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PubMed2002

Solvent kinetic isotope effects monitor changes in hydrogen bonding at the active center of yeast pyruvate decarboxylase concomitant with substrate activation: the substituent at position 221 can control the state of activation.

Substrate activation of yeast pyruvate decarboxylase has been studied extensively in the authors' laboratories providing strong evidence that interaction of substrate with residue C221 provides the trigger, and the information is then transmitted along the C221 to H92 to E91 to W412 to G413 pathway to the 4'-amino nitrogen of the thiamin diphosphate cofactor. Earlier, it was found that the C221S substitution reduced the Hill coefficient from 2.0 to 0.8-0.9, the C221A substitution to 1.0, even though C221 is located on the beta domain some 20 A from the active center thiamin diphosphate cofactor, which is at the interface of the alpha and gamma domains. Here are reported experiments on the C221D/C222A and C221E/C222A variants, in which a negative charge is built onto the C221 side chain, to better mimic the effect of a pyruvate molecule covalently bonded to C221 as a thiohemiketal. Both variants were purified to an optimal activity of 70% of the wild-type enzyme, higher activity than that with the earlier uncharged substitutions at this position. The Hill coefficient for both variants is exactly 1.0. The deuterium solvent kinetic isotope effects (SKIE) on k(cat) for these variants were similar to that for the wild-type enzyme and the C221A/C222A variant, suggesting that starting with the first irreversible step (decarboxylation) the rate-limiting transition states are very similar for all of these enzyme forms. In contrast, such SKIE on k(cat)/K(m) are quite different for the C221A/C222A variant (0.62) than for the C221E/C222A or C221D/C222A variants (0.80-0.82), clearly indicating the effect of the C221 substitutions on transition states starting with the binding of the first substrate to the enzyme and terminating with the decarboxylation step. The results provide strong additional evidence for the involvement of residue C221 in the substrate activation process and suggest that the C221D (C221E) substitution shifts the enzyme into a conformation that resembles the activated conformation. A comparison with SKIE for the wild-type enzyme provides insight to changes in hydrogen bonding at the active center as a result of substrate activation.

Binding Sites↗

PubMed1984

Brewers' yeast pyruvate decarboxylase produces acetoin from acetaldehyde: a novel tool to study the mechanism of steps subsequent to carbon dioxide loss.

A gas-liquid chromatographic technique was developed for the determination of both acetaldehyde and the 3-4% acetoin side product that results from the brewers' yeast pyruvate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.1) catalyzed reaction of pyruvic acid. Employing this method enabled the demonstration of the catalysis of acetaldehyde condensation to acetoin by the enzyme. It was found that the acetoin produced enzymatically from pyruvic acid or from acetaldehyde was optically active, thus providing stereochemical information about the reaction. Deuterium kinetic isotope effects (employing CH3CHO and CH3CDO) were determined on the steady-state kinetic parameters to be 4.5 (Vmax) and 3.2 (Vmax/Kappm), respectively. This enabled, for the first time, the estimation of relative kinetic barriers for steps past decarboxylation. It could be concluded that (a) C-H bond scission was part of rate limitation in the enzyme-catalyzed condensation of acetaldehyde to acetoin and that (b) among the steps leading to the release of acetaldehyde, protonation of the key enamine intermediate was part of rate limitation. This latter finding is also directly applicable to the mechanism of pyruvate decarboxylation.

Acetaldehyde↗

PubMed1997

Protein design on pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) by site-directed mutagenesis. Application to mechanistical investigations, and tailoring PDC for the use in organic synthesis.

Pyruvate decarboxylases (E.C. 4.1.1.1) from various organisms have been studied for many years, mainly with respect to the mechanism of the non-oxidative decarboxylation reaction. Although the C-C-bond-forming properties of these enzymes are known and have been applied for many years in biotransformations for the synthesis of chiral alpha-hydroxy ketones, only little is known about the factors influencing the carboligase side-reaction. The present review surveys recent efforts in the study of site-directed mutagenesis on PDCs, which are discussed against a background of the structural and kinetical investigations. It also includes recent studies on tailoring the PDCs of Zymomonas mobilis for the syntheses of (R)-phenylacetyl carbinol (PAC), a pre-step in the synthesis of L-ephedrine, by protein design techniques.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2002

New model for activation of yeast pyruvate decarboxylase by substrate consistent with the alternating sites mechanism: demonstration of the existence of two active forms of the enzyme.

Pyruvate decarboxylase from yeast (YPDC, EC 4.1.1.1) exhibits a marked lag phase in the progress curves of product (acetaldehyde) formation. The currently accepted kinetic model for YPDC predicts that, only upon binding of substrate in a regulatory site, a slow activation step converts inactive enzyme into the active form. This allosteric behavior gives rise to sigmoidal steady-state kinetics. The E477Q active site variant of YPDC exhibited hyperbolic initial rate curves at low pH, not consistent with the model. Progress curves of product formation by this variant were S-shaped, consistent with the presence of three interconverting conformations with distinct steady-state rates. Surprisingly, wild-type YPDC at pH < or =5.0 also possessed S-shaped progress curves, with the conformation corresponding to the middle steady state being the most active one. Reexamination of the activation by substrate of wild-type YPDC in the pH range of 4.5-6.5 revealed two characteristic transitions at all pH values. The values of steady-state rates are functions of both pH and substrate concentration, affecting whether the progress curve appears "normal" or S-shaped with an inflection point. The substrate dependence of the apparent rate constants suggested that the first transition corresponded to substrate binding in an active site and a subsequent step responsible for conversion to an asymmetric conformation. Consequently, the second enzyme state may report on "unregulated" enzyme, since the regulatory site does not participate in its generation. This enzyme state utilizes the alternating sites mechanism, resulting in the hyperbolic substrate dependence of initial rate. The second transition corresponds to binding a substrate molecule in the regulatory site and subsequent minor conformational adjustments. The third enzyme state corresponds to the allosterically regulated conformation, previously referred to as activated enzyme. The pH dependence of the Hill coefficient suggests a random binding of pyruvate in a regulatory and an active site of wild-type YPDC. Addition of pyruvamide or acetaldehyde to YPDC results in the appearance of additional conformations of the enzyme.

Acetoin↗

PubMed1995

Distribution of the thiamin diphosphate C(2)-proton during catalysis of acetaldehyde formation by brewers' yeast pyruvate decarboxylase.

The distribution of tritium derived from enzyme-bound [thiazole-2-T]thiamin diphosphate (TDP) during the reaction of pyruvate to form acetaldehyde catalyzed by pyruvate decarboxylase isozymes (PDC; EC 4.1.1.1) from Saccharomyces carlsbergensis was determined under single-turnover conditions ([E] > [S]) in the presence of the nonsubstrate allosteric effector pyruvamide. The specific radioactivity of the [1-L]acetaldehyde product and solvent ([L]H2O) was 43 +/- 4% and 54 +/- 2%, respectively, of the initial specific radioactivity of PDC-bound [thiazole-2-T]TDP and was independent of the extent of the single-turnover reaction. There is little (< or = 3%) or no return of the abstracted C(2)-hydron to the C(2) position of PDC-bound TDP. This provides evidence that the abstracted C(2)-hydron is involved in the specific protonation of the C(alpha) position of the PDC-bound intermediate 2-(1-hydroxyethyl)thiamin diphosphate (HETDP), which is cleaved to form [1-L]acetaldehyde and PDC-bound [thiazole-2-H]TDP. The partial exchange of C(2)-derived tritium into solvent requires that (1) hydron transfer from C(2) occurs to a catalytic-base in which the conjugate catalytic acid is partially shielded from hydron exchange with the solvent, (2) the conjugate catalytic acid transfers the C(2)-derived hydron to the C(alpha) position of HETDP, and (3) hydron transfer to C(2) to regenerate the coenzyme occurs either from solvent directly or from a second catalytic acid of the enzyme that undergoes rapid hydron exchange with the solvent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acetaldehyde↗

PubMed2001

Cell density-correlated induction of pyruvate decarboxylase under aerobic conditions in the yeast Pichia stipitis.

During the aerobic batch cultivation of P. stipitis CBS 5776 with glucose, pyruvate decarboxylase was activated in a cell number-correlated manner. Activation started when a cell number between 7 x 10(7) and x 10(8) cells ml(-1) was reached and the enzyme activity increased during further cultivation. This induction might have been triggered either by an unknown quorum sensing system or by a shortage of cytoplasmic acetyl-CoA.

Aerobiosis↗

PubMed2005

Theoretical study toward understanding the catalytic mechanism of pyruvate decarboxylase.

Density functional calculations are employed to explore the mechanisms of all elementary reaction steps involved in the catalytic cycle of pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC). Different models are constructed for mimicking the involvement of some key residues in a certain step. The effect of the protein framework on the potential energy profiles of active site models is approximately modeled by fixing some freedoms, based on the crystal structure of the PDC enzyme from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ScPDC). Our calculations confirm that Glu51 is the most important residue in the formation of the ylide and the release of acetaldehyde via the proton relay between Glu51, N1', and the 4'-amino group of thiamine diphosphate. The presence of Glu477 and Asp28 residues makes the decarboxylation of lactylthiamin diphosphate (LThDP) an endothermic process with a significant free energy barrier. The protonation of the alpha-carbanion to form 2-(1-hydroxyethyl)-thiamin diphosphate is found to go through a concerted double proton transfer transition state involving both Asp28 and His115 residues. The final step, acetaldehyde release, is likely to proceed through a concerted transition state involving carbon-carbon bond-breaking and the deprotonation of the alpha-hydroxyl group. The decarboxylation of LThDP and the protonation of the alpha-carbanion are two rate-limiting steps, relative to the facile occurrence of the ylide formation and acetaldehyde release. The catalytic roles of residues Glu51, Glu477, Asp28, and Gly417 in the active site of ScPDC in individual steps elucidated from the present study are in good agreement with those derived from site-directed mutagenesis.

Binding Sites↗

PubMed1996

Three of four cysteines, including that responsible for substrate activation, are ionized at pH 6.0 in yeast pyruvate decarboxylase: evidence from Fourier transform infrared and isoelectric focusing studies.

Oligonucleotide-directed site-specific mutagenesis was carried out on pyruvate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.1) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae at three of the four cysteines (152, 221, and 222), the fourth (69) being buried according to X-ray crystallographic results [Arjunan et al. (1996) J. Mol. Biol. 256, 590-600]. All of the variants still retained significant activity, and all could be purified to homogeneity. FT-IR experiments were run on the C221S, C222S, C221S/C222S and C152A variants, as well as on the wild-type enzyme. There is a band present at 2557 cm-1 in the spectra of all variants and the wild-type enzyme, except in the spectrum of the C152A variant. This frequency is appropriate to a cysteine S-H stretching mode. It was therefore concluded that C152 is the only undissociated cysteine on the enzyme at pH 6.0, the pH optimum of this enzyme, whereas C221, C222, and C69 are all ionized. Isoelectric focusing experiments were carried out on all of these variants, as well as on the H92A variant (H92 is across the domain divide on the alpha domain, from C221 located on the beta domain). The variation in isoelectric points deduced from the data was consistent with removal of negative charges concomitant with the C221S, C222S, and C221S/C222S substitutions and removal of a positive charge with the H92A substitution when compared to that of the wild-type enzyme. The results of these two types of experiments are in good accord and suggest that the site of substrate activation at C221 [Baburina et al. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 5630-5635] is comprised of a Cys221S- +HHis92 ion pair, not unlike that found in papain and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. This finding suggests that the regulatory site of this enzyme has been optimized for nucleophilic reactivity between the thiolate of C221 and the keto carbon of the 2-oxoacid.

Cysteine↗

PubMed2002

Overexpression of alcohol dehydrogenase or pyruvate decarboxylase improves growth of hairy roots at reduced oxygen concentrations.

Overexpression of Arabidopsis thaliana genes for the fermentation enzymes, alcohol dehydrogenase and pyruvate decarboxylase, improved the tolerance of A. thaliana hairy roots to low oxygen conditions. Whereas the specific growth rate of untransformed hairy roots in shake flasks and in a multiple-tube recirculation bioreactor declined significantly with decreasing oxygen tension down to 25% air saturation, growth of the transformant root lines was maintained at rates similar to those achieved with full aeration. This work demonstrates that altering the expression of selected genes involved in anaerobic metabolism can alleviate the problems of oxygen deficiency in hairy root cultures caused by poor mixing and mass transfer conditions.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗

PubMed1999

Thiamine repression and pyruvate decarboxylase autoregulation independently control the expression of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae PDC5 gene.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene PDC5 encodes the minor isoform of pyruvate decarboxylase (Pdc). In this work we show that expression of PDC5 but not that of PDC1, which encodes the major isoform, is repressed by thiamine. Hence, under thiamine limitation both PDC1 and PDC5 are expressed. PDC5 also becomes strongly expressed in a pdc1delta mutant. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of whole protein extracts shows that thiamine limitation stimulates the production of THI gene products and of Pdc5p. Deletion of PDC1 only stimulates production of Pdc5p. We conclude that the stimulation of PDC5 expression in a pdc1delta mutant is not due to a response to thiamine limitation.

Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional↗

PubMed2000

Purification, characterisation and cDNA sequencing of pyruvate decarboxylase from Zygosaccharomyces bisporus.

Cells of the wild-type yeast strain Zygosaccharomyces bisporus CBS 702 form alpha-hydroxy ketones from aromatic amino acid precursors during fermentation. Pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC, E.C. 4.1.1.1), the key enzyme of this biotransformation catalysing the non-oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate and other 2-oxo-acids, was purified and characterised. The active enzyme is homotetrameric (alpha4) with a molecular mass of about 244 kDa. Activation of PDC by its substrate pyruvate results in a sigmoidal dependence of the reaction rate from substrate concentration (apparent Km value 1.73 mM; Hill coefficient 2.10). A cDNA library was screened using a PCR-based procedure, and a 1856 bp cDNA of PDC was identified and sequenced. The cDNA encodes a polypeptide of 563 amino acid residues (monomeric unit). Sequence alignments demonstrate high homologies (> 80%) to PDC genes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Kluyveromyces lactis and Kluyveromyces marxianus.

DNA, Complementary↗

PubMed1997

Differential induction of pyruvate decarboxylase subunits and transcripts in anoxic rice seedlings.

In 2-d-old rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings subjected to anoxic stress, pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) activity increased 9-fold during a 168-h period. A polyclonal PDC antiserum that recognized alpha- and beta-subunits was used to quantify PDC protein by an enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay and showed a 5.6-fold increase, suggesting that the anoxically induced enzyme has a higher specific activity than the PDC isoform present under normoxia. Immunoblot analysis showed that levels of both PDC subunits were induced by anoxia. Immunoprecipitation of proteins labeled in vivo during anoxic treatment demonstrated that the alpha-subunit was preferentially synthesized at the onset of anoxia. Two partial cDNAs, including a novel sequence, were cloned from a cDNA library made from seedlings subjected to anoxia for 6 h. Gene-specific probes used to quantify northern blots showed that two or three PDC mRNAs are differentially induced by anoxia in rice seedlings. Immunoprecipitation of in vitro translation products of mRNAs isolated a different times of anoxic treatment confirmed this findings Our results suggest that anoxic induction of rice PDC involves transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression as well as differences in enzyme characteristics.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1999

Pyruvate decarboxylase filaments are associated with the cortical cytoskeleton of asci and spores over the sexual cycle of filamentous ascomycetes.

We show that pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) 8- to 10-nm-diameter filaments, first described in vegetative cells of Neurospora crassa, are ubiquitously present in filamentous fungi. The cellular arrangement of these structures was examined over the entire sexual cycle of the ascomycetes N. crassa, N. tetraesperma, Podospora anserina, and Sordaria macrospora. PDC-filaments were found associated with the cortical microtubule array of asci and ascospores and absent from the vicinity of spindles and spindle pole bodies. Nocodazole-induced depolymerization of the cortical microtubules results in the loss of PDC-filaments. Moreover, a S. macrospora mutant defective in cortical MT distribution shows abnormal PDC organization. Neurospora asci generated on various metabolic conditions, which modify the presence and relative abundance of PDC-filaments in vegetative cells, have identical patterns of subcellular distribution of these structures. A N. crassa mutant (snowflake) that accumulates giant bundles of PDC-filaments during vegetative growth, shows normal distribution of the filaments during ascogenesis. Thus, the regulation conditioning the presence and supramolecular assembly of PDC-filaments in Neurospora differs between vegetative and sexual cells. Taken together, these results suggest that PDC in filamentous fungi may perform two functions, intervening as an enzyme in vegetative metabolism and as a structural protein associated with the cytoskeleton during sexual development.

Actins↗

PubMed1994

Investigation of the cofactor-binding site of Zymomonas mobilis pyruvate decarboxylase by site-directed mutagenesis.

Several enzymes require thiamin diphosphate (ThDP) as an essential cofactor, and we have used one of these, pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC; EC 4.1.1.1) from Zymomonas mobilis, as a model for this group of enzymes. It is well suited for this purpose because of its stability, ease of purification and its simple kinetic properties. A sequence motif of approx. 30 residues, beginning with a glycine-aspartate-glycine (-GDG-) triplet and ending with a double asparagine (-NN-) sequence, has been identified in many of these enzymes [Hawkins, Borges and Perham (1989) FEBS Lett. 255, 77-82]. Other residues within this putative ThDP-binding motif are conserved, but to a lesser extent, including a glutamate and a proline residue. The role of the elements of this motif has been clarified by the determination of the three-dimensional structure of three of these enzymes [Muller, Lindqvist, Furey, Schulz, Jordan and Schneider (1993) Structure 1, 95-103]. Four of the residues within this motif were modified by site-directed mutagenesis of the cloned PDC gene to evaluate their role in cofactor binding. The mutant proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli and found to purify normally, indicating that the tertiary structure of these enzymes had not been grossly perturbed by the amino acid substitutions. We have shown previously [Diefenbach, Candy, Mattick and Duggleby (1992) FEBS Lett. 296, 95-98] that changing the aspartate in the -GDG- sequence to glycine, threonine or asparagine yields an inactive enzyme that is unable to bind ThDP, therefore verifying the role of the ThDP-binding motif. Here we demonstrate that substitution with glutamate yields an active enzyme with a greatly reduced affinity for both ThDP and Mg2+, but with normal kinetics for pyruvate. Unlike the wild-type tetrameric enzyme, this mutant protein usually exists as a dimer. Replacement of the second asparagine of the -NN- sequence by glutamine also yields an inactive enzyme which is unable to bind ThDP, whereas replacement with an aspartate residue results in an active enzyme with a reduced affinity for ThDP but which displays normal kinetics for both Mg2+ and pyruvate. Replacing the conserved glutamate with aspartate did not alter the properties of the enzyme, while the conserved proline, thought to be required for structural reasons, could be substituted with glycine or alanine without inactivating the enzyme, but these changes did reduce its stability.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1978

[Effect of the chemical surface structure of functionalized polystyrene on the kinetic properties of immobilized yeast pyruvate decarboxylase].

The influence of the loading density of different functional groups and the length of suitable spacer structures on the kinetic properties of yeast pyruvate decarboxylase are investigated on identical polystyrene matrices. At constant concentrations of the fixed protein both the specific activity and the storage stability of the immobilized enzymes increase with increasing concentrations of the protein binding (C = O)-groups. pH-Optimum and K'M-value prove to be functions of the NH3+-content of the supports. Using four spacer resins with an equal content of spacer groups it could be shown that the optimum time of coupling as well as the maximum catalytical activity, storage stability and thermostability depend on the length of the spacer structures. On the other hand, the mobility of an ESR-marker fixed via the same spacers to the resin is not affected by the different spacer structures.

Carboxy-Lyases↗

PubMed2001

Pyruvate decarboxylase: a key enzyme for the oxidative metabolism of lactic acid by Acetobacter pasteurianus.

Acetobacter pasteurianus, an obligately oxidative bacterium, is the first organism shown to utilize pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) as a central enzyme for oxidative metabolism. In plants, yeast, and other bacteria, PDC functions solely as part of the fermentative ethanol pathway. During the growth of A. pasteurianus on lactic acid, the central intermediate pyruvate is cleaved to acetaldehyde and CO(2) by PDC. Acetaldehyde is subsequently oxidized to its final product, acetic acid. The presence of the PDC enzyme in A. pasteurianus was confirmed by zymograms stained for acetaldehyde production, enzyme assays using alcohol dehydrogenase as the coupling enzyme, and by cloning and characterization of the pdc operon. A. pasteurianus pdc was also expressed in recombinant Escherichia coli. The level of PDC activity was regulated in response to growth substrate, highest with lactic acid and absent with mannitol. The translated PDC sequence (548 amino acids) was most similar to that of Zymomonas mobilis, an obligately fermentative bacterium. A second operon ( aldA) was also found which is transcribed divergently from pdc. This operon encodes a putative aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALD2; 357 amino acids) related to class III alcohol dehydrogenases and most similar to glutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenases from alpha-Proteobacteria and Anabeana azollae.

Acetobacter↗

PubMed1996

The role of residues glutamate-50 and phenylalanine-496 in Zymomonas mobilis pyruvate decarboxylase.

Several enzymes require thiamine diphosphate (ThDP) as an essential cofactor, and we have used one of these, pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC; EC 4.1.1.1) from Zymomonas mobilis, as a model for this group of enzymes. It is well suited for this purpose because of its stability, ease of purification, homotetrameric subunit structure and simple kinetic properties. Crystallographic analyses of three ThDP-dependent enzymes [Müller, Lindqvist, Furey, Schulz, Jordan and Schneider (1993) Structure 1, 95-103] have suggested that an invariant glutamate participates in catalysis. In order to evaluate the role of this residue, identified in PDC from Zymomonas mobilis as Glu-50, it has been altered to glutamine and aspartate by site-directed mutagenesis of the cloned gene. The mutant proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli. Here we demonstrate that substitution with aspartate yields an enzyme with 3% of the activity of the wild-type, but with normal kinetics for pyruvate. Replacement of Glu-50 with glutamine yields an enzyme with only 0.5% of the catalytic activity of the wild-type enzyme. Each of these mutant enzymes has a decreased affinity for both ThDP and Mg2+. It has been reported that the binding of cofactors to apoPDC quenches the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence [Diefenbach and Duggleby (1991) Biochem. J. 276, 439-445] and we have identified the residue responsible as Trp-487 [Diefenbach, Candy, Mattick and Duggleby (1992) FEBS Lett. 296, 95-98]. Although this residue is some distance from the cofactor binding site, it lies in the dimer interface, and the proposal has been put forward [Dyda, Furey, Swaminathan, Sax, Farrenkopf and Jordan (1993) Biochemistry 32, 6165-6170] that alteration of ring stacking with Phe-496 of the adjacent subunit is the mechanism of fluorescence quenching when cofactors bind. The closely related enzyme indolepyruvate decarboxylase (from Enterobacter cloacae) has a leucine residue at the position corresponding to Phe-496 but shows fluorescence quenching properties that are similar to those of PDC. This suggests that the fluorescence quenching is due to some perturbation of the local environment of Trp-487 rather than to a specific interaction with Phe-496. This latter hypothesis is supported by our data: mutation of this phenylalanine to leucine, isoleucine or histidine in PDC does not eliminate the fluorescence quenching upon addition of cofactors.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1994

Ethanolic fermentation in transgenic tobacco expressing Zymomonas mobilis pyruvate decarboxylase.

During oxygen limitation in higher plants, energy metabolism switches from respiration to fermentation. As part of this anaerobic response the expression of genes encoding pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is strongly induced. In addition there is ample evidence for post-translational regulation. In order to understand this multi-level regulation of the anaerobic response, we provided tobacco with the constitutive capacity of ethanolic fermentation by expressing a PDC gene derived from the obligate anaerobe Zymomonas mobilis. The protein accumulated to high levels and was active in an in vitro assay. During the first 2-4 h of anoxia, acetaldehyde accumulated to 10- to 35-fold and ethanol to 8- to 20-fold higher levels than in wild-type. Under normoxic conditions no accumulation of acetaldehyde and ethanol could be measured. Instead, the two products may be immediately re-metabolized in tobacco leaf tissue. We show that aerobic fermentation takes place when the respiratory system is inhibited. Although these conditions enhance ethanolic fermentation under normoxia, they fail to increase ADH transcript levels. These results indicate that anaerobic transcription is triggered not by the metabolic consequences of oxygen limitation, but directly through an oxygen-sensing system.

Acetaldehyde↗