Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
J Bacteriol. 2013 Feb;195(4):844-54. doi: 10.1128/JB.01492-12. Epub 2012 Dec 7.
Clostridium difficile, a proteolytic Gram-positive anaerobe, has emerged as a significant nosocomial pathogen. Stickland fermentation reactions are thought to be important for growth of C. difficile and appear to influence toxin production. In Stickland reactions, pairs of amino acids donate and accept electrons, generating ATP and reducing power in the process. Reduction of the electron acceptors proline and glycine requires the d-proline reductase (PR) and the glycine reductase (GR) enzyme complexes, respectively. Addition of proline in the medium increases the level of PR protein but decreases the level of GR. We report the identification of PrdR, a protein that activates transcription of the PR-encoding genes in the presence of proline and negatively regulates the GR-encoding genes. The results suggest that PrdR is a central metabolism regulator that controls preferential utilization of proline and glycine to produce energy via the Stickland reactions.
艰难梭菌是一种蛋白水解革兰氏阳性厌氧菌,已成为重要的医院获得性病原体。Stickland 发酵反应被认为对艰难梭菌的生长很重要,并且似乎影响毒素的产生。在 Stickland 反应中,氨基酸对捐献和接受电子,在这个过程中产生 ATP 和还原力。电子受体脯氨酸和甘氨酸的还原分别需要 d-脯氨酸还原酶(PR)和甘氨酸还原酶(GR)酶复合物。培养基中添加脯氨酸会增加 PR 蛋白的水平,但会降低 GR 的水平。我们报告了 PrdR 的鉴定,它是一种在脯氨酸存在下激活 PR 编码基因转录的蛋白,并且负调控 GR 编码基因。结果表明,PrdR 是一种中央代谢调节剂,它控制优先利用脯氨酸和甘氨酸通过 Stickland 反应产生能量。