General Amino Acid Transport System Research Articles

Amino acid transport systems of JapaneseParamecium symbiont F36-ZK

Analyses of amino acid transport systems in JapaneseParamecium symbiont F36-ZK were performed using14C-amino acids. Kinetic analyses of amino acid uptake and competitive experiments revealed three transport systems; a basic amino acid transport system, which catalyzed transport of L-Arg and L-Lys, a general amino acid transport system, which had broad specificity for 19 amino acids (but not L-Arg), and an alanine transport system. These three systems were considered to be capable of active transport. Amino acid-proton symport was indicated by the following data: decreases in pH of the medium observed during L-Ser and L-Ala uptake, and uptake of L-Arg, L-Ser and L-Ala being inhibited by carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, sodium azide and vanadate. The optimal pH for uptake of neutral amino acids and L-Arg was around 5 and 5 to 6.5, respectively. Uptake of L-Asp and L-Glu was very sensitive to pH and little uptake of L-Asp was measured above pH 6.0. Amino acid uptake was not inhibited by nitrate or ammonium, and cultured cells with ammonium also possessed constitutive uptake systems.

The specific transport system for lysine is fully inhibited by ammonium in Penicillium chrysogenum: an ammonium-insensitive system allows uptake in carbon-starved cells.

The regulation exerted by ammonium and other nitrogen sources on amino acid utilization was studied in swollen spores of Penicillium chrysogenum. Ammonium prevented the L-lysine, L-arginine and L-ornithine utilization by P. chrysogenum swollen spores seeded in complete media, but not in carbon-deficient media. Transport of L-[14C]lysine into spores incubated in presence of carbon and nitrogen sources was fully inhibited by ammonium ions (35 mM). However, in carbon-derepressed conditions (growth in absence of sugars, with amino acids as the sole carbon source) L-[14C]lysine transport was only partially inhibited. Competition experiments showed that L-lysine (1 mM) inhibits the utilization of L-arginine, and vice versa, L-arginine inhibits the L-lysine uptake. High concentrations of L-ornithine (100 mM) prevented the L-lysine and L-arginine utilization in P. chrysogenum swollen spores. In summary, ammonium seems to prevent the utilization of basic amino acids in P. chrysogenum spores by inhibiting the transport of these amino acids through their specific transport system(s), but not through the general amino acid transport system that is operative under carbon-derepression conditions.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae LEP1/SAC3 gene is associated with leucine transport.

Leucine uptake by Saccharomyces cerevisiae is mediated by three transport systems, the general amino acid transport system (GAP), encoded by GAP1, and two group-specific systems (S1 and S2), which also transport isoleucine and valine. A new mutant defective in both group-specific transport activities was isolated by employing a gap1 leu4 strain and selecting for trifluoroleucine-resistant mutants which also showed greatly reduced ability to utilize L-leucine as sole nitrogen source and very low levels of [14C]L-leucine uptake. A multicopy plasmid containing a DNA fragment which complemented the leucine transport defect was isolated by selecting for transformants that grew normally on minimal medium containing leucine as nitrogen source and subsequently assaying [14C]L-leucine uptake. Transformation of one such mutant, lep1, restored sensitivity to trifluoroleucine. The complementing gene, designated LEP1, was subcloned and sequenced. The LEP1 ORF encodes a large protein that lacks characteristics of a transporter or permease (i.e., lacks hydrophobic domains necessary for membrane association). Instead, Lep1p is a very basic protein (pI of 9.2) that contains a putative bipartite signal sequence for targeting to the nucleus, suggesting that it might be a DNA-binding protein. A database search revealed that LEP1 encodes a polypeptide that is identical to Sac3p except for an N-terminal truncation. The original identification of SAC3 was based on the isolation of a mutant allele, sac3-1, that suppresses the temperature-sensitive growth defect of an actin mutant containing the allele act1-1. Sac3p has been previously shown to be localized in the nucleus. When a lep1 mutant was crossed with a sac3 deletion mutant, no complementation was observed, indicating that the two mutations are functionally allelic.

Resistance to l -methionine-S-sulfoximine in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is due to an alteration in a general amino acid transport system

It was suggested that the mutant ARF1 of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is resistant to l-methionine-S-sulfoximine (MSX, an irreversible inhibitor of glutamine synthetase, EC 6.3.1.2) because this strain degraded and utilized this compound as a nitrogen source for growth (A.R. Franco et al., 1996, Plant Physiol 110: 1215–1222). Resistance to MSX has now been characterized in a double mutant of this alga, called MPA1, which is resistant to MSX and lacks l-amino acid oxidase (LAO activity, EC 1.4.3.2). Biochemical and genetic evidence indicate that the mutant MPA1 is altered in the same MSX-resistance locus as mutant ARF1. However, mutant MPA1 neither degraded nor utilized MSX as a nitrogen source. This led us to conclude that (i) resistance to MSX is not linked to its utilization, and (ii) that LAO activity accounts for the degradation of MSX in mutant ARF1. Data indicate that C. reinhardtii possesses a broad-specificity carrier system responsible for the transport of arginine and other amino acids, including MSX. We propose that the alteration of this carrier confers resistance to MSX in mutants ARF1 and MPA1.

Expression cloning in yeast of a cDNA encoding a broad specificity amino acid permease from Arabidopsis thaliana.

To study amino acid transport in plants at the molecular level, we have isolated an amino acid permease cDNA from Arabidopsis thaliana by complementation of a yeast mutant defective in proline uptake with a cDNA. The predicted polypeptide of 53 kDa is highly hydrophobic with 12 putative membrane-spanning regions and shows no significant homologies to other known transporters. Expression of the cDNA enables the yeast mutant to take up L-[14C]proline. Competition studies argue for a broad but stereospecific substrate recognition by the permease, which resembles neutral or general amino acid transport systems from Chlorella and higher plants. Both pH dependence and inhibition by protonophores are consistent with a proton symport mechanism.

Transport ofl-tryptophan inSaccharomyces cerevisiae

In addition to the general amino acid transport system (GAP) of S. cerevisiae L-tryptophan is transported by another system with approximately 25% capacity of GAP, with a KT of 0.41 +/- 0.08 mmol/L and with a similar specificity as GAP (lower inhibition by Met, Pro, Ser, Thr and 2-aminoisobutyric acid; greater inhibition by Glu and His). The pH optimum of this system is at 5.0-5.5, activation energy above the transition point (20 degrees C) was 20 kJ/mol, below the transition point 55 kJ/mol. The transport by this system was virtually unidirectional, efflux amounting to at most 10% into a tryptophan-free medium. The transport itself was blocked by 2,4-dinitrophenol, antimycin A and uranyl nitrate. The system was synthesized de novo during preincubation with glucose = fructose greater than trehalose greater than ethanol within 30 min, and was degraded with a half-time of 15 min in the absence of further synthesis. The accumulation ratios of L-tryptophan in gap1 mutants were concentration-dependent (200:1 at 1 mumol L-Trp/L, 4:1 at 2.5 mmol L-Trp/L) and decreased with increasing suspension density from 200:1 to 5:1 (for 10 mumol L-Trp/L). The involvement of hydrogen ions in the uptake was clearly demonstrated by the effect of D2O even if it could not be established by either shifts of pHout or membrane depolarization.

GAP1, the general amino acid permease gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mutations at the GAP1 locus selectively abolish the activity of the general amino acid transport system. This permease catalyses active transport of apparently all biological amino acids across the plasma membrane. We have determined the nucleotide sequence of the GAP1 gene. The sequence contains an open reading frame of 601 codons corresponding to a polypeptide of Mr 65578. This polypeptide is strongly hydrophobic; it exhibits three potential glycosylation sites. Hydropathy analysis suggests 12 membrane-spanning regions. The N-terminal domain is charged, it does not resemble hydrophobic signal sequences found in secreted proteins. Hence the GAP1 gene encodes a protein with characteristics typical of integral membrane proteins translocating ligants across cellular membranes. The deduced amino acid sequence of GAP1 protein presents strong similarities to those of the yeast arginine, histidine and proline permeases, suggesting a common evolutionary origin for these amino acid permeases. Nitrogen-source regulation of the GAP1 permease is believed to occur at two distinct levels, i.e. permease synthesis and permease activity [Grenson (1983) Eur. J. Biochem. 133, 135-139]. Northern analysis of GAP1-specific transcripts in wild-type and in mutant strains is in agreement with these views and indicates that nitrogen catabolite repression of GAP1 synthesis occurs at the RNA level.

Selection and Characterization of Chlorella Mutants Deficient in Amino Acid Transport

Six amino acids are transported at high rates across the plasmalemma of Chlorella vulgaris only after the induction of two specific transport systems. Induction is achieved either by pretreatment with glucose, glucose analogs, or by nitrogen starvation. Mutants for these transport systems were obtained after incubation of Chlorella cells in the presence of acridine orange or ethidium bromide, followed by a selection procedure using the toxic amino acid analogs l-canavanine (for l-arginine), and l-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid (for l-proline). Mutants isolated by this method had lost their ability to induce the corresponding transport system. Double mutants deficient in transport of both these amino acids still possess the general amino acid transport system, a third system which was described previously. Evidence for additional amino acid transport systems in Chlorella is discussed.

Stoichiometry of H +/amino acid cotransport in Neurospora crassa revealed by current-voltage analysis

Coupling of ions to the uptake of neutral and basic amino acids via a general amino acid transport system (System II), was studied in a mutant of Neurospora crassa (bat mtr) which lacks other transport systems for these solutes. All amino acids tested — including ones bearing no net charge — elicited rapid membrane depolarization, as expected for ion-coupled transport. (Since amino acid transport in Neurospora is not dependent on extracellular Na + or K +, the associated ion is presumed to be H +.) Although the 14C-labeled amino acid fluxes through System II are largely independent of the identity of the amino acid, the depolarization caused by basic amino acids ( l-lysine and l-ornithine) is 60–70% greater than that for neutral amino acids (e.g. l-leucine). This difference is consistent with a constant H +/amino acid stoichiometry of 2, the extra charge for lysine and ornithine being that on the amino acid itself, so that the charge ratio basic: neutral amino acids is 3:2. When actual membrane charge flow associated with amino acid uptake was compared with measured 14C-labeled amino acid influx, ratios of 2.07 charges/mol l-leucine and 3.40 charges/mol l-lysine were obtained, again in accord with a constant translocation stoichiometry of 2H +/amino acid. The advantages of this electrical method for estimating H +/solute stoichiometry in cotransport are discussed in relation to more familiar methods.

Transport and metabolic effects of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

alpha-Aminoisobutyric acid is actively transported into yeast cells by the general amino acid transport system. The system exhibits a Km for alpha-aminoisobutyric acid of 270 microM, a Vmax of 24 nmol/min per mg cells (dry weight), and a pH optimum of 4.1-4.3. alpha-Aminoisobutyric acid is also transported by a minor system(s) with a Vmax of 1.7 nmol/min per mg cells. Transport occurs against a concentration gradient with the concentration ratio reaching over 1000:1 (in/out). The alpha-aminoisobutyric acid is not significantly metabolized or incorporated into protein after an 18 h incubation. alpha-Aminoisobutyric acid inhibits cell growth when a poor nitrogen source such as proline is provided but not with good nitrogen sources such as NH+4. During nitrogen starvation alpha-aminoisobutyric acid strongly inhibits the synthesis of the nitrogen catabolite repression sensitive enzyme, asparaginase II. Studies with a mutant yeast strain (GDH-CR) suggest that alpha-aminoisobutyric acid inhibition of asparaginase II synthesis occurs because alpha-aminoisobutyric acid is an effective inhibitor of protein synthesis in nitrogen starved cells.

Proline uptake in Candida albicans.

L-Proline entered both mycelial and yeast cells of Candida albicans by an active transport system of high specificity at low (less than 0.1 mM) external concentrations of substrate. The apparent Km value of this system was 0.1 mM for both types of cells, while the V value was 4 nmol min-1 (mg dry wt)-1 for mycelial cells and 1.4 nmol min-1 (mg dry wt)-1 for yeast cells. At L-proline concentrations greater than 0.1 mM, the amino acid appeared to enter both morphological forms by diffusion as well as active transport. As saturation was approached diffusion became increasingly important. The higher uptake rate of mycelial cells seemed not to be the result of an inducible system. The optimal pH and temperature for transport of L-proline were 7.0 and 37 degrees C, respectively. Sodium azide and the proline analogues sarcosine and L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid inhibited L-proline uptake, while L-thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid was less effective. The active transport system was highly specific for L-proline since neither ammonium ions, which inhibit the general amino acid transport system of fungi, nor 16 different amino acids interfered substantially with uptake.

Transport and metabolism of N-δ-chloroacetyl- l-ornithine by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The general amino acid transport system of Saccharomyces cerevisiae functions in the uptake of neutral, basic, and acidic amino acids (M. Grenson, C. Hou, and M. Crabeel, 1970, J. Bacteriol. 103, 770–777; J. Rytka, 1975, J. Bacteriol. 121, 562–570; C. Darte and M. Grenson, 1975, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 67, 1028–1033). We have previously demonstrated that this transport system can be inhibited by the amino acid, N-δ-chloroacetyl- l-ornithine (NCAO) (F. S., Larimore and R.J. Roon, 1978, Biochemistry 17, 431–436). In the present study radiolabeled NCAO was synthesized and its transport and metabolism studied. Under initial rate conditions: (a) NCAO was transported by the general amino acid transport system with a K m of 52 μ m, a V of 32 nmol/min/mg cells, and a pH optimum of 5.0; (b) the V for NCAO transport in gap mutants, which lack the general amino acid transport system, was approximately 1% of that observed with wild-type cells; (c) the V for NCAO in cells deprived of glucose was less than 5% of that observed when glucose was present. NCAO was transiently concentrated more than 1000-fold by yeast cells when glucose served as an energy source. The internal pool of NCAO was metabolized by the yeast cells and the products were excreted. When 100 μ m [ 14C]NCAO was incubated with a yeast cell suspension for 8 h, more than 95% of the compound was converted into two ninhydrin-negative excretory products. The effect of NCAO on the growth of yeast cells was determined. Wild-type strains did not grow when 1 m m NCAO was present in the medium. The growth of gap mutants was not inhibited by 1 m m NCAO.

Physiological and regulatory properties of the general amino acid transport system of Neurospora crassa.

The fundamental properties of the general amino acid transport system of Neurospora crassa were investigated in the conidial stage of the life cycle. The transport activity was found to be under genetic control, and an isogenic set of mutants deficient for the neutral, basic, or general amino acid transport systems and combinations thereof was constructed and used for analyzing the properties specific to the general permease. Amino acid transport by this system was found to be a carrier-mediated active process with broad specificity for the neutral and basic amino acids. Kinetic analysis revealed that a common binding site functioned to transport both neutral and basic amino acids and that the permease had a high affinity for its substrates. The kinetic parameters Km, Vmax, and Ki were defined for several substrates. Two modes of regulation were detected: substrate inhibition and ammonium repression. Activity of the general system was enhanced by the removal of ammonium ions from the incubation medium with a concomitant decline in either neutral or basic permease activity, suggesting that a common component exists between the neutral and the general systems and between the basic and the general systems.

Escherichia coli regulatory mutation affecting lysine transport and lysine decarboxylase.

A spontaneous thiosine-resistant mutant of Escherichia coli was shown to have the following characteristics: lowered initial rate of lysine uptake and lowered plateau level of accumulation of exogenous lysine by both the lysine-specific and the general basic amino acid transport systems; altered repressibility of these two lysine transport systems; a derepressed level of lysine decarboxylase; normal growth rate; parental levels of lysyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase and the inducible and constitutive arginine and ornithine decarboxylases. Both the mutant (lysP) and its parent (lysP+) feed a lysine auxotroph when they are plated in proximity on solid medium. However, the feeding response was observable after 1 day less of incubation when the mutant was the feeding strain. Despite the derepressed level of lysine decarboxylase in exponential cultures of the mutant extracts of these cultures had no detectable cadaverine pool. Conjugation experiments established the following gene order: gyrA (formerly nalA) lysP metG his. All thiosine-resistant recombinants assayed showed reduced lysine transport. In many of these recombinants the derepression of lysine decarboxylase was not expressed.

Possible site-specific reagent for the general amino acid transport system of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The general amino acid transport system of Saccharomyces cerevisiae functions in the uptake of neutral, basic, and acidic amino acids. The amino acid analogue N-delta-chloroacetyl-L-ornithine (NCAO) has been tested as potential site specific reagent for this system. L-Tryptophan, which is transported exclusively by the general transport system, was used as a substrate. In the presence of glucose as an energy source, NCAO inhibited tryptophan transport competitively (Ki = 80 micrometer) during short time intervals (1-2 min), but adding 100 micrometer NCAO to a yeast cell suspension resulted in a time-dependent activation of tryptophan transport during the first 15 min of treatment. Following the activation a time-dependent decay of tryptophan transport activity occurred. Approximately 80% inactivation of the system was observed after 90 min. When a yeast cell suspension was treated with NCAO in the absence of an energy source, an 80% inactivation of tryptophan transport occurred in 90 min. The inactivation was noncompetitive (Ki congruent to 60 micrometer) and could not be reversed by the removal of the NCAO. Addition of a five-fold excess of L-lysine during NCAO treatment or prevented inactivation of tryptophan transport. Under parallel conditions of incubation, other closely related transport systems were not inhibited by NCAO.

A mutant of Neurorpora deficient in the general (PmG) amino acid transport system

A mutant of Neurorpora deficient in the general (PmG) amino acid transport system

Acidic amino acid transport in Neurospora crassa mycelia

1. 1. l-Aspartate transport activity was optimally induced following 6 h growth on acetate minimal media. 2. 2. The observed aspartate (and glutamate) transport activity was attributed to the general amino acid transport system since l-phenylalanine, but not l-cysteic acid, inhibited transport activity at all pH values tested. 3. 3. Changes in K m values for l-aspartate and l-glutamate transport following growth on acetate minimal media indicated that apparent “affinities” of the “acidic amino acid transport systems” dramatically increased during the stages of active growth.

The kinetics of l-aspartate transport in Neurospora crassa conidia

Transport of the acidic amino acids by Neurospora crassa conidia is shown to be mediated by neutral and general amino acid transport systems. The neutral transport system is shown to possess “high affinity”, but low transport capacity for the acidic amino acids. The general transport system is shown to have “low affinity” and high transport capacity for these amino acids. The non-linearity of a Lineweaver-Burk plot of aspartate transport by the wild type has been shown to result from an overlapping of two transport systems for accumulation of this amino acid. Removal, by mutation, of the neutral transport system restores the transport kinetics to a linear function. The combined, and separate, transport activities are shown to be stereospecific, preferring the l-stereoisomeric form over the d-form, and to transport the neutrally charged species of l-aspartate and l-glutamate. The transport activity is dependent on pH, and the V, but not the C 1 2 , constant of the general transport system is pH dependent. Two models for amino acid transport are presented as possible mechanisms to explain the observed kinetics. One model involves three genetically distinct transport systems. The second model utilizes a single “allosteric permease” to account for the kinetic data.

Histidine Uptake in Strains of Neurospora crassa with Normal and Mutant Transport Systems

Kinetic parameters for three systems of active histidine uptake by germinated conidia of Neurospora crassa have been measured. Each system appears to follow typical Michaelis-Menten kinetics when studied separately from the other systems. Under the conditions studied, the general amino acid transport system was found to account for the major portion of histidine uptake from low concentrations. Three types of transport mutants with altered growth inhibition patterns were selected in a histidine auxotroph. Growth of one mutant, type bas(a), could be inhibited by the addition of methionine to a histidine-supplemented medium, and another type, neu(a), could be inhibited by the addition of arginine. These mutants were shown to be lacking active histidine uptake by the basic amino acid and neutral amino acid transport systems, respectively. Another type of double mutant (his-3, neu(r)) could be inhibited only by the addition of very high concentrations of methionine in the presence of arginine and histidine, and the mutation appeared to have altered the specificity of the neutral amino acid permease.

Ureidosuccinic acid uptake in yeast and some aspects of its regulation.

Ureidosuccinic acid (USA) is an intermediary product in pyrimidine biosynthesis. When proline was the sole nitrogen source, USA uptake occurred; however, when ammonium sulfate or glutamic acid was the nitrogen source, uptake was inhibited. Thus, a ura2 strain which does not synthesize USA would not grow when this substance was supplied on an ammonium sulfate or glutamic acid medium. Mutants are described in which uptake was constitutive on such a medium. Permeaseless mutants for USA have been found, and evidence is presented for permease specificity. It is shown that all constitutive mutants use the same transport system that is missing in the permeaseless mutant. These mutants are constitutive for two permeases: the specific USA permease and the general amino acid permease. The transport system studied here, like the general amino acid transport system, is regulated by nitrogen metabolism. These facts and others suggest that our permease constitutive mutants are impaired in nitrogen metabolism.