Comparative Genomics of the Vitamin B12 Metabolism and Regulation in Prokaryotes

Abstract

Using comparative analysis of genes, operons, and regulatory elements, we describe the cobalamin (vitamin B 12 ) biosynthetic pathway in available prokaryotic genomes. Here we found a highly conserved RNA secondary structure, the regulatory B12 element, which is widely distributed in the upstream regions of cobalamin biosynthetic/transport genes in eubacteria. In addition, the binding signal (CBL-box) for a hypothetical B 12 regulator was identified in some archaea. A search for B12 elements and CBL-boxes and positional analysis identified a large number of new candidate B 12 -regulated genes in various prokaryotes. Among newly assigned functions associated with the cobalamin biosynthesis, there are several new types of cobalt transporters, ChlI and ChlD subunits of the CobN-dependent cobaltochelatase complex, cobalt reductase BluB, adenosyltransferase PduO, several new proteins linked to the lower ligand assembly pathway, L-threonine kinase PduX, and a large number of other hypothetical proteins. Most missing genes detected within the cobalamin biosynthetic pathways of various bacteria were identified as nonorthologous substitutes. The variable parts of the cobalamin metabolism appear to be the cobalt transport and insertion, the CobG/CbiG-and CobF/CbiD-catalyzed reactions, and the lower ligand synthesis pathway. The most interesting result of analysis of B12 elements is that B 12 -independent isozymes of the methionine synthase and ribonucleotide reductase are regulated by B12 elements in bacteria that have both B 12 -dependent and B 12 -independent isozymes. Moreover, B 12 regulons of various bacteria are thought to include enzymes from known B 12 -dependent or alternative pathways. Cobalamin (CBL),1 along with chlorophyll, heme, siroheme, and coenzyme F 430 , constitute a class of the most structurally complex cofactors synthesized by bacteria. The distinctive feature of these cofactors is their tetrapyrrole-derived framework with a centrally chelated metal ion (cobalt, magnesium, iron, or nickel). Methylcobalamin and Ado-CBL, two derivatives of vitamin B 12 (cyanocobalamin) with different upper axial ligands, are essential cofactors for several important enzymes that catalyze a variety of transmethylation and rearrangement reactions. Among the most prominent vitamin B 12 -dependent enzymes in bacteria and archaea are the methionine synthase isozyme MetH from enteric bacteria; the ribonucleotide reductase isozyme NrdJ from deeply rooted eubacteria and archaea; diol dehydratases and ethanolamine ammonia lyase from enteric bacteria involved in anaerobic glycerol, 1,2-propanediol, and ethanolamine fermentation; glutamate and methylmalonyl-CoA mutases from clostridia and streptomycetes; and various CBL-dependent methyltransferases from methane-producing archaea (1-5).Most prokaryotic organisms as well as animals (including humans) and protists have enzymes that require CBL as cofactor, whereas plants and fungi are thought not to use it. Among the CBL-utilizing organisms, only some bacterial and archaeal species ...

Copper control of bacterial nitrous oxide emission and its impact on vitamin B 12 -dependent metabolism

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Alternative oxygen‐dependent and oxygen‐independent ribonucleotide reductases in Streptomyces: cross‐regulation and physiological role in response to oxygen limitation

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