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The Nop60B gene of Drosophila encodes an essential nucleolar protein that functions in yeast.

The Cbf5 protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was originally identified as a low-affinity centromeric DNA-binding protein, and chf5 mutants have a defect in rRNA synthesis. A closely related protein from mammals, NAP57, is a nucleolar protein that coimmunoprecipitates with the nucleolar phosphoprotein Nopp140. To study the function of this protein family in a higher eukaryote that is amenable to genetic approaches, the gene encoding a Drosophila melanogaster homolog, Nop60B, was identified. The predicted Drosophila protein shares a high degree of sequence identity over a 380-residue region with both the mammalian and yeast proteins, and shares several conserved motifs with the prokaryotic tRNA pseudouridine 55 synthases. Nop60B RNA is found at high levels in nurse cells and in the oocyte, and is present throughout development. Nop60B protein is localized primarily to the nucleolus of interphase cells, and is absent from the chromosomes during mitosis. Nop60B mutants were generated and shown to be homozygous lethal. The Drosophila gene can rescue the lethal phenotype of yeast chf5 mutations, showing that the function of this protein has been conserved from yeast to Drosophila.

Amino Acid Sequence

Major identity determinants for enzymatic formation of ribothymidine and pseudouridine in the T psi-loop of yeast tRNAs.

Almost all transfer RNA molecules sequenced so far contain two universal modified nucleosides at positions 54 and 55, respectively: ribothymidine (T54) and pseudouridine (psi 55). To identify the tRNA elements recognized by tRNA:m5uridine-54 methyltransferase and tRNA:pseudouridine-55 synthase from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a set of 43 yeast tRNA(Asp) mutants were used. Some variants contained point mutations, while the others included progressive reductions in size down to a tRNA minisubstrate consisting of the T psi-loop with only one G.C base-pair as stem (9-mer). All substrates (full-sized tRNA(Asp) and various minihelices) were produced in vitro by T7 transcription and tested using yeast extract (S100) as a source of enzymatic activities and S-adenosyl-L-methionine as a methyl donor. The results indicate that the minimal substrate for enzymatic formation of psi 55 is a stem/loop structure with only four G.C base-pairs in the stem, while a longer stem is required for efficient T54 formation. None of the conserved nucleotides (G53, C56, A58 and C61) and U54 for psi 55 or U55 for T54 formation can be replaced by any of the other three canonical nucleotides. Yeast tRNA:m5uridine-54 methyltransferase additionally requires the presence of a pyrimidine-60 in the loop. Interestingly, in a tRNA(Asp) variant in which the T psi-loop was permuted with the anticodon-loop, the new U32 and U33 residues derived from the T psi-loop were quantitatively converted to T32 and psi 33, respectively. Structural mapping of this variant with ethylnitrosourea confirmed that the intrinsic characteristic structure of the T psi-loop was conserved upon permutation and that the displaced anticodon-loop did not acquire a T psi-loop structure. These results demonstrate that a local conformation rather than the exact location of the U-U sequence within the tRNA architecture is the important identity determinant for recognition by yeast tRNA:m5uridine-54 methyltransferase and tRNA:pseudouridine-55 synthase.

Base Sequence

Molecular recognition of tRNA by tRNA pseudouridine 55 synthase.

Escherichia coli tRNA pseudouridine 55 synthase catalyzes pseudouridine formation at U55 in tRNA. A 17 base oligoribonucleotide analog of the T-arm was equivalent to intact native tRNA as a substrate for pseudouridine 55 synthase, viz., the features for substrate recognition by this enzyme are completely contained within the T-arm. The structures and activities of mutant tRNAs and T-arms were used to analyze substrate recognition by pseudouridine 55 synthase. The 17-mer T-arm was an excellent substrate for the synthase, while disruption of the stem structure of the 17-mer T-arm eliminated activity. Kinetic data on tRNA mutants lacking single T-stem base pairs indicated that only the 53:61 base pair, which maintains the 7 base loop size, was essential for activity. The identities of individual bases in the stem were unimportant provided base pairing was intact. A major function of the T-stem appears to be the maintainence of a stable stem-loop structure and proper presentation of the T-loop to pseudouridine 55 synthase. The 7 base T-loop could be expanded or contracted by 1 base and still retain activity, albeit with a 30-fold reduction in kcat. Kinetic analysis of T-loop mutants revealed the requirement for U54, U55, and A58, and a preference for C over U at position 56. Base substitutions at loop nonconserved position 59 or semiconserved positions 57 or 60 were well tolerated. Comparison of pseudouridine 55 synthase and tRNA (m5U54)-methyltransferase revealed that both enzymes required the stem-loop structure. However, pseudouridine 55 synthase was not stringent for a 7 base loop and recognized a consensus base sequence within the T-loop, while tRNA (m5U54)-methyltransferase recognized the secondary structure of the 7 member T-loop with only a specific requirement for U54, the T-loop substrate site. We conclude that recognition of tRNA by pseudouridine 55 synthase resides in the conformation of the T-arm plus four specific bases of the loop.

Base Composition

The yeast gene YNL292w encodes a pseudouridine synthase (Pus4) catalyzing the formation of psi55 in both mitochondrial and cytoplasmic tRNAs.

The protein products of two yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes (YNL292w and CBF5) display a remarkable sequence homology with Escherichia coli tRNA:pseudouridine-55 synthase (encoded by gene truB). The gene YNL292w coding for one of these proteins was cloned in an E.coli expression vector downstream of a His6-tag. The resulting recombinant protein (Pus4) was expressed at high level and purified to homogeneity by metal affinity chromatography on Ni2+-NTA-agarose, followed by ion-exchange chromatography on MonoQ. The purified Pus4p catalyzes the formation of pseudouridine-55 in T7 in vitro transcripts of several yeast tRNA genes. In contrast to the known yeast pseudouridine synthase (Pus1) of broad specificity, no other uridines in tRNA molecules are modified by the cloned recombinant tRNA:Psi55 synthase. The disruption of the corresponding gene YNL292w in yeast, which has no significant effect on the growth of yeast cells, leads to the complete disappearance of the Psi55 formation activity in a cell-free extract. These results allow the formal identification of the protein encoded by the yeast ORF YNL292w as the only enzyme responsible for the formation of Psi55 which is almost universally conserved in tRNAs. The substrate specificity of the purified YNL292w-encoded recombinant protein was shown to be similar to that of the native protein present in yeast cell extract. Chemical mapping of pseudouridine residues in both cytoplasmic and mitochondrial tRNAs from the yeast strain carrying the disrupted gene reveals that the same gene product is responsible for Psi55 formation in tRNAs of both cellular compartments.

Amino Acid Sequence

A functionally diverse enzyme superfamily that abstracts the alpha protons of carboxylic acids.

Mandelate racemase and muconate lactonizing enzyme are structurally homologous but catalyze different reactions, each initiated by proton abstraction from carbon. The structural similarity to mandelate racemase of a previously unidentified gene product was used to deduce its function as a galactonate dehydratase. In this enzyme superfamily that has evolved to catalyze proton abstraction from carbon, three variations of homologous active site architectures are now represented: lysine and histidine bases in the active site of mandelate racemase, only a lysine base in the active site of muconate lactonizing enzyme, and only a histidine base in the active site of galactonate dehydratase. This discovery supports the hypothesis that new enzymatic activities evolve by recruitment of a protein catalyzing the same type of chemical reaction.

Amino Acid Sequence

Purification, cloning, and properties of the tRNA psi 55 synthase from Escherichia coli.

tRNA pseudouridine 55 (psi 55) synthase, the enzyme that is specific for the conversion of U55 to psi 55 in the m5U psi CG loop in most tRNAs, has been purified from Escherichia coli and cloned. On SDS gels, a single polypeptide chain with a mass of 39.7 kDa was found. The gene is a previously described open reading frame, p35, located at 68.86 min on the E. coli chromosome between the infB and rpsO genes. The proposed name for this gene is truB. There is very little protein sequence homology between the truB gene product and the hisT (truA) product, which forms psi in the anticodon arm of tRNAs. However, there was high homology with a fragment of a Bacillus subtilis gene that may produce the analogous enzyme in that species. The cloned gene was fused to a 5'-leader coding for a (His)6 tract, and the protein was overexpressed > 400-fold in E. coli. The recombinant protein was purified to homogeneity in one step from a crude cell extract by affinity chromatography using a Ni(2+)-containing matrix. The SDS mass of the recombinant protein was 41.5 kDa, whereas that calculated from the gene was 37.3. The recombinant protein was specific for U55 in tRNA transcripts and reacted neither at other sites for psi in such transcripts nor with transcripts of 16S or 23S ribosomal RNA or subfragments. The enzyme did not require either a renatured RNA structure or Mg2+, and prior formation of m5U was not required. Stoichiometric formation of psi occurred with no requirement for an external source of energy, indicating that psi synthesis is thermodynamically favored.

Amino Acid Sequence

A cell-free yellow lupin extract containing activities of pseudouridine 35 and 55 synthases.

Plant cytoplasmic tyrosine tRNA was pseudouridylated at three different positions: 35, 39 and 55. These pseudouridines were introduced by three different enzymes--pseudouridine synthases. Variants of the Arabidopsis thaliana pre-tRNA(Tyr) were constructed that allow to monitor specifically pseudouridylation at different nucleotide positions. Using such RNAs to assay pseudouridine synthesis we have prepared an extract from Lupinus luteus cv. Ventus seeds containing activities of at least psi35 and psi55 synthases. This is the first report describing the preparation of the lupin seed extract that specifically modifies plant pre-tRNA(Tyr) transcribed by T7 RNA polymerase. U35 is converted to psi35 only in an intron-dependent manner, while pseudouridylation of U55 is insensitive to the presence or absence of an intron.

Arabidopsis

Homology of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase, 8-amino-7-oxononanoate synthase, 2-amino-6-caprolactam racemase, 2,2-dialkylglycine decarboxylase, glutamate-1-semialdehyde 2,1-aminomutase and isopenicillin-N-epimerase with aminotransferases.

Profile analysis showed the title enzymes to be homologous with the aminotransferases. 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase is closely related to subgroup I of aminotransferases which includes aspartate, alanine, histidinol-phosphate, tyrosine and phenylalanine aminotransferase. 2,2-Dialkylglycine decarboxylase, glutamate-1-semialdehyde 2,1-aminomutase and 2-amino-6-caprolactam racemase are most similar to subgroup II which comprises aminotransferases with omega-amino acids as substrates. 8-Amino-7-oxononanoate synthase is closely related to both subgroup I and II, and isopenicillin-N-epimerase to subgroup IV with serine and phosphoserine aminotransferase. Aminotransferases and the title enzymes belong to a regio-specific family of evolutionarily related pyridoxal-5'-phosphate-dependent enzymes.

Acyltransferases

Mandelate pathway of Pseudomonas putida: sequence relationships involving mandelate racemase, (S)-mandelate dehydrogenase, and benzoylformate decarboxylase and expression of benzoylformate decarboxylase in Escherichia coli.

The genes that encode the five known enzymes of the mandelate pathway of Pseudomonas putida (ATCC 12633), mandelate racemase (mdlA), (S)-mandelate dehydrogenase (mdlB), benzoylformate decarboxylase (mdlC), NAD(+)-dependent benzaldehyde dehydrogenase (mdlD), and NADP(+)-dependent benzaldehyde dehydrogenase (mdlE), have been cloned. The genes for (S)-mandelate dehydrogenase and benzoylformate decarboxylase have been sequenced; these genes and that for mandelate racemase [Ransom, S. C., Gerlt, J. A., Powers, V. M., & Kenyon, G. L. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 540] are organized in an operon (mdlCBA). Mandelate racemase has regions of sequence similarity to muconate lactonizing enzymes I and II from P. putida. (S)-Mandelate dehydrogenase is predicted to be 393 amino acids in length and to have a molecular weight of 43,352; it has regions of sequence similarity to glycolate oxidase from spinach and ferricytochrome b2 lactate dehydrogenase from yeast. Benzoylformate decarboxylase is predicted to be 499 amino acids in length and to have a molecular weight of 53,621; it has regions of sequence similarity to enzymes that decarboxylate pyruvate with thiamin pyrophosphate as cofactor. These observations support the hypothesis that the mandelate pathway evolved by recruitment of enzymes from preexisting metabolic pathways. The gene for benzoylformate decarboxylase has been expressed in Escherichia coli with the trc promoter, and homogeneous enzyme has been isolated from induced cells.

Acetolactate Synthase

Monoterpene synthases from common sage (Salvia officinalis). cDNA isolation, characterization, and functional expression of (+)-sabinene synthase, 1,8-cineole synthase, and (+)-bornyl diphosphate synthase.

Common sage (Salvia officinalis) produces an extremely broad range of cyclic monoterpenes bearing diverse carbon skeletons, including members of the p-menthane (1,8-cineole), pinane (alpha- and beta-pinene), thujane (isothujone), camphane (camphene), and bornane (camphor) families. An homology-based polymerase chain reaction cloning strategy was developed and used to isolate the cDNAs encoding three multiproduct monoterpene synthases from this species that were functionally expressed in Escherichia coli. The heterologously expressed synthases produce (+)-bornyl diphosphate, 1, 8-cineole, and (+)-sabinene, respectively, as their major products from geranyl diphosphate. The bornyl diphosphate synthase also produces significant amounts of (+)-alpha-pinene, (+)-camphene, and (+/-)-limonene. The 1,8-cineole synthase produces significant amounts of (+)- and (-)-alpha-pinene, (+)- and (-)-beta-pinene, myrcene and (+)-sabinene, and the (+)-sabinene synthase produces significant quantities of gamma-terpinene and terpinolene. All three enzymes appear to be translated as preproteins bearing an amino-terminal plastid targeting sequence, consistent with the plastidial origin of monoterpenes in plants. Deduced sequence analysis and size exclusion chromatography indicate that the recombinant bornyl diphosphate synthase is a homodimer, whereas the other two recombinant enzymes are monomeric, consistent with the size and subunit architecture of their native enzyme counterparts. The distribution and stereochemistry of the products generated by the recombinant (+)-bornyl diphosphate synthase suggest that this enzyme might represent both (+)-bornyl diphosphate synthase and (+)-pinene synthase which were previously assumed to be distinct enzymes.

Amino Acid Sequence

The enolase superfamily: a general strategy for enzyme-catalyzed abstraction of the alpha-protons of carboxylic acids.

We have discovered a superfamily of enzymes related by their ability to catalyze the abstraction of the alpha-proton of a carboxylic acid to form an enolic intermediate. Although each reaction catalyzed by these enzymes is initiated by this common step, their overall reactions (including racemization, beta-elimination of water, beta-elimination of ammonia, and cycloisomerization) as well as the stereochemical consequences (syn vs anti) of the beta-elimination reactions are diverse. Analysis of sequence and structural similarities among these proteins suggests that all of their chemical reactions are mediated by a common active site architecture modified through evolution to allow the enolic intermediates to partition to different products in their respective active sites via different overall mechanisms. All of these enzymes retain the ability to catalyze the thermodynamically difficult step of proton abstraction. These homologous proteins, designated the "enolase superfamily", include enolase as well as more metabolically specialized enzymes: mandelate racemase, galactonate dehydratase, glucarate dehydratase, muconate-lactonizing enzymes, N-acylamino acid racemase, beta-methylaspartate ammonia-lyase, and o-succinylbenzoate synthase. Comparative analysis of structure-function relationships within the superfamily suggests that carboxyphosphonoenolpyruvate synthase, another member of the superfamily, does not catalyze the reaction proposed in the literature but catalyzes an enolase-like reaction instead. The established and deduced structure-function relationships in the superfamily allow the prediction that other apparent members of the family for which no catalytic functions have yet been assigned will also perform chemistry involving abstraction of the alpha-protons of carboxylic acids.

Amino Acid Sequence

Functional assignment of Erwinia herbicola Eho10 carotenoid genes expressed in Escherichia coli.

Erwinia herbicola is a nonphotosynthetic bacterium that is yellow pigmented due to the presence of carotenoids. When the Erwinia carotenoid biosynthetic genes are expressed in Escherichia coli, this bacterium also displays a yellow phenotype. The DNA sequence of the plasmid pPL376, carrying the entire Erwinia carotenoid gene cluster, has been found to contain 12 open reading frames (ORFs). Six of the ORFs have been identified as carotenoid biosynthesis genes that code for all the enzymes required for conversion of farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) to zeaxanthin diglucoside via geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, phytoene, lycopene, beta-carotene, and zeaxanthin. These enzymatic steps were assigned after disruption of each ORF by a specific mutation and analysis of the accumulated intermediates. Carotenoid intermediates were identified by the absorption spectra of the colored components and by high pressure liquid chromatographic analysis. The six carotenoid genes are arranged in at least two operons. The gene coding for beta-carotene hydroxylase is transcribed in the opposite direction from that of the other carotenoid genes and overlaps with the gene for phytoene synthase.

Alkyl and Aryl Transferases

Characterization of Bradyrhizobium japonicum pcaBDC genes involved in 4-hydroxybenzoate degradation.

The pca structural genes encode enzymes that participate in the conversion of protocatechuate to succinate and acetylcoenzyme A. A 3. 05-kb region of the Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain USDA110 genome has been characterized, which contains the pcaB, pcaD and pcaC genes. The predicted protein sequences of the three genes have extensive homologies with beta-carboxy-cis,cis-muconate cycloisomerase (PcaB), beta-ketodiapate enol-lactone hydrolase (PcaD), and gamma-carboxymuconolactone decarboxylase (PcaC), respectively, from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Pseudomonas putida. The DNA sequence revealed that the pca genes are probably arranged in a single transcriptional unit, pcaBDC, similar to that described in P. putida. A pcaB deletion mutant constructed by marker exchange mutagenesis lost the ability to use 4-hydroxybenzoate or protocatechuate as the only carbon source, demonstrating functionality of the characterized genes in catabolism of hydroxyaromatics by B. japonicum. Furthermore, 4-hydroxybenzoate and protocatechuate became toxic for the pcaB mutant, indicating that hydroxyaromatics catabolism serves both nutritional and detoxifying purposes.

Amino Acid Sequence

Antibiotic resistance in Streptomyces lividans: fluorescence assay for streptogramin B lyase.

A fluorescence assay for streptogramin B lyase, an enzyme that confers resistance to streptogramin B antibiotics, has been developed. The antibiotic substrates are fluorescent and the linear peptide products formed in the lyase-catalyzed reaction are relatively nonfluorescent. The assay has potential for assessing bacterial resistance to streptogramin B antibiotics and will be utilized to direct the purification of streptogramin B lyase from bacterial extracts.

Anti-Bacterial Agents

A helix-turn-strand structural motif common in alpha-beta proteins.

By exhaustive structural comparisons, we have found that about one-third of the alpha-helix-turn-beta-strand polypeptides in alpha-beta barrel domains share a common structural motif. The chief characteristics of this motif are that first, the geometry of the turn between the alpha-helix and the beta-strand is somewhat constrained, and second, the beta-strand contains a hydrophobic patch that fits into a hydrophobic pocket on the alpha-helix. The geometry of the turn does not seem to be a major determinant of the alpha-beta unit, because the turns vary in length from four to six residues. However, the motif does not occur when there are few constraints on the geometry of the turn-for instance, when the turns between the alpha-helix and the beta-strands are very long. It also occurs much less frequently in flat-sheet alpha-beta proteins, where the topology is much less regular and the amount of twist on the sheet varies considerably more than in the barrel proteins. The motif may be one of the basic building blocks from which alpha-beta barrels are constructed.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase