Acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylases (ACCs) have crucial roles in fatty acid metabolism. Soraphen A, a macrocyclic polyketide natural product, is a nanomolar inhibitor against the biotin carboxylase (BC) ...domain of human, yeast, and other eukaryotic ACCs. Here we report the crystal structures of the yeast BC domain, alone and in complex with soraphen A. Soraphen has extensive interactions with an allosteric site, about 25 Å from the active site. The specificity of soraphen is explained by large structural differences between the eukaryotic and prokaryotic BC in its binding site, confirmed by our studies on the effects of single-site mutations in this binding site. Unexpectedly, our structures suggest that soraphen may bind in the BC dimer interface and inhibit the BC activity by disrupting the oligomerization of this domain. Observations from native gel electrophoresis confirm this structural insight. The structural information provides a foundation for structure-based design of new inhibitors against these enzymes.
Plants constantly monitor their light environment in order to grow and develop optimally, in part through use of the phytochromes, which sense red/far-red light. A phytochrome binding protein, PKS1 ...(phytochrome kinase substrate 1), was identified that is a substrate for light-regulated phytochrome kinase activity in vitro. In vivo experiments suggest that PKS1 is phosphorylated in a phytochrome-dependent manner and negatively regulates phytochrome signaling. The data suggest that phytochromes signal by serine-threonine phosphorylation.
Plant responses to red and far-red light are mediated by a family of photoreceptors called phytochromes. In Arabidopsis thaliana, there are genes encoding at least five phytochromes, and it is of ...interest to learn if the different phytochromes have overlapping or distinct functions. To address this question for two of the phytochromes in Arabidopsis, we have compared light responses of the wild type with those of a phyA null mutant, a phyB null mutant, and a phyA phyB double mutant. We have found that both phyA and phyB mutants have a deficiency in germination, the phyA mutant in far-red light and the phyB mutant in the dark. Furthermore, the germination defect caused by the phyA mutation in far-red light could be suppressed by a phyB mutation, suggesting that phytochrome B (PHYB) can have an inhibitory as well as a stimulatory effect on germination. In red light, the phyA phyB double mutant, but neither single mutant, had poorly developed cotyledons, as well as reduced red-light induction of CAB gene expression and potentiation of chlorophyll induction. The phyA mutant was deficient in sensing a flowering response inductive photoperiod, suggesting that PHYA participates in sensing daylength. in contrast, the phyB mutant flowered earlier than the wild type (and the phyA mutant) under all photoperiods tested, but responded to an inductive photoperiod. Thus, PHYA and PHYB appear to have complementary functions in controlling germination, seedling development, and flowering. We discuss the implications of these results for possible mechanisms of PHYA and PHYB signal transduction
Although phytochrome B (phyB) plays a particularly important role throughout the life cycle of a plant, it has not been studied in detail at the molecular level due to its low abundance. Here, we ...report on the expression, assembly with chromophore, and purification of epitope-tagged Arabidopsis phyB. In addition, we have reconstructed two missense mutations, phyB-4 and phyB-101, isolated in long hypocotyl screens. We show that mutant proteins phyB-4 and phyB-101 exhibit altered spectrophotometric and biochemical properties relative to the wild-type protein. In particular, we demonstrate that phyB-101 Pfr exhibits rapid nonphotochemical (dark) reversion to Pr that results in a lower photoequilibrium level of the active Pfr form. We conclude that this occurs in vivo as well because phyB-101 mutants are shown to lack an end-of-day-far-red hypocotyl elongation response that requires a stable Pfr species. We propose that this Pfr instability may be the primary molecular mechanism underlying the phyB-101 mutant phenotype
Plant growth and development are regulated by interactions between the environment and endogenous developmental programs. Of the various environmental factors controlling plant development, light ...plays an especially important role, in photosynthesis, in seasonal and diurnal time sensing, and as a cue for altering developmental pattern. Recently, several laboratories have devised a variety of genetic screens using Arabidopsis thaliana to dissect the signal transduction pathways of the various photoreceptor systems. Genetic analysis demonstrates that light responses are not simply endpoints of linear signal transduction pathways but are the result of the integration of information from a variety of photoreceptors through a complex network of interacting signaling components. These signaling components include the red/far-red light receptors, phytochromes, at least one blue light receptor, and negative regulatory genes (DET, COP, and FUS) that act downstream from the photoreceptors in the nucleus. In addition, a steroid hormone, brassinolide, also plays a role in light-regulated development and gene expression in Arabidopsis. These molecular and genetic data are allowing us to construct models of the mechanisms by which light controls development and gene expression in Arabidopsis. In the future, this knowledge can be used as a framework for understanding how all land plants respond to changes in their environment.
Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) catalyses the first step in fatty-acid biosynthesis. Owing to its role in primary metabolism, ACC has been exploited as a commercial herbicide target and identified as a ...chemically validated fungicide target. In animals, ACC is also a key regulator of fat metabolism. This function has made ACC a prime target for the development of anti-obesity and anti-Type II diabetes therapeutics. Despite its economic importance, there is a lack of published information on recombinant expression of ACC. We report here the expression of enzymically active fungal (Ustilago maydis ) ACC in Escherichia coli. The recombinant enzyme exhibited Km values of 0.14+/-0.013 mM and 0.19+/-0.041 mM for acetyl-CoA and ATP respectively, which are comparable with those reported for the endogenous enzyme. The polyketide natural product soraphen is a potent inhibitor of the BC (biotin carboxylase) domain of endogenous fungal ACC. Similarly, recombinant ACC activity was inhibited by soraphen with a K(i) of 2.1+/-0.9 nM. A truncated BC domain that included amino acids 2-560 of the full-length protein was also expressed in E. coli. The isolated BC domain was expressed to higher levels, and was more stable than full-length ACC. Although incapable of enzymic turnover, the BC domain exhibited high-affinity soraphen binding (Kd 1.1+/-0.3 nM), demonstrating a native conformation. Additional BC domains from the phytopathogenic fungi Magnaporthe grisea and Phytophthora infestans were also cloned and expressed, and were shown to exhibit high-affinity soraphen binding. Together, these reagents will be useful for structural studies and assay development.
The chloroplast-encoded D1 protein of oxygenic photosynthetic organisms is a component of the photosystem II reaction center. Previously, we detected an electrophoretic variant of D1 which was ...generated in vivo in granal-localized reaction centers in a light dependent manner (Callahan, F. E., Ghirardi, M. L., Sopory, S. K., Mehta, A. M., Edelman, M., and Mattoo, A. K. (1990) J. Biol Chem. 265, 15357-15360). In the present study, we identify this modified form as phosphorylated D1. The in vivo phosphorylation occurs on a threonine residue(s) localized within 1 kDa from the N terminus and is identical to the phosphorylation of D1 catalyzed in vitro by a redox-regulated thylakoid-bound protein kinase. While virtually all of the D1 protein present in thylakoids can be phosphorylated in vitro, the steady-state level of phosphorylated D1 in vivo varies with light intensity and did not exceed of the total D1 under the conditions of this study.
A number of photosystem II (PSII)-associated proteins, including D1, D2, CP43 and LHCII, are phosphorylated post-translationally by a membrane-bound, redox-regulated kinase activity. In vitro studies ...have demonstrated that these proteins can be dephosphorylated by membrane-bound phosphatase activity, reportedly insensitive to light or redox control. We demonstrate here that the PSII core proteins, D1, D2 and CP43, undergo light-stimulated, linear electron-transport-independent dephosphorylation in vivo. The in vivo dephosphorylation of D1 was characterized further and shown to depend upon light intensity, and to occur throughout the visible light spectrum with characteristics most consistent with light absorption by chlorophyll. PSII core protein dephosphorylation in vivo was stimulated by photosystem I (PSI)-specific far-red light, and inhibited by 2,5-dibromo-3-methyl-6-isopropyl-p-benzoquinone, an inhibitor of plastoquinol oxidation by the cytochrome b6f complex. Based on these findings, we propose that PSI excitation is involved in regulating dephosphorylation of PSII core proteins in vivo.
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