PMID:22068980

From EcoliWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Citation

Dailey, HA, Septer, AN, Daugherty, L, Thames, D, Gerdes, S, Stabb, EV, Dunn, AK, Dailey, TA and Phillips, JD (2011) The Escherichia coli protein YfeX functions as a porphyrinogen oxidase, not a heme dechelatase. MBio 2:e00248-11

Abstract

The protein YfeX from Escherichia coli has been proposed to be essential for the process of iron removal from heme by carrying out a dechelation of heme without cleavage of the porphyrin macrocycle. Since this proposed reaction is unique and would represent the first instance of the biological dechelation of heme, we undertook to characterize YfeX. Our data reveal that YfeX effectively decolorizes the dyes alizarin red and Cibacron blue F3GA and has peroxidase activity with pyrogallal but not guiacol. YfeX oxidizes protoporphyrinogen to protoporphyrin in vitro. However, we were unable to detect any dechelation of heme to free porphyrin with purified YfeX or in cellular extracts of E. coli overexpressing YfeX. Additionally, Vibrio fischeri, an organism that can utilize heme as an iron source when grown under iron limitation, is able to grow with heme as the sole source of iron when its YfeX homolog is absent. Plasmid-driven expression of YfeX in V. fischeri grown with heme did not result in accumulation of protoporphyrin. We propose that YfeX is a typical dye-decolorizing peroxidase (or DyP) and not a dechelatase. The protoporphyrin reported to accumulate when YfeX is overexpressed in E. coli likely arises from the intracellular oxidation of endogenously synthesized protoporphyrinogen and not from dechelation of exogenously supplied heme. Bioinformatic analysis of bacterial YfeX homologs does not identify any connection with iron acquisition but does suggest links to anaerobic-growth-related respiratory pathways. Additionally, some genes encoding homologs of YfeX have tight association with genes encoding a bacterial cytoplasmic encapsulating protein.

Links

PubMed PMC3215433 Online version:10.1128/mBio.00248-11

Keywords

Aliivibrio fischeri/enzymology; Aliivibrio fischeri/genetics; Anthraquinones/metabolism; Cation Transport Proteins/metabolism; Escherichia coli/enzymology; Escherichia coli/genetics; Escherichia coli Proteins/metabolism; Heme/metabolism; Oxidoreductases/metabolism; Peroxidase/metabolism; Porphyrinogens/metabolism; Pyrogallol/metabolism; Triazines/metabolism

Significance

You can help EcoliWiki by summarizing why this paper is useful

Useful Materials and Methods

You can help Ecoliwiki by describing the useful materials (strains, plasmids, antibodies, etc) described in this paper.

Annotations

<annotationlinks/>

EcoliWiki Links

Add links to pages that link here (e.g. gene, product, method pages)

See also

References

See Help:References for how to manage references in EcoliWiki.