Structural Basis of the Stereochemistry of Inhibition of Tryptophan Synthase by Tryptophan and Derivatives.

We have examined the reaction of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium tryptophan (Trp) synthase α2ß2 complex with l-Trp, d-Trp, oxindolyl-l-alanine (OIA), and dioxindolyl-l-alanine (DOA) in the presence of disodium (dl)-α-glycerol phosphate (GP), using stopped-flow spectrophotometry and X-ray crystallography. All structures contained the d-isomer of GP bound at the α-active site. (3S)-OIA reacts with the pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP) of Trp synthase to form a mixture of external aldimine and quinonoid complexes. The α-carboxylate of OIA rotates about 90° to become planar with the PLP when the quinonoid complex is formed, resulting in a conformational change in the loop of residues 110-115. The COMM domain of the Trp synthase-OIA complex is found as a mixture of two conformations. The (3R)-diastereomer of DOA binds about 5-fold more tightly than (3S)-OIA and also forms a mixture of aldimine and quinonoid complexes. DOA forms an additional H-bond between the 3-OH of DOA and ßLys-87. l-Trp does not form a covalent complex with the PLP of Trp synthase. However, d-Trp forms a mixture of two external aldimine complexes which differ in the orientation of the α-carboxylate. In one conformation, the α-carboxylate is in the plane of the PLP, while in the other conformation, the α-carboxylate is perpendicular to the PLP plane. These results confirm that the stereochemistry of the transient indolenine quinonoid intermediate in the mechanism of Trp synthase is (3S) and demonstrate the linkage between aldimine and quinonoid reaction intermediates in the ß-active site and allosteric communications with the α-active site.

Draft Genome Sequence of Pseudoalteromonas sp. Strain ND6B, an Oil-Degrading Isolate from Eastern Mediterranean Sea Water Collected at a Depth of 1,210 Meters.

Here, we report the draft genome of Pseudoalteromonas sp. strain ND6B, which is able to grow with crude oil as a carbon source. Strain ND6B was isolated from eastern Mediterranean Sea deep water at a depth of 1,210 m. The genome of strain ND6B provides insight into the oil-degrading ability of the Pseudoalteromonas species.

Benzimidazole analogs of (L)-tryptophan are substrates and inhibitors of tryptophan indole lyase from Escherichia coli.

Tryptophan indole lyase (TIL), an enzyme found in Escherichia coli and related enterobacteria, produces indole from l-tryptophan (l-Trp). Indole is a signaling molecule in bacteria, affecting biofilm formation, pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance. ß-(Benzimidazol-1-yl)-l-alanine (BZI-Ala), 2-amino-4-(benzimidazol-1-yl)butyric acid (homo-BZI-Ala) and 2-amino-5-(benzimidazol-1-yl)pentanoic acid (bishomo-BZI-Ala) were synthesized and tested as substrates and inhibitors of TIL. BZI-Ala is a good substrate of TIL, with Km = 300 µm, kcat = 5.6 s(-1) and kcat /Km = 1.9 × 10(4) , similar to l-Trp. BZI-Ala is also a good substrate for H463F mutant TIL, which has very low activity with l-Trp. In contrast, homo-BZI-Ala was found to be a potent competitive inhibitor of TIL, with a Ki of 13.4 µm. However, the higher homolog, bishomo-BZI-Ala, was inactive as an inhibitor of TIL at a concentration of 600 µm, and is thus a much weaker inhibitor. The reaction of TIL with BZI-Ala was too fast to be observed in the stopped-flow spectrophotometer, and shows an aldimine intermediate in the steady state. However, H463F TIL shows equilibrating mixtures of aldimine and quinonoid complexes in the steady state. The spectra of the reaction of TIL with homo-BZI-Ala show a rapidly formed intermediate absorbing at 340 nm, probably a gem-diamine, that decays slowly to form a quinonoid complex absorbing at 494 nm. The potent binding of homo-BZI-Ala may be due to it being a 'bi-product' analog of the indole-α-aminoacrylate complex. These results demonstrate that an amino acid substrate may be converted to a potent inhibitor of TIL simply by homologation, which may be useful in the design of other potent TIL inhibitors.