Dataset Information

AglR is required for addition of the final mannose residue of the N-linked glycan decorating the Haloferax volcanii S-layer glycoprotein.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Recent studies of Haloferax volcanii have begun to elucidate the steps of N-glycosylation in Archaea, where this universal post-translational modification remains poorly described. In Hfx. volcanii, a series of Agl proteins catalyzes the assembly and attachment of a N-linked pentasaccharide to the S-layer glycoprotein. Although roles have been assigned to the majority of Agl proteins, others await description. In the following, the contribution of AglR to N-glycosylation was addressed.

Methods

A combination of bioinformatics, gene deletion, mass spectrometry and metabolic radiolabeling served to show a role for AglR in archaeal N-glycosylation at both the dolichol phosphate and reporter glycoprotein levels.

Results

The modified behavior of the S-layer glycoprotein isolated from cells lacking AglR points to an involvement of this protein in N-glycosylation. In cells lacking AglR, glycan-charged dolichol phosphate, including mannose-charged dolichol phosphate, accumulates. At the same time, the S-layer glycoprotein does not incorporate mannose, the final subunit of the N-linked pentasaccharide decorating this protein. AglR is a homologue of Wzx proteins, annotated as flippases responsible for delivering lipid-linked O-antigen precursor oligosaccharides across the bacterial plasma membrane during lipopolysaccharide biogenesis.

Conclusions

The effects resulting from aglR deletion are consistent with AglR interacting with dolichol phosphate-mannose, possibly acting as a dolichol phosphate-mannose flippase or contributing to such activity.

General significance

Little is known of how lipid-linked oligosaccharides are translocated across membrane during N-glycosylation. The possibility of Hfx. volcanii AglR mediating or contributing to flippase activity could help address this situation.

SUBMITTER: Kaminski L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3572504 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

AglR is required for addition of the final mannose residue of the N-linked glycan decorating the Haloferax volcanii S-layer glycoprotein.

Kaminski Lina L Guan Ziqiang Z Abu-Qarn Mehtap M Konrad Zvia Z Eichler Jerry J

Biochimica et biophysica acta 20120627 10

<h4>Background</h4>Recent studies of Haloferax volcanii have begun to elucidate the steps of N-glycosylation in Archaea, where this universal post-translational modification remains poorly described. In Hfx. volcanii, a series of Agl proteins catalyzes the assembly and attachment of a N-linked pentasaccharide to the S-layer glycoprotein. Although roles have been assigned to the majority of Agl proteins, others await description. In the following, the contribution of AglR to N-glycosylation was a ...[more]

PMID: 22750201

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Project description:UnlabelledN-glycosylation in Archaea presents aspects of this posttranslational modification not seen in either Eukarya or Bacteria. In the haloarchaeon Haloferax volcanii, the surface (S)-layer glycoprotein can be simultaneously modified by two different N-glycans. Asn-13 and Asn-83 are modified by a pentasaccharide, whereas Asn-498 is modified by a tetrasaccharide of distinct composition, with N-glycosylation at this position being related to environmental conditions. Specifically, N-glycosylation of Asn-498 is detected when cells are grown in the presence of 1.75 but not 3.4 M NaCl. While deletion of genes encoding components of the pentasaccharide assembly pathway had no effect on the biosynthesis of the tetrasaccharide bound to Asn-498, deletion of genes within the cluster spanning HVO_2046 to HVO_2061 interfered with the assembly and attachment of the Asn-498-linked tetrasaccharide. Transfer of the "low-salt" tetrasaccharide from the dolichol phosphate carrier upon which it is assembled to S-layer glycoprotein Asn-498 did not require AglB, the oligosaccharyltransferase responsible for pentasaccharide attachment to Asn-13 and Asn-83. Finally, although biogenesis of the low-salt tetrasaccharide is barely discernible upon growth at the elevated salinity, this glycan was readily detected under such conditions in strains deleted of pentasaccharide biosynthesis pathway genes, indicative of cross talk between the two N-glycosylation pathways.ImportanceIn the haloarchaeon Haloferax volcanii, originally from the Dead Sea, the pathway responsible for the assembly and attachment of a pentasaccharide to the S-layer glycoprotein, a well-studied glycoprotein in this species, has been described. More recently, it was shown that in response to growth in low salinity, the same glycoprotein is modified by a novel tetrasaccharide. In the present study, numerous components of the pathway used to synthesize this "low-salt" tetrasaccharide are described. As such, this represents the first report of two N-glycosylation pathways able to simultaneously modify a single protein as a function of environmental salinity. Moreover, and to the best of our knowledge, the ability to N-glycosylate the same protein with different and unrelated glycans has not been observed in either Eukarya or Bacteria or indeed beyond the halophilic archaea, for which similar dual modification of the Halobacterium salinarum S-layer glycoprotein was reported.

Project description:UnlabelledFor years, the S-layer glycoprotein (SLG), the sole component of many archaeal cell walls, was thought to be anchored to the cell surface by a C-terminal transmembrane segment. Recently, however, we demonstrated that the Haloferax volcanii SLG C terminus is removed by an archaeosortase (ArtA), a novel peptidase. SLG, which was previously shown to be lipid modified, contains a C-terminal tripartite structure, including a highly conserved proline-glycine-phenylalanine (PGF) motif. Here, we demonstrate that ArtA does not process an SLG variant where the PGF motif is replaced with a PFG motif (slg(G796F,F797G)). Furthermore, using radiolabeling, we show that SLG lipid modification requires the PGF motif and is ArtA dependent, lending confirmation to the use of a novel C-terminal lipid-mediated protein-anchoring mechanism by prokaryotes. Similar to the case for the ΔartA strain, the growth, cellular morphology, and cell wall of the slg(G796F,F797G) strain, in which modifications of additional H. volcanii ArtA substrates should not be altered, are adversely affected, demonstrating the importance of these posttranslational SLG modifications. Our data suggest that ArtA is either directly or indirectly involved in a novel proteolysis-coupled, covalent lipid-mediated anchoring mechanism. Given that archaeosortase homologs are encoded by a broad range of prokaryotes, it is likely that this anchoring mechanism is widely conserved.ImportanceProkaryotic proteins bound to cell surfaces through intercalation, covalent attachment, or protein-protein interactions play critical roles in essential cellular processes. Unfortunately, the molecular mechanisms that anchor proteins to archaeal cell surfaces remain poorly characterized. Here, using the archaeon H. volcanii as a model system, we report the first in vivo studies of a novel protein-anchoring pathway involving lipid modification of a peptidase-processed C terminus. Our findings not only yield important insights into poorly understood aspects of archaeal biology but also have important implications for key bacterial species, including those of the human microbiome. Additionally, insights may facilitate industrial applications, given that photosynthetic cyanobacteria encode uncharacterized homologs of this evolutionarily conserved enzyme, or may spur development of unique drug delivery systems.

Project description:BackgroundThiamine (vitamin B1) is synthesized de novo by certain yeast, fungi, plants, protozoans, bacteria and archaea. The pathway of thiamine biosynthesis by archaea is poorly understood, particularly the route of sulfur relay to form the thiazole ring. Archaea harbor structural homologs of both the bacterial (ThiS-ThiF) and eukaryotic (THI4) proteins that mobilize sulfur to thiazole ring precursors by distinct mechanisms.ResultsBased on comparative genome analysis, halophilic archaea are predicted to synthesize the pyrimidine moiety of thiamine by the bacterial pathway, initially suggesting that also a bacterial ThiS-ThiF type mechanism for synthesis of the thiazole ring is used in which the sulfur carrier ThiS is first activated by ThiF-catalyzed adenylation. The only ThiF homolog of Haloferax volcanii (UbaA) was deleted but this had no effect on growth in the absence of thiamine. Usage of the eukaryotic THI4-type sulfur relay was initially considered less likely for thiamine biosynthesis in archaea, since the active-site cysteine residue of yeast THI4p that donates the sulfur to the thiazole ring by a suicide mechanism is replaced by a histidine residue in many archaeal THI4 homologs and these are described as D-ribose-1,5-bisphosphate isomerases. The THI4 homolog of the halophilic archaea, including Hfx. volcanii (HVO_0665, HvThi4) was found to differ from that of methanogens and thermococci by having a cysteine residue (Cys165) corresponding to the conserved active site cysteine of yeast THI4p (Cys205). Deletion of HVO_0665 generated a thiamine auxotroph that was trans-complemented by a wild-type copy of HVO_0665, but not the modified gene encoding an HvThi4 C165A variant.ConclusionsBased on our results, we conclude that the archaeon Hfx. volcanii uses a yeast THI4-type mechanism for sulfur relay to form the thiazole ring of thiamine. We extend this finding to a relatively large group of archaea, including haloarchaea, ammonium oxidizing archaea, and some methanogen and Pyrococcus species, by observing that these organisms code for THI4 homologs that have a conserved active site cysteine residue which is likely used in thiamine biosynthesis. Thus, archaeal members of IPR002922 THI4 family that have a conserved cysteine active site should be reexamined for a function in thiamine biosynthesis.

Dataset Information

AglR is required for addition of the final mannose residue of the N-linked glycan decorating the Haloferax volcanii S-layer glycoprotein.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

General significance

Publications

AglR is required for addition of the final mannose residue of the N-linked glycan decorating the Haloferax volcanii S-layer glycoprotein.

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