Identification and Characterization of Oxalate Oxidoreductase, A
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Biochemistry -- Faculty Publications Biochemistry, Department of 2010 Identification and Characterization of Oxalate Oxidoreductase, a Novel Thiamine Pyrophosphate-dependent 2-Oxoacid Oxidoreductase That Enables Anaerobic Growth on Oxalate Elizabeth Pierce University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Donald F. Becker University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Stephen W. Ragsdale University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/biochemfacpub Part of the Biochemistry Commons, Biotechnology Commons, and the Other Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons Pierce, Elizabeth; Becker, Donald F.; and Ragsdale, Stephen W., "Identification and Characterization of Oxalate Oxidoreductase, a Novel Thiamine Pyrophosphate-dependent 2-Oxoacid Oxidoreductase That Enables Anaerobic Growth on Oxalate" (2010). Biochemistry -- Faculty Publications. 179. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/biochemfacpub/179 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Biochemistry, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biochemistry -- Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THE JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY VOL. 285, NO. 52, pp. 40515–40524, December 24, 2010 © 2010 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc. Printed in the U.S.A. Identification and Characterization of Oxalate Oxidoreductase, a Novel Thiamine Pyrophosphate-dependent 2-Oxoacid Oxidoreductase That Enables Anaerobic Growth on Oxalate*□S Received for publication, June 17, 2010, and in revised form, October 15, 2010 Published, JBC Papers in Press, October 18, 2010, DOI 10.1074/jbc.M110.155739 Elizabeth Pierce‡, Donald F. Becker§, and Stephen W. Ragsdale‡1 From the ‡Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0606 and the §Department of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0664 Moorella thermoacetica is an anaerobic acetogen, a class of can use other electron acceptors (e.g. nitrate, nitrite, thiosul- bacteria that is found in the soil, the animal gastrointestinal fate, and dimethyl sulfoxide). Under most conditions, nitrate tract, and the rumen. This organism engages the Wood-Ljung- reduction occurs preferentially to CO2 reduction, and nitrate dahl pathway of anaerobic CO2 fixation for heterotrophic or has been shown to repress autotrophic growth (1, 2). How- autotrophic growth. This paper describes a novel enzyme, oxa- ever, oxalate is unique in its properties as an electron donor late oxidoreductase (OOR), that enables M. thermoacetica to by M. thermoacetica for acetogenic growth. When both ni- grow on oxalate, which is produced in soil and is a common trate and CO2 are provided to cells growing on oxalate, CO2 is component of kidney stones. Exposure to oxalate leads to the reduced to acetate during exponential growth phase, and ni- induction of three proteins that are subunits of OOR, which trate is only used as the electron acceptor during stationary oxidizes oxalate coupled to the production of two electrons phase (3). Oxalate is the only substrate with which M. ther- and CO or bicarbonate. Like other members of the 2-oxoacid: 2 moacetica has been shown to reduce CO2 instead of nitrate ferredoxin oxidoreductase family, OOR contains thiamine py- when both are present. rophosphate and three [Fe S ] clusters. However, unlike previ- 2Ϫ 4 4 Oxalate (C2O4 ) is the most oxidized two-carbon com- ously characterized members of this family, OOR does not use pound. It is made in high concentrations by some plants coenzyme A as a substrate. Oxalate is oxidized with a kcat of and fungi and can reach high micromolar concentrations ؊1 0.09 s and a Km of 58 M at pH 8. OOR also oxidizes a few in soil (4). Oxalate is toxic to mammals but is metabolized other 2-oxoacids (which do not induce OOR) also without any by many bacteria and plants by various pathways. In Ox- requirement for CoA. The enzyme transfers its reducing alobacter formigenes, oxalate is first activated to oxalyl- equivalents to a broad range of electron acceptors, including CoA and then decarboxylated, giving formyl-CoA and ferredoxin and the nickel-dependent carbon monoxide dehy- CO2. Formyl-CoA transferase then exchanges the formyl drogenase. In conjunction with the well characterized Wood- group for an oxalyl-group on CoA, thus producing formate Ljungdahl pathway, OOR should be sufficient for oxalate me- and regenerating oxalyl-CoA. Energy for growth on oxalate tabolism by M. thermoacetica, and it constitutes a novel in O. formigenes results from a formate-oxalate antiporter, pathway for oxalate metabolism. which generates an electrochemical transmembrane gradi- ent for ATP synthesis (5, 6), so most formate produced is excreted rather than oxidized (7). Other organisms, such as Moorella thermoacetica is a strictly anaerobic Gram-posi- Cupriavidus oxalaticus, also use oxalyl-CoA decarboxylase tive acetogenic bacterium. Acetogens are commonly found in to metabolize oxalate but use formate dehydrogenase to the soil, animal gastrointestinal tract, and the rumen and generate NADH with the electrons derived from oxalate (8, grow heterotrophically or autotrophically on many different 9). Oxalyl-CoA decarboxylase is a TPP-dependent enzyme electron donors. Electrons from these substrates are used to with distant homology to yeast pyruvate decarboxylases reduce CO2 to acetate by the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. Dur- (10). The M. thermoacetica genome has sequences with low ing growth by this pathway, acetate and cell mass are the only homology to oxalyl-CoA decarboxylase but no homolog of growth products, and electron-rich growth substrates like formyl-CoA transferase. In fungi and in some bacteria, in- glucose are converted stoichiometrically to acetate; therefore, cluding Bacillus subtilis, oxalate can also be metabolized by M. thermoacetica is called a homoacetogen. M. thermoacetica oxalate decarboxylase, a manganese-containing cupin fam- ily protein, to generate formate and CO2 (11). This reac- 2ϩ * This work was supported, in whole or in part, by National Institutes of tion requires O2. Another Mn -cupin called germin that Health (NIH) Grant GM39451 (to S. W. R.) and NIH, NCRR, Grant P20 RR- is found in plants catalyzes the oxidative decarboxylation 017675 (to D. F. B.) (for the ultracentrifugation studies). This work was of oxalate in the reaction C O2Ϫ ϩ 2Hϩ ϩ O 3 2CO ϩ also supported by National Science Foundation Grant DBI-0619764. 2 4 2 2 □ S The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) con- H2O2 (12). No enzyme that catalyzes anaerobic oxalate oxi- tains supplemental Figs. S1–S5 and Table S1. dation has been reported previously. 1 To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. of Biological Chem- During growth on oxalate, M. thermoacetica consumes 4 istry, University of Michigan, University of Michigan Medical School, 5301 MSRB III, 1150 W. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0606. Tel.: 734- mol of oxalate to produce 1 mol of acetate and 6 mol of CO2 615-4621; Fax: 734-763-4581; E-mail: [email protected]. (Reaction 1) (13). DECEMBER 24, 2010•VOLUME 285•NUMBER 52 JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY 40515 Oxalate Oxidoreductase Ϫ 2 ϩ 3 Ϫ ϩ Ϫ ϩ Ϫ ͑⌬ ϭ 4C2O4 5H2O CH3COO 6 HCO3 OH G sonication was used to break the cells and, after precipitation of proteins in methanol, the protein pellet was washed twice Ϫ ͒ 41.4 kJ/mol oxalate with ice-cold acetone (80% in water) and once with ice-cold REACTION 1 ethanol (70% in water). After washing, the protein pellets were suspended in 8 M urea, 2 M thiourea, 2% (w/v) CHAPS, Two proteins (33 and 42 kDa) were identified as being in- 2% (w/v) Triton X-100, and 50 mM dithiothreitol (DTT) to ϳ1 duced when M. thermoacetica was exposed to oxalate (14). g/l protein. Samples (150 l) were supplemented with Bio- Similarly, Daniel et al. (14) found that oxalate-grown cells Lyte ampholytes (Bio-Rad) and loaded on 7-cm Bio-Rad iso- metabolize oxalate much more quickly than cells that had electric focusing gel strips (gradient from pH 5 to 8). The gels been grown on glucose, which is consistent with an oxalate were subjected to a 12-h rehydration at 50 V, followed by fo- induction mechanism (15). They also showed that cell ex- cusing at 250 V for 15 min and then at 4000 V for 35,000 V-h. tracts from oxalate-grown cells could catalyze oxalate-depen- After isoelectric focusing, the isoelectric focusing gel strips dent benzyl viologen reduction, that this activity was only were soaked in 6 M urea, 2% (w/v) SDS, 0.375 M Tris-HCl, pH slightly stimulated by coenzyme A, and that the electron ac- 8.8, 20% (w/v) glycerol, and 20 mg/ml DTT for 15 min, fol- ceptor specificity of oxalate oxidation was different than that lowed by incubation for 15 min in the same buffer but with 25 of formate oxidation. They concluded that M. thermoacetica mg/ml iodoacetamide instead of DTT. Strips were rinsed in catabolizes oxalate by a CoA-independent mechanism that running buffer before loading them at the top of 12.5% acryl- does not use formate as an intermediate. amide gels for SDS-PAGE. After SDS-PAGE, proteins were This paper describes the characterization of the oxalate- stained with Coomassie Blue. Spots were cut from the gels, 2 induced enzyme, oxalate oxidoreductase (OOR) and demon- and proteins were identified by mass spectrometry at the Uni- strates that it, unlike all previously characterized members of versity of Michigan Protein Structure Facility. A blank spot of the thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP)-dependent 2-oxoacid: each gel was also taken and processed. The samples were sub- ferredoxin oxidoreductase family, does not require coenzyme jected to in-gel trypsin digestion. As a control, BSA was run A. Coupling OOR to the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway allows on a separate gel and subjected to the same digestion and anaerobic bacteria to generate energy by converting oxalate to mass spectrometry procedure.