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A synthetic gene encoding the entire mature H protein of the glycine decarboxylase complex from pea (Pisum sativum L.) was constructed and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant H protein, which after the induction period constituted more than half of the E. coli protein, was found in a soluble form. Activity measurements and mass-spectrometry analysis of the purified protein showed that, in the absence or presence of 5[3-(1,2)-dithiolanyl]pentanoic acid (lipoic acid) in the culture medium, recombinant H protein could be produced as the unlipoylated apoform or as the lipoylated form, respectively. Addition of chloramphenicol to the culture medium after induction increased the proportion of lipoylated H protein. High rates of lipoylation of the H apoprotein were measured in vivo and in vitro, revealing that the recombinant pea H protein was an excellent substrate for the E. coli lipoyl-ligase. The three-dimensional structure of the recombinant H apoprotein was determined at a 0.25-nm resolution. It was almost identical to the structure of the native pea leaf enzyme, which indicates that the recombinant protein folds properly in E. coli and that the lipoyl-ligase recognizes a three-dimensional structure in order to add lipoic acid to its specific lysine residue. It is postulated that the high level of expression and lipoylation of recombinant H protein may be due to the protein retaining the structure of the original enzyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intracellular compartmentation of serine acetyltransferase, a key enzyme in the L-cysteine biosynthesis pathway, has been investigated in pea (Pisum sativum)leaves, by isolation of organelles and fractionation of protoplasts. Enzyme activity was mainly located in mitochondria (approximately 76% of total cellular activity). Significant activity was a so identified in both the cytosol (14% of total activity) and chloroplasts (10% of total activity). Three enzyme forms were separated by anion-exchange chromatography, and each form was found to be specific for a given intracellular compartment. To obtain cDNA encoding the isoforms, functional complementation experiments were performed using an Arabidopsis thaliana expression library and an Escherichia coli mutant devoid of serine acetyltransferase activity. This strategy allowed isolation of three distinct cDNAs encoding serine acetyltransferase isoforms, as confirmed by enzyme activity measurements, genomic hybridizations, and nucleotide sequencing. The cDNA and related gene for one of the three isoforms have been characterized. The predicted amino acid sequence shows that it encodes a polypeptide of Mr 34330 exhibiting 41% amino acid identity with the E. coli serine acetyltransferase. Since none of the general features of transit peptides could be observed in the N-terminal region of this isoform, we assume that it is a cytosolic form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steady-state kinetics of the 220-kDa form of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC220), as purified from mature pea seeds, have been investigated with respect to the substrate specificity and inhibition by quizalofop, a herbicide of the aryloxyphenoxypropionate type. The enzyme showed a dual specificity, being able to carboxylate propionyl-CoA at a maximal rate approximately 20% that measured in the presence of the acetyl-CoA substrate. These two reactions occur at separate sites on the enzyme. One site binds either acetyl-CoA (Km = 226 μM) or propionyl-CoA (Km = 38 μM) and is strongly inhibited by quizalofop (Ki = 25 μM and 9.3 μM for the acetyl-CoA and propionyl-CoA substrates, respecgtively). The other is specific for acetyl-CoA (Km = 11 μM) and is much less inhibited by quizalofop (Ki = 256 μM). Owing to the existence of these two catalytically different sites, the enzyme obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with propionyl-CoA, but exhibited kinetic co-operativity in the presence of acetyl-CoA. Also, kinetics of propionyl-CoA carboxylase activity of ACC220 exhibited hyperbolic inhibition in the presence of quizalofop, but co-operative inhibition when following the ACC activity of the enzyme. The results suggest that the higher the substrate specificity, the lower the quizalofop sensitivity of the active site. Similar kinetic behaviour was observed with ACC220 purified from pea leaves. Also, the apparent correlation between the substrate specificity and the sensitivity of ACC towards quizalofop was confirmed by kinetic analyses of the low-molecular-mass form of ACC present in chloroplats of young pea leaves. This enzyme was insensitive to quizalofop inhibition and was not able to carboxylate propionyl-CoA. No other propionyl-CoA carboxylase activity, different from that catalysed by ACC220, could be detected from either reproductive or vegetative organs of pea plants at any stage of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]