Characterization of a novel class of glyoxylate reductase belonging to the ß-hydroxyacid dehydrogenase family in Acetobacter aceti.

Enzymes related to ß-hydroxyacid dehydrogenases/3-hydroxyisobutyrate dehydrogenases are ubiquitous, but most of them have not been characterized. An uncharacterized protein with moderate sequence similarities to Gluconobacter oxydans succinic semialdehyde reductase and plant glyoxylate reductases/succinic semialdehyde reductases was found in the genome of Acetobacter aceti JCM20276. The corresponding gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene product was purified and identified as a glyoxylate reductase that exclusively catalyzed the NAD(P)H-dependent reduction of glyoxylate to glycolate. The strict substrate specificity of this enzyme to glyoxylate, the diverged sequence motifs for its binding sites with cofactors and substrates, and its phylogenetic relationship to homologous enzymes suggested that this enzyme represents a novel class of enzymes in the ß-hydroxyacid dehydrogenase family. This study may provide an important clue to clarify the metabolism of glyoxylate in bacteria. Abbreviations: GR: glyoxylate reductase; GRHPR: glyoxylate reductase/hydroxypyruvate reductase; HIBADH: 3-hydroxyisobutyrate dehydrogenase; SSA: succinic semialdehyde; SSAR: succinic semialdehyde reductase.

Stabilization of Multimeric Enzymes via Immobilization and Further Cross-Linking with Aldehyde-Dextran.

Subunit dissociation of multimeric proteins is one of the most important causes of inactivation of proteins having quaternary structure, making these proteins very unstable under diluted conditions. A sequential two-step protocol for the stabilization of this protein is proposed. A multisubunit covalent immobilization may be achieved by performing very long immobilization processes between multimeric enzymes and porous supports composed of large internal surfaces and covered by a very dense layer of reactive groups. Additional cross-linking with polyfunctional macromolecules promotes the complete cross-linking of the subunits to fully prevent enzyme dissociation. Full stabilization of multimeric structures has been physically shown because no subunits were desorbed from derivatives after boiling them in SDS. As a functional improvement, these immobilized preparations no longer depend on the enzyme.

Investigation of conformational changes of levansucrase isolated from Acetobacter nitrogenifigens strain RG1 by mercuric and cadmium ion.

Levansucrase is a secretary enzyme of Acetobacter nitrogenifigens strain RG1. The enzyme shows enhanced activity in the presence of Hg2+ in spite of being inhibited by other heavy metal ion Cd2+. In this study the structural characterization of levansucrase in native state as well as in the presence of Hg2+ and Cd2+ by CD spectroscopy is done. The secondary structures of the native enzyme and the enzyme treated with Hg2+ and Cd2+ on comparison by their CD spectra revealed that their spectra showed no significant difference indicating that both Hg2+ as well as Cd2+ had no effect on the overall secondary structure of the protein. The respective CD spectra on analysis revealed that they have almost identical percentage of secondary structural elements. The interaction of levansucrase with Hg2+ as well as Cd2+ was studied further by tryptophan fluorescence spectroscopy which on analysis revealed static quenching indicating protein-heavy metal complex formation. A blue shift in the tryptophan fluorescence spectra of Hg2+ treated protein indicated that the tryptophan residues have moved to a more hydrophobic environment in the protein away from aqueous phase. The mechanism of interaction of enzyme with mercury and cadmium was determined from their tryptophan fluorescence spectra.

Role of a membrane-bound aldehyde dehydrogenase complex AldFGH in acetic acid fermentation with Acetobacter pasteurianus SKU1108.

Acetic acid fermentation is widely considered a consequence of ethanol oxidation by two membrane-bound enzymes-alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH)-of acetic acid bacteria. Here, we used a markerless gene disruption method to construct a mutant of the Acetobacter pasteurianus strain SKU1108 with a deletion in the aldH gene, which encodes the large catalytic subunit of a heterotrimeric ALDH complex (AldFGH), to examine the role of AldFGH in acetic acid fermentation. The ΔaldH strain grew less on ethanol-containing medium, i.e., acetic acid fermentation conditions, than the wild-type strain and significantly accumulated acetaldehyde in the culture medium. Unexpectedly, acetaldehyde oxidase activity levels of the intact ΔaldH cells and the ΔaldH cell membranes were similar to those of the wild-type strain, which might be attributed to an additional ALDH isozyme (AldSLC). The apparent KM values of the wild-type and ΔaldH membranes for acetaldehyde were similar to each other, when the cells were cultured in nonfermentation conditions, where ΔaldH cells grow as well as the wild-type cells. However, the membranes of the wild-type cells grown under fermentation conditions showed a 10-fold lower apparent KM value than those of the cells grown under nonfermentation conditions. Under fermentation conditions, transcriptional levels of a gene for AldSLC were 10-fold lower than those under nonfermentation conditions, whereas aldH transcript levels were not dramatically changed under the two conditions. We suggest that A. pasteurianus SKU1108 has two ALDHs, and the AldFGH complex is indispensable for acetic acid fermentation and is the major enzyme under fermentation conditions.

Producing Acetic Acid of Acetobacter pasteurianus by Fermentation Characteristics and Metabolic Flux Analysis.

The acetic acid bacterium Acetobacter pasteurianus plays an important role in acetic acid fermentation, which involves oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid through the ethanol respiratory chain under specific conditions. In order to obtain more suitable bacteria for the acetic acid industry, A. pasteurianus JST-S screened in this laboratory was compared with A. pasteurianus CICC 20001, a current industrial strain in China, to determine optimal fermentation parameters under different environmental stresses. The maximum total acid content of A. pasteurianus JST-S was 57.14 ± 1.09 g/L, whereas that of A. pasteurianus CICC 20001 reached 48.24 ± 1.15 g/L in a 15-L stir stank. Metabolic flux analysis was also performed to compare the reaction byproducts. Our findings revealed the potential value of the strain in improvement of industrial vinegar fermentation.

An in vitro synthetic biosystem based on acetate for production of phloroglucinol.

BACKGROUND: Phloroglucinol is an important chemical, and the biosynthesis processes which can convert glucose to phloroglucinol have been established. However, due to approximate 80% of the glucose being transformed into undesirable by-products and biomass, this biosynthesis process only shows a low yield with the highest value of about 0.20 g/g. The industrial applications are usually hindered by the low current productivity and yield and also by the high costs. Generally, several different aspects limit the development of phloroglucinol biosynthesis. The yield of phloroglucinol is one of the most important parameters for its bioconversion especially from economic and ecological points of view. The in vitro biosynthesis of bio-based chemicals, is a flexible alternative with potentially high-yield to in vivo biosynthetic technology. RESULTS: By comparing the activity of acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS) from Escherichia coli and Acetobacter pasteurianus, the highly active ACS2 was identified in A. pasteurianus. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and phloroglucinol synthase (PhlD) from Pseudomonas fluorescens pf-5 were expressed and purified. Acetate was successfully transformed into phloroglucinol by the combined activity of above-mentioned enzymes and required cofactor. After optimization of the in vitro reaction system, phloroglucinol was then produced with a yield of nearly 0.64 g phloroglucinol/g acetic acid, which was equal to 91.43% of the theoretically possible maximum. CONCLUSIONS: In this work, a novel in vitro synthetic system for a highly efficient production of phloroglucinol from acetate was demonstrated. The system's performance suggests that in vitro synthesis of phloroglucinol has some advantages and is potential to become a feasible industrial alternative. Based on the results presented herewith, it is believed that in vitro biosystem will provide a feasible option for production of important industrial chemicals from acetate, which could work as a versatile biosynthetic platform.

Surface-engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae displaying α-acetolactate decarboxylase from Acetobacter aceti ssp xylinum.

OBJECTIVES: To convert α-acetolactate into acetoin by an α-acetolactate decarboxylase (ALDC) to prevent its conversion into diacetyl that gives beer an unfavourable buttery flavour. RESULTS: We constructed a whole Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell catalyst with a truncated active ALDC from Acetobacter aceti ssp xylinum attached to the cell wall using the C-terminal anchoring domain of α-agglutinin. ALDC variants in which 43 and 69 N-terminal residues were absent performed equally well and had significantly decreased amounts of diacetyl during fermentation. With these cells, the highest concentrations of diacetyl observed during fermentation were 30 % less than those in wort fermented with control yeasts displaying only the anchoring domain and, unlike the control, virtually no diacetyl was present in wort after 7 days of fermentation. CONCLUSIONS: Since modification of yeasts with ALDC variants did not affect their fermentation performance, the display of α-acetolactate decarboxylase activity is an effective approach to decrease the formation of diacetyl during beer fermentation.

Regio- and Stereoselective Aliphatic-Aromatic Cross-Benzoin Reaction: Enzymatic Divergent Catalysis.

The catalytic asymmetric synthesis of chiral 2-hydroxy ketones by using different thiamine diphosphate dependent enzymes, namely benzaldehyde lyase from Pseudomonas fluorescens (PfBAL), a variant of benzoylformate decarboxylase from Pseudomonas putida (PpBFD-L461A), branched-chain 2-keto acid decarboxylase from Lactococcus lactis (LlKdcA) and a variant of pyruvate decarboxylase from Acetobacter pasteurianus (ApPDC-E469G), was studied. Starting with the same set of substrates, substituted benzaldehydes in combination with different aliphatic aldehydes, PfBAL and PpBFD-L461A selectively deliver the (R)- and (S)-2-hydroxy-propiophenone derivatives, respectively. The (R)- and (S)-phenylacetylcarbinol (1-hydroxy-1-phenylacetone) derivatives are accessible in a similar way using LlKdcA and ApPDC-E469G, respectively. In many cases excellent stereochemical purities (>98 % enantiomeric excess) could be achieved. Hence, the regio- and stereochemistry of the product in the asymmetric aliphatic-aromatic cross-benzoin reaction can be controlled solely by choice of the appropriate enzyme or enzyme variant.

Characterization of newly identified DnaA and DnaB proteins from Acetobacter.

Although chromosomal replication is an essential feature of the bacterial life cycle, the replication mechanism and involved molecular players have never been properly characterized in the Acetobacter genera. Thanks to whole-genome sequencing, the unknown replication proteins from Acetobacter pasteurianus and Acetobacter orleanensis, DnaA-like and DnaB-like, could be identified. Despite the low nucleotide or amino acid similarity to the respective orthologs from Escherichia coli, their involvement during replication regulation was corroborated by artificial microRNA. In the Acetobacter genome, a novel replication origin, oriAo, was detected with three 9-nucleotide-long DnaA boxes to which DnaA-like proteins bind actively. Bacterial two-hybrid systems and co-immunoprecipitation confirmed the homologous and heterologous interactions between DnaA-like and DnaB-like proteins with their E. coli orthologs. This communication is due to the conserved tryptophan at position 6 for E. coli or 25 for Acetobacter that unables DnaA-like proteins to form oligomeric protein structures after its substitution. Altogether, these results provide novel insights into the genome replication mechanism in Acetobacter.

Assessment of the contribution of cocoa-derived strains of Acetobacter ghanensis and Acetobacter senegalensis to the cocoa bean fermentation process through a genomic approach.

Acetobacter ghanensis LMG 23848(T) and Acetobacter senegalensis 108B are acetic acid bacteria that originate from a spontaneous cocoa bean heap fermentation process and that have been characterised as strains with interesting functionalities through metabolic and kinetic studies. As there is currently little genetic information available for these species, whole-genome sequencing of A. ghanensis LMG 23848(T) and A. senegalensis 108B and subsequent data analysis was performed. This approach not only revealed characteristics such as the metabolic potential and genomic architecture, but also allowed to indicate the genetic adaptations related to the cocoa bean fermentation process. Indeed, evidence was found that both species possessed the genetic ability to be involved in citrate assimilation and displayed adaptations in their respiratory chain that might improve their competitiveness during the cocoa bean fermentation process. In contrast, other properties such as the dependence on glycerol or mannitol and lactate as energy sources or a less efficient acid stress response may explain their low competitiveness. The presence of a gene coding for a proton-translocating transhydrogenase in A. ghanensis LMG 23848(T) and the genes involved in two aromatic compound degradation pathways in A. senegalensis 108B indicate that these strains have an extended functionality compared to Acetobacter species isolated from other ecosystems.

Engineering of a novel carbonyl reductase with coenzyme regeneration in E. coli for efficient biosynthesis of enantiopure chiral alcohols.

The novel anti-Prelog stereospecific carbonyl reductase from Acetobacter sp. CCTCC M209061 was successfully expressed in E. coli combined with glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) to construct an efficient whole-cell biocatalyst with coenzyme NADH regeneration. The enzymatic activity of GAcCR (AcCR with a GST tag) reached 304.9U/g-dcw, even 9 folds higher than that of wild strain, and the activity of GDH for NADH regeneration recorded 46.0U/mg-protein in the recombinant E. coli. As a whole-cell biocatalyst, the recombinant E. coli BL21(DE3)pLysS (pETDuet-gaccr-gdh) possessed a broad substrate spectrum for kinds of carbonyl compounds with encouraging yield and stereoselectivity. Besides, the asymmetric reduction of ethyl 4-chloroacetoacetate (COBE) to optically pure ethyl 4-chloro-3-hydroxybutyrate (CHBE) catalyzed by the whole-cell biocatalyst was systematically investigated. Under the optimal reaction conditions, the optical purity of CHBE was over 99% e.e. for (S)-enantiomer, and the initial rate and product yield reached 8.04µmol/min and 99.4%, respectively. Moreover, the space-time yield was almost 20 folds higher than that catalyzed by the wild strain. Therefore, a new, high efficiency biocatalyst for asymmetric reductions was constructed successfully, and the enantioselective reduction of prochiral compounds using the biocatalyst was a promising approach for obtaining enantiopure chiral alcohols.

SdhE-dependent formation of a functional Acetobacter pasteurianus succinate dehydrogenase in Gluconobacter oxydans--a first step toward a complete tricarboxylic acid cycle.

The obligatory aerobic α-proteobacterium Gluconobacter oxydans 621H possesses an unusual metabolism in which the majority of the carbohydrate substrates are incompletely oxidized in the periplasm and only a small fraction is metabolized in the cytoplasm. The cytoplasmic oxidation capabilities are limited due to an incomplete tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle caused by the lack of succinate dehydrogenase (Sdh) and succinyl-CoA synthetase. As a first step to test the consequences of a functional TCA cycle for growth, metabolism, and bioenergetics of G. oxydans, we attempted to establish a heterologous Sdh in this species. Expression of Acetobacter pasteurianus sdhCDAB in G. oxydans did not yield an active succinate dehydrogenase. Co-expression of a putative sdhE gene from A. pasteurianus, which was assumed to encode an assembly factor for covalent attachment of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) to SdhA, stimulated Sdh activity up to 400-fold to 4.0 ± 0.4 U (mg membrane protein)(‒1). The succinate/oxygen reductase activity of membranes was 0.68 ± 0.04 U (mg membrane protein)(‒1), indicating the formation of functional Sdh complex capable of transferring electrons from succinate to ubiquinone. A. pasteurianus SdhE could be functionally replaced by SdhE from the γ-proteobacterium Serratia sp. According to these results, the accessory protein SdhE was necessary and sufficient for heterologous synthesis of an active A. pasteurianus Sdh in G. oxydans. Studies with the Sdh-positive G. oxydans strain provided evidence for a limited functionality of the TCA cycle despite the absence of succinyl-CoA synthetase.

Influence of calcium chloride in the high temperature acetification by strain Acetobacter aceti WK for vinegar.

AIMS: To improve the thermotolerant properties (TTP) of acetic acid bacteria (AAB) cells for high temperature acetification. METHODS AND RESULTS: At high temperature (36 ± 1°C), the acetification rate (ETA) is usually lower than at 30 ± 1°C. The addition of 0·15% calcium chloride (CaCl2 ) may decrease the negative effect of the increase of temperature from 30 ± 1°C to 36 ± 1°C on the ETA. The effect of CaCl2 on the thermotolerant properties of acetic acid bacteria cells was investigated. The CaCl2 increased the content of phospholipids (phosphotidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol), fatty acids (cis-vaccenic acid, palmitic acid and myristic acid) and the activities of membrane-bound enzymes involved in acetification, alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase. Transmission electron microscope images revealed a more compact cell wall with CaCl2. Process consistency at 36 ± 1°C was tested in nine sequential acetification cycles using 0·15% (w/v) CaCl2. High ETAs (9·33 ± 0·6; 8·67 ± 0·8 and 9·67 ± 0·7 g l(-1) day(-1)) were obtained during the last three cycles. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm that changes of the content of lipid, activities of membrane-bound enzymes and cell-wall thickness occurred with added CaCl2. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: High temperature acetification (HTA) with additions of CaCl2 was investigated. Significant reductions in the overall production costs result from lower cooling costs associated with HTA.

Impact of high initial concentrations of acetic acid and ethanol on acetification rate in an internal Venturi injector bioreactor.

AIMS: To evaluate the comparative impact of high initial concentrations of acetic acid (AAi ) and of ethanol (ETi ) on acetification rate (ETA). METHODS AND RESULTS: Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) were cultivated in a 100-l internal Venturi injector bioreactor. To quantify the oxygen availability, the 1.0 l min(-1) air inflow rate for the start-up phase (25 l) while 3·0 l min(-1) for the operational phase (75 l) achieved a high oxygen transfer coefficient (kL a). Changes in cell wall by TEM images and the remained ADH and ALDH activities confirmed the high acid tolerance ability of AAB. While ETAs using high AAi at 65 g l(-1) could be processed of 9.57 ± 0.19 g l(-1) day(-1) , which is just higher than 9.12 ± 0.12 g l(-1) day(-1) using high ETi at 55 g l(-1) . The average biotransformation yields were at 96.3 ± 0.1% and 94.4 ± 0.1% for high AAi and ETi , respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Results confirm that high oxygenation was generated in the bioreactor. Both high AAi and ETi were important in increasing ETA under stress 100 g l(-1) total concentration. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: High acid-tolerant AAB contains the high ADH and ALDH activities causing higher ETAs in HIA process. It is a competitive commercialized acetification process.

A tailor-made chimeric thiamine diphosphate dependent enzyme for the direct asymmetric synthesis of (S)-benzoins.

Thiamine diphosphate dependent enzymes are well known for catalyzing the asymmetric synthesis of chiral α-hydroxy ketones from simple prochiral substrates. The steric and chemical properties of the enzyme active site define the product spectrum. Enzymes catalyzing the carboligation of aromatic aldehydes to (S)-benzoins have not so far been identified. We were able to close this gap by constructing a chimeric enzyme, which catalyzes the synthesis of various (S)-benzoins with excellent enantiomeric excess (>99%) and very good conversion.

Replacement of a terminal cytochrome c oxidase by ubiquinol oxidase during the evolution of acetic acid bacteria.

The bacterial aerobic respiratory chain has a terminal oxidase of the heme-copper oxidase superfamily, comprised of cytochrome c oxidase (COX) and ubiquinol oxidase (UOX); UOX evolved from COX. Acetobacter pasteurianus, an α-Proteobacterial acetic acid bacterium (AAB), produces UOX but not COX, although it has a partial COX gene cluster, ctaBD and ctaA, in addition to the UOX operon cyaBACD. We expressed ctaB and ctaA genes of A. pasteurianus in Escherichia coli and demonstrated their function as heme O and heme A synthases. We also found that the absence of ctaD function is likely due to accumulated mutations. These COX genes are closely related to other α-Proteobacterial COX proteins. However, the UOX operons of AAB are closely related to those of the ß/γ-Proteobacteria (γ-type UOX), distinct from the α/ß-Proteobacterial proteins (α-type UOX), but different from the other γ-type UOX proteins by the absence of the cyoE heme O synthase. Thus, we suggest that A. pasteurianus has a functional γ-type UOX but has lost the COX genes, with the exception of ctaB and ctaA, which supply the heme O and A moieties for UOX. Our results suggest that, in AAB, COX was replaced by ß/γ-Proteobacterial UOX via horizontal gene transfer, while the COX genes, except for the heme O/A synthase genes, were lost.

Mitochondrially-targeted bacterial phosphatidylethanolamine methyltransferase sustained phosphatidylcholine synthesis of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae Δpem1 Δpem2 double mutant without exogenous choline supply.

In eukaryotic cells, phospholipids are synthesized exclusively in the defined organelles specific for each phospholipid species. To explain the reason for this compartmental specificity in the case of phosphatidylcholine (PC) synthesis, we constructed and characterized a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain that lacked endogenous phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) methyltransferases but had a recombinant PE methyltransferase from Acetobacter aceti, which was fused with a mitochondrial targeting signal from yeast Pet100p and a 3×HA epitope tag. This fusion protein, which we named as mitopmt, was determined to be localized to the mitochondria by fluorescence microscopy and subcellular fractionation. The expression of mitopmt suppressed the choline auxotrophy of a double deletion mutant of PEM1 and PEM2 (pem1Δpem2Δ) and enabled it to synthesize PC in the absence of choline. This growth suppression was observed even if the Kennedy pathway was inactivated by the repression of PCT1 encoding CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase, suggesting that PC synthesized in the mitochondria is distributed to other organelles without going through the salvage pathway. The pem1Δpem2Δ strain deleted for PSD1 encoding the mitochondrial phosphatidylserine decarboxylase was able to grow because of the expression of mitopmt in the presence of ethanolamine, implying that PE from other organelles, probably from the ER, was converted to PC by mitopmt. These results suggest that PC could move out of the mitochondria, and raise the possibility that its movement is not under strict directional limitations.

A novel carbonyl reductase with anti-Prelog stereospecificity from Acetobacter sp. CCTCC M209061: purification and characterization.

A novel carbonyl reductase (AcCR) catalyzing the asymmetric reduction of ketones to enantiopure alcohols with anti-Prelog stereoselectivity was found in Acetobacter sp. CCTCC M209061 and enriched 27.5-fold with an overall yield of 0.4% by purification. The enzyme showed a homotetrameric structure with an apparent molecular mass of 104 kDa and each subunit of 27 kDa. The gene sequence of AcCR was cloned and sequenced, and a 762 bp gene fragment was obtained. Either NAD(H) or NADP(H) can be used as coenzyme. For the reduction of 4'-chloroacetophenone, the Km value for NADH was around 25-fold greater than that for NADPH (0.66 mM vs 0.026 mM), showing that AcCR preferred NADPH over NADH. However, when NADH was used as cofactor, the response of AcCR activity to increasing concentration of 4'-chloroacetophenone was clearly sigmoidal with a Hill coefficient of 3.1, suggesting that the enzyme might possess four substrate-binding sites cooperating with each other The Vmax value for NADH-linked reduction was higher than that for NADPH-linked reduction (0.21 mM/min vs 0.17 mM/min). For the oxidation of isopropanol, the similar enzymological properties of AcCR were found using NAD+ or NADP+ as cofactor. Furthermore, a broad range of ketones such as aryl ketones, α-ketoesters and aliphatic ketones could be enantioselectively reduced into the corresponding chiral alcohols by this enzyme with high activity.

In vitro production of n-butanol from glucose.

The heat treatment of recombinant mesophiles having heterologous thermotolerant enzymes results in the one-step preparation of highly selective biocatalytic modules. The assembly of these modules enables us to readily construct an artificial metabolic pathway in vitro. In this work, we constructed a non-natural, cofactor-balanced, and oxygen-insensitive pathway for n-butanol production using 16 thermotolerant enzymes. The whole pathway was divided into 7 parts, in each of which NAD(H)-dependent enzymes were assigned to be the last step, and the fluxes through each part were spectrophotometrically determined. This real-time monitoring technique enabled the experimental optimization of enzyme level to achieve a desired production rate. Through the optimized pathway, n-butanol could be produced from glucose with a molar yield of 82% at a rate of 8.2 µmol l(-1) min(-1). Our approach would be widely applicable to the rational optimization of artificial metabolic pathways as well as to the in vitro production of value-added biomolecules.

Enzyme-substrate complexes of allosteric citrate synthase: evidence for a novel intermediate in substrate binding.

The citrate synthase (CS) of Escherichia coli is an allosteric hexameric enzyme specifically inhibited by NADH. The crystal structure of wild type (WT) E. coli CS, determined by us previously, has no substrates bound, and part of the active site is in a highly mobile region that is shifted from the position needed for catalysis. The CS of Acetobacter aceti has a similar structure, but has been successfully crystallized with bound substrates: both oxaloacetic acid (OAA) and an analog of acetyl coenzyme A (AcCoA). We engineered a variant of E. coli CS wherein five amino acids in the mobile region have been replaced by those in the A. aceti sequence. The purified enzyme shows unusual kinetics with a low affinity for both substrates. Although the crystal structure without ligands is very similar to that of the WT enzyme (except in the mutated region), complexes are formed with both substrates and the allosteric inhibitor NADH. The complex with OAA in the active site identifies a novel OAA-binding residue, Arg306, which has no functional counterpart in other known CS-OAA complexes. This structure may represent an intermediate in a multi-step substrate binding process where Arg306 changes roles from OAA binding to AcCoA binding. The second complex has the substrate analog, S-carboxymethyl-coenzyme A, in the allosteric NADH-binding site and the AcCoA site is not formed. Additional CS variants unable to bind adenylates at the allosteric site show that this second complex is not a factor in positive allosteric activation of AcCoA binding.