TY - JOUR
T1 - DctA- and Dcu-independent transport of succinate in Escherichia coli
T2 - Contribution of diffusion and of alternative carriers
AU - Janausch, Ingo
AU - Kim, Ok
AU - Unden, Gottfried
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements We are grateful to R. Krämer (Köln) for helpful discussions. The work was supported by grants from Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft and the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie.
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - Quintuple mutants of Escherichia coli deficient in the C4-dicarboxylate carriers of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism (DctA, DcuA, DcuB, DcuC, and the DcuC homolog DcuD, or the citrate/succinate antiporter CitT) showed only poor growth on succinate (or other C4-dicarboxylates) under oxic conditions. At acidic pH (pH 6) the mutants regained aerobic growth on succinate, but not on fumarate. Succinate uptake by the mutants could not be saturated at physiological succinate concentrations (≤5 mM), in contrast to the wild-type, which had a Km for succinate of 50 μM and a Vmax of 35 U/g dry weight at pH 6. At high substrate concentrations, the mutants showed transport activities (32 U/g dry weight) comparable to that of the wild-type. In the wild-type using DctA as the carrier, succinate uptake had a pH optimum of 6, whereas succinate uptake in the mutants was maximal at pH 5. In the mutants succinate uptake was inhibited competitively by monocarboxylic acids. Diffusion of succinate or fumarate across phospholipid membranes (liposomes) was orders of magnitude slower than the transport in the wild-type or the mutants. The data suggest that mutants deficient in DctA, DcuA, DcuB, DcuC, DcuD (or CitT) contain a carrier, possibly a monocarboxylate carrier, which is able to transport succinate, but not fumarate, at acidic pH, when succinate is present as a monoanion. Succinate uptake by this carrier was inhibited by addition of an uncoupler. Growth by fumarate respiration (requiring fumarate/succinate antiport) was also lost in the quintuple mutants, and growth was not restored at pH 6. In contrast, the efflux of succinate produced during glucose fermentation was not affected in the mutants, demonstrating that, for succinate efflux, a carrier different from, or in addition to, the known Dcu and CitT carriers is used.
AB - Quintuple mutants of Escherichia coli deficient in the C4-dicarboxylate carriers of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism (DctA, DcuA, DcuB, DcuC, and the DcuC homolog DcuD, or the citrate/succinate antiporter CitT) showed only poor growth on succinate (or other C4-dicarboxylates) under oxic conditions. At acidic pH (pH 6) the mutants regained aerobic growth on succinate, but not on fumarate. Succinate uptake by the mutants could not be saturated at physiological succinate concentrations (≤5 mM), in contrast to the wild-type, which had a Km for succinate of 50 μM and a Vmax of 35 U/g dry weight at pH 6. At high substrate concentrations, the mutants showed transport activities (32 U/g dry weight) comparable to that of the wild-type. In the wild-type using DctA as the carrier, succinate uptake had a pH optimum of 6, whereas succinate uptake in the mutants was maximal at pH 5. In the mutants succinate uptake was inhibited competitively by monocarboxylic acids. Diffusion of succinate or fumarate across phospholipid membranes (liposomes) was orders of magnitude slower than the transport in the wild-type or the mutants. The data suggest that mutants deficient in DctA, DcuA, DcuB, DcuC, DcuD (or CitT) contain a carrier, possibly a monocarboxylate carrier, which is able to transport succinate, but not fumarate, at acidic pH, when succinate is present as a monoanion. Succinate uptake by this carrier was inhibited by addition of an uncoupler. Growth by fumarate respiration (requiring fumarate/succinate antiport) was also lost in the quintuple mutants, and growth was not restored at pH 6. In contrast, the efflux of succinate produced during glucose fermentation was not affected in the mutants, demonstrating that, for succinate efflux, a carrier different from, or in addition to, the known Dcu and CitT carriers is used.
KW - C-dicarboxylate transport
KW - DctA
KW - Dcu carrier
KW - Escherichia coli
KW - Fumarate
KW - Succinate
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0034891560&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s002030100317
DO - 10.1007/s002030100317
M3 - Article
C2 - 11511871
AN - SCOPUS:0034891560
SN - 0302-8933
VL - 176
SP - 224
EP - 230
JO - Archives of Microbiology
JF - Archives of Microbiology
IS - 3
ER -