Purification of argininosuccinase from Neurospora and comparison of some properties of the wild-type enzyme and an enzyme formed by inter-allelic complementation

Argininosuccinase has been purified from wild-typeNeurospora crassa, strain ST.A. The purified enzyme, which is homogeneous by the criteria of analytical centrifugation and starch-gel electrophoresis, has a molecular weight of about 175,000. The enzyme has also been partially purified from a heterokaryon between thearg-10 mutant stocks B317–9–9aand 402–3a.

The reaction kinetics of the two enzymes were compared in several respects, and they were found to be indistinguishable. The enzymes were also indistinguishable by starch-gel electrophoresis, and sedimented at the same rate through a sucrose gradient. It seems likely, however, that the enzymes do differ physically since they showed different affinities for both calcium phosphate gel and hydroxylapatite during purification.

Molecular sieving by Neurospora cell walls during secretion of invertase isozymes

Trevithick, John R. (University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison), and Robert L. Metzenberg. Molecular sieving by Neurospora cell walls during secretion of invertase isozymes. J. Bacteriol. 92: 1010-1015. 1966.-The secretion of invertase by young mycelia of Neurospora was studied. The process of secretion was found to be dependent upon growth. The results indicate that fractionation of light invertase, the monomer, from heavy invertase, the aggregated form, occurs at the cell wall. Neurospora strains wild type, crisp, osmotic, and the double mutant crisp osmotic were tested. An inverse relation exists between the fraction of the total invertase activity of the culture which the mold secretes into the medium and the degree of fractionation, defined as the ratio of the fraction of the invertase secreted into the medium that is light invertase to the fraction of the invertase remaining associated with the cells that is light invertase. The hypothesis is offered that the increased secretion of invertase and decreased degree of fractionation seen in osmotic mutants, and to a lesser extent in the other mutants, can be explained by an increased porosity of the cell wall.

The primary biochemical effect of a morphological mutation in Neurospora crassa

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Immunochemical and enzymatic studies and glutamate dehydrogenase and a related mutant protein from Neurospora crassa

Roberts, D. B. (University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England). Immunochemical and enzymatic studies on glutamate dehydrogenase and a related mutant protein from Neurospora crassa. J. Bacteriol. 91:1888-1895. 1966.-When an investigation was made of the inhibition of Neurospora glutamate dehydrogenase by bivalent and univalent antibodies, it was shown that the enzyme inhibition is not complete even with excess antibodies. The residual activity was some three times greater with bivalent antibodies, in spite of the observation that the ratio of inhibiting antibodies to catalytic sites was 2:1 for both types of antibody. Substrates did not affect the inhibition of enzyme activity, nor did antibodies affect the K(m) for either substrate. An allosteric mechanism for the inhibition of glutamate dehydrogenase by antibodies is proposed. It was also demonstrated that the mutant protein am-3 can be activated, to show glutamate dehydrogenase activity, by a number of activators. The requirement for the activation was the presence of a carboxymethyl group. The data suggest that the nonactivated protein has two combining sites for l-glutamate: the catalytic and activating sites. The wild-type enzyme has only one of these sites. Because the activating site is distinct from the catalytic site, an allosteric mechanism was postulated for activation. Inhibition of am-3 activity by antibodies is achieved either by a mechanism similar to the inhibition of wild-type activity or by the antibodies preventing the activation of the mutant protein. The am-3 protein can be activated by antibodies. Consequently, there appeared to be a relation the phenomena of enzyme inhibition and am-3 activation by antibodies; i.e., they alter the configuration of the catalytic site. This alteration was necessary for the activation of am-3, but inhibited the activity of the wild-type enzyme.

Glutamic dehydrogenase in revertants of am mutants in Neurospora

Five allelic mutants of Neurospora which lack glutamic dehydrogenase (ammutants) were induced to revert with ultra-violet. The glutamic dehydrogenase produced by the revertants was compared to that of wild-type. Several distinct classes of revertants could be distinguished by these tests. However, genetic analysis showed that all the reversions resulted from events at or near the site of the originalammutation. The spectrum of reversion types depended on the nature of theammutant employed. One mutant, which produces anamprotein believed to be altered in its active site, yielded revertants which were all indistinguishable from wild-type. Another mutant, which produces a protein with a functional active site but altered folding properties, gave at least six classes of revertants which were different from wild-type.