(De)regulation of key enzyme steps in the shikimate pathway and phenylalanine-specific pathway of the actinomycete Amycolatopsis methanolica.

Prephenate dehydratase (PDT), chorismate mutase (CM) and 3-deoxy-D-arabino-7-heptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthase are key regulatory enzymes in aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in the actinomycete Amycolatopsis methanolica. Deregulated, feedback-control-resistant mutants were isolated by incubation of A. methanolica on glucose mineral agar containing the toxic analogue p-fluoro-DL-phenylalanine (pFPhe). Several of these mutants had completely lost PDT sensitivity to Phe inhibition and Tyr activation. Mutant characterization yielded new information about PDT amino acid residues involved in Phe and Tyr effector binding sites. A. methanolica wild-type cells grown on glucose mineral medium normally possess a bifunctional CM/DAHP synthase protein complex (with DS1, a plant-type DAHP synthase). The CM activity of this protein complex is feedback-inhibited by Tyr and Phe, while DS1 activity is mainly inhibited by Trp. Isolation of pFPhe-resistant mutants yielded two feedback-inhibition-resistant CM mutants. These were characterized as regulatory mutants, derepressed in (a) synthesis of CM, now occurring as an abundant, feedback-inhibition-resistant, separate protein, and (b) synthesis of an alternative DAHP synthase (DS2, an E. coli-type DAHP synthase), only inhibited by Tyr and Trp. DS1 and DS2 thus are well integrated in A. methanolica primary metabolism: DS1 and CM form a protein complex, which stimulates CM activity and renders it sensitive to feedback inhibition by Phe and Tyr. Synthesis of CM and DS2 proteins appears to be controlled co-ordinately, sensitive to Phe-mediated feedback repression.

Probing the overlap of chorismate mutase and prephenate dehydrogenase sites in the escherichia coli T-protein: a dehydrogenase-selective inhibitor.

An inhibitor of prephenate dehydrogenase has been identified that has no effect on the chorismate mutase activity in the Escherichia coli T-protein, thus supporting the idea of two separate active sites.

Identification, characterization and comparative analysis of a novel chorismate mutase gene in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan have a dual biosynthetic role in plants; they are required for protein synthesis and are also precursors to a number of aromatic secondary metabolites critical to normal development and stress responses. Whereas much has been learned in recent years about the genetic control of tryptophan biosynthesis in Arabidopsis and other plants, relatively little is known about the genetic regulation of phenylalanine and tyrosine synthesis. We have isolated, characterized and determined the expression of Arabidopsis thaliana genes encoding chorismate mutase, the enzyme catalyzing the first committed step in phenylalanine and tyrosine synthesis. Three independent Arabidopsis chorismate mutase cDNAs were isolated by functional complementation of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutation. Two of these cDNAs have been reported independently (Eberhard et al., 1993. FEBS 334, 233-236; Eberhard et al., 1996. Plant J. 10, 815-821), but the third (designated CM-3) represents a novel gene. The different organ-specific expression patterns of these cDNAs, their regulation in response to pathogen infiltration, as well as the different enzymatic characteristics of the proteins they encode are also described. Together, these data suggest that each isoform may play a distinct physiological role in coordinating chorismate mutase activity with developmental and environmental signals.

The aroC gene of Aspergillus nidulans codes for a monofunctional, allosterically regulated chorismate mutase.

The cDNA and the chromosomal locus of the aroC gene of Aspergillus nidulans were cloned and is the first representative of a filamentous fungal gene encoding chorismate mutase (EC 5.4.99.5), the enzyme at the first branch point of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis. The aroC gene complements the Saccharomyces cerevisiae aro7Delta as well as the A. nidulans aroC mutation. The gene consists of three exons interrupted by two short intron sequences. The expressed mRNA is 0.96 kilobases in length and aroC expression is not regulated on the transcriptional level under amino acid starvation conditions. aroC encodes a monofunctional polypeptide of 268 amino acids. Purification of this 30-kDa enzyme allowed determination of its kinetic parameters (k(cat) = 82 s(-1), n(H) = 1. 56, [S](0.5) = 2.3 mM), varying pH dependence of catalytic activity in different regulatory states, and an acidic pI value of 4.7. Tryptophan acts as heterotropic activator and tyrosine as negative acting, heterotropic feedback-inhibitor with a K(i) of 2.8 microM. Immunological data, homology modeling, as well as electron microscopy studies, indicate that this chorismate mutase has a dimeric structure like the S. cerevisiae enzyme. Site-directed mutagenesis of a crucial residue in loop220s (Asp(233)) revealed differences concerning the intramolecular signal transduction for allosteric regulation of enzymatic activity.

Chorismate mutase-prephenate dehydratase from Escherichia coli. Study of catalytic and regulatory domains using genetically engineered proteins.

The bifunctional P-protein, which plays a central role in Escherichia coli phenylalanine biosynthesis, contains two catalytic domains (chorismate mutase and prephenate dehydratase activities) as well as one R-domain (for feedback inhibition by phenylalanine). Six genes coding for P-protein domains or subdomains were constructed and successfully expressed. Proteins containing residues 1-285 and residues 1-300 retained full mutase and dehydratase activity, but exhibited no feedback inhibition. Proteins containing residues 101-386 and residues 101-300 retained full dehydratase activity, but lacked mutase activity. Fluorescence emission spectra and binding assays indicated that residues 286-386 were crucial for phenylalanine binding. The mutase (residues 1-109), dehydratase (residues 101-285), and regulatory (residues 286-386) activities were thus shown to reside in discrete domains of the P-protein. Both the mutase domain and the native P-protein formed dimers. Deletion of the mutase domain diminished phenylalanine binding to the regulatory site as well as prephenate binding to the dehydratase domain, both through cooperative effects. Besides eliminating feedback inhibition, removal of the R-domain decreased the affinity of chorismate mutase for chorismate.