Vitamin B1 (thiamin) is a cofactor for critical enzymatic processes and is scarce in surface oceans. Several eukaryotic marine algal species thought to rely on exogenous thiamin are now known to grow equally well on the precursor 4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine (HMP), including the haptophyte Emiliania huxleyi. Because the thiamin biosynthetic capacities of the diverse and ecologically important haptophyte lineage are otherwise unknown, we investigated the pathway in transcriptomes and two genomes from 30 species representing six taxonomic orders. HMP synthase is missing in data from all studied taxa, but the pathway is otherwise complete, with some enzymatic variations. Experiments on axenic species from three orders demonstrated that equivalent growth rates were supported by 1 µM HMP or thiamin amendment. Cellular thiamin quotas were quantified in the oceanic phytoplankter E. huxleyi using the thiochrome assay. E. huxleyi exhibited luxury storage in standard algal medium [(1.16 ± 0.18) × 10−6 pmol thiamin cell−1], whereas quotas in cultures grown under more environmentally relevant thiamin and HMP supplies [(2.22 ± 0.07) × 10−7 or (1.58 ± 0.14) × 10−7 pmol thiamin cell−1, respectively] were significantly lower than luxury values and prior estimates. HMP and its salvage-related analog 4-amino-5-aminomethyl-2-methylpyrimidine (AmMP) supported higher growth than thiamin under environmentally relevant supply levels. These compounds also sustained growth of the stramenopile alga Pelagomonas calceolata. Together with identification of a salvage protein subfamily (TENA_E) in multiple phytoplankton, the results indicate that salvaged AmMP and exogenously acquired HMP are used by several groups for thiamin production. Our studies highlight the potential importance of thiamin pathway intermediates and their analogs in shaping phytoplankton community structure.

The natural antivitamin 2′-methoxy-thiamine (MTh) is implicated in the suppression of microbial growth. However, its mode of action and enzyme-selective inhibition mechanism have remained elusive. Intriguingly, MTh inhibits some thiamine diphosphate (ThDP) enzymes, while being coenzymatically active in others. Here we report the strong inhibition of Escherichia coli transketolase activity by MTh and unravel its mode of action and the structural basis thereof. The unique 2′-methoxy group of MTh diphosphate (MThDP) clashes with a canonical glutamate required for cofactor activation in ThDP-dependent enzymes. This glutamate is forced into a stable, anticatalytic low-barrier hydrogen bond with a neighboring glutamate, disrupting cofactor activation. Molecular dynamics simulations of transketolases and other ThDP enzymes identify active-site flexibility and the topology of the cofactor-binding locale as key determinants for enzyme-selective inhibition. Human enzymes either retain enzymatic activity with MThDP or preferentially bind authentic ThDP over MThDP, while core bacterial metabolic enzymes are inhibited, demonstrating therapeutic potential.

Thiaminases are responsible for the degradation of thiamin and its metabolites. Two classes of thiaminases have been identified based on their three-dimensional structures and in their requirements for a nucleophilic second substrate. While the reactions of several thiaminases have been characterized, the physiological role of thiamin degradation is not fully understood. We have determined the three-dimensional X-ray structure of an inactive C143S mutant of Clostridium botulinum (Cb) thiaminase I with bound thiamin at 2.2 Å resolution. The C143S/thiamin complex provides atomic level details of the orientation of thiamin upon binding to Cb-thiaminase I and the identity of active site residues involved in substrate binding and catalysis. The specific roles of active site residues were probed using site directed mutagenesis and kinetic analyses, leading to a detailed mechanism for Cb-thiaminase I. The structure of Cb-thiaminase I is also compared to the functionally similar but structurally distinct thiaminase II.

Bacimethrin (4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methoxypyrimidine), a natural product isolated from some bacteria, has been implicated as an inhibitor of bacterial and yeast growth, as well as in inhibition of thiamin biosynthesis. Given that thiamin biosynthetic enzymes could convert bacimethrin to 2′-methoxythiamin diphosphate (MeOThDP), it is important to evaluate the effect of this coenzyme analogue on thiamin diphosphate (ThDP)-dependent enzymes. The potential functions of MeOThDP were explored on five ThDP-dependent enzymes: the human and Escherichia coli pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes (PDHc-h and PDHc-ec, respectively), the E. coli 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXPS), and the human and E. coli 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complexes (OGDHc-h and OGDHc-ec, respectively). Using several mechanistic tools (fluorescence, circular dichroism, kinetics, and mass spectrometry), it was demonstrated that MeOThDP binds in the active centers of ThDP-dependent enzymes, however, with a binding mode different from that of ThDP. While modest activities resulted from addition of MeOThDP to E. coli PDHc (6–11%) and DXPS (9–14%), suggesting that MeOThDP-derived covalent intermediates are converted to the corresponding products (albeit with rates slower than that with ThDP), remarkably strong activity (up to 75%) resulted upon addition of the coenzyme analogue to PDHc-h. With PDHc-ec and PDHc-h, the coenzyme analogue could support all reactions, including communication between components in the complex. No functional substitution of MeOThDP for ThDP was in evidence with either OGDH-h or OGDH-ec, shown to be due to tight binding of ThDP.

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