Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) granules, also designated as carbonosomes, are supra-molecular complexes in prokaryotes consisting of a PHB polymer core and a surface layer of structural and functional proteins. The presence of suspected phospholipids in the surface layer is based on in vitro data of isolated PHB granules and is often shown in cartoons of the PHB granule structure in reviews on PHB metabolism. However, the in vivo presence of a phospholipid layer has never been demonstrated. We addressed this topic by the expression of fusion proteins of DsRed2EC and other fluorescent proteins with the phospholipid-binding domain (LactC2) of lactadherin in three model organisms. The fusion proteins specifically localized at the cell membrane of Ralstonia eutropha but did not co-localize with PHB granules. The same result was obtained for Pseudomonas putida, a species that accumulates another type of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) granules related to PHB. Notably, DsRed2EC-LactC2 expressed in Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense was detected at the position of membrane-enclosed magnetosome chains and at the cytoplasmic membrane but not at PHB granules. In conclusion, the carbonosomes of representatives of α-proteobacteria, β-proteobacteria and γ-proteobacteria have no phospholipids in vivo and we postulate that the PHB/PHA granule surface layers in natural producers generally are free of phospholipids and consist of proteins only.

Identification of proteins that were present in a polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) granule fraction isolated from Ralstonia eutropha but absent in the soluble, membrane, and membrane-associated fractions revealed the presence of only 12 polypeptides with PHB-specific locations plus 4 previously known PHB-associated proteins with multiple locations. None of the previously postulated PHB depolymerase isoenzymes (PhaZa2 to PhaZa5, PhaZd1, and PhaZd2) and none of the two known 3-hydroxybutyrate oligomer hydrolases (PhaZb and PhaZc) were significantly present in isolated PHB granules. Four polypeptides were found that had not yet been identified in PHB granules. Three of the novel proteins are putative ␣/␤-hydrolases, and two of those (A0671 and B1632) have a PHB synthase/depolymerase signature. The third novel protein (A0225) is a patatin-like phospholipase, a type of enzyme that has not been described for PHB granules of any PHB-accumulating species. No function has been ascribed to the fourth protein (A2001), but its encoding gene forms an operon with phaB2 (acetoacetyl-coenzyme A [CoA] reductase) and phaC2 (PHB synthase), and this is in line with a putative function in PHB metabolism. The localization of the four new proteins at the PHB granule surface was confirmed in vivo by fluorescence microscopy of constructed fusion proteins with enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (eYFP). Deletion of A0671 and B1632 had a minor but detectable effect on the PHB mobilization ability in the stationary growth phase of nutrient broth (NB)-gluconate cells, confirming the functional involvement of both proteins in PHB metabolism. P olyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and related polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are storage compounds for carbon and energy and are widespread in prokaryotic species (1). PHB is deposited in the form of 200-to 500-nm particles (granules) when PHB-accumulating bacteria are cultivated in the presence of a surplus of a suitable carbon source. Ralstonia eutropha H16 (alternative designation, Cupriavidus necator) has become the model organism of PHB research, and the species is also used in industrial processes to produce PHB as a biodegradable polymer with plastic-like properties (2-4). The intensive research of the last few decades has led to a good understanding of the biochemical routes leading to PHB/PHA and of the biochemical properties of proteins with established functions in PHB/PHA metabolism. For example, the key enzymes of PHB synthesis, the PHB synthases (PhaCs), of many PHB-accumulating species have been purified; the coding genes were cloned; and the polymerization reaction has been studied (for overviews and recent results, see references 5 to 11). Meanwhile, much evidence has accumulated showing that PHB granules are not simply storage molecules but represent well-defined subcellular organelles that consist of a polymer core and a surface layer to which many proteins with specific functions are attached (12). Besides the aforementioned PHB synthase, small amphiphilic polypeptides, so-called phasin proteins (PhaP...

A protein (PhaX) that interacted with poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) depolymerase PhaZa1 and with PHB granule-associated phasin protein PhaP2 was identified by two-hybrid analysis. Deletion of phaX resulted in an increase in the level of polyphosphate (polyP) granule formation and in impairment of PHB utilization in nutrient broth-gluconate cultures. A procedure for enrichment of polyP granules from cell extracts was developed. Twenty-seven proteins that were absent in other cell fractions were identified in the polyP granule fraction by proteome analysis. One protein (A2437) harbored motifs characteristic of type 1 polyphosphate kinases (PPK1s), and two proteins (A1212, A1271) had PPK2 motifs. In vivo colocalization with polyP granules was confirmed by expression of C-and N-terminal fusions of enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (eYFP) with the three polyphosphate kinases (PPKs). Screening of the genome DNA sequence for additional proteins with PPK motifs revealed one protein with PPK1 motifs and three proteins with PPK2 motifs. Construction and subsequent expression of C-and N-terminal fusions of the four new PPK candidates with eYFP showed that only A1979 (PPK2 motif) colocalized with polyP granules. The other three proteins formed fluorescent foci near the cell pole (apart from polyP) (A0997, B1019) or were soluble (A0226). Expression of the Ralstonia eutropha ppk (ppk Reu ) genes in an Escherichia coli ⌬ppk background and construction of a set of single and multiple chromosomal deletions revealed that both A2437 (PPK1a) and A1212 (PPK2c) contributed to polyP granule formation. Mutants with deletion of both genes were unable to produce polyP granules. The formation and utilization of PHB and polyP granules were investigated in different chromosomal backgrounds. R alstonia eutropha H16 is a facultative chemolithoautotrophic bacterium and has become famous because of its ability to grow autotrophically with hydrogen as the electron donor (the organism is referred to as Knallgasbakterium in German) and to accumulate large amounts of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB). The PHB produced by R. eutropha or related species is, meanwhile, a commercially available biopolymer (1, 2). The formation of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) was studied in the past by many groups (for reviews, see references 3 to 9). Meanwhile, it is generally accepted that PHB granules are supramolecular complexes, and the designation as carbonosomes has been suggested for PHA granules (10). Carbonosomes are composed of a polymer core and have a surface layer of up to 16 proteins with different functions.Inspection of the R. eutropha genome sequence (11) reveals the presence of the key enzymes for biosynthesis of biopolymers other than PHB, such as cyanophycin synthase (12) and polyphosphate kinase (PPK). While the synthesis of cyanophycin has not yet been demonstrated in R. eutropha, the formation of polyphosphate (polyP) is thought to be ubiquitous in all organisms (13-15). Indeed, the formation of polyP granules in R. eutropha is evident from early i...

The putative physiological functions of two related intracellular poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) depolymerases, PhaZd1 and PhaZd2, of Ralstonia eutropha H16 were investigated. Purified PhaZd1 and PhaZd2 were active with native PHB granules in vitro. Partial removal of the proteinaceous surface layer of native PHB granules by trypsin treatment or the use of PHB granules isolated from ⌬phaP1 or ⌬phaP1-phaP5 mutant strains resulted in increased specific PHB depolymerase activity, especially for PhaZd2. Constitutive expression of PhaZd1 or PhaZd2 reduced or even prevented the accumulation of PHB under PHB-permissive conditions in vivo. Expression of translational fusions of enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) with PhaZd1 and PhaZd2 in which the active-site serines (S190 and Ser193) were replaced with alanine resulted in the colocalization of only PhaZd1 fusions with PHB granules. C-terminal fusions of inactive PhaZd2(S193A) with EYFP revealed the presence of spindlelike structures, and no colocalization with PHB granules was observed. Chromosomal deletion of phaZd1, phaZd2, or both depolymerase genes had no significant effect on PHB accumulation and mobilization during growth in nutrient broth (NB) or NBgluconate medium. Moreover, neither proteome analysis of purified native PHB granules nor lacZ fusion studies gave any indication that PhaZd1 or PhaZd2 was detectably present in the PHB granule fraction or expressed at all during growth on NBgluconate medium. In conclusion, PhaZd1 and PhaZd2 are two PHB depolymerases with a high capacity to degrade PHB when artificially expressed but are apparently not involved in PHB mobilization in the wild type. The true in vivo functions of PhaZd1 and PhaZd2 remain obscure. Ralstonia eutropha H16 is a chemolithoautotrophic betaproteobacterium that has become famous because of its ability to accumulate large amounts of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB). R. eutropha is used for the commercial production of bioplastics (polyhydroxyalkanoates [PHAs] such as PHB and copolymers of 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyvalerate) and is considered a model organism for PHA research (1-5). Investigation of the composition of the surface layer of PHB granules of R. eutropha H16 revealed an astonishingly high number of polypeptides that are predicted or have already been shown to be specifically attached to the PHB granule surface. These proteins include enzymes involved in biosynthesis (PHB synthase PhaC1) (6), in granule structure integrity (phasins PhaP1-PhaP7), in PHB mobilization (PhaZa1 to PhaZa5, PhaZb, PhaZc, PhaZd), and in other functions (PhaR, PhaM). For reviews, see references 1, 5, 7, and 8. Other PHA-accumulating bacteria and Archaea are also known to have proteins specifically attached to the PHA surface (9-15). For an overview and more references, see Table 2 in reference 5. Unfortunately, designation of PHB granule-associated proteins in R. eutropha is not uniformly used in literature: for alternative designations of PHB depolymerases and PHB oligomer hydrolases in R. eutropha, s...

A Rhodospirillum rubrum gene that is predicted to code for an extracellular poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) depolymerase by the recently published polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) depolymerase engineering database was cloned. The gene product (PhaZ3( Rru )) was expressed in recombinant E. coli, purified and biochemically characterized. PhaZ3( Rru ) turned out, however, to share characteristics of intracellular PHB depolymerases and revealed a combination of properties that have not yet been described for other PHB depolymerases. A fusion of PhaZ3( Rru )with the enhanced cyan fluorescent protein was able to bind to PHB granules in vivo and supported the function as an intracellular PHB depolymerase. Purified PhaZ3( Rru ) was specific for short-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA(SCL)) and hydrolysed both untreated native PHB granules as well as trypsin-activated native PHB granules to a mixture of mono- and dimeric 3-hydroxybutyrate. Crystalline (denatured) PHB granules were not hydrolysed by PhayZ3( Rru ). Low concentrations of calcium or magnesium ions (1-5 mM) reversibly (EDTA) inhibited the enzyme. Our data suggest that PhaZ3( Rru ) is the representative of a new type of the growing number of intracellular PHB depolymerases.