Glutamine Synthetase Mutants Research Articles

All Driven by Energy Demand? Integrative Comparison of Metabolism of Enterococcus faecalis Wildtype and a Glutamine Synthase Mutant.

ABSTRACTLactic acid bacteria (LAB) play a significant role in biotechnology, e.g., food industry and also in human health. Many LAB genera have developed a multidrug resistance in the past few years, causing a serious problem in controlling hospital germs worldwide. Enterococcus faecalis accounts for a large part of the human infections caused by LABs. Therefore, studying its adaptive metabolism under various environmental conditions is particularly important to promote the development of new therapeutic approaches. In this study, we investigated the effect of glutamine auxotrophy (ΔglnA mutant) on metabolic and proteomic adaptations of E. faecalis in response to a changing pH in its environment. Changing pH values are part of the organism’s natural environment in the human body and play a role in the food industry. We compared the results with those of the wildtype. Using a genome-scale metabolic model constrained by metabolic and proteomic data, our integrative method allows us to understand the bigger picture of the adaptation strategies of this bacterium. The study showed that energy demand is the decisive factor in adapting to a new environmental pH. The energy demand of the mutant was higher at all conditions. It has been reported that ΔglnA mutants of bacteria are energetically less effective. With the aid of our data and model we are able to explain this phenomenon as a consequence of a failure to regulate glutamine uptake and the costs for the import of glutamine and the export of ammonium. Methodologically, it became apparent that taking into account the nonspecificity of amino acid transporters is important for reproducing metabolic changes with genome-scale models because it affects energy balance.IMPORTANCE The integration of new pH-dependent experimental data on metabolic uptake and release fluxes, as well as of proteome data with a genome-scale computational model of a glutamine synthetase mutant of E. faecalis is used and compared with those of the wildtype to understand why glutamine auxotrophy results in a less efficient metabolism and how—in comparison with the wildtype—the glutamine synthetase knockout impacts metabolic adjustments during acidification or simply exposure to lower pH. We show that forced glutamine auxotrophy causes more energy demand and that this is likely due to a disregulated glutamine uptake. Proteome changes during acidification observed for the mutant resemble those of the wildtype with the exception of glycolysis-related genes, as the mutant is already energetically stressed at a higher pH and the respective proteome changes were in effect.

Glutamine synthetase mutations that cause glutamine deficiency: mechanistic insights from molecular dynamics simulations

Glutamine synthetase mutations that cause glutamine deficiency: mechanistic insights from molecular dynamics simulations

Metabolic profiling of maize mutants deficient for two glutamine synthetase isoenzymes using 1H‐NMR‐based metabolomics

Maize mutants deficient for the expression of two genes encoding cytosolic glutamine synthetase (GS) isoenzymes GS1.3 and GS1.4 displayed reduced kernel number and kernel size, respectively, the effect of the mutation being cumulative in the double mutant. However, at maturity, shoot biomass production was not modified in all the mutants, indicating that the reaction catalysed by the enzyme is specifically involved in the control of grain yield. To examine the physiological impact of the GS mutations on the leaf metabolic profile during the kernel filling period, during which nitrogen is remobilized from the shoots to be further exported to the kernels. An (1)H-NMR spectroscopy metabolomic was applied to the investigation of metabolic change of the gln1.3, gln1.4 and gln1.3/1.4 double mutant. In the three GS mutants, an increase in the amount of several N-containing metabolites such as asparagine, alanine, threonine and phophatidylcholine was observed whatever the level of nitrogen fertilisation. In addition, we found an accumulation of phenylalanine and tyrosine, two metabolites involved the primary steps of the phenylpropanoid pathway. Changes in the metabolic profile of the GS mutants suggest that, when cytosolic GS activity is strongly reduced, either alternative metabolic pathways participate in the reassimilation of ammonium released during leaf protein remobilization or that premature leaf senescence is induced when kernel set and kernel filling are affected. The accumulation of phenylalanine and tyrosine in the mutant plants indicates that lignin biosynthesis is altered, thus possibly affecting ear development.

Protection Elicited by Two Glutamine Auxotrophs of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and In Vivo Growth Phenotypes of the Four Unique Glutamine Synthetase Mutants in a Murine Model

We generated four individual glutamine synthetase (GS) mutants (DeltaglnA1, DeltaglnA2, DeltaglnA3, and DeltaglnA4) and one triple mutant (DeltaglnA1EA2) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to investigate the roles of GS enzymes. Subcutaneous immunization with the DeltaglnA1EA2 and DeltaglnA1 glutamine auxotrophic mutants conferred protection on C57BL/6 mice against an aerosol challenge with virulent M. tuberculosis, which was comparable to that provided by Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccination.

Role of the Fusarium fujikuroi TOR Kinase in Nitrogen Regulation and Secondary Metabolism

In Fusarium fujikuroi, the biosynthesis of gibberellins (GAs) and bikaverin is under control of AreA-mediated nitrogen metabolite repression. Thus far, the signaling components acting upstream of AreA and regulating its nuclear translocation are unknown. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the target of rapamycin (TOR) proteins, Tor1p and Tor2p, are key players of nutrient-mediated signal transduction to control cell growth. In filamentous fungi, probably only one TOR kinase-encoding gene exists. However, nothing is known about its function. Therefore, we investigated the role of TOR in the GA-producing fungus F. fujikuroi in order to determine whether TOR plays a role in nitrogen regulation, especially in the regulation of GA and bikaverin biosynthesis. We cloned and characterized the F. fujikuroi tor gene. However, we were not able to create knockout mutants, suggesting that TOR is essential for viability. Inhibition of TOR by rapamycin affected the expression of AreA-controlled secondary metabolite genes for GA and bikaverin biosynthesis, as well as genes involved in transcriptional and translational regulation, ribosome biogenesis, and autophagy. Deletion of fpr1 encoding the FKBP12-homologue confirmed that the effects of rapamycin are due to the specific inhibition of TOR. Interestingly, the expression of most of the TOR target genes has been previously shown to be also affected in the glutamine synthetase mutant, although in the opposite way. We demonstrate here for the first time in a filamentous fungus that the TOR kinase is involved in nitrogen regulation of secondary metabolism and that rapamycin affects also the expression of genes involved in translation control, ribosome biogenesis, carbon metabolism, and autophagy.

Site-directed mutagenesis of Cys-92 from the α-polypeptide of Phaseolus vulgaris glutamine synthetase reveals that this highly conserved residue is not essential for enzyme activity but it is involved in thermal stability

The residue Cys-92 from the α-polypeptide of Phaseolus vulgaris glutamine synthetase is a highly conserved residue in prokaryotic and eukaryotic glutamine synthetase genes. This cysteine residue was previously proposed as a good candidate for being essential for enzyme activity. We have examined through heterologous expression in Escherichia coli and site-directed mutagenesis the functional importance of this residue. We have found that the thiol group of Cys-92 is not essential either for glutamine synthetase biosynthetic or transferase enzyme activities. The characteristic inhibition by p-hydroxymercuribenzoate (a specific sulphydryl reagent) was not substantially altered as a consequence of replacement of Cys-92 by Ala. Immunoreactivity of the glutamine synthetase mutant protein, examined both under native and denaturing conditions, was similar to the wild-type, indicating that no significant conformational changes were produced as a consequence of the introduced mutation. However, the mutant enzyme C92A was considerably less stable than the wild-type. These results indicate that Cys-92 is not an essential residue for enzyme activity but it is important for stability of the glutamine synthetase protein.

Site-directed mutagenesis of Glu-297 from the alpha-polypeptide of Phaseolus vulgaris glutamine synthetase alters kinetic and structural properties and confers resistance to L-methionine sulfoximine.

In this paper we examine the functionality of Glu-297 from the alpha-polypeptide of Phaseolus vulgaris glutamine synthetase (EC 6.3.1.2). For this purpose, the gln alpha cDNA was recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli, and site-directed mutants constructed, in which this residue was replaced by alanine. The level of glutamine synthetase transferase catalytic activity in the mutant strain was 70-fold lower while biosynthetic activity remained practically unaffected. Kinetic parameters for both enzyme activities were not greatly altered except for the Km for ammonium in biosynthetic activity, which increased 100-fold. A similar result was reported when mutagenizing Glu-327 from E. coli glutamine synthetase, a residue shown to be present at the active site. This suggests that the Glu residue mutated in the higher-plant enzyme could develop a similar catalytic role to that of bacteria. Another characteristic feature of the mutant protein was its higher resistance to inhibition of the biosynthetic activity by L-methionine sulfoximine, a typical inhibitor of glutamine synthetase. In addition, we show that immunoreactivity of the glutamine synthetase mutant protein, both under native and denaturing conditions, is similar to the wild type, indicating that no deep conformational changes were produced as a consequence of the introduced mutation. However, structural changes in the active site can be predicted from alterations detected in the behaviour of the mutant protein towards affinity chromatography on 2',5'-ADP-Sepharose, as compared to the wild type. Nevertheless, complementation of an E. coli glnA mutation indicated that the E297A mutant enzyme was physiologically functional.

Leaf-Atmosphere NH3 Exchange in Barley Mutants with Reduced Activities of Glutamine Synthetase.

Mutants of barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv Maris Mink) with 47 or 66% of the glutamine synthetase (GS) activity of the wild type were used for studies of NH3 exchange with the atmosphere. Under normal light and temperature conditions, tissue NH4+ concentrations were higher in the two mutants compared with wild-type plants, and this was accompanied by higher NH3 emission from the leaves. The emission of NH3 increased with increasing leaf temperatures in both wild-type and mutant plants, but the increase was much more pronounced in the mutants. Similar results were found when the light intensity (photosynthetic photon flux density) was increased. Compensation points for NH3 were estimated by exposing intact shoots to 10 nmol NH3 mol-1 air under conditions with increasing temperatures until the plants started to emit NH3. Referenced to 25[deg]C, the compensation points were 5.0 nmol mol-1 for wild-type plants, 8.3 nmol mol-1 for 47% GS mutants, and 11.8 nmol mol-1 for 66% GS mutants. Compensation points for NH3 in single, nonsenescent leaves were estimated on the basis of apoplastic pH and NH4+ concentrations. These values were 0.75, 3.46, and 7.72 nmol mol-1 for wild type, 47% GS mutants, and 66% GS mutants, respectively. The 66% GS mutant always showed higher tissue NH4+ concentrations, NH3 emission rates, and NH3 compensation points compared with the 47% GS mutant, indicating that NH4+ release was curtailed by some kind of compensatory mechanism in plants with only 47% GS activity.

Ammonia exchange between plants and the atmosphere: Effects of ammonium supply to the roots, dark-induced senescence and reduced GS activity

Ammonia exchange with the atmosphere was studied in barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Golf) grown in nutrient solution. Ammonia emission from the leaves was evident when NH4+ was taken up by the roots or when the plants had been subjected to darkness for 3 to 7 days. Also NH4+ concentrations in shoot and root tissues increased with these treatments while the activity of the ammonium assimilating enzyme glutamine synthetase (GS) increased in the roots with increasing NH4+ concentrations supplied to the medium and decreased in both shoot and root after 3 days of dark-induced senescence.Barley mutant plants (cv. Maris Mink) with only 66 or 47% of normal GS activity showed higher tissue NH4+ concentrations, higher NH3 emission and a greater sensitivity to increased temperature than wild type barley plants. The 66% GS mutant always showed higher NH3 emission compared to plants with the lowest GS activity (47%). probably due to a mechanism preventing tissue NH4+ concentrations from increasing too much. Apoplastic NH4+ and pH also increased in the GS mutants and estimated compensation points for NH3 were higher compared to wild type plants.

A glutamine synthetase mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae shows defect in cell wall.

To study the organization and biosynthesis of the yeast cell wall, hypo-osmolarity-sensitive mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were analyzed. Cells of JS4 were irregular in shape and fragile. Calcofluor staining and quantitative analysis indicated that the chitin content was reduced. By DNA cloning and genetic analysis, the mutation hpo1-1 was found to be allelic to GLN1 which encodes glutamine synthetase. The glutamine content was significantly low in JS4, and the mutant was recovered from the cell wall defect by supplying glutamine in the medium. Partial inhibition of glutamine synthetase by phosphinothricin also induced defects in the cell wall. These results indicate that the shortage of glutamine affects cell wall integrity prior to other cellular functions.

Control of photosynthesis in barley mutants with reduced activities of glutamine synthetase and glutamate synthase

Heterozygous mutants of barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Maris Mink) with decreased activities of chloroplastic glutamine synthetase (GS) between 97 and 47% of the wild type and ferredoxin dependent glutamate synthase (Fd-GOGAT) down to 64% of the wild type have been used to study aspects of glyoxylate metabolism and the effect of glyoxylate on the activation state of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) in vivo. In the leaf, the extractable activities of serine:glyoxylate aminotransferase decreased with a decrease in GS whereas activities of glutamate and alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase increased, pointing to a re direction of amino donors from serine to glutamate and alanine. Under ambient conditions, the leaf contents of glutamate and alanine declined continuously with a decrease in GS, in parallel with the decrease in total amino acids. Glycine, serine and asparagine contents decreased with a decrease in GS to approximately 70% of the wild type, but increased again with a further decrease in GS. At high irradiances and at low CO2 concentrations, glyoxylate contents exhibited a pronounced minimum between 60% and 80% GS. With a further decrease in GS, glyoxylate contents recovered and approached values similar to the wild type. The activation state of Rubisco showed a negative correlation with glyoxylate contents, indicating that a decrease in GS feeds back on the first step of carbon assimilation and photorespiration. The activation state of stromal fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase was unaffected by a decrease in GS or Fd-GOGAT, whereas the activation state of NADP dependent malate dehydrogenase changed in a complex manner. The CO2photocompensation point, Γ*, was appreciably increased in mutants with 47% GS. ‘Mitochondrial respiration’ in the light (Rd) was reduced with a decrease in GS. Relative rates of CO2 release into CO2-free air between the wild type and the 47%-GS mutant correlated with determinations of Γ*. These data are consistent with the view that when GS is decreased there is an increased oxidative decarboxylation of glyoxylate resulting from a decreased availability of amino donors for the transamination of glyoxylate to glycine, and that when GS activities are lower than 70% of the wild type an additional mechanism operates to reduce the photorespiratory loss of ammonia.

Regeneration of catalytic activity of glutamine synthetase mutants by chemical activation: Exploration of the role of arginines 339 and 359 in activity

In order to understand the nature of ATP and L-glutamate binding to glutamine synthetase, and the involvement of Arg 339 and Arg 359 in catalysis, these amino acids were changed to cysteine via site-directed mutagenesis. Individual mutations (Arg-->Cys) at positions 339 and 359 led to a sharp drop in catalytic activity. Additionally, the Km values for the substrates ATP and glutamate were elevated substantially above the values for wild-type (WT) enzyme. Each cysteine was in turn chemically modified to an arginine "analog" to attempt to "rescue" catalytic activity by covalent modification; 2-chloroacetamidine (CA) (producing a thioether) and 2,2'-dithiobis (acetamidine)(DTBA) (producing a disulfide) were the reagents used to effect these chemical transformations. Upon reaction with CA, both R339C and R359C mutants showed a significant regain of catalytic activity (50% and 70% of WT, respectively) and a drop in Km value for ATP close to that for WT enzyme. With DTBA, chemically modified R339C had a greater kcat than WT glutamine synthetase, but chemically modified R359C only regained a small amount of activity. Modification with DTBA was quantitative for each mutant and each modified enzyme had similar Km values for both ATP and glutamate. The high catalytic activity of DTBA-modified R339C could be reversed to that of unmodified R339C by treatment with dithiothreitol, as expected for a modified enzyme containing a disulfide bond. Modification of each cysteine-containing mutant to a lysine "analog" was accomplished using 3-bromopropylamine (BPA).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Characterization of the glutamyl-tRNA(Gln)-to-glutaminyl-tRNA(Gln) amidotransferase reaction of Bacillus subtilis.

In Bacillus subtilis, the formation of glutaminyl-tRNA is accomplished by first charging tRNA(Gln) with glutamate, which is then amidated. Glutamine was preferred over asparagine and ammonia as the amide donor in vitro. There is a functional analogy of this reaction to that catalyzed by glutamine synthetase. Homogeneous glutamine synthetase, from either B. subtilis or Escherichia coli, catalyzed the amidotransferase reaction but only about 3 to 5% as well as a partially purified preparation from B. subtilis. Several classes of glutamine synthetase mutants of B. subtilis, however, were unaltered in the amidotransferase reaction. In addition, there was no inhibition by inhibitors of either glutamine synthetase or other amidotransferases. A unique, rather labile activity seems to be required for this reaction.

Altered regulation of the glnA gene in glutamine synthetase mutants of Bacillus subtilis.

Expression of beta-galactosidase by Bacillus subtilis strains carrying transcriptional fusions of the glnA promoter region to the Escherichia coli lacZ gene was found to be regulated by the nitrogen source in glnA+ strains. The pattern of regulation was the same as that for glutamine synthetase (GS); the strongest repression was seen when glutamine was present in the medium. To see this regulation it was necessary for the fusion to be in low copy number, a condition achieved by forcing integration into the chromosome. We constructed a strain carrying a deletion mutation (glnA200) that removes part of the 5' end of the glnA structural gene. This strain did not produce any detectable GS activity or measurable GS antigen. We introduced this mutation and other glnA mutations (glnA73, glnA93, and glnA100) into strains carrying glnA-lacZ fusions. When the strains were grown with glutamine as the nitrogen source, beta-galactosidase activity was found to be derepressed. These results indicate that functional glnA gene product is required for the regulation of transcription from the glnA promoter. This supports the conclusion of our previous studies of the B. subtilis glnA gene cloned in E. coli. Additional factors may also be involved in glnA control. In particular, our results suggest that a 500-base-pair sequence of DNA between the promoter region and the start of the glnA structural gene plays a role in regulation; strains carrying this region within the glnA-lacZ fusion and unable to produce functional GS exhibited only partially derepressed beta-galactosidase levels when grown in the presence of glutamine.

Effect of the gln-1b mutation on nitrogen metabolite repression in Neurospora crassa.

In Neurospora crassa, synthesis of the enzymes of nitrate assimilation, nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase, was repressed by the presence of ammonium, glutamate, or glutamine. This phenomenon was a manifestation of the regulatory process termed nitrogen metabolite repression whereby alternative pathways of nitrogen acquisition are not expressed in cells enjoying nitrogen sufficiency. However, the glutamine synthetase mutant gln-1b had derepressed levels of the nitrate assimilation enzymes. The inability of glutamine to achieve nitrogen metabolite repression in this mutant militated against its potential role as the direct effector of this regulation.

Ammonia assimilation and nitrogen fixation in Rhizobium meliloti

The enzymes involved in ammonia assimilation by Rhizobium meliloti 4l and their role in the regulation of nitrogen metabolism were studied. Glutamine synthetase (GS) and glutamate synthase (GOGAT) were present at relatively high levels in cells grown in media containing either low or high concentrations of ammonia. NADP-linked glutamate dehydrogenase could not be detected. GOGAT and GS mutants were isolated and characterised. A mutant lacking GOGAT activity did not grow even on high concentrations of ammonia, it was a glutamate auxotroph and was effective in symbiotic nitrogen fixation. The GS and assimilatory nitrate reductase activities of this mutant were not repressible by ammonia but still repressible by casamino acids. A mutant with low GS activity required glutamine for optimal growth. It was ineffective and its nitrate reductase was not inducible. These findings indicate that ammonia is assimilated via the GS/GOGAT pathway in free-living R. meliloti and bacterial GOGAT is not important in symbiosis. Furthermore, GS is suggested to be a controlling element in the nitrogen metabolism of R. meliloti.