College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH, Scotland, UK.
Mol Microbiol. 2013 Oct;90(2):400-14. doi: 10.1111/mmi.12373. Epub 2013 Sep 8.
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is a Gram-negative pathogen capable of respiration with a number of terminal electron acceptors. Tetrathionate reductase is important for the infection process and is encoded by the ttrBCA operon where TtrA and TtrB are metallocofactor-containing proteins targeted to the periplasmic side of the membrane by two different Tat targeting peptides. In this work, the inter-relationship between these two signal peptides has been explored. Molecular genetics and biochemical approaches reveal that the processing of the TtrB Tat signal peptide is dependent on the successful assembly of its partner protein, TtrA. Inactivation of either the TtrA or the TtrB Tat targeting peptides individually was observed to have limited overall effects on assembly of the enzyme or on cellular tetrathionate reductase activity. However, inactivation of both signal peptides simultaneously was found to completely abolish physiological tetrathionate reductase activity. These data suggest both signals are normally active during assembly of the enzyme, and imply a code of conduct exists between the signal peptides where one can compensate for inactivity in the other. Since it appears likely that tetrathionate reductase presents itself for export as a multi-signal complex, these observations also have implications for the mechanism of the bacterial Tat translocase.
鼠伤寒沙门氏菌血清型 Typhimurium 是一种革兰氏阴性病原体,能够以多种末端电子受体进行呼吸。四硫代盐还原酶对于感染过程很重要,它由 ttrBCA 操纵子编码,其中 TtrA 和 TtrB 是含有金属辅因子的蛋白质,通过两个不同的 Tat 靶向肽靶向到膜的周质侧。在这项工作中,探索了这两个信号肽之间的相互关系。分子遗传学和生化方法表明,TtrB Tat 信号肽的加工依赖于其伴侣蛋白 TtrA 的成功组装。单独失活 TtrA 或 TtrB Tat 靶向肽观察到对酶的组装或对细胞四硫代盐还原酶活性的总体影响有限。然而,同时失活两个信号肽被发现完全消除了生理四硫代盐还原酶活性。这些数据表明,在酶的组装过程中,两个信号通常都是活跃的,并且在信号肽之间存在一种行为准则,其中一个信号可以补偿另一个信号的失活。由于似乎很可能四硫代盐还原酶作为多信号复合物呈现出来以供出口,这些观察结果也对细菌 Tat 转运体的机制具有影响。