Bacillus pumilus KatX2 confers enhanced hydrogen peroxide resistance to a Bacillus subtilis PkatA::katX2 mutant strain

• Published in: Microbial cell factories Vol. 16; no. 1; p. 72
• Main Authors: Handtke, Stefan, Albrecht, Dirk, Zühlke, Daniela, Otto, Andreas, Becher, Dörte, Schweder, Thomas, Riedel, Kathrin, Hecker, Michael, Voigt, Birgit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 26.04.2017; BMC
• Subjects: Abundance; Acetylation; Agar; Amino acid sequence; Amino acids; Amplification; Assaying; Bacillus pumilus; Bacillus pumilus - enzymology; Bacillus pumilus - genetics; Bacillus subtilis - drug effects; Bacillus subtilis - genetics; Binding sites; Biotin; Catalase; Catalase - chemistry; Catalase - genetics; Catalase - metabolism; Catalysis; Cell culture; Centrifugation; Citric acid; Construction; Cultivation; Cysteine; Decision making; Degradation; Dehydrogenase; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA repair; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Electrophoresis; Enzymes; Fermentation; Fluorescence; Fractionation; Fragmentation; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Genetic transformation; Genomes; Glucose; Homology; Hydrogen; Hydrogen peroxide; Hydrogen Peroxide - metabolism; Hydrogen Peroxide - pharmacology; Hydroxyl radicals; Iron; Irradiation; Liquid chromatography; Lymphocytes B; Mass spectrometry; Microbiology; Mutants; Mutation; Nucleotide sequence; Nucleotides; Oxidation; Oxidative Stress; Peptides; Polymerase chain reaction; Prokaryotes; Proteins; Proteomics; Residues; Stop codon; Stress response; Ultraviolet radiation; Bacillus pumilus; Oxidative stress; Hydrogen peroxide; Catalase
• ISSN: 1475-2859; 1475-2859
• DOI: 10.1186/s12934-017-0684-y

Bacillus pumilus cells exhibit a significantly higher resistance to hydrogen peroxide compared to closely related Bacilli like Bacillus subtilis. In this study we analyzed features of the catalase KatX2 of B. pumilus as one of the most important parts of the cellular response to hydrogen peroxide. KatX2, the vegetative catalase expressed in B. pumilus, was compared to the vegetative catalase KatA of B. subtilis. Data of our study demonstrate that B. pumilus can degrade toxic concentrations of hydrogen peroxide faster than B. subtilis. By replacing B. subtilis katA gene by katX2 we could significantly enhance its resistance to H O and its potential to eliminate this toxic compound. Mutant cells showed a 1.5- to 2-fold higher survival to toxic concentrations of hydrogen peroxide compared to wild type cells. Furthermore, we found reversible but also irreversible oxidations of the KatX2 protein which, in contrast to KatA, contains several cysteine residues. Our study indicates that the catalase KatX2 plays a major role in the increased resistance of B. pumilus to oxidative stress caused by hydrogen peroxide. Resistance to hydrogen peroxide of other Bacilli can be enhanced by exchanging the native catalase in the cells with katX2.