Summary

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPRs) and the associated proteins (Cas) comprise a system of adaptive immunity against viruses and plasmids in prokaryotes. Cas1 is a CRISPR-associated protein that is common to all CRISPR-containing prokaryotes but its function remains obscure. Here we show that the purified Cas1 protein of Escherichia coli (YgbT) exhibits nuclease activity against single-stranded and branched DNAs including Holliday junctions, replication forks, and 5′-flaps. The crystal structure of YgbT and site-directed mutagenesis have revealed the potential active site. Genome-wide screens show that YgbT physically and genetically interacts with key components of DNA repair systems, including recB, recC and ruvB. Consistent with these findings, the ygbT deletion strain showed increased sensitivity to DNA damage and impaired chromosomal segregation. Similar phenotypes were observed in strains with deletion of CRISPR clusters, suggesting that the function of YgbT in repair involves interaction with the CRISPRs. These results show that YgbT belongs to a novel, structurally distinct family of nucleases acting on branched DNAs and suggest that, in addition to antiviral immunity, at least some components of the CRISPR-Cas system have a function in DNA repair.

Cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP) is a ubiquitous second messenger regulating diverse cellular functions including motility, biofilm formation, cell cycle progression and virulence in bacteria. In the cell, degradation of c-di-GMP is catalyzed by highly specific EAL domain phosphodiesterases whose catalytic mechanism is still unclear. Here, we purified 13 EAL domain proteins from various organisms and demonstrated that their catalytic activity is associated with the presence of 10 conserved EAL domain residues. The crystal structure of the TDB1265 EAL domain was determined in a free state (1.8 Å) and in complex with c-di-GMP (2.35 Å) and unveiled the role of the conserved residues in substrate binding and catalysis. The structure revealed the presence of two metal ions directly coordinated by six conserved residues, two oxygens of the c-di-GMP phosphate, and potential catalytic water molecule. Our results support a two-metal-ion catalytic mechanism of c-di-GMP hydrolysis by EAL domain phosphodiesterases.

Glutaminases belong to the large superfamily of serine-dependent β-lactamases and penicillin-binding proteins, and they catalyze the hydrolytic deamidation of l-glutamine to l-glutamate. In this work, we purified and biochemically characterized four predicted glutaminases from Escherichia coli (YbaS and YneH) and Bacillus subtilis (YlaM and YbgJ). The proteins demonstrated strict specificity to l-glutamine and did not hydrolyze d-glutamine or l-asparagine. In each organism, one glutaminase showed higher affinity to glutamine (E. coli YbaS and B. subtilis YlaM; Km 7.3 and 7.6 mM, respectively) than the second glutaminase (E. coli YneH and B. subtilis YbgJ; Km 27.6 and 30.6 mM, respectively). The crystal structures of the E. coli YbaS and the B. subtilis YbgJ revealed the presence of a classical β-lactamase-like fold and conservation of several key catalytic residues of β-lactamases (Ser74, Lys77, Asn126, Lys268, and Ser269 in YbgJ). Alanine replacement mutagenesis demonstrated that most of the conserved residues located in the putative glutaminase catalytic site are essential for activity. The crystal structure of the YbgJ complex with the glutaminase inhibitor 6-diazo-5-oxo-l-norleucine revealed the presence of a covalent bond between the inhibitor and the hydroxyl oxygen of Ser74, providing evidence that Ser74 is the primary catalytic nucleophile and that the glutaminase reaction proceeds through formation of an enzyme–glutamyl intermediate. Growth experiments with the E. coli glutaminase deletion strains revealed that YneH is involved in the assimilation of l-glutamine as a sole source of carbon and nitrogen and suggested that both glutaminases (YbaS and YneH) also contribute to acid resistance in E. coli.

We have identified a novel family of proteins, in which the N-terminal Cystathionine Beta-Synthase (CBS) domain is fused to the C-terminal Zn ribbon domain. Four proteins were over-expressed in E. coli and purified: TA0289 from Thermoplasma acidophilum, TV1335 from Thermoplasma vulcanum, PF1953 from Pyrococcus furiosus, and PH0267 from Pyrococcus horikoshii. The purified proteins had red/purple color in solution and an absorption spectrum typical of rubredoxins. Metal analysis of purified proteins revealed the presence of several metals with iron and zinc being the most abundant metals (2 to 67% of iron and 12 to 74% of zinc). Crystal structures of both mercury- and iron-bound TA0289 (1.5–2.0 Å resolution) revealed a dimeric protein whose inter-subunit contacts are formed exclusively by the α helices of two CBS sub-domains, whereas the C-terminal domain has a classical Zn-ribbon planar architecture. All proteins were reversibly reduced by chemical reductants (ascorbate or dithionite) or by the general rubredoxin reductase NorW from E. coli in the presence of NADH. Reduced TA0289 was found to be able to transfer electrons to cytochrome C from horse heart. Likewise, the purified Zn ribbon protein KTI11 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae had purple color in solution and a rubredoxin-like absorption spectrum, contained both iron and zinc, and was reduced by the rubredoxin reductase NorW from E. coli. Thus, recombinant Zn ribbon domains from archaea and yeast demonstrate a rubredoxin-like electron carrier activity in vitro. We suggest that in vivo some Zn ribbon domains might also bind iron and therefore possess an electron carrier activity adding another physiological role to this large family of important proteins.

V(D)J recombination is initiated by a coordinated cleavage reaction that nicks DNA at two sites and then forms a hairpin coding end and blunt signal end at each site. Following cleavage, the DNA ends are joined by a process that is incompletely understood but nevertheless depends on DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), which consists of Ku and a 460-kDa catalytic subunit (DNA-PKCS or p460). Ku directs DNA-PKCS to DNA ends to efficiently activate the kinase. In vivo, the mouse SCID mutation in DNA-PKCS disrupts joining of the hairpin coding ends but spares joining of the open signal ends. To better understand the mechanism of V(D)J recombination, we measured the activation of DNA-PK by the three DNA structures formed during the cleavage reaction: open ends, DNA nicks, and hairpin ends. Although open DNA ends strongly activated DNA-PK, nicked DNA substrates and hairpin-ended DNA did not. Therefore, even though efficient processing of hairpin coding ends requires DNA-PKCS, this may occur by activation of the kinase bound to the cogenerated open signal end rather than to the hairpin end itself.