Proteome-wide identification of lysine propionylation in thermophilic and mesophilic bacteria: Geobacillus kaustophilus, Thermus thermophilus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Rhodothermus marinus

Recent studies have revealed the physiological significance of post-translational lysine acylations such as acetylation in the regulation of various cellular processes. Here, we characterized lysine propionylation, a recently discovered post-translational acylation, in five representative bacteria: Geobacillus kaustophilus, Thermus thermophilus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Rhodothermus marinus. Using antibody-based propionyl peptide enrichment followed by identification with nano-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, we showed that proteins were subject to lysine propionylation in all five bacterial species analyzed. Notably, many propionylations were identified in the Bacillus-related, thermophilic eubacterium G. kaustophilus, but fewer in the mesophilic eubacterium B. subtilis, suggesting that propionylation event abundance is independent of phylogenetic relationship. We further found propionylation sites in the thermophilic eubacterium T. thermophilus, but the thermophilic eubacterium R. marinus showed the fewest number of sites, indicating that growth temperature is not a determinant of propionylation state. In silico analyses demonstrated that lysine propionylation is related to metabolic pathways, particularly those controlled by acyl-CoA synthetases, similar to lysine acetylation. We also detected dozens of propionylation sites at positions important for protein functions across bacteria, demonstrating the regulatory mechanisms affected by lysine propionylations. Our proteome-wide analyses across bacteria thus provide insights into the general functions of lysine propionylation.