The periplasmic transaminase PtaA of Pseudomonas fluorescens converts the glutamic acid residue at the pyoverdine fluorophore to α-ketoglutaric acid

authored by
Michael T. Ringel, Gerald Dräger, Thomas Brüser
Abstract

The periplasmic conversion of ferribactin to pyoverdine is essential for siderophore biogenesis in fluorescent pseudomonads, such as pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa or plant growth-promoting Pseudomonas fluorescens. The non-ribo-somal peptide ferribactin undergoes cyclizations and oxidations that result in the fluorophore, and a strictly conserved fluorophore-bound glutamic acid residue is converted to a range of variants, including succinamide, succinic acid, and -ketoglu-taric acid residues. We recently discovered that the pyridoxal phosphate-containing enzyme PvdN is responsible for the generation of the succinamide, which can be hydrolyzed to succinic acid. Based on this, a distinct unknown enzyme was postulated to be responsible for the conversion of the glutamic acid to -ke-toglutaric acid. Here we report the identification and characterization of this enzyme in P. fluorescens strain A506. In silico analyses indicated a periplasmic transaminase in fluorescent pseudomonads and other proteobacteria that we termed PtaA for “periplasmic transaminase A.” An in-frame-deleted ptaA mutant selectively lacked the -ketoglutaric acid form of pyoverdine, and recombinant PtaA complemented this phenotype. The ptaA/pvdN double mutant produced exclusively the glutamic acid form of pyoverdine. PtaA is homodimeric and contains a pyridoxal phosphate cofactor. Mutation of the active-site lysine abolished PtaA activity and affected folding as well as Tat-dependent transport of the enzyme. In pseudomonads, the occurrence of ptaA correlates with the occurrence of -ke-toglutaric acid forms of pyoverdines. As this enzyme is not restricted to pyoverdine-producing bacteria, its catalysis of periplasmic transaminations is most likely a general tool for specific biosynthetic pathways.

Organisation(s)
Institute of Microbiology
Institute of Organic Chemistry
Type
Article
Journal
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Volume
292
Pages
18660-18671
No. of pages
12
ISSN
0021-9258
Publication date
10.11.2017
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology
Electronic version(s)
https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M117.812545 (Access: Open)