title: Characterization of N-Succinylation of L-Lysylphosphatidylglycerol in Bacillus subtilis Using Tandem Mass Spectrometry.
abstract: Phospholipids generally dominate in bacterial lipids. The negatively charged nature of phospholipids renders bacteria susceptible to cationic antibiotic peptides. In comparison with Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria in general have much less zwitterionic phosphatidylethanolamine. However, they are known for producing aminoacylated phosphatidylglycerol (PG), especially positively charged L-lysyl-PG, which is catalyzed by lysyl-PG synthase MprF, which appears to have a broad range of specificity for L-aminoacyl transfer RNAs. In addition, many Gram-positive bacteria also have a dlt-gene-coded D-alanylation pathway for lipoteichoic acids and wall teichoic acids covalently attached to a glycolipid or peptidoglycan. D-Alanylation also masks the dominant negative charge of the phosphate-rich polymers of teichoic acids. Using mass spectrometry, we have recently observed that precursor scans in negative mode for deprotonated amino acid fragments were most sensitive for ester-linked amino acids. Such a scan for precursors generating an m/z 145 lysyl anion revealed lysyl-PG as well as an additional species 100 m/z units greater than lysyl-PG. This unexpected species corresponded precisely to the expected mass of N-succinylated lysyl-PG. Tandem mass spectrometry revealed a precise match to the fragmentation pattern of this putative new species. PG, lysyl-PG, and N-succinyl-lysyl-PG may form a complete loop of charge reversal from -1 to +1 and then back to -1. Analogous charge reversal by N-succinylation of lysine residues in the bacterial as well as eukaryotic proteomes has been recently discovered as a major posttranslational modification. Such modification in bacterial lipids is possibly catalyzed by an enzyme homologous to the enzymes that modify lysine residues in proteins. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.
authors: Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors: Metin
authors: M
authors: Atila
authors: Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture/Department of Medicine, Core Mass Spectrometry Facility, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors: George
authors: G
authors: Katselis
authors: Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture/Department of Medicine, Core Mass Spectrometry Facility, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors: Paulos
authors: P
authors: Chumala
authors: Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. yu.luo@usask.ca.
authors: Yu
authors: 0000-0002-3580-563X
authors: Y
authors: Luo
mesh_terms: D019881:Aminoacyltransferases; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001412:Bacillus subtilis; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008239:Lysine / Q000032:analysis*; D010715:Phosphatidylglycerols / Q000032:analysis*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D010715:Phosphatidylglycerols; C002285:lysylphosphatidylglycerol; D019881:Aminoacyltransferases; D008239:Lysine
keywords: Charge modulation; Lipid; Lysine succinylation; MS2; MS3; Mass Spectrometry; Phosphatidylglycerol; Phospholipid; lysyl-phosphatidylglycerol; succinyl-lysyl-phosphatidylglycerol