Role In Carbon Catabolite Repression Research Articles

Glucose kinase has a regulatory role in carbon catabolite repression in Streptomyces coelicolor

A glucose kinase (glkA) mutant of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) M145 was selected by the ability to grow in the presence of the nonmetabolizable glucose analog 2-deoxyglucose. In this glkA mutant, carbon catabolite repression of glycerol kinase and agarase was relieved on several carbon sources tested, even though most of these carbon sources are not metabolized via glucose kinase. This suggests that catabolite repression is not regulated by the flux through glucose kinase and that the protein itself has a regulatory role in carbon catabolite repression. A 10-fold overproduction of glucose kinase also results in relief of catabolite repression, suggesting that excess glucose kinase can titrate the repressing signal away. This could be achieved directly by competition of excess glucose kinase with its repressing form for binding sites on DNA promoter regions or indirectly by competition for binding of another regulatory protein.

Regulation of the xylanase‐encoding xlnA gene of Aspergilius tubigensis

A gene encoding an endo-1,4-beta-xylanase from Aspergillus tubigensis was cloned by oligonucleotide screening using oligonucleotides derived from amino acid sequence data obtained from the purified protein. The isolated gene was functional as it could be expressed in the very closely related fungus Aspergillus niger. The xylanase encoded by this gene is synthesized as a protein of 211 amino acids. After cleavage of the presumed prepropeptide this results in a mature protein of 184 amino acids with a molecular weight of 19 kDa and an isoelectric point of 3.6. The regulatory region of the xlnA gene was studied with respect to the response to xylan induction and carbon catabolite repression. By deletion analysis of the 5' upstream region of the gene a 158 bp region involved in the xylan specific induction was identified. To study this regulatory element a reporter system for transcriptional activating sequences was developed that is based on the A. niger glucose oxidase-encoding gene. From the results with this reporter system it is concluded that this 158 bp fragment not only contains the information required for induction of transcription but that it also plays a role in carbon catabolite repression of the xlnA gene. The region directly upstream of this fragment contains four potential CREA target sites; deletion of this region leads to an increase in the level of transcription. These results suggest that carbon catabolite repression of the xlnA gene is controlled at two levels, directly by repression of xlnA gene transcription and indirectly by repression of the expression of a transcriptional activator. This type of mechanism would be similar to the double lock mechanism for the regulation of gene expression of alcA in Aspergillus nidulans. The reporter system was also used to study the regulation of expression via the functions located on this fragment in A. niger and in A. nidulans. Essentially the same pattern of regulation was found in both of these hosts. Therefore, regulation of xylanase gene expression is basically conserved in all three aspergilli.

Complementation of snf1, a mutation affecting global regulation of carbon metabolism in yeast, by a plant protein kinase cDNA.

A cDNA, cRKIN1, encoding a putative homologue of the yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) SNF1-encoded protein-serine/threonine kinase, has been isolated from a library prepared from rye endosperm mRNA. Northern blot analysis demonstrated the presence of cRKIN1-related transcripts in developing endosperms but not in shoots, and Southern blot analysis showed the presence of a small gene family. SNF1 plays a central role in carbon catabolite repression in yeast and expression of the RKIN1 sequence in yeast snf1 mutants restored SNF1 function. This suggests that the RKIN1 protein has a role in the control of carbon metabolism in endosperms of rye.

An Unusual Hexose-ATP-Kinase with Two Catalytic Sites and a Role in Carbon Catabolite Repression in the Yeast Schwanniomyces occidentalis

The hexose-ATP-kinase of wild-type Schwanniomyces occidentalis (CBS 819) is, like hexokinase PII of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, associated with carbon catabolite repression and phosphorylates d-glucose and d-fructose. The kinase of Schw. occidentalis repression-resistant (DogR) mutants phosphorylates d-glucose, but not d-fructose. Subjecting the wild-type enzyme to 45 °C for a few minutes appears to alter its activity, specificity and kinetic characteristics to that of the mutant enzyme. Fast protein liquid chromatography, with anion-exchange or gel-filtration columns, gel-electrophoresis, and DNA hybridization with the hexl r mutant of the HXK2 (hexokinase PII) gene of Sacch. cerevisiae, all failed to resolve more than one hexose-ATP-kinase in Schw. occidentalis. Hence Schw. occidentalis appears to have a single hexose-ATP-kinase, M r ∼ 72000, with two catalytic sites, analogous to the aspartate kinase/homoserine dehydrogenase of Escherichia coli. One site is hexokinase-like and associated with catabolite repression and the other is glucokinase-like. Values for apparent K m were 7·2 mm-d-fructose and 0·55 mm-d-glucose (hexokinase site) and 0·078 mm-d-glucose (glucokinase site).

A yeast gene that is essential for release from glucose repression encodes a protein kinase.

The SNF1 gene plays a central role in carbon catabolite repression in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, namely that SNF1 function is required for expression of glucose-repressible genes. The nucleotide sequence of the cloned SNF1 gene was determined, and the predicted amino acid sequence shows that SNF1 encodes a 72,040-dalton polypeptide that has significant homology to the conserved catalytic domain of mammalian protein kinases. Specific antisera were prepared and used to identify the SNF1 protein. The protein was shown to transfer phosphate from adenosine triphosphate to serine and threonine residues in an in vitro autophosphorylation reaction. These findings indicate that SNF1 encodes a protein kinase and suggest that protein phosphorylation plays a critical role in regulation by carbon catabolite repression in eukaryotic cells.