A novel superoxide dismutase with a high isoelectric point in higher plants. expression, regulation, and protein localization.

Several isoforms of superoxide dismutase (SOD) with a high isoelectric point (pI) have been identified by isoelectric focusing chromatography in protein extracts from Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) needles. One of these isoforms, a CuZn-SOD with a pI of about 10 and thus denoted hipI-SOD, has been isolated and purified to apparent homogeneity. A cDNA encoding the hipI-SOD protein was cloned and sequenced. Northern hybridization of mRNA isolated from different organs and tissues showed that hipI-SOD has a markedly different pattern of expression compared with chloroplastic and cytosolic SOD. Furthermore, the transcript levels of hipI-SOD and cytosolic SOD were found to respond differently to mechanical wounding, treatment with oxidized glutathione, paraquat, and ozone. Immunogold electron microscopy localized the hipI-SOD in the plasma membrane of sieve cells and the Golgi apparatus of albuminous cells. Moreover, high protein density was also detected in extracellular spaces such as secondary cell wall thickenings of the xylem and sclerenchyma and in intercellular spaces of parenchyma cells.

Identification, cloning, and properties of cytosolic D-ribulose-5-phosphate 3-epimerase from higher plants.

Plant cells contain a complete oxidative pentose phosphate pathway in the chloroplasts, but an incomplete pathway was proposed to be present in the cytosol, with cytosolic (cyt) isoforms of ribulose-5-phosphate 3-epimerase (RPEase) and other non-oxidative branch enzymes being undetectable. Here we present for the first time the identification, cloning, and properties of a cyt-RPEase in rice (Oryza sativa) and presence of its homologues in other plant species. Recombinant cyt-RPEase is a homodimer of 24.3-kDa subunits such as in the case of the animal and yeast enzymes, whereas the chloroplast (chl) RPEase is a hexamer. Cytosolic and chloroplastic RPEases cannot be separated by anion exchange chromatography. Since plant cyt-RPEase is more closely related in its primary structure to homologous enzymes in animal and yeast cells than to the chloroplast RPEase, the plant nuclear genes coding for cytosolic and chloroplast RPEases were most likely derived from eubacteria and cyanobacteria, respectively. Accumulation of cyt-RPEase-mRNA and protein is high in root cells, lacking chl-RPEase, and lower in green tissue. These and other observations support the view that green and non-green plant cells possess a complete oxidative pentose phosphate pathway in the cytosol.

Structure and mechanism of the amphibolic enzyme D-ribulose-5-phosphate 3-epimerase from potato chloroplasts.

Ribulose-5-phosphate 3-epimerase (EC 5.1.3.1) catalyzes the interconversion of ribulose-5-phosphate and xylulose-5-phosphate in the Calvin cycle and in the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. The enzyme from potato chloroplasts was expressed in Escherichia coli, isolated and crystallized. The crystal structure was elucidated by multiple isomorphous replacement and refined at 2.3 A resolution. The enzyme is a homohexamer with D3 symmetry. The subunit chain fold is a (beta alpha)8-barrel. A sequence comparison with homologous epimerases outlined the active center and indicated that all members of this family are likely to share the same catalytic mechanism. The substrate could be modeled by putting its phosphate onto the observed sulfate position and its epimerized C3 atom between two carboxylates that participate in an extensive hydrogen bonding system. A mutation confirmed the crucial role of one of these carboxylates. The geometry together with the conservation pattern suggests that the negative charge of the putative cis-ene-diolate intermediate is stabilized by the transient induced dipoles of a methionine sulfur "cushion", which is proton-free and therefore prevents isomerization instead of epimerization.

Purification, properties and in situ localization of the amphibolic enzymes D-ribulose 5-phosphate 3-epimerase and transketolase from spinach chloroplasts.

The amphibolic enzymes D-ribulose 5-phosphate 3-epimerase and transketolase have been purified from stroma extracts of spinach chloroplasts using ammonium sulfate fractionation and FPLC. For the native enzymes, a molecular mass of 180 kDa for epimerase and 160 kDa for transketolase was found and the molecular masses of the subunits was determined to be 23 kDa for epimerase and 74 kDa for transketolase. Protein sequencing of the purified chloroplast enzymes revealed the NH2-terminal amino acid sequences of mature epimerase (NH2-TSRVDKFSKSDIIVSP) and transketolase (NH2-AAVEALESTDTDQLVEG). The enzymic properties of both enzymes such as Km values or pH optima, were found to be very similar to those for epimerases and transketolases from other sources, including yeast and animal cells. In contrast to the light-activated enzymes of the Calvin cycle, the activity of these amphibolic enzymes was not redox-dependent. Immunogold electron microscopy on spinach leaf thin sections revealed that about 90% of the total epimerase and transketolase, and 96% of the total chloroplast H+-ATP synthase portion CF1 are associated with thylakoid membranes in situ. Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, in contrast, was evenly distributed throughout chloroplasts. These and other results indicate that minor chloroplast enzymes are arranged in a thin layer on thylakoid membrane surfaces in vivo.

Chloroplast pentose-5-phosphate 3-epimerase from potato: cloning, cDNA sequence, and tissue-specific enzyme accumulation.

A cDNA clone encoding the chloroplast enzyme pentose-5-phosphate 3-epimerase (EC 5.1.3.1) in potato (Solanum tuberosum) was isolated and sequenced. The deduced sequence of 235 amino acids is similar to protein sequences of bacterial epimerases. Northern blot analysis showed the highest level of epimerase mRNA expression in potato leaves, whereas it was low in roots, tubers, and stems. Epimerase protein is mulated only in plant tissues possessing chloroplasts, i.e. in land to a lesser extent in stem. In contrast, transketolase, a sequential enzyme of epimerase in the reductive and oxidative pentose phosphate cycle, is accumulated in all plant tissues.

In Situ Association of Calvin Cycle Enzymes, Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase Activase, Ferredoxin-NADP+ Reductase, and Nitrite Reductase with Thylakoid and Pyrenoid Membranes of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Chloroplasts as Revealed by Immunoelectron Microscopy.

The in situ localization of the chloroplast enzymes ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (Rubisco), Rubisco activase, ribose-5-phosphate isomerase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, aldolase, nitrite reductase, ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase, and H+-ATP synthase was studied by immunoelectron microscopy in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Immunogold labeling revealed that, despite Rubisco in the pyrenoid matrix, Calvin cycle enzymes, Rubisco activase, nitrite reductase, ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase, and H+-ATP synthase are associated predominantly with chloroplast thylakoid membranes and the inner surface of the pyrenoid membrane. This is in accord with previous enzyme localization studies in higher plants (K.H. Suss, C. Arkona, R. Manteuffel, K. Adler [1993] Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 90: 5514-5518). Pyrenoid tubules do not contain these enzymes. The pyrenoid matrix consists of Rubisco but is devoid of the other photosynthetic enzymes investigated. Evidence for the occurrence of two Rubisco forms differing in their spatial localization has also been obtained: Rubisco form I appears to be membrane associated like other Calvin cycle components, whereas Rubisco form II is confined to the pyrenoid matrix. It is proposed that enzyme form I represents an active Rubisco when assembled into Calvin cycle enzyme complexes, whereas Rubisco form II may be part of a CO2-concentrating mechanism. Pyrenoidal Calvin cycle complexes are thought to be highly active in CO2 fixation and important for the synthesis of starch around the pyrenoid.

Calvin cycle multienzyme complexes are bound to chloroplast thylakoid membranes of higher plants in situ.

Further evidence is provided that the Calvin cycle enzymes ribose-5-phosphate isomerase (EC 5.3.1.6), ribulose-5-phosphate kinase (Ru-5-P-K, EC 2.7.1.19), ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuP2Case, EC 4.1.1.39), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH, EC 1.2.1.12), sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase (Sed-1,7-bPase, EC 3.1.3.37), and electron transport protein ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase (FNR, EC 1.18.1.1) are organized into stable CO2-fixing multienzyme complexes with a molecular mass of 900 kDa. Limited trypsinolysis combined with immunoblotting revealed that all of chloroplast stromal Ru-5-P-K and GAPDH is located in enzyme complexes. The Calvin cycle enzyme complexes remain intact indefinitely at lower ionic strength but dissociate into components at KCl concentrations >250 mM. Immunoelectron microscopy showed that Ru-5-P-K, GAPDH, Sed-1,7-bPase, and FNR are bound to stroma-faced thylakoid membranes in situ, whereas RuP2Case and RuP2Case activase are randomly distributed throughout chloroplasts. The results indicate that membrane-bound enzyme supercomplexes may play an important role in photosynthesis.

Modifications of the gamma subunit of chloroplast coupling factor 1 alter interactions with the inhibitory epsilon subunit.

The treatment of chloroplast coupling factor 1 (CF1) with dithiothreitol or with trypsin modifies the gamma subunit. Reduction of the gamma subunit disulfide bond in CF1 in solution with dithiothreitol enhances the dissociation of epsilon (Duhe, R. J., and Selman, B. R. (1990) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1017, 70-78). The Ca(2+)-ATPase activity of either oxidized or reduced CF1 increases as the enzyme is diluted. Added epsilon subunit inhibits the Ca(2+)-ATPase activity of both forms of the diluted CF1, suggesting that epsilon dissociation is the cause of activation by dilution. Half-maximal activation occurred at much higher concentrations of the reduced CF1, indicating that reduction decreases the affinity for epsilon about 20-fold. Immunoblotting techniques show that there is only one epsilon subunit/CF1 in intact chloroplasts, in thylakoid membranes, and in solution. No epsilon is released from CF1 in thylakoids under conditions of ATP synthesis. The gamma subunit of CF1 in illuminated thylakoids is specifically cleaved by trypsin. CF1 purified from thylakoids treated with trypsin in the light is deficient in epsilon subunit, and has a high rate of ATP hydrolysis. Added epsilon neither inhibits the ATPase activity of, nor binds tightly to the cleaved enzyme.

Biosynthetic cause of in vivo acquired thermotolerance of photosynthetic light reactions and metabolic responses of chloroplasts to heat stress.

Thermotolerance of photosynthetic light reactions in vivo is correlated with a decrease in the ratio of monogalactosyl diacylglycerol to digalactosyl diacylglycerol and an increased incorporation into thylakoid membranes of saturated digalactosyl diacylglycerol species. Although electron transport remains virtually intact in thermotolerant chloroplasts, thylakoid protein phosphorylation is strongly inhibited. The opposite is shown for thermosensitive chloroplasts in vivo. Heat stress causes reversible and irreversible inactivation of chloroplast protein synthesis in heat-adapted and nonadapted plants, respectively, but doe not greatly affect formation of rapidly turned-over 32 kilodalton proteins of photosystem II. The formation on cytoplasmic ribosomes and import by chloroplasts of thylakoid and stroma proteins remain preserved, although decreased in rate, at supraoptimal temperatures. Thermotolerant chloroplasts accumulate heat shock proteins in the stroma among which 22 kilodalton polypeptides predominate. We suggest that interactions of heat shock proteins with the outer chloroplast envelope membrane might enhance formation of digalactosyl diacylglycerol species. Furthermore, a heat-induced recompartmentalization of the chloroplast matrix that ensures effective transport of ATP from thylakoid membranes towards those sites inside the chloroplast and the cytoplasm where photosynthetically indispensable components and heat shock proteins are being formed is proposed as a metabolic strategy of plant cells to survive and recover from heat stress.

Polypeptide composition and spectral properties of light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein complexes from intact and trypsin-treated chloroplast thylakoid membranes.

The polypeptide composition and spectral properties of isolated light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein complexes from intact and trypsin-treated thylakoid membranes of Hordeum vulgare and Vicia faba are compared. The LHCP complexes consist of four distinct polypeptides with molecular weights between 21 000 and 25 000 occurring in equal relative amounts in the whole polypeptide spectra of thylakoid membranes. It is shown indirectly that the two major polypeptides very probably belong to different chlorophyll-proteins. The loss of a small segment from both polypeptides during trypsin digestion of thylakoids does not substantially alter the spectral properties and cation-mediated aggregation of isolated LHCP complexes.

The action of proteolytic enzymes on chloroplast thylakoid membranes.

Envelope- and stroma-free thylakoid membranes of Vicia faba chloroplasts were incubated with trypsin or pronase for several hours. The indigestible residue was analysed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Trypsinization resulted in a complete digestion of all proteins with the exception of the pigment-protein complexes as well as a polypeptide not yet characterized. Yet, as compared with untreated material, Complex II was found to have higher electrophoretic mobility. Electron-microscopic studies illustrate that the indigestible residue still has a preserved membrane structure. Disintegration of the thylakoid membranes by sodium dodecyl sulfate followed by trypsinization also resulted in the two complexes while all the other proteins were found to be digested. However, after removal of the lipids the protein moieties of the complexes proved to be easily digestible. From these results it is concluded that pigment-protein interaction may be an important factor in maintaining a conformation rather resistant to perturbants and proteases. In contrast to trypsin, pronase completely digested the polypeptides of the thylakoid membranes including the protein moieties of the pigment-protein complexes leaving an amorphous lipid mass. The results support the assumption that the complexes are necessary to maintain the membrane structure.