173 6 PHA Synthases: The Key Enzymes of PHA Synthesis Dr. Bernd H. A. Rehm1, Prof. Dr. Alexander Steinb¸chel2 1 Institut f¸r Mikrobiologie, Westf‰lische Wilhelms-Universit‰t M¸nster, Corrensstra˚e 3, D-48149 M¸nster, Germany; Tel.: 49-251-8339848; Fax: 49-251-8338388; E-mail: [email protected] 2 Institut f¸r Mikrobiologie, Westf‰lische Wilhelms-Universit‰t M¸nster, Corrensstra˚e 3, D-48149 M¸nster, Germany; Tel.: 49-251-8339821; Fax: 49-251-8338388; E-mail: [email protected] 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 2 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 3 Cloning Strategies for PHA Synthase Genes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 4 Organization of PHA Synthase Genes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 5 Primary Structures of PHA Synthases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 6 6.1 Secondary and Quaternary Structures of PHA Synthases . . . . . . . . . . . . In vivo versus in vitro Substrate Specificity of PHA Synthases . . . . . . . . . 194 195 7 Development of a Topological Model for PHA Synthases and Analysis of Site-specific Mutants of the PHA Synthases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 8 The Proposed Catalytic Mechanism of PHA Synthases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 9 Factors Determining the Molecular Weight and Composition of PHAs . . . . 203 10 PHA Granules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 11 In vitro Synthesis of PHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 12 Diversion of Intermediates from Central Pathways to PHA Biosynthesis . . . 207 Dateiname: Pfad: Setzer: BPOL3006.3D P:/verlage/wiley/steinbue/9043-V3/ Stindl Status: Datum: 2. AK von Seite 173 bis 215 11 KW., 13. MaÈrz 2002 (Mittwoch) Pagina: Seite: Umfang (Seiten): Auftragsnummer: 3B2-Version: Zeit: 173 1 te von 43 43 9043 6.05d 14:50:51 Uhr 174 6 PHA Synthases: The Key Enzymes of PHA Synthesis 13 Conclusions and Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 14 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 3HB HA ORF PHA Poly(3HB ) 3-hydroxybutyrate hydroxyalkanoic acid open reading frame Polyhydroxyalkanoic acids poly 3-hydroxybutyrate 1 Introduction Polyhydroxyalkanoic acids (PHAs) represent a rather complex class of polyesters that are synthesized by most genera of bacteria and members of the family Halobacteriaceae of the Archaea (Steinb¸chel et al., 1997; Steinb¸chel and F¸chtenbusch, 1998). Most of these prokaryotes synthesize poly(3-hydroxybutyric acid), poly(3HB ), and other PHAs as storage compounds and deposit these polyesters as insoluble inclusions in the cytoplasm. The number of 91 different constituents of PHAs that were recently compiled (Steinb¸chel and Valentin, 1995) has meanwhile been outnumbered, and approximately 150 different hydroxyalkanoic acids are now known to occur as constituents of PHAs. These waterinsoluble PHAs exhibit rather high molecular weights, thermoplastic and/or elastomeric features, and some other interesting physical and material properties. Therefore, and since they are biodegradable (Jendrossek et al., 1996), they are considered for several applications in the packaging industry, medicine, pharmacy, agriculture and food industry, or as raw materials for the synthesis of enantiomerically pure chemicals and the production of paints (Anderson and Dawes, 1990; M¸ller and Seebach, 1993; Hocking and Marchessault; 1994 Steinb¸chel, 1996; Williams et al., 1999; van der Walle et al., 1999). Many prokaryotic and eukaryotic Dateiname: Pfad: Setzer: BPOL3006.3D P:/verlage/wiley/steinbue/9043-V3/ Stindl Status: Datum: 2. AK von Seite 173 bis 215 11 KW., 13. MaÈrz 2002 (Mittwoch) organisms are able to produce low-molecular weight poly(3HB ) molecules that are complexed with other biomolecules and that occur at concentrations which are three to four orders of magnitude less than storage PHAs in the cells (Reusch and Sadoff, 1988). A few eukaryotic microorganisms such as for example Aureobasidium pullulans are able to synthesize the water-soluble polyester polymalic acid which is not synthesized by prokaryotes (Liu and Steinb¸chel, 1996). PHA synthases are the key enzymes of PHA biosynthesis. They use coenzyme A (CoA ) thioesters of hydroxyalkanoic acids (HA ) as substrates and catalyze the polymerization of HAs into PHA with the concomitant release of CoA. After the cloning of the PHA synthase operon of Ralstonia eutropha, approximately 12 years ago in three different laboratories (Schubert et al., 1988; Slater et al., 1988; Peoples and Sinskey, 1989), as many as 54 different PHA synthases (plus one partial PHA synthase gene from Pseudomonas sp.) from in total 44 microorganisms were cloned, and the primary structures of 44 different PHA synthases are available. This contribution provides an update of previously published reviews on the knowledge of the organization of PHA biosynthesis genes, the PHA synthase primary structures, biochemical features of these unique enzymes and their proposed catalytic mechanism (Rehm and Steinb¸chel, 1999; Steinb¸chel and Hein, 2001). Pagina: Seite: Umfang (Seiten): Auftragsnummer: 3B2-Version: Zeit: 174 2 te von 43 43 9043 6.05d 14:50:51 Uhr 3 Cloning Strategies for PHA Synthase Genes 2 Terminology How to refer to the occurrence of homopolyesters, copolyesters and blends of two different polyesters in biological samples has been proposed and is now widely used as terminology (Steinb¸chel et al., 1992). Few publications exist which still refer to light scattering inclusion bodies or lipophilic polymeric materials as poly(3HB ) without performing sufficient chemical analysis, and not taking into account the large number of different types of PHAs. However, PHAs composed of short-chain-length (three to five carbon atoms) or medium chain-length (six to 14 carbon atoms) hydroxyalkanoic acid, the respective CoA thioesters or the substrate range of PHA synthases are indicated by the terms SCL or MCL, respectively, that are used as subscripts (e. g. PHASCL, HAMCLCoA thioesters, PHASCL synthase). The proposed term LCL (more than 14 carbon atoms) has so far not really been required. Suggestions for the designations of genes, which are involved in PHA biosynthesis, auxiliary structural proteins bound to PHA granules and PHA-degrading enzymes, were also accepted and are now mostly used in the literature (Steinb¸chel et al., 1992; Rehm and Steinb¸chel, 1999). Genes coding for proteins involved in the biosynthesis of PHA will be referred in alphabetical order as phaA (b-ketothiolase), phaB (acetoacetyl-CoA reductase), phaC (PHA synthase), phaG (3hydroxyacyl-acyl carrier protein-CoA transacylase), phaJ (enoyl-CoA hydratase), etc., whereas the designation of genes required for the degradation will be referred in opposite alphabetical order such as phaZ for PHA depolymerases, phaY, phaX, phaW, etc. The genes for phasins and regulator proteins should be referred to as phaP and phaR, respectively. It is highly recommended to continue the use of the proposed terms in Dateiname: Pfad: Setzer: BPOL3006.3D P:/verlage/wiley/steinbue/9043-V3/ Stindl Status: Datum: 2. AK von Seite 173 bis 215 11 KW., 13. MaÈrz 2002 (Mittwoch) order to refer to the respective genes or the respective proteins. Due to the large number of genes and proteins involved in PHA metabolism, the large number of different organisms currently under investigation and the many more that will follow, it will be also useful to indicate the origin of a gene or a protein by the first letter of the genus and the species designation and to add these two letters as a subscript. The PHA synthase of R. eutropha will, for example, be referred to as PhaCRe. 3 Cloning Strategies for PHA Synthase Genes To date, eight different strategies have been applied to identify PHA synthase genes and other genes involved in PHA biosynthesis (Table 1, A±H). These approaches are of quite different quality and elegance, and are distinguished with respect to the time and effort required. The successful application depends on several prerequisites and constellations, and few strategies will allow the identification of PHA synthase genes encoding enzymes with unusual and/or novel features. The enzymatic approach (strategy A ) simply screened clones for functional expression of PHA synthase genes involved in PHA biosynthesis. Homologous gene probes were obtained after transposon mutagenesis and were used to identify the respective intact gene of the same genome (strategy B ). Heterologous gene probes, mostly prepared from the well characterized R. eutropha PHA synthase gene, were used to identify corresponding genes in genomic libraries prepared from other bacteria (strategy C ). Similarly, short oligonucleotides designed according to short highly conserved stretches of PHA synthases derived from the multiple alignment of PHA syn- Pagina: Seite: Umfang (Seiten): Auftragsnummer: 3B2-Version: Zeit: 175 3 te von 43 43 9043 6.05d 14:50:52 Uhr 175 176 6 PHA Synthases: The Key Enzymes of PHA Synthesis Tab. 1 Strategies for cloning of PHA synthase genes Strategy Screening technology A B C D Enzymatic analysis Homologous gene probes (hybridization) obtained by transposon mutagenesis Heterologous gene probes (hybridization) obtained from well-characterized genes Consensus oligonucleotides derived from the multiple alignment (hybridization or PCR technique) Oligonucleotides derived from N-terminal or internal amino acid sequence of PHA synthases Opaque colonies or fluorescent colonies (in vivo staining with Nile red) in PHA-negative host after heterologous expression Growth after detoxification of media due to removal of fatty acids Genome sequence analysis and functional assignment of PHA synthase genes Growth in medium without carbon source due to the mobilization of storage polymer E F G H I thases were also successfully employed (strategy D ). In one case, the PHA synthase protein was purified, and oligonucleotides were designed from the N-terminal amino acids sequence to identify the corresponding gene in a genomic library (Strategy E ). The most successful and widely applied strategy, was to screen genomic libraries for phenotypic complementation of a PHAnegative mutant or for conferring the ability to synthesize and accumulate PHA to a PHA-negative wild-type (strategy F ). The PHA-negative mutants PHB-4 (Schlegel et al., 1970) of R. eutropha and GPp104 of Pseudomonas putida (Huisman et al., 1991), a PHA-leaky mutant of P. putida and various strains of E. coli were most widely used. Recently, another interesting strategy (strategy G ) was employed to clone heterologous phaC genes in a PhaC-negative mutant of Rhodobacter capsulatus, utilizing the detoxification of the medium from fatty acids due to their incorporation into PHAs. The increasing number of genome-sequencing projects will provide access to further PHA synthase genes. Since hitherto known PHA synthases are distinguished from other proteins but have a rather high degree of homology to each other (see below), a homology search in the databases will result in the identification of genes encoding homologous proteins which are subsequently cloned by employing the PCR technique (strategy H ) (see also Tables 2 and Bacteria from which PHA synthase genes were cloned and assigned (updated version of Rehm and Steinb¸chel, 1999; Steinb¸chel and Hein, 2001) Tab. 2 Bacterium Accession no. Cloning Reference strategy Acinetobacter sp. RA3849 Aeromonas caviae Alcaligenes latus Alcaligenes sp. SH-69 Allochromatium vinosum D Azorhizobium caulinodans Bacillus megaterium Burkholderia sp. DSMZ9242 Caulobacter crescentus L37761 D88825 AF078795 U78047 L01112 AJ006237 AF109909 AF153089 AY007313 F D F ? C C E F H Dateiname: Pfad: Setzer: BPOL3006.3D P:/verlage/wiley/steinbue/9043-V3/ Stindl Status: Datum: 2. AK von Seite 173 bis 215 11 KW., 13. MaÈrz 2002 (Mittwoch) Schembri et al. (1994) Fukui and Doi (1997) Choi et al. (1998) Lee et al. (1996), unpublished results Liebergesell and Steinb¸chel (1992) Mandon et al. (1998) McCool and Cannon (1999) Rodrigues et al. (2000a) Qi and Rehm (2001) Pagina: Seite: Umfang (Seiten): Auftragsnummer: 3B2-Version: Zeit: 176 4 te von 43 43 9043 6.05d 14:50:52 Uhr 3 Cloning Strategies for PHA Synthase Genes Tab. 2 (cont.) Bacterium Accession no. Cloning Reference strategy Chromobacterium violaceum Comamonas acidovorans Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii N1 Lamprocystis roseopersicina 3112 Methylobacterium extorquens IBT6 Nocardia corallina Paracoccus denitrificans Pseudomonas acidophila Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pseudomonas citronellolis Pseudomonas fluorescens Pseudomonas mendocina Pseudomonas putida KT2442 Pseudomonas putida U Pseudomonas putida BM01 Pseudomonas sp. DSMZ1650 Pseudomonas sp. GP4BH1 Pseudomonas sp. 61-3 C C C F F ? C F D D ? D F B E D D C Kolibachuk et al. (1999) Sudesh et al. (1998) S. Zhang et al. (2000), unpublished results Liebergesell and Steinb¸chel (1993) Valentin and Steinb¸chel (1993) B. Hall et al., unpublished results Ueda et al. (1996) Umeda et al. (1998) Timm and Steinb¸chel (1992) Timm et al. (1994) D. Dennis, unpublished results Timm et al. (1994) Huisman et al. (1991) Garcia et al. (1999) Valentin et al. (1998) Timm et al. (1994) Timm et al. (1994) Matsusaki et al. (1998) Pseudomonas sp. Pseudomonas oleovorans Pseudomonas resinovorans Ralstonia eutropha H16 AF061446 AB009273 AF307334 ± L07893 AF019964 D43764 ± X66592 ± ± ± ± AF150670 AF042276a ± ± AB014757 AB014758 Z80158b M58445 AF129396 A34341 ? F H A,B,C Rhizobium etli Rhodobacter capsulatus Rhodobacter sphaeroides Rhodococcus ruber PP2 Rhodospirillum rubrum Ha Rhodospirillum rubrum ATCC25903 Rickettsia prowazekii Sinorhizobium meliloti 41 Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 Syntrophomonas wolfei Thiocystis violacea 2311 Thiocapsa pfennigii 9111 Vibrio cholerae Zoogloea ramigera U30612 ± X97200 X66407 AJ245888 AF178117 AJ235273 AF031938 Slr1830/29 ± L01113 X93599 AE004398 U66242 C G F F F F ± ? H F C C ± ? J. K. Shin et al. (1996), unpublished results Huisman et al. (1991) Solaiman (2000) Slater et al. (1988); Schubert et al. (1988); Peoples and Sinskey (1989) Cevallos et al. (1996) Kranz et al. (1997) Hustede and Steinb¸chel (1993) Pieper and Steinb¸chel (1992) Clemente et al. (2000) Clemente et al. (2000) Andersson et al. (1998) L. Willis and G. Walker, unpublished results Kaneko et al. (1996); Hein et al. (1998) McInerney et al. (1992) Liebergesell and Steinb¸chel (1993) Liebergesell et al. (2000) Heidelberg et al. (2000) I. Lee et al. (1996), unpublished results a The 533 C-terminal amino acids of PHA synthase PhaC2 are available. b The 90 N-terminal amino acids of the PHA synthase are available. c Assignment was carried out based on amino acid sequence homology. Dateiname: Pfad: Setzer: BPOL3006.3D P:/verlage/wiley/steinbue/9043-V3/ Stindl Status: Datum: 2. AK von Seite 173 bis 215 11 KW., 13. MaÈrz 2002 (Mittwoch) Pagina: Seite: Umfang (Seiten): Auftragsnummer: 3B2-Version: Zeit: 177 5 te von 43 43 9043 6.05d 14:50:53 Uhr 177 178 6 PHA Synthases: The Key Enzymes of PHA Synthesis Bacteria, which partial genomic DNA sequence showed ORFs with strong homology to PHA synthases Tab. 3 Bacterium Accession Homology (% Identity)a Pseudomonas syringae www.tigr.com - colocalized ORFs Burkholderia cepacia www.jgi.doe.gov contig630, contig318 (not colocalized ORFs) Burkholderia pseudomallei www.sanger.ac.uk - shotgun (not colocalized ORFs) Rhodopseudomonas palustris www.jgi.doe.gov contig59, contig58 (not colocalized ORFs) Magnetospirillum magnetotacticum www.jgi.doe.gov 1. PhaC1 from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (75%) 2. PhaC2 from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (60%) 1. PhaC from Azorhizobium caulinodans (39%) 2. PhaC from Burkholderia sp. DSMZ 9242 (80%) 1. PhaC from Rhodococcus ruber (40%) 2. PhaC from Burkholderia sp. DSMZ 9242 (90%) 1. PhaC from Ralstonia eutropha H16 (42%) 2. PhaC from Azorhizobium caulinodans (59%) 1. PhaC from Ralstonia eutropha H16 (41%) a The high scores of the amino acid sequence homology search are presented. The numbers indicate the different ORFs. 3). Table 2 summarizes all currently available PHA synthase genes, for which an accession number has been provided, and which were functionally assigned except the PHA synthase genes from Rickettsia prowazekii and Vibrio cholerae. The latter PHA synthase genes were only assigned based on amino acid sequence homology. In Table 3, a list of putative PHA synthase genes (ORFs) is presented, which were obtained by homology search of the currently available partial microbial genome sequences. One of the first examples are the cloning of the class I and class III PHA synthase structural genes from Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and Caulobacter crescentus (Hein et al., 1998; Qi and Rehm, 2001). Strategy I has not been applied to clone PHA synthase genes, but might be useful in future to isolate PHA synthase mutants with modified properties such as, for example, changed substrate specificity. Dateiname: Pfad: Setzer: BPOL3006.3D P:/verlage/wiley/steinbue/9043-V3/ Stindl Status: Datum: 2. AK von Seite 173 bis 215 11 KW., 13. MaÈrz 2002 (Mittwoch) 4 Organization of PHA Synthase Genes The PHA synthase genes and genes for other proteins related to the metabolism of PHA are often clustered in the bacterial genomes (Figures 1 to 4). In R. eutropha, which has been studied in most detail with respect to PHA biosynthesis (Steinb¸chel and Schlegel, 1991), the genes for PHA synthase (phaC ), b-ketothiolase (phaA ) and NADPdependent acetoacetyl-CoA reductase (phaB ) constitute the phaCAB operon (Schubert et al., 1988; Slater et al., 1988; Peoples and Sinskey, 1989). Approximately 4 kbp downstream of this operon, a second b-ketothiolase gene (bktB ) was recently identified (Slater et al., 1998). BktB is in contrast to PhaA able to synthesize 3-ketovaleryl-CoA. Besides R. eutropha, also Alcaligenes latus, Burkholderia sp. DSMZ9242, Chromobacterium violaceum and Comamonas acidovorans Pagina: Seite: Umfang (Seiten): Auftragsnummer: 3B2-Version: Zeit: 178 6 te von 43 43 9043 6.05d 14:50:54 Uhr 4 Organization of PHA Synthase Genes seem to possess a phaCAB operon, whereas in Acinetobacter sp., Pseudomonas sp. 61-3 and V. cholerae these genes are also clustered, but organized in a different array (Figure 1). In contrast, phaC seems to be separated from other pha genes in Zoogloea ramigera, Methylobacterioum extorquens, Sinorhizobium meliloti, Nocarda corallina, Rhodococcus ruber, Paracoccus denitrificans, Rhodobacter sphaeroides, Rhodospirillum rubrum, Rhodobacter capsulatus, Caulobacter crescentus, Rickettsia prowazekii and Aeromonas caviae. PhaA, phaB or other genes related to PHA metabolism are not directly linked to the phaCs in these genomes (Figure 2). The only exception is A. caviae. In this bacterium the gene encoding an enoyl-CoA hydratase (see below) is located downstream of phaC. Pseudomonas oleovorans, Pseudomonas sp. 61 ± 3, P. aeruginosa, P. resinovorans, P. putida U and P. mendocina possess two different phaC genes which are in the genome separated by the structural gene for an intracellular PHA depolymerase (Figure 3). Pseudomonas sp. 61 ± 3 contains these two phaC genes in addition to another phaC gene, which is co-localized with phaB and phaA (Figures 1 and 3). In all bacteria, which posses a two-component PHA synthase, phaC and phaE are directly linked in the genomes constituting most probably single operons. In A. vinosum, phaA and phaB are located on the opposite strand in a gene cluster related to PHA metabolism. The organization of the genes is most probably similar if not identical in Thiocystis violacea and Thiocapsa pfennigii, whereas in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 further pha genes do definitely not map close to the phaEC locus (Figure 4). It should be emphasized that in R. ruber, P. denitrificans, Acinetobacter sp., Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii and Allochromatium vinosum the structural genes for phasin proteins (ORF3, ORF5, and phaP respectively; Dateiname: Pfad: Setzer: BPOL3006.3D P:/verlage/wiley/steinbue/9043-V3/ Stindl Status: Datum: 2. AK von Seite 173 bis 215 11 KW., 13. MaÈrz 2002 (Mittwoch) see below) map close to the respective phaC loci (Figures 2 and 4). Homology search analysis (tBlastN ) of the currently available microbial genome sequences strongly suggested that some species harbor a completely new constellation and organization of PHA synthase genes (Table 3). For instance, in Burkholderia cepacia, Burkholderia pseudomallei and Rhodopseudomonas palustris two not colocalized ORFs, respectively, were identified, which deduced amino acid sequences show strong homology to class I PHA synthases. Interestingly, PHA-accumulating bacteria belonging to the a-proteobacteria, such as Caulobacter crescentus, Azorhizobium caulinodans, Rhizobium etli, Sinorhizobium meliloti, P. denitrificans and Methylobacterium extorquens, contained the class I PHA synthase gene not colocalized with other PHA biosynthesis genes ( Valentin and Steinb¸chel, 1993; Tombolini et al., 1995; Cevallos et al., 1996; Mandon et al., 1998; Maehara et al. 1999; Qi and Rehm, 2001). Only a few exceptions, such as Zoogloea ramigera (bproteobacterium), A. caviae (g-proteobacterium) and Nocardia corallina (a firmicute), not belonging to a-proteobacteria have been described, which do not contain colocalized PHA biosynthesis genes. Some species such as P. denitrificans possessed adjacent to the PHA synthase further genes like phaP (encoding phasin) and phaR (encoding regulator protein) related to PHA biosynthesis. Among the b-proteobacteria PHAaccumulating bacteria, such as R. eutropha, Burkholderia sp., A. latus and C. acidovorans (Schubert et al., 1991; Choi et al., 1998; Sudesh et al., 1998; Rodrigues et al., 2000a), an operonic organization of PHA biosynthesis genes, which are related to the short-chain-length PHA biosynthesis (class I PHA synthase gene) is found. Pagina: Seite: Umfang (Seiten): Auftragsnummer: 3B2-Version: Zeit: 179 7 te von 43 43 9043 6.05d 14:50:55 Uhr 179 180 6 PHA Synthases: The Key Enzymes of PHA Synthesis Dateiname: Pfad: Setzer: BPOL3006.3D P:/verlage/wiley/steinbue/9043-V3/ Stindl Status: Datum: 2. AK von Seite 173 bis 215 11 KW., 13. MaÈrz 2002 (Mittwoch) Pagina: Seite: Umfang (Seiten): Auftragsnummer: 3B2-Version: Zeit: 180 8 te von 43 43 9043 6.05d 14:50:55 Uhr
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