Sulphoglycolysis in Escherichia coli K-12 closes a gap in the biogeochemical sulphur cycle
作者:Karin Denger、Michael Weiss、Ann-Katrin Felux、Alexander Schneider、Christoph Mayer、Dieter Spiteller、Thomas Huhn、Alasdair M. Cook、David Schleheck
DOI:10.1038/nature12947
日期:2014.3
Escherichia coli K-12 performs sulphoglycolysis; heterologous expression of enzymes encoded in a ten-gene cluster present in almost all (>91%) available E. coli genomes is used to show that sulphoquinovose is catabolised through four reactions to produce dihydroxyacetone phosphate, which powers energy conservation and growth, and a sulphonate product, which is excreted. The monosaccharide sugar sulphoquinovose is a major component of the biological sulphur cycle, distributed widely in photosynthetic membranes and also in some non-photosynthetic bacteria and archaea. There is evidence for three different degradative pathways for sulphoquinovose in bacteria, but until now none had been fully characterized. This study shows that Escherichia coli K-12, the most widely-studied prokaryotic model organism, can perform sulphoglycolysis as well as standard glycolysis. A ten-gene cluster encodes all the enzymes needed to degrade sulphoquinovose to dihydroxyacetone phosphate. The same gene cluster is present in almost all available E. coli genomes and is widespread among the Enterobacteriaceae. The authors suggest that this newly defined pathway may represent a substantial part of the biogeochemical sulphur cycle, and may have a significant role in bacteria in the alimentary tract of all omnivores and herbivores, and in plant pathogens. Sulphoquinovose (SQ, 6-deoxy-6-sulphoglucose) has been known for 50 years as the polar headgroup of the plant sulpholipid1,2 in the photosynthetic membranes of all higher plants, mosses, ferns, algae and most photosynthetic bacteria3. It is also found in some non-photosynthetic bacteria4, and SQ is part of the surface layer of some Archaea5. The estimated annual production of SQ4 is 10,000,000,000 tonnes (10 petagrams), thus it comprises a major portion of the organo-sulphur in nature, where SQ is degraded by bacteria6,7. However, despite evidence for at least three different degradative pathways in bacteria6,7,8, no enzymic reaction or gene in any pathway has been defined, although a sulphoglycolytic pathway has been proposed7. Here we show that Escherichia coli K-12, the most widely studied prokaryotic model organism, performs sulphoglycolysis, in addition to standard glycolysis. SQ is catabolised through four newly discovered reactions that we established using purified, heterologously expressed enzymes: SQ isomerase, 6-deoxy-6-sulphofructose (SF) kinase, 6-deoxy-6-sulphofructose-1-phosphate (SFP) aldolase, and 3-sulpholactaldehyde (SLA) reductase. The enzymes are encoded in a ten-gene cluster, which probably also encodes regulation, transport and degradation of the whole sulpholipid; the gene cluster is present in almost all (>91%) available E. coli genomes, and is widespread in Enterobacteriaceae. The pathway yields dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP), which powers energy conservation and growth of E. coli, and the sulphonate product 2,3-dihydroxypropane-1-sulphonate (DHPS), which is excreted. DHPS is mineralized by other bacteria, thus closing the sulphur cycle within a bacterial community.
路径,目前尚未有细菌被完全鉴定。这项研究表明,大肠杆菌K-12是最广泛研究的原核生物模型,它能够进行硫代糖酵解以及标准的糖酵解。一个十基因簇编码了将硫代葡萄糖酸降解为二羟基丙酮磷酸盐所需的所有酶。几乎所有的现有大肠杆菌基因组中都存在相同的基因簇,并且在肠杆菌科中广泛存在。作者认为,这种新定义的途径可能代表了生物地球化学硫循环的重要组成部分,并且可能在所有杂食动物和草食动物的消化道细菌以及植物病原体中发挥重要作用。硫代葡萄糖酸(SQ,6-脱氧-6-硫代葡萄糖)作为植物硫脂的极性头部组,在所有高等植物、苔藓、蕨类、藻类和大多数光合细菌的光合膜中已有50年的历史。它也存在于一些非光合细菌中,并且SQ是某些古细菌表面层的一部分。SQ的年产量估计为100亿吨(1000000000000吨),因此它构成了自然界中有机硫的主要部分,其中SQ被细菌降解。然而,尽管有证据表明至少存在三种不同的降解路径,目前尚未有细菌被完全鉴定。这项研究表明,大肠杆菌K-12是最广泛研究的原核生物模型,它能够进行硫代糖酵解以及标准的糖酵解