Essentiality of Succinate Dehydrogenase in Mycobacterium smegmatis and Its Role in the Generation of the Membrane Potential Under Hypoxia

Succinate:quinone oxidoreductase (Sdh) is a membrane-bound complex that couples the oxidation of succinate to fumarate in the cytoplasm to the reduction of quinone to quinol in the membrane. Mycobacterial species harbor genes for two putative sdh operons, but the individual roles of these two operons are unknown. In this communication, we show that Mycobacterium smegmatis mc(2)155 expresses two succinate dehydrogenases designated Sdh1 and Sdh2. Sdh1 is encoded by a five-gene operon (MSMEG_0416-MSMEG_0420), and Sdh2 is encoded by a four-gene operon (MSMEG_1672-MSMEG_1669). These two operons are differentially expressed in response to carbon limitation, hypoxia, and fumarate, as monitored by sdh promoter-lacZ fusions. While deletion of the sdh1 operon did not yield any growth phenotypes on succinate or other nonfermentable carbon sources, the sdh2 operon could be deleted only in a merodiploid background, demonstrating that Sdh2 is essential for growth. Sdh activity and succinate-dependent proton pumping were detected in cells grown aerobically, as well as under hypoxia. Fumarate reductase activity was absent under these conditions, indicating that neither Sdh1 nor Sdh2 could catalyze the reverse reaction. Sdh activity was inhibited by the Sdh inhibitor 3-nitroproprionate (3NP), and treatment with 3NP dissipated the membrane potential of wild-type or Δsdh1 mutant cells under hypoxia but not that of cells grown aerobically. These data imply that Sdh2 is the generator of the membrane potential under hypoxia, an essential role for the cell.