| 1. |
- Bao, Letian, et al.
(författare)
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Overcoming chromoprotein limitations by engineering a red fluorescent protein
- 2020
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Ingår i: Analytical Biochemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-2697 .- 1096-0309. ; 611
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chromoproteins (CPs) are widely-used visual reporters of gene expression. We previously showed that, for coloration in Escherichia coli, CPs had to be overexpressed and that this caused large fitness costs with the most useful (darkly colored) CPs. These fitness costs were problematic because passage of plasmids encoding darkly colored CPs in liquid culture frequently resulted in loss of color due to mutations. Unexpectedly, an early variant of the monomeric red fluorescent protein 1 (mRFP1) gene that was codon-optimized for E. coli (abbreviated mRFP1E) was found here to be an ideal replacement for CP genes. When we subcloned mRFP1E in the same way as our CP genes, it produced a similarly dark color, yet affected E. coli fitness minimally. This finding facilitated testing of several hypotheses on the cause of CP cytotoxicities by gel electrophoresis and size-exclusion chromatography: toxicities correlated with the combination of amounts of expression, oligomerization and inclusion bodies, not isoelectric point. Finally, a semi-rational mutagenesis strategy created several mRFP1 protein variants with different colors without altering the fitness cost. Thus, these mutants and mRFP1E are suitable for comparative fitness costs between different strains of E. coli. We conclude that our new mRFP1E series overcomes prior limitations of CPs.
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| 2. |
- Bao, Letian, et al.
(författare)
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Translational impacts of enzymes that modify ribosomal RNA around the peptidyl transferase centre
- 2024
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Ingår i: RNA Biology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1547-6286 .- 1555-8584. ; 21:1, s. 31-41
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) are modified heavily post-transcriptionally in functionally important regions but, paradoxically, individual knockouts (KOs) of the modification enzymes have minimal impact on Escherichia coli growth. Furthermore, we recently constructed a strain with combined KOs of five modification enzymes (RluC, RlmKL, RlmN, RlmM and RluE) of the ‘critical region’ of the peptidyl transferase centre (PTC) in 23S rRNA that exhibited only a minor growth defect at 37°C (although major at 20°C). However, our combined KO of modification enzymes RluC and RlmE (not RluE) resulted in conditional lethality (at 20°C). Although the growth rates for both multiple-KO strains were characterized, the molecular explanations for such deficits remain unclear. Here, we pinpoint biochemical defects in these strains. In vitro fast kinetics at 20°C and 37°C with ribosomes purified from both strains revealed, counterintuitively, the slowing of translocation, not peptide bond formation or peptidyl release. Elongation rates of protein synthesis in vivo, as judged by the kinetics of β-galactosidase induction, were also slowed. For the five-KO strain, the biggest deficit at 37°C was in 70S ribosome assembly, as judged by a dominant 50S peak in ribosome sucrose gradient profiles at 5 mM Mg2+. Reconstitution of this 50S subunit from purified five-KO rRNA and ribosomal proteins supported a direct role in ribosome biogenesis of the PTC region modifications per se, rather than of the modification enzymes. These results clarify the importance and roles of the enigmatic rRNA modifications.
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| 3. |
- Kjellander, Marcus, et al.
(författare)
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Steady-state generation of hydrogen peroxide : kinetics and stability of alcohol oxidase immobilized on nanoporous alumina
- 2013
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Ingår i: Biotechnology letters. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0141-5492 .- 1573-6776. ; 35:4, s. 585-590
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Alcohol oxidase from Pichia pastoris was immobilized on nanoporous aluminium oxide membranes by silanization and activation by carbonyldiimidazole to create a flow-through enzyme reactor. Kinetic analysis of the hydrogen peroxide generation was carried out for a number of alcohols using a subsequent reaction with horseradish peroxidase and ABTS. The activity data for the immobilized enzyme showed a general similarity with literature data in solution, and the reactor could generate 80 mmol H2O2/h per litre reactor volume. Horseradish peroxidase was immobilized by the same technique to construct bienzymatic modular reactors. These were used in both single pass mode and circulating mode. Pulsed injections of methanol resulted in a linear relation between response and concentration, allowing quantitative concentration measurement. The immobilized alcohol oxidase retained 58 % of initial activity after 3 weeks of storage and repeated use.
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| 4. |
- Liljeruhm, Josefine, et al.
(författare)
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Engineering a palette of eukaryotic chromoproteins for bacterial synthetic biology
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Engineering. - : BIOMED CENTRAL LTD. - 1754-1611. ; 12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Coral reefs are colored by eukaryotic chromoproteins (CPs) that are homologous to green fluorescent protein. CPs differ from fluorescent proteins (FPs) by intensely absorbing visible light to give strong colors in ambient light. This endows CPs with certain advantages over FPs, such as instrument-free detection uncomplicated by ultra-violet light damage or background fluorescence, efficient Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) quenching, and photoacoustic imaging. Thus, CPs have found utility as genetic markers and in teaching, and are attractive for potential cell biosensor applications in the field. Most near-term applications of CPs require expression in a different domain of life: bacteria. However, it is unclear which of the eukaryotic CP genes might be suitable and how best to assay them.Results: Here, taking advantage of codon optimization programs in 12 cases, we engineered 14 CP sequences (meffRed, eforRed, asPink, spisPink, scOrange, fwYellow, amilGFP, amajLime, cjBlue, mefiBlue, aeBlue, amilCP, tsPurple and gfasPurple) into a palette of Escherichia coil BioBrick plasmids. BioBricks comply with synthetic biology's most widely used, simplified, cloning standard. Differences in color intensities, maturation times and fitness costs of expression were compared under the same conditions, and visible readout of gene expression was quantitated. A surprisingly large variation in cellular fitness costs was found, resulting in loss of color in some overnight liquid cultures of certain high-copy-plasmid-borne CPs, and cautioning the use of multiple CPs as markers in competition assays. We solved these two problems by integrating pairs of these genes into the chromosome and by engineering versions of the same CP with very different colors.Conclusion: Availability of 14 engineered CP genes compared in E coil, together with chromosomal mutants suitable for competition assays, should simplify and expand CP study and applications. There was no single plasmid-borne CP that combined all of the most desirable features of intense color, fast maturation and low fitness cost, so this study should help direct future engineering efforts.
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| 5. |
- Liljeruhm, Josefine
(författare)
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Exotic Ribosomal Enzymology
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis clarifies intriguing enzymology of the ribosome, the multiRNA/multiprotein complex that catalyzes protein synthesis (translation). The large ribosomal RNAs (23S and 16S rRNAs in E. coli) are post-transcriptionally modified by many specific modification enzymes, yet the functions of the modifications remain enigmatic. A deeper insight into two of the 23S rRNA S-adenosyl-methionine-requiring methyltransferase enzymes, RlmM and RlmJ, was given by investigating substrate specificity in vitro. Both enzymes were able to methylate in vitro-transcribed, modification-free, protein-free, 2659-nucleotide-long 23S rRNA. Furthermore, RlmM was able to methylate the 611-nucleotide-long Domain V of the 23S rRNA alone and RlmJ could modify the A2030 with only 25 surrounding nucleotides.Translation is evolutionary optimized to incorporate L-amino acids to the exclusion of D-amino acids in the cell. To understand how, and how to engineer around this restriction for pharmacological applications, detailed kinetics of ribosomal dipeptide formation with D- versus L-phenylalanine-tRNA were determined. This was done by varying the concentrations of EF-Tu (which delivers aminoacyl-tRNAs to the ribosome) and the ribosome, as well as changing the tRNA adaptor. Binding to EF-Tu was shown to be rate limiting for D-Phe-tRNA at a low concentration of EF-Tu. Surprisingly, at a higher (physiological) concentration of EF-Tu, binding and subsequent dipeptide synthesis became so efficient that D-Phe incorporation became competitive with L-Phe, and accommodation/peptide bond formation was unmasked as a new rate-limiting step. This highlighted the importance of D-aminoacyl-tRNA deacylase in restricting translation with D-amino acids in vivo.Although polypeptides are intrinsically colorless, it is remarkable that evolution has nevertheless enabled ribosomes to synthesize highly colored proteins (chromoproteins). Such eukaryotic proteins reside in coral reefs and undergo self-catalyzed, intramolecular, chromophore formation by reacting with oxygen in a manner highly similar to that of green fluorescent protein. The potential utility of different colored chromoproteins in E. coli was analyzed via codon-optimized over-expression and quantification of maturation times, color intensities and cellular fitness costs. No chromoprotein was found to have the combined characteristics of fast maturation, intense color and low fitness cost. However, semi-rational mutagenesis created different colored variants with identical fitness costs suitable for competition assays and teaching.
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| 6. |
- Liljeruhm, Josefine, et al.
(författare)
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Kinetics of D-amino acid incorporation in translation
- 2019
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Ingår i: ACS Chemical Biology. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1554-8929 .- 1554-8937. ; 14:2, s. 204-213
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite the stereospecificity of translation for l-amino acids (l-AAs) in vivo, synthetic biologists have enabled ribosomal incorporation of d-AAs in vitro toward encoding polypeptides with pharmacologically desirable properties. However, the steps in translation limiting d-AA incorporation need clarification. In this work, we compared d- and l-Phe incorporation in translation by quench-flow kinetics, measuring 250-fold slower incorporation into the dipeptide for the d isomer from a tRNAPhe-based adaptor (tRNAPheB). Incorporation was moderately hastened by tRNA body swaps and higher EF-Tu concentrations, indicating that binding by EF-Tu can be rate-limiting. However, from tRNAAlaB with a saturating concentration of EF-Tu, the slow d-Phe incorporation was unexpectedly very efficient in competition with incorporation of the l isomer, indicating fast binding to EF-Tu, fast binding of the resulting complex to the ribosome, and rate-limiting accommodation/peptide bond formation. Subsequent elongation with an l-AA was confirmed to be very slow and inefficient. This understanding helps rationalize incorporation efficiencies in vitro and stereospecific mechanisms in vivo and suggests approaches for improving incorporation.
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| 7. |
- Liljeruhm, Josefine, et al.
(författare)
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Plasticity and conditional essentiality of modification enzymes for domain V of Escherichia coli 23S ribosomal RNA
- 2022
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Ingår i: RNA. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHL). - 1355-8382 .- 1469-9001. ; 28:6, s. 796-807
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Escherichia coli rRNAs are post-transcriptionally modified at 36 positions but their modification enzymes are dispensable individually for growth, bringing into question their significance. However, a major growth defect was reported for deletion of the RlmE enzyme, which abolished a 2 ' O methylation near the peptidyl transferase center (PTC) of the 23S rRNA. Additionally, an adjacent 80-nt "critical region" around the PTC had to be modified to yield significant peptidyl transferase activity in vitro. Surprisingly, we discovered that an absence of just two rRNA modification enzymes is conditionally lethal (at 20 degrees C): RlmE and RluC. At a permissive temperature (37 degrees C), this double knockout was shown to abolish four modifications and be defective in ribosome assembly, though not more so than the RlmE single knockout. However, the double knockout exhibited an even lower rate of tripeptide synthesis than did the single knockout, suggesting an even more defective ribosomal translocation. A combination knockout of the five critical-region-modifying enzymes RluC, RlmKL, RlmN, RlmM, and RluE (not RlmE), which synthesize five of the seven critical-region modifications and 14 rRNA and tRNA modifications altogether, was viable (minor growth defect at 37 degrees C, major at 20 degrees C). This was surprising based on prior in vitro studies. This five-knockout combination had minimal effects on ribosome assembly and frameshifting at 37 degrees C, but greater effects on ribosome assembly and in vitro peptidyl transferase activity at cooler temperatures. These results establish the conditional essentiality of bacterial rRNA modification enzymes and also reveal unexpected plasticity of modification of the PTC region in vivo.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Punekar, Avinash S, et al.
(författare)
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Crystal structure of RlmM, the 2'O-ribose methyltransferase for C2498 of Escherichia coli 23S rRNA
- 2012
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Ingår i: Nucleic Acids Research. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0305-1048 .- 1362-4962. ; 40:20, s. 10507-20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- RlmM (YgdE) catalyzes the S-adenosyl methionine (AdoMet)-dependent 2'O methylation of C2498 in 23S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) of Escherichia coli. Previous experiments have shown that RlmM is active on 23S rRNA from an RlmM knockout strain but not on mature 50S subunits from the same strain. Here, we demonstrate RlmM methyltransferase (MTase) activity on in vitro transcribed 23S rRNA and its domain V. We have solved crystal structures of E. coli RlmM at 1.9 Å resolution and of an RlmM-AdoMet complex at 2.6 Å resolution. RlmM consists of an N-terminal THUMP domain and a C-terminal catalytic Rossmann-like fold MTase domain in a novel arrangement. The catalytic domain of RlmM is closely related to YiiB, TlyA and fibrillarins, with the second K of the catalytic tetrad KDKE shifted by two residues at the C-terminal end of a beta strand compared with most 2'O MTases. The AdoMet-binding site is open and shallow, suggesting that RNA substrate binding may be required to form a conformation needed for catalysis. A continuous surface of conserved positive charge indicates that RlmM uses one side of the two domains and the inter-domain linker to recognize its RNA substrate.
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| 10. |
- Punekar, Avinash S, et al.
(författare)
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Structural and functional insights into the molecular mechanism of rRNA m6A methyltransferase RlmJ
- 2013
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Ingår i: Nucleic Acids Research. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0305-1048 .- 1362-4962. ; 41:20, s. 9537-9548
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- RlmJ catalyzes the m(6)A2030 methylation of 23S rRNA during ribosome biogenesis in Escherichia coli. Here, we present crystal structures of RlmJ in apo form, in complex with the cofactor S-adenosyl-methionine and in complex with S-adenosyl-homocysteine plus the substrate analogue adenosine monophosphate (AMP). RlmJ displays a variant of the Rossmann-like methyltransferase (MTase) fold with an inserted helical subdomain. Binding of cofactor and substrate induces a large shift of the N-terminal motif X tail to make it cover the cofactor binding site and trigger active-site changes in motifs IV and VIII. Adenosine monophosphate binds in a partly accommodated state with the target N6 atom 7 Å away from the sulphur of AdoHcy. The active site of RlmJ with motif IV sequence 164DPPY167 is more similar to DNA m(6)A MTases than to RNA m(6)2A MTases, and structural comparison suggests that RlmJ binds its substrate base similarly to DNA MTases T4Dam and M.TaqI. RlmJ methylates in vitro transcribed 23S rRNA, as well as a minimal substrate corresponding to helix 72, demonstrating independence of previous modifications and tertiary interactions in the RNA substrate. RlmJ displays specificity for adenosine, and mutagenesis experiments demonstrate the critical roles of residues Y4, H6, K18 and D164 in methyl transfer.
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| 11. |
- Shepherd, Tyson R, et al.
(författare)
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De novo design and synthesis of a 30-cistron translation-factor module
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nucleic Acids Research. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0305-1048 .- 1362-4962. ; 45:18, s. 10895-10905
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two of the many goals of synthetic biology are synthesizing large biochemical systems and simplifying their assembly. While several genes have been assembled together by modular idempotent cloning, it is unclear if such simplified strategies scale to very large constructs for expression and purification of whole pathways. Here we synthesize from oligodeoxyribonucleotides a completely de-novo-designed, 58-kb multigene DNA. This BioBrick plasmid insert encodes 30 of the 31 translation factors of the PURE translation system, each His-tagged and in separate transcription cistrons. Dividing the insert between three high-copy expression plasmids enables the bulk purification of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and translation factors necessary for affordable, scalable reconstitution of an in vitro transcription and translation system, PURE 3.0.
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| 12. |
- Vogel, Carolin, et al.
(författare)
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Rationally designed Spot 42 RNAs with an inhibition/toxicity profile advantageous for engineering E. coli
- 2020
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Ingår i: ENGINEERING REPORTS. - : Wiley. - 2577-8196. ; 2:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bacterial regulatory small RNAs (sRNAs) have shown promise for gene knock-down studies and metabolic engineering. However, some mRNAs might be difficult to target due to poor binding by the Hfq chaperone, individual synthetic sRNAs can have off-target effects, potential sRNA toxicities have not been studied globally, and a consensus on optimal sRNA design has yet to emerge. Here, Spot 42 sRNA is validated as an excellent scaffold by showing that its over-expression minimally affects the growth rate of Escherichia coli, and that inhibition is reliably achieved for all eight tested protein targets by designing antisense to target the first few codons. Two related sRNAs that could not be cloned, possibly due to lethality of the encoded sRNAs, became clonable when an eight-nucleotide sequence was inserted directly upstream of the antisense region. Global fitness costs for E. coli of the designer sRNAs were measured and found to be variable but tolerable. Importantly for utility, there was no correlation between target inhibition and cellular toxicity. As a proof of concept for applications, suppression of the UAG stop codon was improved by knock down of translation release factor 1 (RF1).
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