Identification and Characterization of a Putative Arginine Kinase Homolog from Myxococcus xanthus Required for Fruiting Body Formation and Cell Differentiation

Abstract

cArginine kinases catalyze the reversible transfer of a high-energy phosphoryl group from ATP to L-arginine to form phosphoarginine, which is used as an energy buffer in insects, crustaceans, and some unicellular organisms. It plays an analogous role to that of phosphocreatine in vertebrates. Recently, putative arginine kinases were identified in several bacterial species, including the social Gram-negative soil bacterium Myxococcus xanthus. It is still unclear what role these proteins play in bacteria and whether they have evolved to acquire novel functions in the species in which they are found. In this study, we biochemically purified and characterized a putative M. xanthus arginine kinase, Ark, and demonstrated that it has retained the ability to catalyze the phosphorylation of arginine by using ATP. We also constructed a null mutation in the ark gene and demonstrated its role in both certain stress responses and development.

RNA interference as a gene silencing tool to controlTuta absolutain tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

“…The H + -ATPase vacuolar pump, one of the most essential enzymes present in almost all eukaryotic cells, is responsible for generating energy gradients in many membranes and organelles (Wieczorek, 1992; Nelson et al, 2000; Wieczorek et al, 2009). Arginine kinase belongs to a transferase protein family that catalyzes the transfer of a high-energy phosphate group from ATP to L-arginine to yield phosphoarginine that is used for energy storage (Bragg et al, 2012; Kola et al, 2015). These genes have been previously used as RNAi targets in exploratory studies in many different insects and crop plants (Baum et al, 2007; Thakur et al, 2014; Kola et al, 2015); however, this is the first report of silencing the Arginine kinase gene in a lepidopteran species.…”

Gene silencing by RNAi via oral delivery of dsRNA by bacteria in the South American tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta

“…Here, the AK dsRNA treatment led to the highest larval mortality rate. This elevated mortality can be attributed to the fundamental role of arginine kinase in the energetic metabolism of the cell, as a catalyzer of phosphoarginine synthesis . The elevated larval mortality rate and significant AK silencing indicate that the approach developed in this work using dsRNA expressed by bacteria is efficient in screening the target genes for T. absoluta .…”

“…This elevated mortality can be attributed to the fundamental role of arginine kinase in the energetic metabolism of the cell, as a catalyzer of phosphoarginine synthesis. 57 The elevated larval mortality rate and significant AK silencing indicate that the approach developed in this work using dsRNA expressed by bacteria is efficient in screening the target genes for T. absoluta. Our previous work using T 0 transgenic plants demonstrated an increase in larval mortality that varied from 30% in transgenic events expressing dsRNA of ATPase to 40% in an AK-dsRNA event (AK1.1).…”

Tomato leafminer [(Tuta absoluta Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)] and its current ecofriendly management strategies: A review

“…The H + -ATPase vacuolar pump is one of the essential enzymes present in almost all eukaryotic cells that are responsible for generating energy gradients in many membranes and organelles (Nelson et al, 2000;Wieczorek et al, 2009). Moreover, arginine kinase belongs to a transferase protein family that catalyzes the transfer of a high energy phosphate group from ATP to L-arginine to yield phosphor-arginine used for energy storage (Bragg et al, 2012;Kola et al, 2015). Then the report was indicating that silencing of the insect V-ATPase and Arginine kinase genes by dsRNA showed 60% reduction in target gene transcript accumulation and increase larval mortality (Camargo et al, 2016).…”