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Relation of potassium uptake to proton transport and activity of hydrogenases in Escherichia coli grown at low pH

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Biochemistry (Moscow) Supplement Series A: Membrane and Cell Biology Aims and scope

Abstract

Escherichia coli grown under anaerobic conditions in acidic medium (pH 5.5) upon hyperosmotic stress accumulates potassium ions mainly through the Kup system, the functioning of which is associated with proton efflux decrease. It was shown that H+ secretion but not glucose-induced K+ uptake was inhibited by N,N′-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC). The inhibitory effect of DCC on the H+ efflux was stronger in the trkA mutant with defective potassium transport. The K+ and H+ fluxes depended on the extent of hyperosmotic stress in the absence or presence of DCC. The decrease in external oxidation/reduction potential and H2 liberation insensitive to DCC were recorded. It was found that the atpD mutant with nonfunctional F0F1-ATPase produced a substantial amount of H2, while in the hyc mutant (but not the hyf mutant defective in hydrogenases 3 (Hyd-3) and 4 (Hyd-4)) the H2 production was significantly suppressed. At the same time, the rate of K+ uptake was markedly lower in hyfR and hyfB-R but not in hycE or hyfA-B mutants; H+ transport was lowered and sensitive to DCC in hyf but not in hyc mutants. The results point to the relationship of K+ uptake with the Hyd-4 activity. Novel options of the expression of some hyf genes in E. coli grown at pH 5.5 are proposed. It is possible that the hyfB-R genes expressed under acidic conditions or their gene products interact with the gene coding for the Kup protein or directly with the Kup system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biophysics of the Faculty of Biology, Yerevan State University, ul. Manoukiana, 1, Yerevan, 0025, Republic of Armenia

    K. Trchounian, A. Poladyan & A. Trchounian

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  1. K. Trchounian
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  2. A. Poladyan
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Original Russian Text © K. Trchounian, A. Poladyan, A. Trchounian, 2009, published in Biologicheskie Membrany, 2009, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 111–118.

The article was translated by the authors.

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Trchounian, K., Poladyan, A. & Trchounian, A. Relation of potassium uptake to proton transport and activity of hydrogenases in Escherichia coli grown at low pH. Biochem. Moscow Suppl. Ser. A 3, 144–150 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1990747809020068

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1990747809020068

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