Studies on the mechanism of inhibition of Salmonella typhimurium by 1,2,4-triazole.

The inhibition of Salmonella typhimurium by 1,2,4-triazole appears to be mediated through an effect on L-cysteine biosynthesis. O-Acetylserine sulfhydrylase A, the final enzyme in the L-cysteine biosynthetic pathway, was found to catalyze a reaction (triazolylase) between O-acetyl-L-serine and 1,2,4-triazole, giving 1,2,4-triazole-1-alanine as a product. In wild type S. typhimurium grown on 4 mM 1,2,4-triazole, 97% of the total O-acetyl-L-serine synthesized in vivo is incorporated into 1,2,4-triazole-1-alanine. 1,2,4-triazole also significantly lowers the levels of several of the enzymes necessary for sulfate reduction. This effect is presumably due to the ability of the inhibitor to lower intracellular concentrations of O-acetyl-L-serine, an inducer of these enzymes. Inhibition of growth is probably caused by L-cysteine starvation, arising from the decreased availability of the L-cysteine precursors, sulfide and O-acetyl-L-serine. Two 1,2,4-triazole-resistant strains bearing mutations in cysK, the structural gene for O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase A, incorporate only small quantities of O-acetyl-L-serine into 1,2,4-triazole-1-alanine in vivo. In vitro studies, using purified preparations of O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase A, revealed greater losses of triazolylase activity than sulfhydrylase activity in the enzymes from both cysK mutants. Resistance to 1,2,4-triazole apparently can arise from mutations leading to a preferential loss of triazolylase activity or from mutations which diminish both activities to the extent that high concentrations of O-acetyl-L-serine and sulfide accumulate behind the sulfhydrylase reaction.