The Rid family member RutC of Escherichia coli is a 3-aminoacrylate deaminase.

The Rid protein family (PF14588, IPR006175) is divided into nine subfamilies, of which only the RidA subfamily has been characterized biochemically. RutC, the founding member of one subfamily, is encoded in the pyrimidine utilization (rut) operon that encodes a pathway that allows Escherichia coli to use uracil as a sole nitrogen source. Results reported herein demonstrate that RutC has 3-aminoacrylate deaminase activity and facilitates one of the reactions previously presumed to occur spontaneously in vivo. RutC was active with several enamine-imine substrates, showing similarities and differences in substrate specificity with the canonical member of the Rid superfamily, Salmonella enterica RidA. Under standard laboratory conditions, a Rut pathway lacking RutC generates sufficient nitrogen from uracil for growth of E. coli. These results support a revised model of the Rut pathway and provide evidence that Rid proteins may modulate metabolic fitness, rather than catalyzing essential functions.

Staphylococcus aureus modulates the activity of acetyl-Coenzyme A synthetase (Acs) by sirtuin-dependent reversible lysine acetylation.

Lysine acylation is a posttranslational modification used by cells of all domains of life to modulate cellular processes in response to metabolic stress. The paradigm for the role of lysine acylation in metabolism is the acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase (Acs) enzyme. In prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells alike, Acs activity is downregulated by acetylation and reactivated by deacetylation. Proteins belonging to the bacterial GCN5-related N-acetyltransferase (bGNAT) superfamily acetylate the epsilon amino group of an active site lysine, inactivating Acs. A deacetylase can remove the acetyl group, thereby restoring activity. Here we show the Acs from Staphylococcus aureus (SaAcs) activates acetate and weakly activates propionate, but does not activate >C3 organic acids or dicarboxylic acids (e.g. butyrate, malonate and succinate). SaAcs activity is regulated by AcuA (SaAcuA); a type-IV bGNAT. SaAcuA can acetylate or propionylate SaAcs reducing its activity by >90% and 95% respectively. SaAcuA also succinylated SaAcs, with this being the first documented case of a bacterial GNAT capable of succinylation. Inactive SaAcsAc was deacetylated (hence reactivated) by the NAD+ -dependent (class III) sirtuin protein deacetylase (hereafter SaCobB). In vivo and in vitro evidence show that SaAcuA and SaCobB modulate the level of SaAcs activity in S. aureus.