In Vivo and in Vitro Synthesis of Phosphatidylglycerol by an Escherichia coli Cardiolipin Synthase.
Abstract
Phosphatidylglycerol (PG) makes up 5-20% of the phospholipids of Escherichia coli
and is essential for growth in wild-type cells. PG is synthesized from the dephosphorylation
of its immediate precursor, phosphatidylglycerol phosphate (PGP) whose synthase in
E. coli is PgsA. Using genetic, biochemical, and highly sensitive mass spectrometric
approaches, we identified an alternative mechanism for PG synthesis in E. coli that
is PgsA independent. The reaction of synthesis involves the conversion of phosphatidylethanolamine
and glycerol into PG and is catalyzed by ClsB, a phospholipase D-type cardiolipin
synthase. This enzymatic reaction is demonstrated herein both in vivo and in vitro
as well as by using the purified ClsB protein. When the growth medium was supplemented
with glycerol, the expression of E. coli ClsB significantly increased PG and cardiolipin
levels, with the growth deficiency of pgsA null strain also being complemented under
such conditions. Identification of this alternative mechanism for PG synthesis not
only expands our knowledge of bacterial anionic phospholipid biosynthesis, but also
sheds light on the biochemical functions of the cls gene redundancy in E. coli and
other bacteria. Finally, the PGP-independent PG synthesis in E. coli may also have
important implications for the understanding of PG biosynthesis in eukaryotes that
remains incomplete.
Type
Journal articleSubject
Escherichia coli (E. coli)Phosphatidylglycerol
cardiolipin
mass spectrometry (MS)
phosphatidylethanolamine
phosphatidylglycerol
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/13029Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1074/jbc.M116.762070Publication Info
Li, Chijun; Tan, Brandon K; Zhao, Jinshi; & Guan, Ziqiang (2016). In Vivo and in Vitro Synthesis of Phosphatidylglycerol by an Escherichia coli Cardiolipin
Synthase. J Biol Chem, 291(48). pp. 25144-25153. 10.1074/jbc.M116.762070. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/13029.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Ziqiang Guan
Research Professor in Biochemistry
We develop and apply mass spectrometry techniques to address biochemical and biomedical
questions that are lipid-related. Research projects include:
1) Structural lipidomics
o Develop and apply high resolution tandem mass spectrometry-based lipidomics for
the discovery, structural elucidation and functional study of novel lipids.
2) Elucidation of novel pathways/enzymes of lipid biosynthesis and metabolism
o Genetic, biochemical and MS a

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