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Pyruvyl modification of oligosaccharides is widely seen in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Although the biosynthetic mechanisms of pyruvylation have been investigated, enzymes that metabolize and degrade pyruvylated oligosaccharides are not well known. Here, we searched for a pyruvylated galactose (PvGal)-releasing enzyme by screening soil samples. We identified a Bacillus strain, as confirmed by the 16S ribosomal RNA gene analysis, that exhibited PvGal-ase activity toward p-nitrophenyl-β-D-pyruvylated galactopyranose (pNP-β-D-PvGal). Draft genome sequencing of this strain, named HMA207, identified three candidate genes encoding potential PvGal-ases, among which only the recombinant protein encoded by ORF1119 exhibited PvGal-ase activity. Although ORF1119 protein displayed broad substrate specificity for pNP sugars, pNP-β-D-PvGal was the most favorable substrate. The optimum pH for the ORF1119 PvGal-ase was determined as 7.5. A BLAST search suggested that ORF1119 homologs exist widely in bacteria. Among two homologs tested, BglC from Clostridium but not BglH from Bacillus showed PvGal-ase activity. Crystal structural analysis together with point mutation analysis revealed crucial amino acids for PvGal-ase activity. Moreover, ORF1119 protein catalyzed the hydrolysis of PvGal from galactomannan of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, suggesting that natural polysaccharides might be substrates of the PvGal-ase. This novel PvGal-catalyzing enzyme might be useful for glycoengineering projects to produce new oligosaccharide structures.

Polyphosphate kinase 1 (Ppk1) catalyzes reverse transfer of the terminal phosphate from ATP to form polyphosphate (polyP) and from polyP to form ATP, and is responsible for the synthesis of most of cellular polyPs. When Ppk1 from Myxococcus xanthus was incubated with 0.2 mM polyP 60-70 and 1 mM ATP or ADP, the rate of ATP synthesis was approximately 1.5-fold higher than that of polyP synthesis. If in the same reaction the proportion of ADP in the ATP/ADP mixture exceeded one-third, the equilibrium shifted to ATP synthesis, suggesting that M. xanthus Ppk1 preferentially catalyzed ATP formation. At the same time, GTP and GDP were not recognized as substrates by Ppk1. In the absence of polyP, Ppk1 generated ATP and AMP from ADP, and ADP from ATP and AMP, suggesting that the enzyme catalyzed the transfer of a phosphate group between ADP molecules yielding ATP and AMP, thus exhibiting adenylate kinase activity.

As a constituent of polysaccharides and glycoconjugates, β-d-galactofuranose (Galf) exists in several pathogenic microorganisms. Although we recently identified a β-d-galactofuranosidase (Galf-ase) gene, ORF1110, in the Streptomyces strain JHA19, very little is known about the Galf-ase gene. Here, we characterized a strain, named JHA26, in the culture supernatant of which exhibited Galf-ase activity for 4-nitrophenyl β-d-galactofuranoside (pNP-β-d-Galf) as a substrate. Draft genome sequencing of the JHA26 strain revealed a putative gene, termed ORF0643, that encodes Galf-ase containing a PA14 domain, which is thought to function in substrate recognition. The recombinant protein expressed in Escherichia coli showed the Galf-specific Galf-ase activity and also released galactose residue of the polysaccharide galactomannan prepared from Aspergillus fumigatus, suggesting that this enzyme is an exo-type Galf-ase. BLAST searches using the amino acid sequences of ORF0643 and ORF1110 Galf-ases revealed two types of Galf-ases in Actinobacteria, suggesting that Galf-specific Galf-ases may exhibit discrete substrate specificities.

Myxococcus xanthus has two bacterial protein-tyrosine (BY) kinases, BtkA and BtkB. Autophosphorylation in C-terminal tyrosine-rich clusters and poly(Glu, Tyr) kinase activities of cytoplasmic catalytic domains of BtkA and BtkB were activated by the intracellular juxtamembrane regions of the second transmembrane helices. Protein kinase activity against poly(Glu, Tyr) of cytoplasmic fragment of BtkB (CF-BtkB) containing an activator region was not inhibited by serine/threonine protein kinase inhibitors. However, addition of tyrosine protein kinase inhibitors, genistein and 4-amino-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-7-(t-butyl)pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine (PP2), at a concentration of 0.2 mM, inhibited the CF-BtkB kinase activity by 20 and 64%, respectively. A CF-BtkB mutant constructed by replacing all C-terminal tyrosine residues with phenylalanines, did not undergo autophosphorylation. Further, this mutation did not significantly affect poly(Glu, Tyr) kinase activity, suggesting that M. xanthus BtkB kinase activity is not dependent on autophosphorylation in the C-terminal tyrosine cluster. A conserved motif (ExxRxxR) of BY kinases is involved in the self-association of catalytic domains of BY kinases, necessary to accomplish trans-phosphorylation. An ExxRxxR motif mutant of CF-BtkB led to loss of autophosphorylation and poly(Glu, Tyr) kinase activities. These observations provide insights into the regulation mechanism of M. xanthus BY kinase activity., (© The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Japanese Biochemical Society. All rights reserved.)

β-D-galactofuranose (Galf) is a component of polysaccharides and glycoconjugates and its transferase has been well analyzed. However, no β-D-galactofuranosidase (Galf-ase) gene has been identified in any organism. To search for a Galf-ase gene we screened soil samples and discovered a strain, identified as a Streptomyces species by the 16S ribosomal RNA gene analysis, that exhibits Galf-ase activity for 4-nitrophenyl β-D-galactofuranoside (pNP-β-D-Galf) in culture supernatants. By draft genome sequencing of the strain, named JHA19, we found four candidate genes encoding Galf-ases. Using recombinant proteins expressed in Escherichia coli, we found that three out of four candidates displayed the activity of not only Galf-ase but also α-L-arabinofuranosidase (Araf-ase), whereas the other one showed only the Galf-ase activity. This novel Galf-specific hydrolase is encoded by ORF1110 and has an optimum pH of 5.5 and a Km of 4.4 mM for the substrate pNP-β-D-Galf. In addition, this enzyme was able to release galactose residue from galactomannan prepared from the filamentous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus, suggesting that natural polysaccharides could be also substrates. By the BLAST search using the amino acid sequence of ORF1110 Galf-ase, we found that there are homolog genes in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, indicating that Galf-specific Galf-ases widely exist in microorganisms.

We characterized the activities of the Myxococcus xanthus ApaH-like phosphatases PrpA and ApaH, which share homologies with both phosphoprotein phosphatases and diadenosine tetraphosphate (Ap4A) hydrolases. PrpA exhibited a phosphatase activity towards p-nitrophenyl phosphate (pNPP), tyrosine phosphopeptide and tyrosine-phosphorylated protein, and a weak hydrolase activity towards ApnA and ATP. In the presence of Mn(2+), PrpA hydrolyzed Ap4A into AMP and ATP, whereas in the presence of Co(2+) PrpA hydrolyzed Ap4A into two molecules of ADP. ApaH exhibited high phosphatase activity towards pNPP, and hydrolase activity towards ApnA and ATP. Mn(2+) was required for ApaH-mediated pNPP dephosphorylation and ATP hydrolysis, whereas Co(2+) was required for ApnA hydrolysis. Thus, PrpA and ApaH may function mainly as a tyrosine protein phosphatase and an ApnA hydrolase, respectively., (Copyright © 2014 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A Myxococcus xanthus DspA contains 12 subdomains characteristic of eukaryotic-like protein kinases but with an atypical sequence, RDxSPHN, in the catalytic loop, different from the consensus motifs observed in Ser/Thr kinases (RDxKxxN) or Tyr kinases (RDx(A/R)A(A/R)N). DspA phosphorylated myelin basic protein (MBP) on Ser and Thr residues. Mutations of the SPHN motif within the catalytic loop to KPHN or KPEN for Ser/Thr kinases, AARN for Tyr kinases and TPHN or TSHN for Dictyostelium Tyr kinases markedly reduced autophosphorylation and kinase activities. Phosphorylation assays, Western blot analysis and mutational analysis revealed that DspA is a dual-specificity kinase that autophosphorylates on two Thr residues (Thr-199 and Thr-201) in the activation loop and two Tyr residues (Tyr-35 and Tyr-111). RD kinases such as DspA are activated by phosphorylation in the activation loop. Replacement of Thr-199 or/and Thr-201 in the DspA activation loop by alanine also almost abolished autophosphorylation and kinase activities. In addition, mutation of either Tyr-35 or Tyr-111 to phenylalanine decreased kinase activities against MBP, and double mutation abolished kinase activity. These results suggested that DspA is activated by dual autophosphorylation of Thr residues in the activation loop, and autophosphorylation on two Tyr residues of DspA are required for high-level kinase activity.

The Myxococcus xanthus protein phosphatase Pph3 belongs to the Mg(2+)- or Mn(2+)-dependent protein phosphatase (PPM) family. Bacterial PPMs contain three divalent metal ions and a flap subdomain. Putative metal- or phosphate-ion binding site-specific mutations drastically reduced enzymatic activity. Pph3 contains a cyclic nucleotide monophosphate (cNMP)-binding domain in the C-terminal region, and it requires 2-mercaptoethanol for phosphatase activity; however, the C-terminal deletion mutant showed high activity in the absence of 2-mercaptoethanol. The phosphatase activity of the wild-type enzyme was higher in the presence of cAMP than in the absence of cAMP, whereas a triple mutant of the cNMP-binding domain showed slightly lower activities than those of wild-type, without addition of cAMP. In addition, mutational disruption of a disulphide bond in the wild-type enzyme increased the phosphatase activity in the absence of 2-mercaptoethanol, but not in the C-terminal deletion mutant. These results suggested that the presence of the C-terminal region may lead to the formation of the disulphide bond in the catalytic domain, and that disulphide bond cleavage of Pph3 by 2-mercaptoethanol may occur more easily with cAMP bound than with no cAMP bound.

A Myxococcus xanthus cytoplasmic bacterial tyrosine kinase, BtkA, showed phosphorylation activity in the presence of Exo. Phosphorylated BtkA was expressed late after starvation induction and early after glycerol induction. The btkA mutant was unable to complete maturation to heat- and sonication-resistant spores under both starvation- and glycerol-induced developmental conditions.

An adenylyl cyclase gene (cyaA) present upstream of an osmosensor protein gene (mokA) was isolated from Myxococcus xanthus. cyaA encoded a polypeptide of 843 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 91,187 Da. The predicted cyaA gene product had structural similarity to the receptor-type adenylyl cyclases that are composed of an amino-terminal sensor domain and a carboxy-terminal catalytic domain of adenylyl cyclase. In reverse transcriptase PCR experiments, the transcript of the cyaA gene was detected mainly during development and spore germination. A cyaA mutant, generated by gene disruption, showed normal growth, development, and germination. However, a cyaA mutant placed under conditions of ionic (NaCl) or nonionic (sucrose) osmostress exhibited a marked reduction in spore formation and spore germination. When wild-type and cyaA mutant cells at developmental stages were stimulated with 0.2 M NaCl or sucrose, the mutant cells increased cyclic AMP accumulation at levels similar to those of the wild-type cells. In contrast, the mutant cells during spore germination had mainly lost the ability to respond to high-ionic osmolarity. In vegetative cells, the cyaA mutant responded normally to osmotic stress. These results suggested that M. xanthus CyaA functions mainly as an ionic osmosensor during spore germination and that CyaA is also required for osmotic tolerance in fruiting formation and sporulation.

A gene, mokA, encoding a protein with similarities to histidine kinase-response regulator hybrid sensor, was cloned from a Myxococcus xanthus genomic library. The predicted mokA gene product was found to contain three domains: an amino-terminal input domain, a central transmitter domain, and a carboxy-terminal receiver domain. mokA mutants placed under starvation conditions exhibited reduced sporulation. Mutation of mokA also caused marked growth retardation at high osmolarity. These results indicated that M. xanthus MokA is likely a transmembrane sensor that is required for development and osmotic tolerance. The putative function of MokA is similar to that of the hybrid histidine kinase, DokA, of the eukaryotic slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum.

The transglycosylation activity of endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase from Arthrobacter protophormiae was used for the enzymatic synthesis of novel oligosaccharides. When (Man)6(GlcNAc)2Asn was used as a substrate for the transglycosylation, (Man)6GlcNAc-Glc, (Man)6GlcNAc-Man, (Man)6GlcNAc-chitobiose, and (Man)6GlcNAc-gentiobiose were synthesized. Their structures were identified by HPLC, ion spray mass spectrometry, and digestion with glycosidases. Endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidases hydrolyzed the pyridylamino derivatives of these oligosaccharides.

A Cellulomonas sp. isolated from soil produced a novel lyase that degraded the acidic polysaccharide of Fusarium sp. M7-1 with the formation of mannose and O-beta-D-mannopyranosyl-(1----2)-D-mannose. DEAE-Toyopearl 650M column chromatography showed three lyase activity peaks (fractions I, II, and III). The major fraction was purified to homogeneity by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis, and its molecular weight was 74,000. The optimum pH was 6.5 to 8.0 and the stable pH range was 6.0 to 8.0. The purified enzyme did not degrade glucuronic or galacturonic acid-containing polysaccharides such as chondroitin, hyaluronic acid, pectin, or pectic acid. However, the purified enzyme specifically degraded various Fusarium and Gibberella acidic polysaccharides, and unsaturated sugars were produced with the release of mannose and O-beta-D-mannopyranosyl-(1----2)-D-mannose. These results suggest that the acidic polysaccharides derived from Fusarium and Gibberella have similar structures.