Metabolism of 4''-phosphopantetheine in Escherichia coli.

Coenzyme A (CoA) and acyl carrier protein (ACP) contain 4'-phosphopantetheine moieties that are metabolically derived from the vitamin pantothenate. The utilization of metabolites in the biosynthetic pathway during growth was investigated by using an Escherichia coli beta-alanine auxotroph to specifically and uniformly label the pathway intermediates. Pantothenate and 4'-phosphopantetheine were the two intermediates detected in the highest concentration, both intracellularly and extracellularly. The specific cellular content of CoA and ACP was not constant during growth of strain SJ16 (panD) on 4 microM beta-[3-3H]alanine, and alterations in the utilization of 4'-phosphopantetheine and pantothenate correlated with the observed fluctuations of the intracellular pool sizes of CoA and ACP. Double-label experiments indicated that extracellular 4'-phosphopantetheine was derived from the degradation of ACP, and the extent that this intermediate was utilized by 4'-phosphopantetheine adenylyltransferase exerted control over the degradative aspect of the pathway. Control over the biosynthetic aspect of the biochemical pathway was exerted at the level of pantothenate utilization by pantothenate kinase. Reduction in the specific cellular content of CoA and ACP by 4'-phosphopantetheine excretion was irreversible since, in contrast to pantothenate, strain SJ16 was unable to assimilate exogenous 4'-phosphopantetheine into CoA or ACP.     

Turnover of the 4'-phosphopantetheine prosthetic group of acyl carrier protein

Acyl carrier protein is an essential cofactor in fatty acid biosynthesis, and in contrast to the stability of the protein moiety during growth, its 4'-phosphopantetheine prosthetic group is metabolically active. The biosynthetic incorporation of deuterium into nonexchangeable positions of acyl carrier protein was found to enhance the sensitivity of the protein to pH-induced hydrodynamic expansion. This constitutional isotope effect was exploited to separate deuterated from normal acyl carrier protein by conformationally sensitive gel electrophoresis, thus providing the analytical framework for separating pre-existing (deuterated) from newly synthesized acyl carrier protein in pulse-chase experiments. The rate of acyl carrier protein prosthetic group turnover was found to depend on the intracellular concentration of coenzyme A. At low coenzyme A levels, prosthetic group turnover was four times faster than the rate of new acyl carrier protein biosynthesis but at the higher coenzyme A concentrations characteristic of logarithmic growth, turnover was an order of magnitude slower, amounting to approximately 25% of the acyl carrier protein pool per generation. These observations suggest that the acyl carrier protein prosthetic group turnover cycle may be related to coenzyme A metabolism rather than to lipid biosynthesis.     

Effects of arterial ligation and embolization on pulmonary vascular pressure distribution

The effects of embolization on the longitudinal distribution of pulmonary vascular pressures with respect to vascular compliance were determined by the vascular inflow and outflow occlusion technique in isolated blood-perfused pig lungs treated with papaverine to prevent vasomotor responses. Embolization with microspheres having mean diameters of 75, 200, and 550 microns and with barrier beads (2 X 3 X 3.5 mm) significantly increased the pressure gradient across the relatively compliant middle region (delta Pm) without increasing the gradients across the relatively noncompliant regions on the arterial (delta Pa) or venous (delta Pv) ends of the vasculature. In contrast ligation of several lobar arteries caused delta Pa to increase from 0.9 +/- 0.3 to 5.9 +/- 1.1 mmHg but did not change delta Pm or delta Pv. Assuming that delta Pa and delta Pv measured by vascular occlusion result from cessation of flow through resistances, these data suggest that in isolated pig lungs the vessels at the boundary between the arterial and middle regions defined by the occlusion technique are arteries greater than 2-3 mm diam and smaller than lobar arteries.     

Uptake and acylation of 2-acyl-lysophospholipids by Escherichia coli.

The efficiency of extracellular 2-acyl-lysophospholipid incorporation into Escherichia coli membranes and the acyl donor utilized to acylate the 2-acyl-lysophospholipid was determined. Exogenous 2-acyl-lysophospholipids were acylated via the acyl-acyl carrier protein synthetase/2-acylglycerophosphoethanolamine acyltransferase pathway. The maximum extent of 2-acyl-lysophospholipid incorporation into the membrane was approximately 2.5% of the normal phospholipid biosynthetic rate.     

Acetoacetyl-acyl carrier protein synthase. A target for the antibiotic thiolactomycin

The biochemical basis for the inhibition of fatty acid biosynthesis in Escherichia coli by the antibiotic thiolactomycin was investigated. A biochemical assay was developed to measure acetoacetyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) synthase activity, a recently discovered third condensing enzyme from E. coli (Jackowski, S., and Rock, C.O. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 7927-7931). In contrast to the other two condensing enzymes in E. coli, acetoacetyl-ACP synthase (synthase III) condensed malonyl-ACP with acetyl-CoA, rather than with acetyl-ACP. The concentration dependence of thiolactomycin inhibition of fatty acid biosynthesis in vivo was the same as the inhibition of acetoacetyl-ACP synthase activity in vitro indicating that the two phenomena were related. A thiolactomycin-resistant mutant (strain CDM5) was isolated. The specific activity of acetoacetyl-ACP synthase in extracts from this mutant was 10-fold lower than in extracts from its thiolactomycin-sensitive parent resulting in a marked defect in the ability of strain CDM5 to incorporate acetyl-CoA into fatty acids in vitro. The residual acetoacetyl-ACP synthase activity in the resistant strain was refractory to thiolactomycin inhibition. In addition, acetyl-CoA:ACP transacylase activity in strain CDM5 was resistant to inactivation by thiolactomycin suggesting that the acetoacetyl-ACP synthase also catalyzes this transacylation reaction. These data point to acetoacetyl-ACP synthase as a target for thiolactomycin inhibition of bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis.     

Penis-retractor muscle of Aplysia: excitatory motor neurons

Cobalt axonal iontophoresis and intracellular recordings were used to identify a cluster of several motor neurons innervating the penis-retractor muscle of Aplysia. Intracellularly recorded motor neuron action potentials elicited direct, one-for-one, constant latency excitatory junctional potentials (ejps) in individual muscle fibers. The axons of motor neurons could be recorded extracellularly in the penis-retractor nerve and stimulation of the nerve backfired the motor neurons. Perfusion of the ganglion, the muscle, or both with solutions of either increased Mg++/decreased Ca++ or increased Ca++ sea water indicated that the presumed motor neuron impaled was not a sensory cell and that interneurons were not intercalated in the pathway. Innervation of muscle fibers was found to be functionally polyneuronal and diffuse. The ejps were found to undergo marked facilitation with repetitive motor-neuron stimulation. The motor neurons were isolated in a distinct cluster in the right pedal ganglion. Their electrical activity was characterized by spontaneous irregular action potentials and a moderate input of postsynaptic potentials.