because colony formation of the sensitive cells is severely reduced; this indicates that cells do not resist the tRNA cleavage. Here, we show that Escherichia coli cells enter a bacteriostatic state against the tRNA cleavage of colicins D and E5. The bacteriostasis requires small protein B (SmpB) and transfer-messenger RNA (tmRNA), which are known to mediate trans-translation. Furthermore, another type of colicin, colicin E3 cleaving rRNA, immediately reduces the viability of sensitive cells. Moreover, nascent peptide degradation has an additive effect on bacteriostasis. Considering the recent observation that tRNA cleavage may be used as a means of cell-to-cell communication, tRNA cleavage could be used by bacteria not only to dominate other bacteria living in the same niche, but also to regulate growth of their own or other cells.

Origin of D-amino acids detected in the acid hydrolysates of purified Escherichia coli ß-galactosidase.

In previous report, we detected D-amino acids in the acid hydrolysates of purified recombinant ß-galactosidase. Here, we employed a deuterium-hydrogen exchange method to discriminate innate D-amino acids from those generated during hydrolytic incubation. After hydrolysis of ß-galactosidase in DCl/D2O, amino acids were derivatized with NBD-F and separated on a reverse-phase column, followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry equipped with a chiral column. Our results show an absence of innate D-amino acid residues in the protein and suggest that the protein undergoes isomerization during a very early stage of hydrolytic incubation.

Transition of serine residues to the D-form during the conversion of ovalbumin into heat stable S-ovalbumin.

Ovalbumin, a major protein in chicken egg white, is converted into a more thermostable molecular form, known as S-ovalbumin, during the storage of shell eggs. Our previous X-ray crystallographic study indicated that S-ovalbumin contains three D-Ser residues (S164, S236, and S320), which may account for its thermostability. Here, we confirmed the presence of these D-Ser residues in ovalbumin using a technique combining deuterium labeling of α-protons of amino acids and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Ovalbumin from chicken egg white and recombinant ovalbumin were incubated for approximately 12 days at pH 9.5 and 37°C. They were then hydrolyzed in DCl/D2O vapor, derivatized with 4-fluoro-7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD-F), and analyzed by LC-MS/MS. A time-dependent increase in the D-Ser contents in native ovalbumin was observed over a period of 7 days, reaching approximately 8%. This corresponds to a value of three serine residues per molecule, and is consistent with the prediction based on our previous crystallographic analysis. Nearly identical results were obtained with recombinant ovalbumin. We then used this technique to investigate whether D-amino acid residues could arise within other proteins under mild alkaline conditions and detected small but significant amounts of D-Ala and/or D-Ser residues that increased in a time-dependent manner in some proteins.

Mitochondrial tRNA cleavage by tRNA-targeting ribonuclease causes mitochondrial dysfunction observed in mitochondrial disease.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a genome possessed by mitochondria. Since reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated during aerobic respiration in mitochondria, mtDNA is commonly exposed to the risk of DNA damage. Mitochondrial disease is caused by mitochondrial dysfunction, and mutations or deletions on mitochondrial tRNA (mt tRNA) genes are often observed in mtDNA of patients with the disease. Hence, the correlation between mt tRNA activity and mitochondrial dysfunction has been assessed. Then, cybrid cells, which are constructed by the fusion of an enucleated cell harboring altered mtDNA with a ρ(0) cell, have long been used for the analysis due to difficulty in mtDNA manipulation. Here, we propose a new method that involves mt tRNA cleavage by a bacterial tRNA-specific ribonuclease. The ribonuclease tagged with a mitochondrial-targeting sequence (MTS) was successfully translocated to the mitochondrial matrix. Additionally, mt tRNA cleavage, which resulted in the decrease of cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity, was observed.

Evidence for DNA cleavage caused directly by a transfer RNA-targeting toxin.

The killer yeast species Pichiaacaciae produces a heteromeric killer protein, PaT, that causes DNA damage and arrests the cell cycle of sensitive Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the S phase. However, the mechanism by which DNA damage occurs remains elusive. A previous study has indicated that Orf2p, a subunit of PaT, specifically cleaves an anticodon loop of an S. cerevisiae transfer RNA (tRNA(Gln)mcm5s2UUG). This finding raised a question about whether the DNA damage is a result of the tRNA cleavage or whether Orf2p directly associates with and cleaves the genomic DNA of sensitive yeast cells. We showed that Orf2p cleaves genomic DNA in addition to cleaving tRNA in vitro. This DNA cleavage requires the same Orf2p residue as that needed for tRNA cleavage, His299. The expression of Orf2p, in which His299 was substituted to alanine, abolished the cell cycle arrest of the host cell. Moreover, the translation impairment induced by tRNA cleavage enabled Orf2p to enter the nucleus, thereby inducing histone phosphorylation.

Identification of the catalytic residues of sequence-specific and histidine-free ribonuclease colicin E5.

Colicin E5 cleaves tRNAs for Tyr, His, Asn and Asp in their anticodons to abolish protein synthesis in Escherichia coli. We previously showed how its C-terminal RNase domain, E5-CRD, recognizes the anticodon bases but the catalytic mechanism remained to be elucidated. Although the reaction products with 5'-OH and 2',3'-cyclic phosphate ends suggested a similar mechanism to those of RNases A and T1, E5-CRD does not have the His residues necessary as a catalyst in usual RNases. To identify residues important for the catalytic reaction, mutants as to all residues within 5 Å from the central phosphorus of the scissile phosphodiester bond were prepared. Evaluation of the killing activities of the mutant colicins and the RNase activities of the mutant E5-CRDs suggested direct involvement of Arg33, Lys25, Gln29 and Lys60 in the reaction. Particularly, Arg33 plays a critical role and Ile94 provides a structural support of Arg33. Crystal structure of the complex of E5-CRD(R33Q)/dGpdUp showed structural and binding functional integrity of this mutant protein, suggesting involvement of Arg33 in the catalytic reaction. The structure of the free E5-CRD, we also determined, showed great flexibility of a flap region, which facilitates the access of Lys60 to the substrate in an induced-fit manner.

Specific phase arrest of cell cycle restores cell viability against tRNA cleavage by killer toxin.

Zymocin and PaT are killer toxins that induce cell cycle arrest of sensitive yeast cells in G1 and S phase, respectively. Recent studies have revealed that these two toxins cleave specific tRNAs, indicating that the cell growth impairment is due to the tRNA cleavage. Additionally, we have previously shown that the active domain of colicin D (D-CRD), which also cleaves specific Escherichia coli tRNAs, statically impairs growth when expressed in yeast cells. To verify that phase-specific cell cycle arrest is also induced by the expression of D-CRD, D-CRD and the subunits of zymocin and PaT that have tRNA cleaving activity were expressed in yeast cells and cell cycle status was analyzed. Our results indicate that phase-specific arrest does not commonly occur by tRNA cleavage, and it saves the cell viability. Furthermore, the extent of protein synthesis impairment may determine the phase specificity of cell cycle arrest.

Over-expression of Tfam improves the mitochondrial disease phenotypes in a mouse model system.

The phenotypes of mitochondrial diseases caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been proposed to be strictly regulated by the proportion of wild-type and pathogenically mutated mtDNAs. More specifically, it is thought that the onset of the disease phenotype occurs when cells cannot maintain the proper mitochondrial function because of an over-abundance of pathological mtDNA. Therapies that cause a decrease in the pathogenic mtDNA population have been proposed as a treatment for mitochondrial diseases, but these therapies are difficult to apply in practice. In this report, we present a novel concept: to improve mitochondrial disease phenotypes via an increase in the absolute copy number of the wild-type mtDNA population in pathogenic cells even when the relative proportion of mtDNA genotypes remains unchanged. We have succeeded in ameliorating the typical symptoms of mitochondrial disease in a model mouse line by the over-expression of the mitochondrial transcription factor A (Tfam) followed by an increase of the mtDNA copy number. This new concept should lead to the development of a novel therapeutic treatment for mitochondrial diseases.

Generation of enantiomeric amino acids during acid hydrolysis of peptides detected by the liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectroscopy.

The number of reports indicating the occurrence of D-amino acids in various proteins and natural peptides is increasing. For a usual detection of peptidyl D-amino acids, proteins or peptides are subjected to acid hydrolysis, and the products obtained are analyzed after cancellation of the effect of amino acid racemization during the hydrolysis. However, this method does not seem reliable enough to determine the absence or presence of a small amount of innate D-amino acids. We introduce a modification of an alternative way to distinguish true innate D-amino acids from those artificially generated during hydrolysis incubation. When model peptides (L-Ala)(3), D-Ala-(L-Ala)(2) are hydrolyzed in deuterated hydrochloric acid (DCl), only newly generated D-amino acids are deuterated at the alpha-H-atom. Both innate D-amino acids and artificially generated ones are identified by the combination of high-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry equipped with a chiral column. When a peptide containing D-Phe residues was analyzed by this method, the hydrolysis-induced conversion to L-Phe was similarly identified.

Detection of D-amino acids in purified proteins synthesized in Escherichia coli.

It has long been believed that amino acids comprising proteins of all living organisms are only of the L-configuration, except for Gly. However, peptidyl D-amino acids were observed in hydrolysates of soluble high molecular weight fractions extracted from cells or tissues of various organisms. This strongly suggests that significant amounts of D-amino acids are naturally present in usual proteins. Thus we analyzed the D-amino acid contents of His-tag-purified beta-galactosidase and human urocortin, which were synthesized by Escherichia coli grown in controlled synthetic media. After acidic hydrolysis for various times at 110 degrees C, samples were derivatized with 4-fluoro-7-nitro-2, 1, 3-benzoxadiazole (NBD-F) and separated on a reverse-phase column followed by a chiral column into D- and L-enantiomers. The contents of D-enantiomers of Ala, Leu, Phe, Val, Asp, and Glu were determined by plotting index D/(D + L) against the incubation time for hydrolysis and extrapolating the linear regression line to 0 h to eliminate the effect of racemization of amino acids during the incubation. Significant contents of D-amino acids were reproducibly detected, the D-amino acid profile being specific to an individual protein. This finding indicated the likelihood that D-amino acids are in fact present in the purified proteins. On the other hand, the D-amino acid contents of proteins were hardly influenced by the addition of D- or L-amino acids to the cultivation medium, whereas intracellular free D-amino acids sensitively varied according to the extracellular conditions. The origin of these D-amino acids detected in proteins was discussed.

Cellular and transcriptional responses of yeast to the cleavage of cytosolic tRNAs induced by colicin D.

Colicin D is a plasmid-encoded antibacterial protein that specifically cleaves the anticodon loops of four Escherichia coli tRNA(Arg) species. Here, we report that the catalytic domain of colicin D, which is expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, impairs cell growth by cleaving specific tRNAs. DNA microarray analysis revealed that mating-related genes were upregulated, while genes involved in a range of metabolic processes were downregulated, thereby impairing cell growth. The pheromone-signalling pathway was activated only in alpha cells by tRNA cleavage, which was not observed in 'a' cells or diploid cells. On the basis of these results and on the recent identification of two killer toxins that cleave specific tRNAs, the relationship between tRNA depletion and the resultant cellular response is discussed.

A culture-dependent bacterial community structure analysis based on liquid cultivation and its application to a marine environment.

A method for analyzing culture-dependent bacterial community structure by liquid cultivation was established using 96-well microplates. Using 96-well microplates, this method can easily provide accurate enumeration of viable microorganisms and simultaneous separation of bacteria, which allowed us to analyze the bacterial community. Bacteria in diluted surface seawater were separated using 96-well microplates and cultivated with 1/5 ZoBell 2216E liquid medium. The 98 cultures obtained were subsequently applied to phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. The bacterial diversity, evaluated by the Shannon-Weaver index, was relatively small but comparable to previously reported bacterial communities of several environments. The most abundant group was the family Rhodobacteraceae, which has been frequently detected in marine environments. Most bacteria were phylogenetically related to bacteria or uncultured clones detected in marine environments, but distant from published species. The analysis of bacterial community structure by liquid cultivation would be useful as an alternative culture-dependent approach.

Colicin E5 ribonuclease domain cleaves Saccharomyces cerevisiae tRNAs leading to impairment of the cell growth.

Colicin E5 is a ribonuclease that specifically cleaves tRNA(Tyr), tRNA(His), tRNA(Asn) and tRNA(Asp) of sensitive Escherichia coli cells by recognizing their anticodon sequences. Since all organisms possess universal anticodons of these tRNAs, colicin E5 was expected to potentially cleave eukaryotic tRNAs. Here, we expressed the active domain of colicin E5 (E5-CRD) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and investigated its effects on growth. E5-CRD impaired growth of host cells by cleaving tRNA(Tyr), tRNA(His), tRNA(Asn) and tRNA(Asp) in S. cerevisiae, which is the same repertoire as that in E. coli. This activity of E5-CRD was inhibited by the co-expression of its cognate inhibitor (ImmE5). Notably, the growth impairment by E5-CRD was reversible; cells restored the colony-forming activity after suppression of the E5-CRD expression. This seems different from the sharp killing effect of E5-CRD on E. coli. These results may provide insights into the role and behaviour of cytosolic tRNAs on cell growth and proliferation.