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Insights into the stress response and sulfur metabolism revealed by proteome analysis of a Chlorobium tepidum mutant lacking the Rubisco-like protein

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Abstract

A significant fraction of the proteome of Chlorobium tepidum is altered in a mutant strain of the green sulfur bacterium C. tepidum (Ω::RLP) lacking the Rubisco-like protein (RLP). Additionally, a number of stress proteins display altered abundance or migration in strain Ω::RLP, including a thioredoxin, a putative Hsp20 family chaperonin, and GroEL. Changes in protein abundance are closely correlated to mRNA abundance in the case of two other stress proteins, a thiol-specific antioxidant protein homolog (Tsa/AhpC) and an iron only superoxide dismutase (Fe-SOD). Strain Ω::RLP is more resistant to hydrogen peroxide exposure than strain WT2321, providing evidence that the stress proteins are functional. Strain Ω::RLP is also defective in thiosulfate oxidation, but is able to oxidize sulfide as well as the wild-type strain. Based on studies with periplasm-enriched extracts of strain Ω::RLP, the loss of thiosulfate oxidation capability correlates with undetectable levels of the SoxY protein, a component of the predicted thiosulfate oxidation complex. These results provide further indications that sulfur oxidation capacity and the response to stress are linked in C. tepidum, with the RLP playing a major role.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate College of Marine Studies and Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711, USA

    Thomas E. Hanson

  2. Department of Microbiology and Plant Molecular Biology/Biotechnology Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210-1292, USA

    F. Robert Tabita

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  1. Thomas E. Hanson
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  2. F. Robert Tabita
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Correspondence to F. Robert Tabita.

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Hanson, T.E., Tabita, F.R. Insights into the stress response and sulfur metabolism revealed by proteome analysis of a Chlorobium tepidum mutant lacking the Rubisco-like protein. Photosynthesis Research 78, 231–248 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PRES.0000006829.41444.3d

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