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Query: UNIPROT:P06889 (Mol)
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We report that pdxA, which is required for de novo biosynthesis of pyridoxine (vitamin B6) and pyridoxal phosphate, belongs to an unusual, multifunctional operon. The pdxA gene was cloned in the same 3.5-kilobase BamHI-EcoRI restriction fragment that contains ksgA, which encodes the 16S rRNA modification enzyme m6(2)A methyltransferase, and apaH, which encodes diadenosine tetraphosphatase (ApppA hydrolase). Previously, Blanchin-Roland et al. showed that ksgA and apaH form a complex operon (Mol. Gen. Genet. 205:515-522, 1986). The pdxA gene was located on recombinant plasmids by subcloning, complementation, and insertion mutagenesis, and chromosomal insertions at five positions upstream from ksgA inactivated pdxA function. DNA sequence analysis and minicell translation experiments demonstrated that pdxA encoded a 35.1-kilodalton polypeptide and that the stop codon of pdxA overlapped the start codon of ksgA by 2 nucleotides. The translational start codon of pdxA was tentatively assigned based on polypeptide size and on the presence of a unique sequence that was also found near the translational start of PdxB. This conserved sequence may play a role in translational control of certain pyridoxine biosynthetic genes. RNase T2 mapping of chromosomal transcripts confirmed that pdxA and ksgA were members of the same complex operon, yet about half of ksgA transcripts arose in vivo under some culture conditions from an internal promoter mapped near the end of pdxA. Transcript analysis further suggested that pdxA is not the first gene in the operon. These structural features support the idea that pyridoxine-biosynthetic genes are members of complex operons, perhaps to interweave coenzyme biosynthesis genetically with other metabolic processes. The results are also considered in terms of ksgA expression.
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PMID:Overlap between pdxA and ksgA in the complex pdxA-ksgA-apaG-apaH operon of Escherichia coli K-12. 267 Aug 94

Bacterial genomes encode hundreds to thousands of enzymes, most of which are specialized for particular functions. However, most enzymes have inefficient promiscuous activities, as well, that generally serve no purpose. Promiscuous reactions can be patched together to form multistep metabolic pathways. Mutations that increase expression or activity of enzymes in such serendipitous pathways can elevate flux through the pathway to a physiologically significant level. In this study, we describe the discovery of three serendipitous pathways that allow synthesis of pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP) in a strain of E. coli that lacks 4-phosphoerythronate (4PE) dehydrogenase (PdxB) when one of seven different genes is overexpressed. We have characterized one of these pathways in detail. This pathway diverts material from serine biosynthesis and generates an intermediate in the normal PLP synthesis pathway downstream of the block caused by lack of PdxB. Steps in the pathway are catalyzed by a protein of unknown function, a broad-specificity enzyme whose physiological role is unknown, and a promiscuous activity of an enzyme that normally serves another function. One step in the pathway may be non-enzymatic.
Mol Syst Biol 2010 Nov 30
PMID:Three serendipitous pathways in E. coli can bypass a block in pyridoxal-5'-phosphate synthesis. 2111 33