A functional type I topoisomerase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas aeruginosa encodes a putative topoisomerase with sequence similarity to the eukaryotic type IB topoisomerase from Vaccinia virus. Residues in the active site are conserved, notably Tyr292 which would be predicted to form the transient covalent bond to DNA. RESULTS: The gene encoding the P. aeruginosa topoisomerase I was cloned and expressed in E. coli. The enzyme relaxes supercoiled DNA, while a mutant containing a Tyr292 to Phe substitution at the active site was found to be catalytically inert. This is consistent with the role of Tyr in forming the covalent intermediate. Like Vaccinia topoisomerase, the P. aeruginosa topoisomerase relaxes DNA in the absence of ATP, but unlike Vaccinia topoisomerase, P. aeruginosa topoisomerase does not relax supercoiled DNA without MgCl(2 )present. In addition, high concentration of NaCl is not able to substitute for MgCl(2 )as seen for Vaccinia topoisomerase. A truncated derivative of the topoisomerase lacking residues 1–98 relaxes DNA, with both full length and truncated enzyme exhibiting equivalent requirements for divalent cations and the ability to relax DNA to completion, suggesting a shared domain organization. DNA-binding assays suggest an only modest preference for the CCCTT pentameric sequence required for transesterification by Vaccinia topoisomerase IB. CONCLUSION: P. aeruginosa encodes a functional topoisomerase with significant similarity to the type IB enzyme encoded by poxviruses. In contrast to the Vaccinia-encoded homolog, the P. aeruginosa-encoded enzyme requires divalent cations for catalytic activity, relaxes DNA to completion, and does not exhibit a strong preference for the pentameric sequence stringently required by the Vaccinia-encoded homolog. A comparison with the structure of poxviral topoisomerase in complex with DNA suggests that bacterial homologs of the eukaryotic type IB topoisomerase may exhibit a relaxed sequence preference due to the lack of conservation of certain residues involved in sequence-specific DNA contacts, and that interaction with an only modestly preferred sequence may result in suboptimal positioning of catalytic residues.