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Regulation of acetate metabolism in Escherichia coli BL21 by protein Nε-lysine acetylation

  • Applied microbial and cell physiology
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Abstract

Acetate production is one of the most striking differences between Escherichia coli K12 and BL21 strains. Transcription of acetate metabolism genes is regulated. Additionally, acetyl-CoA synthetase, which activates acetate to acetyl-CoA, is regulated by post-translational acetylation. The aim of this study was to understand the contribution of reversible protein lysine acetylation to the regulation of acetate metabolism in E. coli BL21. The phenotypic differences between both strains were especially important in the presence of acetate. The high expression of acetyl-CoA synthetase (acs) in glucose exponential phase in BL21 allows the simultaneous consumption of acetate and glucose. Lack of catabolite repression also affected its post-translational regulator, the protein acetyltransferase (patZ). The effect of the deletion of cobB (encoding a sirtuin-like protein deacetylase) and patZ genes depended on the genetic background. The deletion of cobB in both strains increased acetate production and decreased growth rate in acetate cultures. The deletion of patZ in BL21 suppressed acetate overflow in glucose medium and increased the growth rate in acetate cultures. Differences on acetate overflow between BL21 and K12 strains are caused by many overlapping factors. Two major contributing effects were identified: (1) the expression of acs during exponential growth is not repressed in the BL21 strain due to concomitant cAMP production and (2) the acetyl-CoA synthetase activity is more tightly regulated by protein acetylation in BL21 than in the K12. Altogether these differences contribute to the lower acetate overflow and the improved ability of E. coli BL21 to consume this metabolite in the presence of glucose.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank José María Pastor (Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology B and Immunology) for helpful discussions, Marta Abrisqueta, Elena Martín-Orozco and David Cerezo (Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology B and Immunology, University of Murcia) for their help with western blotting and Professor Kerry Smith (Clemson University, South Carolina) for his assistance with the acetate kinase assay. S. Castaño-Cerezo is a recipient of a Ph.D. fellowship from Fundación Séneca (CARM, Murcia). V. Bernal acknowledges a post-doctoral contract from Universidad de Murcia (Programa Propio). This work has been partly funded by MICINN BIO2011-29233-C02-01 and Fundación Séneca-CARM 08660/PI/08 projects.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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  1. Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular B e Inmunología, Facultad de Química, Campus Regional de Excelencia “Mare Nostrum”, Murcia, Spain

    Sara Castaño-Cerezo, Vicente Bernal, Teresa Röhrig, Svenja Termeer & Manuel Cánovas

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  1. Sara Castaño-Cerezo
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  2. Vicente Bernal
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  3. Teresa Röhrig
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Correspondence to Vicente Bernal or Manuel Cánovas.

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Castaño-Cerezo, S., Bernal, V., Röhrig, T. et al. Regulation of acetate metabolism in Escherichia coli BL21 by protein Nε-lysine acetylation. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 3533–3545 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6280-8

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