title: Glutamate is required to maintain the steady-state potassium pool in Salmonella typhimurium.
abstract: In many bacteria, accumulation of K+ at high external osmolalities is accompanied by accumulation of glutamate. To determine whether there is an obligatory relationship between glutamate and K+ pools, we studied mutant strains of Salmonella typhimurium with defects in glutamate synthesis. Enteric bacteria synthesize glutamate by the combined action of glutamine synthetase and glutamate synthase (GS/GOGAT cycle) or the action of biosynthetic glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). Activity of the GS/GOGAT cycle is required under nitrogen-limiting conditions and is decreased at high external ammonium/ammonia ((NH4)+) concentrations by lowered synthesis of GS and a decrease in its catalytic activity due to covalent modification (adenylylation by GS adenylyltransferase). By contrast, GDH functions efficiently only at high external (NH4)+ concentrations, because it has a low affinity for (NH4)+. When grown at low concentrations of (NH4)+ (< or = 2 mM), mutant strains of S. typhimurium that lack GOGAT and therefore are dependent on GDH have a low glutamate pool and grow slowly; we now demonstrate that they have a low K+ pool. When subjected to a sudden (NH4)+ upshift, strains lacking GS adenylyltransferase drain their glutamate pool into glutamine and grow very slowly; we now find that they also drain their K+ pool. Restoration of the glutamate pool in these strains at late times after shift was accompanied by restoration of the K+ pool and a normal growth rate. Taken together, the results indicate that glutamate is required to maintain the steady-state K+ pool -- apparently no other anion can substitute as a counter-ion for free K+ -- and that K+ glutamate is required for optimal growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, University of California, Berkeley 94720, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Shauger
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kustu
mesh_terms: D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D011188:Potassium / Q000378:metabolism*; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D011188:Potassium