The c-ring stoichiometry of ATP synthase is adapted to cell physiological requirements of alkaliphilic Bacillus pseudofirmus OF4.

The c-rings of ATP synthases consist of individual c-subunits, all of which harbor a conserved motif of repetitive glycine residues (GxGxGxG) important for tight transmembrane α-helix packing. The c-ring stoichiometry determines the number of ions transferred during enzyme operation and has a direct impact on the ion-to-ATP ratio, a cornerstone parameter of cell bioenergetics. In the extreme alkaliphile Bacillus pseudofirmus OF4, the glycine motif is replaced by AxAxAxA. We performed a structural study on two mutants with alanine-to-glycine changes using atomic force microscopy and X-ray crystallography, and found that mutants form smaller c12 rings compared with the WT c13. The molar growth yields of B. pseudofirmus OF4 cells on malate further revealed that the c12 mutants have a considerably reduced capacity to grow on limiting malate at high pH. Our results demonstrate that the mutant ATP synthases with either c12 or c13 can support ATP synthesis, and also underscore the critical importance of an alanine motif with c13 ring stoichiometry for optimal growth at pH >10. The data indicate a direct connection between the precisely adapted ATP synthase c-ring stoichiometry and its ion-to-ATP ratio on cell physiology, and also demonstrate the bioenergetic challenges and evolutionary adaptation strategies of extremophiles.

Structural study on the architecture of the bacterial ATP synthase Fo motor.

We purified the F(o) complex from the Ilyobacter tartaricus Na(+)-translocating F(1)F(o)-ATP synthase and performed a biochemical and structural study. Laser-induced liquid bead ion desorption MS analysis demonstrates that all three subunits of the isolated F(o) complex were present and in native stoichiometry (ab(2)c(11)). Cryoelectron microscopy of 2D crystals yielded a projection map at a resolution of 7.0 Å showing electron densities from the c(11) rotor ring and up to seven adjacent helices. A bundle of four helices belongs to the stator a-subunit and is in contact with c(11). A fifth helix adjacent to the four-helix bundle interacts very closely with a c-subunit helix, which slightly shifts its position toward the ring center. Atomic force microscopy confirms the presence of the F(o) stator, and a height profile reveals that it protrudes less from the membrane than c(11). The data limit the dimensions of the subunit a/c-ring interface: Three helices from the stator region are in contact with three c(11) helices. The location and distances of the stator helices impose spatial restrictions on the bacterial F(o) complex.

Engineering rotor ring stoichiometries in the ATP synthase.

ATP synthase membrane rotors consist of a ring of c-subunits whose stoichiometry is constant for a given species but variable across different ones. We investigated the importance of c/c-subunit contacts by site-directed mutagenesis of a conserved stretch of glycines (GxGxGxGxG) in a bacterial c(11) ring. Structural and biochemical studies show a direct, specific influence on the c-subunit stoichiometry, revealing c(<11), c(12), c(13), c(14), and c(>14) rings. Molecular dynamics simulations rationalize this effect in terms of the energetics and geometry of the c-subunit interfaces. Quantitative data from a spectroscopic interaction study demonstrate that the complex assembly is independent of the c-ring size. Real-time ATP synthesis experiments in proteoliposomes show the mutant enzyme, harboring the larger c(12) instead of c(11), is functional at lower ion motive force. The high degree of compliance in the architecture of the ATP synthase rotor offers a rationale for the natural diversity of c-ring stoichiometries, which likely reflect adaptations to specific bioenergetic demands. These results provide the basis for bioengineering ATP synthases with customized ion-to-ATP ratios, by sequence modifications.

An intermediate step in the evolution of ATPases: a hybrid F(0)-V(0) rotor in a bacterial Na(+) F(1)F(0) ATP synthase.

The Na(+) F(1)F(0) ATP synthase operon of the anaerobic, acetogenic bacterium Acetobacterium woodii is unique because it encodes two types of c subunits, two identical 8 kDa bacterial F(0)-like c subunits (c(2) and c(3)), with two transmembrane helices, and a 18 kDa eukaryal V(0)-like (c(1)) c subunit, with four transmembrane helices but only one binding site. To determine whether both types of rotor subunits are present in the same c ring, we have isolated and studied the composition of the c ring. High-resolution atomic force microscopy of 2D crystals revealed 11 domains, each corresponding to two transmembrane helices. A projection map derived from electron micrographs, calculated to 5 A resolution, revealed that each c ring contains two concentric, slightly staggered, packed rings, each composed of 11 densities, representing 22 transmembrane helices. The inner and outer diameters of the rings, measured at the density borders, are approximately 17 and 50 A. Mass determination by laser-induced liquid beam ion desorption provided evidence that the c rings contain both types of c subunits. The stoichiometry for c(2)/c(3) : c(1) was 9 : 1. Furthermore, this stoichiometry was independent of the carbon source of the growth medium. These analyses clearly demonstrate, for the first time, an F(0)-V(0) hybrid motor in an ATP synthase.

High-resolution structure and mechanism of an F/V-hybrid rotor ring in a Na⁺-coupled ATP synthase.

All rotary ATPases catalyse the interconversion of ATP and ADP-Pi through a mechanism that is coupled to the transmembrane flow of H(+) or Na(+). Physiologically, however, F/A-type enzymes specialize in ATP synthesis driven by downhill ion diffusion, while eukaryotic V-type ATPases function as ion pumps. To begin to rationalize the molecular basis for this functional differentiation, we solved the crystal structure of the Na(+)-driven membrane rotor of the Acetobacterium woodii ATP synthase, at 2.1 Å resolution. Unlike known structures, this rotor ring is a 9:1 heteromer of F- and V-type c-subunits and therefore features a hybrid configuration of ion-binding sites along its circumference. Molecular and kinetic simulations are used to dissect the mechanisms of Na(+) recognition and rotation of this c-ring, and to explain the functional implications of the V-type c-subunit. These structural and mechanistic insights indicate an evolutionary path between synthases and pumps involving adaptations in the rotor ring.

The c13 ring from a thermoalkaliphilic ATP synthase reveals an extended diameter due to a special structural region.

We have structurally characterized the c-ring from the thermoalkaliphilic Bacillus sp. strain TA2.A1 F(1)F(o)-ATP synthase. Atomic force microscopy imaging and cryo-electron microscopy analyses confirm previous mass spectrometric data indicating that this c-ring contains 13 c-subunits. The cryo-electron microscopy map obtained from two-dimensional crystals shows less closely packed helices in the inner ring compared to those of Na(+)-binding c(11) rings. The inner ring of alpha-helices in c(11) rings harbors a conserved GxGxGxGxG motif, with glycines located at the interface between c-subunits, which is responsible for the close packing of these helices. This glycine motif is altered in the c(13) ring of Bacillus sp. strain TA2.A1 to AxGxSxGxS, leading to a change in c-c subunit contacts and thereby enlarging the c-ring diameter to host a greater number of c-subunits. An altered glycine motif is a typical feature of c-subunit sequences in alkaliphilic Bacillus species. We propose that enlarged c-rings in proton-dependent F-ATP synthases may represent an adaptation to facilitate ATP synthesis at low overall proton-motive force, as occurs in bacteria that grow at alkaline pH.

Folding and assembly of proteorhodopsin.

Proteorhodopsins (PRs), the recently discovered light-driven proton pumps, play a major role in supplying energy for microbial organisms of oceans. In contrast to PR, rhodopsins found in Archaea and Eukarya are structurally well characterized. Using single-molecule microscopy and spectroscopy, we observed the oligomeric assembly of native PR molecules and detected their folding in the membrane. PR showed unfolding patterns identical with those of bacteriorhodopsin and halorhodopsin, indicating that PR folds similarly to archaeal rhodopsins. Surprisingly, PR predominantly assembles into hexameric oligomers, with a smaller fraction assembling into pentamers. Within these oligomers, PR arranged into radial assemblies. We suggest that this structural assembly of PR may have functional implications.

The oligomeric state of c rings from cyanobacterial F-ATP synthases varies from 13 to 15.

We isolated the c rings of F-ATP synthases from eight cyanobacterial strains belonging to four different taxonomic classes (Chroococcales, Nostocales, Oscillatoriales, and Gloeobacteria). These c rings showed different mobilities on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), probably reflecting their molecular masses. This supposition was validated with the previously characterized c(11), c(14), and c(15) rings, which migrated on SDS-PAGE in proportion to their molecular masses. Hence, the masses of the cyanobacterial c rings can conveniently be deduced from their electrophoretic mobilities and, together with the masses of the c monomers, allow the calculation of the c ring stoichiometries. The method is a simple and fast way to determine stoichiometries of SDS-stable c rings and hence a convenient means to unambiguously determine the ion-to-ATP ratio, a parameter reflecting the bioenergetic efficacy of F-ATP synthases. AFM imaging was used to prove the accuracy of the method and confirmed that the c ring of Synechococcus elongatus SAG 89.79 is a tridecameric oligomer. Despite the high conservation of the c-subunit sequences from cyanobacterial strains from various environmental groups, the stoichiometries of their c rings varied between c(13) and c(15). This systematic study of the c-ring stoichiometries suggests that variability of c-ring sizes might represent an adaptation of the individual cyanobacterial species to their particular environmental and physiological conditions. Furthermore, the two new examples of c(15) rings underline once more that an F(1)/F(o) symmetry mismatch is not an obligatory feature of all F-ATP synthases.