Hitchcock, N. orcid.org/0000-0002-7886-1367, Kelly, D.J. orcid.org/0000-0002-0770-6845, Hitchcock, A. orcid.org/0000-0001-6572-434X et al. (1 more author) (2022) Cysteine biosynthesis in Campylobacter jejuni: substrate specificity of CysM and the dualism of sulfide. Biomolecules, 13 (1). 86.
Abstract
Campylobacter jejuni is a highly successful enteric pathogen with a small, host-adapted genome (1.64 Mbp, ~1650 coding genes). As a result, C. jejuni has limited capacity in numerous metabolic pathways, including sulfur metabolism. Unable to utilise ionic sulfur, C. jejuni relies on the uptake of exogenous cysteine and its derivatives for its supply of this essential amino acid. Cysteine can also be synthesized de novo by the sole cysteine synthase, CysM. In this study, we explored the substrate specificity of purified C. jejuni CysM and define it as an O-acetyl-L-serine sulfhydrylase with an almost absolute preference for sulfide as sulfur donor. Sulfide is produced in abundance in the intestinal niche C. jejuni colonises, yet sulfide is generally viewed as highly toxic to bacteria. We conducted a series of growth experiments in sulfur-limited media and demonstrate that sulfide is an excellent sulfur source for C. jejuni at physiologically relevant concentrations, combating the view of sulfide as a purely deleterious compound to bacteria. Nonetheless, C. jejuni is indeed inhibited by elevated concentrations of sulfide and we sought to understand the targets involved. Surprisingly, we found that inactivation of the sulfide-sensitive primary terminal oxidase, the cbb3-type cytochrome c oxidase CcoNOPQ, did not explain the majority of growth inhibition by sulfide. Therefore, further work is required to reveal the cellular targets responsible for sulfide toxicity in C. jejuni.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Campylobacter jejuni; cysteine synthase; CysM; sulfide; thiosulfate; sulfur; oxidase |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) > Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 11 Jan 2023 11:57 |
Last Modified: | 11 Jan 2023 11:57 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom13010086 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI AG |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/biom13010086 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:195063 |