Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Cytochrome bd confers nitric oxide resistance to Escherichia coli

Nature Chemical Biology volume 5, pages 94–96 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The aerobic respiratory chain of Escherichia coli has two terminal quinol oxidases: cytochrome bo and cytochrome bd. Cytochrome bd was thought to function solely to facilitate micro-aerobic respiration. However, it has recently been shown to be overexpressed under conditions of nitric oxide (NO) stress; we show here that cytochrome bd is crucial for protecting E. coli cells from NO-induced growth inhibition by virtue of its fast NO dissociation rate.

This is a preview of subscription content

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Nitric oxide and oxygen sensitivity of cytochromes bo and bd in E.coli.

References

  1. Gennis, R.B. & Stewart, V. in Respiration Vol.1 (eds. Curtiss, R. et al.) 217–261 (American Society for Microbiology Press, Washington, DC, 1996).

    Google Scholar 

  2. van der Oost, J. et al. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 121, 1–9 (1994).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Rothery, R.A. & Ingledew, W.J. Biochem. J. 261, 437–443 (1989).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Puustinen, A., Finel, M., Haltia, T., Gennis, R.B. & Wikstrom, M. Biochemistry 30, 3936–3942 (1991).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Calhoun, M.W., Oden, K.L., Gennis, R.B., de Mattos, M.J. & Neijssel, O.M. J. Bacteriol. 175, 3020–3025 (1993).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Cotter, P.A., Chepuri, V., Gennis, R.B. & Gunsalus, R.P. J. Bacteriol. 172, 6333–6338 (1990).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Rice, C.W. & Hempfling, W.P. J. Bacteriol. 134, 115–124 (1978).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Alexeeva, S., Hellingwerf, K.J. & Teixeira de Mattos, M.J. J. Bacteriol. 184, 1402–1406 (2002).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Pullan, S.T. et al. J. Bacteriol. 189, 1845–1855 (2007).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Hyduke, D.R., Jarboe, L.R., Tran, L.M., Chou, K.J. & Liao, J.C. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104, 8484–8489 (2007).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Yu, H. et al. FEBS Lett. 409, 161–165 (1997).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Verkhovsky, M.I., Morgan, J.E., Puustein, A. & Wikstrom, M. Nature 380, 268–270 (1996).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Junemann, S. & Wrigglesworth, J.M. J. Biol. Chem. 270, 16213–16220 (1995).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Borisov, V.B. et al. FEBS Lett. 576, 201–204 (2004).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Sarti, P. et al. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 274, 183–187 (2000).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Cooper, C.E. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1411, 290–309 (1999).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Borisov, V.B. et al. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 355, 97–102 (2007).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Cary, S.P., Winger, J.A. & Marletta, M.A. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102, 13064–13069 (2005).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Rinaldo, S., Arcovito, A., Brunori, M. & Cutruzzola, F. J. Biol. Chem. 282, 14761–14767 (2007).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Gardner, A.M. & Gardner, P.R. J. Biol. Chem. 277, 8166–8171 (2002).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Gardner, A.M., Gessner, C.R. & Gardner, P.R. J. Biol. Chem. 278, 10081–10086 (2003).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Gardner, A.M., Martin, L.A., Gardner, P.R., Dou, Y. & Olson, J.S. J. Biol. Chem. 275, 12581–12589 (2000).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Cooper, C.E. et al. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1607, 27–34 (2003).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Blackmore, R.S., Greenwood, C. & Gibson, Q.H. J. Biol. Chem. 266, 19245–19249 (1991).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Mason, M.G., Nicholls, P., Wilson, M.T. & Cooper, C.E. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103, 708–713 (2006).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the Wellcome Trust (069769) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/D017858/1) for financial support.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK

    Maria G Mason, Peter Nicholls, Paul S Dobbin & Chris E Cooper

  2. Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK

    Mark Shepherd, Kathryn S Dodsworth & Robert K Poole

Authors
  1. Maria G Mason
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mark Shepherd
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Peter Nicholls
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Paul S Dobbin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kathryn S Dodsworth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Robert K Poole
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Chris E Cooper
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

M.G.M., P.S.D. and C.E.C. designed the experiments; M.G.M., M.S. and K.S.D. performed the experiments; M.G.M., M.S., P.N., K.S.D., R.K.P. and C.E.C. analyzed the data; and M.G.M., M.S., R.K.P. and C.E.C. wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria G Mason.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Text and Figures

Supplementary Figures 1–3 and Supplementary Methods (PDF 383 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mason, M., Shepherd, M., Nicholls, P. et al. Cytochrome bd confers nitric oxide resistance to Escherichia coli. Nat Chem Biol 5, 94–96 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.135

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.135

Further reading

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing