Effect of L-serine on the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids in Escherichia coli.

It is well known that some amino acids inhibit bacterial growth. L-Serine is known to inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli by inhibition of homoserine dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.3). It has been reported that this L-serine inhibition may be prevented by the addition of L-isoleucine or L-threonine to the medium. In our study, however, recovery of the growth inhibition of Escherichia coli by L-serine occurred in the presence of several amino acids, especially L-phenylalanine. In an attempt to further elucidate this inhibition mechanism, different intermediates of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis were added to the growth medium. Recovery from the inhibition did not occur in the presence of prephenate but did occur when phenylpyruvate was added to the medium. The specific activity of prephenate dehydratase decreased in cells grown in the presence of L-serine. However. L-serine did not inhibit in vitro prephenate dehydratase activity, and the expression of pheA, which encodes the prephenate dehydratase, was not depressed by L-serine. We suggest that L-serine acts via another inhibition mechanism. Although this inhibition mechanism has not been fully elucidated, our results suggest that the addition of L-serine to the growth medium inhibits prephenate dehydratase synthesis and thus affects L-phenylalanine biosynthesis.

A selective inhibitor of Escherichia coli prephenate dehydratase.

To identify selective prephenate dehydratase (PDT) inhibitors, a series of substituted biphenic acid derivatives was synthesized using the Ullmann reaction. Screening experiments identified 18 as a promising new PDT inhibitor.

Probing the catalytic mechanism of prephenate dehydratase by site-directed mutagenesis of the Escherichia coli P-protein dehydratase domain.

The Escherichia coli bifunctional P-protein, which plays a central role in L-phenylalanine (Phe) biosynthesis, contains distinct chorismate mutase (CM) and prephenate dehydratase (PDT) domains as well as a regulatory (R) domain for feedback control by Phe. To elucidate the catalytic mechanism of PDT in the P-protein, 24 mutations of 15 conserved residues in the PDT domain were created, expressed in the pheA(-)E. coli strain NK6024, and studied for their effect on PDT activity. Fourteen mutant enzymes were purified to homogeneity, tested for feedback inhibition by Phe, and characterized by kinetic analysis and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Selected mutant enzymes were further studied by gel filtration, fluorescence emission, and microcalorimetry. In addition, a monofunctional PDT domain (PDT20, residues 101-285) was cloned and overexpressed in plasmid pET with expression levels up to 200-250 mg/L. PDT20 retained full PDT activity, lacked CM activity, and was insensitive to feedback inhibition by Phe. Four residues (T278, N160, Q215, and S208) were shown to be important for PDT catalysis. The values of k(cat)/K(m) for the S208A/C and T278S mutant enzymes were 100-fold lower, and 500-fold lower for the N160A and Q215A mutant enzymes than the wild-type (WT) protein. The T278A and T278V mutant enzymes displayed no measurable catalytic activity, yet bound both prephenate and a competitive inhibitor (S-DNBA) comparably to the WT protein. These data, taken together with the normal CD spectra of the mutant enzymes, strongly suggested that T278 was involved in the catalytic mechanism. To establish whether acidic residues were involved in catalysis, all the conserved Glu and Asp residues in the PDT domain were mutated to Ala. None of these mutations significantly reduced PDT activity, indicating that the acidic residues of the PDT domain are not directly involved in catalysis. However, two mutant enzymes (E159A and E232A) displayed higher levels of PDT activity (2.2- and 3.5-fold, respectively), which was due to enhanced substrate binding. For the double mutant enzyme (E159A-E232A), k(cat)/K(m) was ca. 7-fold higher than for the WT enzyme, while its K(m) was 4.6-fold lower.

Regulation of phenylalanine biosynthesis. Studies on the mechanism of phenylalanine binding and feedback inhibition in the Escherichia coli P-protein.

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and site-directed mutagenesis were used to study the interaction of Phe with (a) the Escherichia coli P-protein, a bifunctional chorismate mutase/prephenate dehydratase that is feedback inhibited by Phe, (b) PDT32, a 32 kDa P-protein fragment (residues 101-386) containing the prephenate dehydratase and regulatory domains, and (c) R12, a C-terminal 12 kDa P-protein fragment (residues 286-386) containing the regulatory domain. DeltaH(total) values for PDT32, which included the heats of Phe binding, conformational change, and dimerization, established that in developing a mechanism for end product feedback inhibition, the P-protein has evolved a ligand recognition domain that exhibits Phe-binding enthalpies comparable to those reported for other full-fledged amino acid receptor proteins. Sequence alignments of R12 with other Phe-binding enzymes identified two highly conserved regions, GALV (residues 309-312) and ESRP (residues 329-332). Site-directed mutagenesis and ITC established that changes in the GALV and ESRP regions affected Phe binding and feedback inhibition to different extents. Mutagenesis further showed that C374 was essential for feedback inhibition, but not for Phe binding, while W338 was involved in Phe binding, but not in the Phe-induced conformational change required for feedback inhibition.

Phenylalanine production by metabolically engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum with the pheA gene of Escherichia coli.

The bifunctional enzyme chorismate mutase (CM)-prephenate dehydratase (PD), which is encoded by the pheA gene of Escherichia coli, catalyses the two consecutive key steps in phenylalanine biosynthesis. To utilize the enzyme for metabolic engineering of phenylalanine-producing Corynebacterium glutamicum KY10694, the intact gene was cloned on a multicopy vector to yield pEA11.C. glutamicum cells transformed with pEA11 exhibited a more than tenfold increase in CM and PD activities relative to the host cells. Moreover, the level of pheA expression was further elevated a fewfold when cells were starved of phenylalanine, suggesting that the attenuation regulation of pheA expression functions in heterogeneous C. glutamicum. Plasmid pEA11 encoding the wild-type enzyme was mutated to yield pEA22, which specified CM-PD exhibiting almost complete resistance to end-product inhibition. When pEA22 was introduced into KY10694, both the activities of CM and PD were highly maintained throughout the cultivation, thus leading to a 35% increased production (23 g/l) of phenylalanine.

Novel mutations in the pheA gene of Escherichia coli K-12 which result in highly feedback inhibition-resistant variants of chorismate mutase/prephenate dehydratase.

The bifunctional enzyme chorismate mutase/prephenate dehydratase (EC 5.4.99.5/4.2.1.51), which is encoded by the pheA gene of Escherichia coli K-12, is subject to strong feedback inhibition by L-phenylalanine. Inhibition of the prephenate dehydratase activity is almost complete at concentrations of L-phenylalanine greater than 1 mM. The pheA gene was cloned, and the promoter region was modified to enable constitutive expression of the gene on plasmid pJN302. As a preliminary to sequence analysis, a small DNA insertion at codon 338 of the pheA gene unexpectedly resulted in a partial loss of prephenate dehydratase feedback inhibition. Four other mutations in the pheA gene were identified following nitrous acid treatment of pJN302 and selection of E. coli transformants that were resistant to the toxic phenylalanine analog beta-2-thienylalanine. Each of the four mutations was located within codons 304 to 310 of the pheA gene and generated either a substitution or an in-frame deletion. The mutations led to activation of both enzymatic activities at low phenylalanine concentrations, and three of the resulting enzyme variants displayed almost complete resistance to feedback inhibition of prephenate dehydratase by phenylalanine concentrations up to 200 mM. In all four cases the mutations mapped in a region of the enzyme that has not been implicated previously in feedback inhibition sensitivity of the enzyme.

Terminal phenylalanine and tyrosine biosynthesis of Microtetraspora glauca.

The enzymes of the terminal steps of the phenylalanine and tyrosine biosynthesis were partially purified and characterized in Microtetraspora glauca, a spore-forming member of the order Actinomycetales. This bacterium relies exclusively on the phenylpyruvate route for phenylalanine synthesis, no arogenate dehydratase activity being found. Prephenate dehydratase is subject to feedback inhibition by phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan, each acting as competitive inhibitor by increasing the Km of 72 microM for prephenate. Based on the results of gel chromatography on Sephadex G-200, the molecular mass of about 110,000 Da is not altered by any of the effectors. The enzyme is quite sensitive to inhibition by 4-hydroxymercuribenzoate. Microtetraspora glauca can utilize arogenate and 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate as intermediates in tyrosine biosynthesis. Prephenate and arogenate dehydrogenase activities copurifying from ion exchange columns with coincident profiles were detected. From gel-filtration columns the two activities eluted at an identical molecular-mass position of about 68,000 Da. The existence of a single protein exhibiting substrate ambiguity is consistent with the findings, that both dehydrogenases have similar chromatographic properties, exhibit cofactor requirement for NAD and are inhibited to the same extent by tyrosine and 4-hydroxymercuribenzoate.

Chorismate mutase:prephenate dehydratase from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus. Purification, properties and immunological cross-reactivity.

The bifunctional P protein (chorismate mutase: prephenate dehydratase) from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus has been purified. It was homogeneous in polyacrylamide gels and was more than 95% pure on the basis of the immunostaining of purified P protein with the antibodies raised against the P protein. The native enzyme is a homodimer (Mr = 91,000) composed of 45-kDa subunits. A twofold increase in the native molecular mass of the P protein occurred in the presence of L-phenylalanine (inhibitor of both activities) or L-tyrosine (activator of the dehydratase activity) during gel filtration. Chorismate mutase activity followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with a Km of 0.55 mM for chorismate. L-Phenylalanine was a relatively poor non-competitive inhibitor of the mutase activity. The chorismate mutase activity was also competitively inhibited by prephenate (reaction product). Substrate-saturation curves for the dehydratase activity were sigmoidal showing positive cooperativity among the prephenate-binding sites. L-Tyrosine activated prephenate dehydratase strongly but did not abolish positive cooperativity with respect to prephenate. L-Phenylalanine inhibited the dehydratase activity, and the substrate-saturation curves became increasingly sigmoidal as phenylalanine concentrations were increased with happ values changing from 2.0 (no phenylalanine) to 4.0 (0.08 mM L-phenylalanine). A sigmoidal inhibition curve of the dehydratase activity by L-phenylalanine gave Hill plots having a slope of -2.9. Higher ionic strength increased the dehydratase activity by reducing the positive cooperative binding of prephenate, and the sigmoidal substrate-saturation curves were changed to near-hyperbolic form. The happ values decreased with increase in ionic strength. Antibodies raised against the purified P protein showed cross-reactivity with the P proteins from near phylogenetic relatives of A. calcoaceticus. At a greater phylogenetic distance, cross-reaction was superior with P protein from Neisseria gonorrhoeae than with that from the more closely related Escherichia coli.

The reactivity of the sulphydryl groups of chorismate mutase/prephenate dehydratase--a bifunctional enzyme of phenylalanine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K12.

The reaction of N-ethylmaleimide with chorismate mutase/prephenate dehydratase (chorismate pyruvatemutase/prephenate hydrolyase (decarboxylating) EC 5.4.99.5/EC 4.2.1.51) from Escherichia coli K12, which leads to the preferential inactivation of the prephenate dehydratase activity (Gething, M-J.H. and Davidson, B.E. (1977) Eur. J. Biochem. 78, 111-117), was found to involve only the sulphydryl groups of the enzyme. Determination of the reactivities of the four different cysteine residues indicated that the reaction was not specific for a single residue, although two residues (Cys-216 and Cys-374) were more reactive than the others. The amount of inhibition of the prephenate dehydratase activity approximated in extent to the sum of the stoichiometries of the individual reactions of N-ethylmaleimide with these two cysteine residues. In the presence of either phenylpyruvate, the product of the prephenate dehydratase activity, or cis-aconitate, a competitive inhibitor with respect to prephenate, the prephenate dehydratase activity was substantially protected from inactivation. This protection was concomitant with a significant decline in the reactivities of both Cys-216 and Cys-374. These results are interpreted as indicating that both of these cysteine residues are at, or near to, the prephenate dehydratase active site and are possibly essential for the prephenate dehydratase activity of the enzyme.

Regulation of the aromatic pathway in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain Pcc6301 (Anacystis nidulans).

A pattern of allosteric control for aromatic biosynthesis in cyanobacteria relies upon early-pathway regulation as the major control point for the entire branched pathway. In Synechococcus sp. strain PCC6301 (Anacystis nidulans), two enzymes which form precursors for L-phenylalanine biosynthesis are subject to control by feedback inhibition. 3-Deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase (first pathway enzyme) is feedback inhibited by L-tyrosine, whereas prephenate dehydratase (enzyme step 9) is feedback inhibited by L-phenylalanine and allosterically activated by L-tyrosine. Mutants lacking feedback inhibition of prephenate dehydratase excreted relatively modest quantities of L-phenylalanine. In contrast, mutants deregulated in allosteric control of 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase excreted large quantities of L-phenylalanine (in addition to even greater quantities of L-tyrosine). Clearly, in the latter mutants, the elevated levels of prephenate must overwhelm the inhibition of prephenate dehydratase by L-phenylalanine, an effect assisted by increased intracellular L-tyrosine, an allosteric activator. The results show that early-pathway flow regulated in vivo by 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase is the dominating influence upon metabolite flow-through to L-phenylalanine. L-Tyrosine biosynthesis exemplifies such early-pathway control even more simply, since 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase is the sole regulatory enzyme subject to end-product control by L-tyrosine.

Affinity chromatography and inhibition of chorismate mutase-prephenate dehydrogenase by derivatives of phenylalanine and tyrosine.

Several derivatives of phenylalanine and tyrosine were prepared and tested for inhibition of chorismate mutase-prephenate dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.1.12) from Escherichia coli K12 (strain JP 232). The best inhibitors were N-toluene-p-sulphonyl-L-phenylalanine, N-benzenesulphonyl-L-phenylalanine and N-benzloxycarbonyl-L-phenylalanine. Consequently two compounds, N-toluene-sulphonyl-L-p-aminophenylalanine and N-p-aminobenzenesulphonyl-L-phenylalanine, were synthesized for coupling to CNBr-activated Sepharose-4B. The N-toluene-p-sulphonyl-L-p-aminophenylalanine-Sepharose-4B conjugate was shown to bind the enzyme very strongly at pH 7.5. The enzyme was not eluted by various eluents, including 1 M-NaCl, but could be quantitatively recovered by washing with buffer of pH9. Elution was more effective in the presence of 10 mM-1-adamantaneacetic acid, a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme. This affinity-chromatography procedure results in a high degree of purification of the enzyme and can be used to prepare the enzyme in a one-step procedure from the bacterial crude extract. Such a procedure may therefore prove useful in studying this enzyme in a state that closely resembles that in vivo.

Chorismate mutase/prephenate dehydratase from Escherichia coli K12. 1. The effect of NaCl and its use in a new purification involving affinity chromatography on sepharosyl-phenylalanine.

A new simplified procedure for the purification of chorismate mutase/prephenate dehydratase, based on affinity chromatography on Sepharosyl-phenylalanine, has been developed. The method utilizes the effect of NaCl on the binding properties of the enzyme. NaCl inhibits both the mutase and dehydratase activities of the enzyme. In each case this inhibition is cooperative indicating homotropic interactions between NaCl binding sites on the enzyme. In addition NaCl induces homotropic cooperative effects between chorismate binding sites and between prephenate binding sites. NaCl also increases the sensitivity of the enzyme to inhibition by phenylalanine.

Regulation of Chorismate mutase-prephenate dehydratase and prephenate dehydrogenase from alcaligenes eutrophus.

Highly purified enzymes from Alcaligenes eutrophus H 16 were used for kinetic studies. Chorismate mutase was feedback inhibited by phenylalanine. In the absence of the inhibitor, the double-reciprocal plot was linear, yielding a Km for chorismate of 0.2 mM. When phenylalanine was present, a pronounced deviation from the Michaelis-Menten hyperbola occurred. The Hill coefficient (n) was 1.7, and Hill plots of velocity versus inhibitor concentrations resulted in a value of n' = 2.3, indicating positive cooperativity. Chorismate mutase was also inhibited by prephenate, which caused downward double-reciprocal plots and a Hill coefficient of n = 0.7, evidence for negative cooperativity. The pH optimum of chorismate mutase ranged from 7.8 to 8.2; its temperature optimum was 47 C. Prephenate dehydratase was competitively inhibited by phenylalanine and activated by tyrosine. Tyrosine stimulated its activity up to 10-fold and decreased the Km for prephenate, which was 0.67 mM without effectors. Tryptophan inhibited the enzyme competitively. Its inhibition constant (Ki = 23 muM) was almost 10-fold higher than that determined for phenylalanine (Ki = 2.6 muM). The pH optimum of prephenate dehydratase was pH 5.7; the temperature optimum was 48 C. Prephenate dehydrogenase was feedback inhibited by tyrosine. Inhibition was competitive with prephenate (Ki = 0.06 mM) and noncompetitive with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. The enzyme was further subject to product inhibition by p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate (Ki = 0.13 mM). Its Km for prephenate was 0.045 mM, and that for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide was 0.14 mM. The pH optimum ranged between 7.0 and 7.6; the temperature optimum was 38 C. It is shown how the sensitive regulation of the entire enzyme system leads to a well-balanced amino acid production.