Understanding enzyme superfamilies. Chemistry As the fundamental determinant in the evolution of new catalytic activities

Exploring the Structure-Function Loop Adaptability of a (β/α)(8)-Barrel Enzyme through Loop Swapping and Hinge Variability

Evolution of proteins involves sequence changes that are frequently localized at loop regions, revealing their important role in natural evolution. However, the development of strategies to understand and imitate such events constitutes a challenge to design novel enzymes in the laboratory. In this study, we show how to adapt loop swapping as semiautonomous units of functional groups in an enzyme with the (β/α)(8)-barrel and how this functional adaptation can be measured in vivo. To mimic the natural mechanism providing loop variability in antibodies, we developed an overlap PCR strategy. This includes introduction of sequence diversity at two hinge residues, which connect the new loops with the rest of the protein scaffold, and we demonstrate that this is necessary for a successful exploration of functional sequence space. This design allowed us to explore the sequence requirements to functional adaptation of each loop replacement that may not be sampled otherwise. Libraries generated following this strategy were evaluated in terms of their folding competence and their functional proficiency, an observation that was formalized as a Structure-Function Loop Adaptability value. Molecular details about the function and structure of some variants were obtained by enzyme kinetics and circular dichroism. This strategy yields functional variants that retain the original activity at higher frequencies, suggesting a new strategy for protein engineering that incorporates a more divergent sequence exploration beyond that limited to point mutations. We discuss how this approach may provide insights into the mechanism of enzyme evolution and function.

Toward mechanistic classification of enzyme functions

Classification of enzyme function should be quantitative, computationally accessible, and informed by sequences and structures to enable use of genomic information for functional inference and other applications. Large-scale studies have established that divergently evolved enzymes share conserved elements of structure and common mechanistic steps and that convergently evolved enzymes often converge to similar mechanisms too, suggesting that reaction mechanisms could be used to develop finer-grained functional descriptions than provided by the Enzyme Commission (EC) system currently in use. Here we describe how evolution informs these structure-function mappings and review the databases that store mechanisms of enzyme reactions along with recent developments to measure ligand and mechanistic similarities. Together, these provide a foundation for new classifications of enzyme function.

Toxoflavin lyase requires a novel 1-His-2-carboxylate facial triad

High-resolution crystal structures are reported for apo, holo, and substrate-bound forms of a toxoflavin-degrading metalloenzyme (TflA). In addition, the degradation reaction is shown to be dependent on oxygen, Mn(II), and dithiothreitol in vitro. Despite its low sequence identity with proteins of known structure, TflA is structurally homologous to proteins of the vicinal oxygen chelate superfamily. Like other metalloenzymes in this superfamily, the TflA fold contains four modules that associate to form a metal binding site; however, the fold displays a rare rearrangement of the structural modules indicative of domain permutation. Moreover, unlike the 2-His-1-carboxylate facial triad commonly utilized by vicinal oxygen chelate dioxygenases and other dioxygen-activating non-heme Fe(II) enzymes, the metal center in TflA consists of a 1-His-2-carboxylate facial triad. The substrate-bound complex shows square-pyramidal geometry in which one position is occupied by O5 of toxoflavin. The open coordination site is predicted to be the dioxygen binding site. TflA appears to stabilize the reduced form of toxoflavin through second-sphere interactions. This anionic species is predicted to be the electron source responsible for reductive activation of oxygen to produce a peroxytoxoflavin intermediate.

A study on the flexibility of enzyme active sites

BACKGROUND

A common assumption about enzyme active sites is that their structures are highly conserved to specifically distinguish between closely similar compounds. However, with the discovery of distinct enzymes with similar reaction chemistries, more and more studies discussing the structural flexibility of the active site have been conducted.

RESULTS

Most of the existing works on the flexibility of active sites focuses on a set of pre-selected active sites that were already known to be flexible. This study, on the other hand, proposes an analysis framework composed of a new data collecting strategy, a local structure alignment tool and several physicochemical measures derived from the alignments. The method proposed to identify flexible active sites is highly automated and robust so that more extensive studies will be feasible in the future. The experimental results show the proposed method is (a) consistent with previous works based on manually identified flexible active sites and (b) capable of identifying potentially new flexible active sites.

CONCLUSIONS

This proposed analysis framework and the former analyses on flexibility have their own advantages and disadvantage, depending on the cause of the flexibility. In this regard, this study proposes an alternative that complements previous studies and helps to construct a more comprehensive view of the flexibility of enzyme active sites.

Switching from an esterase to a hydroxynitrile lyase mechanism requires only two amino acid substitutions

The alpha/beta hydrolase superfamily contains mainly esterases, which catalyze hydrolysis, but also includes hydroxynitrile lyases, which catalyze addition of cyanide to aldehydes, a carbon-carbon bond formation. Here, we convert a plant esterase, SABP2, into a hydroxynitrile lyase using just two amino acid substitutions. Variant SABP2-G12T-M239K lost the ability to catalyze ester hydrolysis (<0.9 mU/mg) and gained the ability to catalyze the release of cyanide from mandelonitrile (20 mU/mg, k(cat)/K(M) = 70 min(-1)M(-1)). This variant also catalyzed the reverse reaction, formation of mandelonitrile with low enantioselectivity: 20% ee (S), E = 1.5. The specificity constant for the lysis of mandelontrile is 13,000-fold faster than the uncatalyzed reaction and only 1300-fold less efficient (k(cat/)K(M)) than hydroxynitrile lyase from rubber tree.

Classification of chemical reactions and chemoinformatic processing of enzymatic transformations

The automatic perception of chemical similarities between chemical reactions is required for a variety of applications in chemistry and connected fields, namely with databases of metabolic reactions. Classification of enzymatic reactions is required, e.g., for genome-scale reconstruction (or comparison) of metabolic pathways, computer-aided validation of classification systems, or comparison of enzymatic mechanisms. This chapter presents different current approaches for the representation of chemical reactions enabling automatic reaction classification. Representations based on the encoding of the reaction center are illustrated, which use physicochemical features, Reaction Classification (RC) numbers, or Condensed Reaction Graphs (CRG). Representation of differences between the structures of products and reactants include reaction signatures, fingerprint differences, and the MOLMAP approach. The approaches are illustrated with applications to real datasets.

Feature amplified voting algorithm for functional analysis of protein superfamily

BACKGROUND

Identifying the regions associated with protein function is a singularly important task in the post-genomic era. Biological studies often identify functional enzyme residues by amino acid sequences, particularly when related structural information is unavailable. In some cases of protein superfamilies, functional residues are difficult to detect by current alignment tools or evolutionary strategies when phylogenetic relationships do not parallel their protein functions. The solution proposed in this study is Feature Amplified Voting Algorithm with Three-profile alignment (FAVAT). The core concept of FAVAT is to reveal the desired features of a target enzyme or protein by voting on three different property groups aligned by three-profile alignment method. Functional residues of a target protein can then be retrieved by FAVAT analysis. In this study, the amidohydrolase superfamily was an interesting case for verifying the proposed approach because it contains divergent enzymes and proteins.

RESULTS

The FAVAT was used to identify critical residues of mammalian imidase, a member of the amidohydrolase superfamily. Members of this superfamily were first classified by their functional properties and sources of original organisms. After FAVAT analysis, candidate residues were identified and compared to a bacterial hydantoinase in which the crystal structure (1GKQ) has been fully elucidated. One modified lysine, three histidines and one aspartate were found to participate in the coordination of metal ions in the active site. The FAVAT analysis also redressed the misrecognition of metal coordinator Asp57 by the multiple sequence alignment (MSA) method. Several other amino acid residues known to be related to the function or structure of mammalian imidase were also identified.

CONCLUSIONS

The FAVAT is shown to predict functionally important amino acids in amidohydrolase superfamily. This strategy effectively identifies functionally important residues by analyzing the discrepancy between the sequence and functional properties of related proteins in a superfamily, and it should be applicable to other protein families.

Mutations in DHDPSL are responsible for primary hyperoxaluria type III

Primary hyperoxaluria (PH) is an autosomal-recessive disorder of endogenous oxalate synthesis characterized by accumulation of calcium oxalate primarily in the kidney. Deficiencies of alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGT) or glyoxylate reductase (GRHPR) are the two known causes of the disease (PH I and II, respectively). To determine the etiology of an as yet uncharacterized type of PH, we selected a cohort of 15 non-PH I/PH II patients from eight unrelated families with calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis for high-density SNP microarray analysis. We determined that mutations in an uncharacterized gene, DHDPSL, on chromosome 10 cause a third type of PH (PH III). To overcome the difficulties in data analysis attributed to a state of compound heterozygosity, we developed a strategy of "heterozygosity mapping"-a search for long heterozygous patterns unique to all patients in a given family and overlapping between families, followed by reconstruction of haplotypes. This approach enabled us to determine an allelic fragment shared by all patients of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and bearing a 3 bp deletion in DHDPSL. Overall, six mutations were detected: four missense mutations, one in-frame deletion, and one splice-site mutation. Our assumption is that DHDPSL is the gene encoding 4-hydroxy-2-oxoglutarate aldolase, catalyzing the final step in the metabolic pathway of hydroxyproline.

Evolution of enzymatic activities of testis-specific short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase in Drosophila

The testis-specific gene Jingwei (jgw) is a newly evolved short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase in Drosophila. Preliminary substrate screening indicated that JGW prefers long-chain primary alcohols as substrates, including several exotic alcohols such as farnesol and geraniol. Using steady-state kinetics analyses and molecular docking, we not only confirmed JGW's substrate specificity, but also demonstrated that the new enzymatic activities of JGW evolved extensively after exon-shuffling from a preexisting enzyme. Analysis of JGW orthologs in sister species shows that subsequent evolutionary changes following the birth of JGW altered substrate specificities and enzyme stabilities. Our results lend support to a general mechanism for the evolution of a new enzyme, in which catalytic chemistry evolves first followed by diversification of substrate utilization.

Mechanisms of protein evolution and their application to protein engineering

Protein engineering holds great promise for the development of new biosensors, diagnostics, therapeutics, and agents for bioremediation. Despite some remarkable successes in experimental and computational protein design, engineered proteins rarely achieve the efficiency or specificity of natural enzymes. Current protein design methods utilize evolutionary concepts, including mutation, recombination, and selection, but the inability to fully recapitulate the success of natural evolution suggests that some evolutionary principles have not been fully exploited. One aspect of protein engineering that has received little attention is how to select the most promising proteins to serve as templates, or scaffolds, for engineering. Two evolutionary concepts that could provide a rational basis for template selection are the conservation of catalytic mechanisms and functional promiscuity. Knowledge of the catalytic motifs responsible for conserved aspects of catalysis in mechanistically diverse superfamilies could be used to identify promising templates for protein engineering. Second, protein evolution often proceeds through promiscuous intermediates, suggesting that templates which are naturally promiscuous for a target reaction could enhance protein engineering strategies. This review explores these ideas and alternative hypotheses concerning protein evolution and engineering. Future research will determine if application of these principles will lead to a protein engineering methodology governed by predictable rules for designing efficient, novel catalysts.

Quantitative comparison of catalytic mechanisms and overall reactions in convergently evolved enzymes: implications for classification of enzyme function

Functionally analogous enzymes are those that catalyze similar reactions on similar substrates but do not share common ancestry, providing a window on the different structural strategies nature has used to evolve required catalysts. Identification and use of this information to improve reaction classification and computational annotation of enzymes newly discovered in the genome projects would benefit from systematic determination of reaction similarities. Here, we quantified similarity in bond changes for overall reactions and catalytic mechanisms for 95 pairs of functionally analogous enzymes (non-homologous enzymes with identical first three numbers of their EC codes) from the MACiE database. Similarity of overall reactions was computed by comparing the sets of bond changes in the transformations from substrates to products. For similarity of mechanisms, sets of bond changes occurring in each mechanistic step were compared; these similarities were then used to guide global and local alignments of mechanistic steps. Using this metric, only 44% of pairs of functionally analogous enzymes in the dataset had significantly similar overall reactions. For these enzymes, convergence to the same mechanism occurred in 33% of cases, with most pairs having at least one identical mechanistic step. Using our metric, overall reaction similarity serves as an upper bound for mechanistic similarity in functional analogs. For example, the four carbon-oxygen lyases acting on phosphates (EC 4.2.3) show neither significant overall reaction similarity nor significant mechanistic similarity. By contrast, the three carboxylic-ester hydrolases (EC 3.1.1) catalyze overall reactions with identical bond changes and have converged to almost identical mechanisms. The large proportion of enzyme pairs that do not show significant overall reaction similarity (56%) suggests that at least for the functionally analogous enzymes studied here, more stringent criteria could be used to refine definitions of EC sub-subclasses for improved discrimination in their classification of enzyme reactions. The results also indicate that mechanistic convergence of reaction steps is widespread, suggesting that quantitative measurement of mechanistic similarity can inform approaches for functional annotation.

Structural and biophysical characterization of BoxC from Burkholderia xenovorans LB400: a novel ring-cleaving enzyme in the crotonase superfamily

The mineralization of aromatic compounds by microorganisms relies on a structurally and functionally diverse group of ring-cleaving enzymes. The recently discovered benzoate oxidation pathway in Burkholderia xenovorans LB400 encodes a novel such ring-cleaving enzyme, termed BoxC, that catalyzes the conversion of 2,3-dihydro-2,3-dihydroxybenzoyl-CoA to 3,4-dehydroadipyl-CoA without the requirement for molecular oxygen. Sequence analysis indicates that BoxC is a highly divergent member of the crotonase superfamily and nearly double the size of the average superfamily member. The structure of BoxC determined to 1.5 A resolution reveals an intriguing structural demarcation. A highly divergent region in the C terminus probably serves as a structural scaffold for the conserved N terminus that encompasses the active site and, in conjunction with a conserved C-terminal helix, mediates dimer formation. Isothermal titration calorimetry and molecular docking simulations contribute to a detailed view of the active site, resulting in a compelling mechanistic model where a pair of conserved glutamate residues (Glu146 and Glu168) work in tandem to deprotonate the dihydroxylated ring substrate, leading to cleavage. A final deformylation step incorporating a water molecule and Cys111 as a general base completes the formation of 3,4-dehydroadipyl-CoA product. Overall, this study establishes the basis for BoxC as one of the most divergent members of the crotonase superfamily and provides the first structural insight into the mechanism of this novel class of ring-cleaving enzymes.

Genomic and structural aspects of protein evolution

It has been known for more than 35 years that, during evolution, new proteins are formed by gene duplications, sequence and structural divergence and, in many cases, gene combinations. The genome projects have produced complete, or almost complete, descriptions of the protein repertoires of over 600 distinct organisms. Analyses of these data have dramatically increased our understanding of the formation of new proteins. At the present time, we can accurately trace the evolutionary relationships of about half the proteins found in most genomes, and it is these proteins that we discuss in the present review. Usually, the units of evolution are protein domains that are duplicated, diverge and form combinations. Small proteins contain one domain, and large proteins contain combinations of two or more domains. Domains descended from a common ancestor are clustered into superfamilies. In most genomes, the net growth of superfamily members means that more than 90% of domains are duplicates. In a section on domain duplications, we discuss the number of currently known superfamilies, their size and distribution, and superfamily expansions related to biological complexity and to specific lineages. In a section on divergence, we describe how sequences and structures diverge, the changes in stability produced by acceptable mutations, and the nature of functional divergence and selection. In a section on domain combinations, we discuss their general nature, the sequential order of domains, how combinations modify function, and the extraordinary variety of the domain combinations found in different genomes. We conclude with a brief note on other forms of protein evolution and speculations of the origins of the duplication, divergence and combination processes.

Enzyme (re)design: lessons from natural evolution and computation

The (re)design of enzymes to catalyze 'new' reactions is a topic of considerable practical and intellectual interest. Directed evolution (random mutagenesis followed by screening/selection) has been used widely to identify novel biocatalysts. However, 'rational' approaches using either natural divergent evolution or computational predictions based on chemical principles have been less successful. This review summarizes recent progress in evolution-based and computation-based (re)design.

Protein design through systematic catalytic loop exchange in the (beta/alpha)8 fold

Protein engineering by directed evolution has proven effective in achieving various functional modifications, but the well-established protocols for the introduction of variability, typically limited to random point mutations, seriously restrict the scope of the approach. In an attempt to overcome this limitation, we sought to explore variant libraries with richer diversity at regions recognized as functionally important through an exchange of natural components, thus combining design with combinatorial diversity. With this approach, we expected to maintain interactions important for protein stability while directing the introduction of variability to areas important for catalysis. Our strategy consisted in loop exchange over a (beta/alpha)(8) fold. Phosphoribosylanthranilate isomerase was chosen as scaffold, and we investigated its tolerance to loop exchange by fusing variant libraries to the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase coding gene as an in vivo folding reporter. We replaced loops 2, 4, and 6 of phosphoribosylanthranilate isomerase with loops of varied types and sizes from enzymes sharing the same fold. To allow for a better structural fit, saturation mutagenesis was adopted at two amino acid positions preceding the exchanged loop. Our results showed that 30% to 90% of the generated mutants in the different libraries were folded. Some variants were selected for further characterization after removal of chloramphenicol acetyl transferase gene, and their stability was studied by circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy. The sequences of 545 clones show that the introduction of variability at "hinges" connecting the loops with the scaffold exhibited a noticeable effect on the appearance of folded proteins. Also, we observed that each position accepted foreign loops of different sizes and sequences. We believe our work provides the basis of a general method of exchanging variably sized loops within the (beta/alpha)(8) fold, affording a novel starting point for the screening of novel activities as well as modest diversions from an original activity.

Using sequence similarity networks for visualization of relationships across diverse protein superfamilies

The dramatic increase in heterogeneous types of biological data—in particular, the abundance of new protein sequences—requires fast and user-friendly methods for organizing this information in a way that enables functional inference. The most widely used strategy to link sequence or structure to function, homology-based function prediction, relies on the fundamental assumption that sequence or structural similarity implies functional similarity. New tools that extend this approach are still urgently needed to associate sequence data with biological information in ways that accommodate the real complexity of the problem, while being accessible to experimental as well as computational biologists. To address this, we have examined the application of sequence similarity networks for visualizing functional trends across protein superfamilies from the context of sequence similarity. Using three large groups of homologous proteins of varying types of structural and functional diversity—GPCRs and kinases from humans, and the crotonase superfamily of enzymes—we show that overlaying networks with orthogonal information is a powerful approach for observing functional themes and revealing outliers. In comparison to other primary methods, networks provide both a good representation of group-wise sequence similarity relationships and a strong visual and quantitative correlation with phylogenetic trees, while enabling analysis and visualization of much larger sets of sequences than trees or multiple sequence alignments can easily accommodate. We also define important limitations and caveats in the application of these networks. As a broadly accessible and effective tool for the exploration of protein superfamilies, sequence similarity networks show great potential for generating testable hypotheses about protein structure-function relationships.

Origin and evolution of metabolic pathways

The emergence and evolution of metabolic pathways represented a crucial step in molecular and cellular evolution. In fact, the exhaustion of the prebiotic supply of amino acids and other compounds that were likely present in the ancestral environment, imposed an important selective pressure, favoring those primordial heterotrophic cells which became capable of synthesizing those molecules. Thus, the emergence of metabolic pathways allowed primitive organisms to become increasingly less-dependent on exogenous sources of organic compounds. Comparative analyses of genes and genomes from organisms belonging to Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya revealed that, during evolution, different forces and molecular mechanisms might have driven the shaping of genomes and the arisal of new metabolic abilities. Among these gene elongations, gene and operon duplications undoubtedly played a major role since they can lead to the (immediate) appearance of new genetic material that, in turn, might undergo evolutionary divergence giving rise to new genes coding for new metabolic abilities. Gene duplication has been invoked in the different schemes proposed to explain why and how the extant metabolic pathways have arisen and shaped. Both the analysis of completely sequenced genomes and directed evolution experiments strongly support one of them, i.e. the patchwork hypothesis, according to which metabolic pathways have been assembled through the recruitment of primitive enzymes that could react with a wide range of chemically related substrates. However, the analysis of the structure and organization of genes belonging to ancient metabolic pathways, such as histidine biosynthesis and nitrogen fixation, suggested that other different hypothesis, i.e. the retrograde hypothesis or the semi-enzymatic theory, may account for the arisal of some metabolic routes.

An amino acid at position 142 in nitrilase from Rhodococcus rhodochrous ATCC 33278 determines the substrate specificity for aliphatic and aromatic nitriles

Nitrilase from Rhodococcus rhodochrous ATCC 33278 hydrolyses both aliphatic and aromatic nitriles. Replacing Tyr-142 in the wild-type enzyme with the aromatic amino acid phenylalanine did not alter specificity for either substrate. However, the mutants containing non-polar aliphatic amino acids (alanine, valine and leucine) at position 142 were specific only for aromatic substrates such as benzonitrile, m-tolunitrile and 2-cyanopyridine, and not for aliphatic substrates. These results suggest that the hydrolysis of substrates probably involves the conjugated π-electron system of the aromatic ring of substrate or Tyr-142 as an electron acceptor. Moreover, the mutants containing charged amino acids such as aspartate, glutamate, arginine and asparagine at position 142 displayed no activity towards any nitrile, possibly owing to the disruption of hydrophobic interactions with substrates. Thus aromaticity of substrate or amino acid at position 142 in R. rhodochrous nitrilase is required for enzyme activity.

The chemical versatility of the beta-alpha-beta fold: catalytic promiscuity and divergent evolution in the tautomerase superfamily

Tautomerase superfamily members have an amino-terminal proline and a beta-alpha-beta fold, and include 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4-OT), 5-(carboxymethyl)-2-hydroxymuconate isomerase (CHMI), trans- and cis-3-chloroacrylic acid dehalogenase (CaaD and cis-CaaD, respectively), malonate semialdehyde decarboxylase (MSAD), and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), which exhibits a phenylpyruvate tautomerase (PPT) activity. Pro-1 is a base (4-OT, CHMI, the PPT activity of MIF) or an acid (CaaD, cis-CaaD, MSAD). Components of the catalytic machinery have been identified and mechanistic hypotheses formulated. Characterization of new homologues shows that these mechanisms are incomplete. 4-OT, CaaD, cis-CaaD, and MSAD also have promiscuous activities with a hydratase activity in CaaD, cis-CaaD, and MSAD, PPT activity in CaaD and cis-CaaD, and CaaD and cis-CaaD activities in 4-OT. The shared promiscuous activities provide evidence for divergent evolution from a common ancestor, give hints about mechanistic relationships, and implicate catalytic promiscuity in the emergence of new enzymes.

Evolution of enzymatic activities in the enolase superfamily: L-rhamnonate dehydratase

The l-rhamnonate dehydratase (RhamD) function was assigned to a previously uncharacterized family in the mechanistically diverse enolase superfamily that is encoded by the genome of Escherichia coli K-12. We screened a library of acid sugars to discover that the enzyme displays a promiscuous substrate specificity: l-rhamnonate (6-deoxy- l-mannonate) has the "best" kinetic constants, with l-mannonate, l-lyxonate, and d-gulonate dehydrated less efficiently. Crystal structures of the RhamDs from both E. coli K-12 and Salmonella typhimurium LT2 (95% sequence identity) were obtained in the presence of Mg (2+); the structure of the RhamD from S. typhimurium was also obtained in the presence of 3-deoxy- l-rhamnonate (obtained by reduction of the product with NaBH 4). Like other members of the enolase superfamily, RhamD contains an N-terminal alpha + beta capping domain and a C-terminal (beta/alpha) 7beta-barrel (modified TIM-barrel) catalytic domain with the active site located at the interface between the two domains. In contrast to other members, the specificity-determining "20s loop" in the capping domain is extended in length and the "50s loop" is truncated. The ligands for the Mg (2+) are Asp 226, Glu 252 and Glu 280 located at the ends of the third, fourth and fifth beta-strands, respectively. The active site of RhamD contains a His 329-Asp 302 dyad at the ends of the seventh and sixth beta-strands, respectively, with His 329 positioned to function as the general base responsible for abstraction of the C2 proton of l-rhamnonate to form a Mg (2+)-stabilized enediolate intermediate. However, the active site does not contain other acid/base catalysts that have been implicated in the reactions catalyzed by other members of the MR subgroup of the enolase superfamily. Based on the structure of the liganded complex, His 329 also is expected to function as the general acid that both facilitates departure of the 3-OH group in a syn-dehydration reaction and delivers a proton to carbon-3 to replace the 3-OH group with retention of configuration.

The origin and evolution of modern metabolism

One fundamental goal of current research is to understand how complex biomolecular networks took the form that we observe today. Cellular metabolism is probably one of the most ancient biological networks and constitutes a good model system for the study of network evolution. While many evolutionary models have been proposed, a substantial body of work suggests metabolic pathways evolve fundamentally by recruitment, in which enzymes are drawn from close or distant regions of the network to perform novel chemistries or use different substrates. Here we review how structural and functional genomics has impacted our knowledge of evolution of modern metabolism and describe some approaches that merge evolutionary and structural genomics with advances in bioinformatics. These include mining the data on structure and function of enzymes for salient patterns of enzyme recruitment. Initial studies suggest modern metabolism originated in enzymes of nucleotide metabolism harboring the P-loop hydrolase fold, probably in pathways linked to the purine metabolic subnetwork. This gateway of recruitment gave rise to pathways related to the synthesis of nucleotides and cofactors for an ancient RNA world. Once the TIM beta/alpha-barrel fold architecture was discovered, it appears metabolic activities were recruited explosively giving rise to subnetworks related to carbohydrate and then amino acid metabolism. Remarkably, recruitment occurred in a layered system reminiscent of Morowitz's prebiotic shells, supporting the notion that modern metabolism represents a palimpsest of ancient metabolic chemistries.

Evolutionarily conserved substrate substructures for automated annotation of enzyme superfamilies

The evolution of enzymes affects how well a species can adapt to new environmental conditions. During enzyme evolution, certain aspects of molecular function are conserved while other aspects can vary. Aspects of function that are more difficult to change or that need to be reused in multiple contexts are often conserved, while those that vary may indicate functions that are more easily changed or that are no longer required. In analogy to the study of conservation patterns in enzyme sequences and structures, we have examined the patterns of conservation and variation in enzyme function by analyzing graph isomorphisms among enzyme substrates of a large number of enzyme superfamilies. This systematic analysis of substrate substructures establishes the conservation patterns that typify individual superfamilies. Specifically, we determined the chemical substructures that are conserved among all known substrates of a superfamily and the substructures that are reacting in these substrates and then examined the relationship between the two. Across the 42 superfamilies that were analyzed, substantial variation was found in how much of the conserved substructure is reacting, suggesting that superfamilies may not be easily grouped into discrete and separable categories. Instead, our results suggest that many superfamilies may need to be treated individually for analyses of evolution, function prediction, and guiding enzyme engineering strategies. Annotating superfamilies with these conserved and reacting substructure patterns provides information that is orthogonal to information provided by studies of conservation in superfamily sequences and structures, thereby improving the precision with which we can predict the functions of enzymes of unknown function and direct studies in enzyme engineering. Because the method is automated, it is suitable for large-scale characterization and comparison of fundamental functional capabilities of both characterized and uncharacterized enzyme superfamilies.

Evolution of function in the "two dinucleotide binding domains" flavoproteins

Structural and biochemical constraints force some segments of proteins to evolve more slowly than others, often allowing identification of conserved structural or sequence motifs that can be associated with substrate binding properties, chemical mechanisms, and molecular functions. We have assessed the functional and structural constraints imposed by cofactors on the evolution of new functions in a superfamily of flavoproteins characterized by two-dinucleotide binding domains, the “two dinucleotide binding domains” flavoproteins (tDBDF) superfamily. Although these enzymes catalyze many different types of oxidation/reduction reactions, each is initiated by a stereospecific hydride transfer reaction between two cofactors, a pyridine nucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD). Sequence and structural analysis of more than 1,600 members of the superfamily reveals new members and identifies details of the evolutionary connections among them. Our analysis shows that in all of the highly divergent families within the superfamily, these cofactors adopt a conserved configuration optimal for stereospecific hydride transfer that is stabilized by specific interactions with amino acids from several motifs distributed among both dinucleotide binding domains. The conservation of cofactor configuration in the active site restricts the pyridine nucleotide to interact with FAD from the re-side, limiting the flow of electrons from the re-side to the si-side. This directionality of electron flow constrains interactions with the different partner proteins of different families to occur on the same face of the cofactor binding domains. As a result, superimposing the structures of tDBDFs aligns not only these interacting proteins, but also their constituent electron acceptors, including heme and iron-sulfur clusters. Thus, not only are specific aspects of the cofactor-directed chemical mechanism conserved across the superfamily, the constraints they impose are manifested in the mode of protein–protein interactions. Overlaid on this foundation of conserved interactions, nature has conscripted different protein partners to serve as electron acceptors, thereby generating diversification of function across the superfamily.

The sequencing of genomes from different species has provided a unique opportunity for comparative analysis and opened the door to a higher level of understanding of living organisms. However, identifying the biochemical functions of the protein products coded by these genes has proved to be a major challenge. Computational methods that have been used to assign functions to such sequences often result in high levels of misannotations. Nature's strategy of evolving new function provides clues for formulating an accurate predictive scheme for functional annotation. Constraints associated with substrate binding properties and chemistry have been shown to be major determinants of guiding the evolution of new function. In this study, the authors have explored the functional and structural constraints imposed by complex cofactors on the evolution of new functions. Analysis of the large “two dinucleotide binding domains” flavoproteins (tDBDF) superfamily using structural comparisons and other bioinformatics approaches shows how structural requirements associated with cofactor reactivity constrain the mode of protein–protein interactions while providing the major route for evolution of functional diversification. The evolutionary framework established in this work may be generally useful for the analysis of functional divergence in other enzyme superfamilies that use complex cofactors.

Using the Structure-function Linkage Database to characterize functional domains in enzymes

The Structure-Function Linkage Database (SFLD; http://sfld.rbvi.ucsf.edu/) is a Web-accessible database designed to link enzyme sequence, structure, and functional information. This unit describes the protocols by which a user may query the database to predict the function of newly sequenced enzymes and to correct misannotated functional assignments for enzymes currently in public databases. It is especially useful in helping a user discriminate functional capabilities of a sequence that is only distantly related to characterized sequences in publicly available databases.

Mutational analysis of the active site flap (20s loop) of mandelate racemase

Mandelate racemase from Pseudomonas putida catalyzes the Mg2+-dependent 1,1-proton transfer that interconverts the enantiomers of mandelate. Residues of the 20s and 50s loops determine, in part, the topology and polarity of the active site and hence the substrate specificity. Previously, we proposed that, during racemization, the phenyl ring of mandelate moves between an S-pocket comprised of residues from the 50s loop and an R-pocket comprised of residues from the 20s loop [Siddiqi, F., Bourque, J. R., Jiang, H., Gardner, M., St. Maurice, M., Blouin, C., and Bearne, S. L. (2005) Biochemistry 44, 9013-9021]. The 20s loop constitutes a mobile beta-meander flap that covers the active site cavity shielding it from solvent and controlling entry and egress of ligands. To understand the role of the 20s loop in catalysis and substrate specificity, we constructed a series of mutants (V22A, V22I, V22F, T24S, A25V, V26A, V26L, V26F, V29A, V29L, V29F, V26A/V29L, and V22I/V29L) in which the sizes of hydrophobic side chains of the loop residues were varied. Catalytic efficiencies (kcat/Km) for all mutants were reduced between 6- and 40-fold with the exception of those of V22I, V26A, V29L, and V22I/V29L which had near wild-type efficiencies with mandelate. Thr 24 and Ala 25, located at the tip of the 20s loop, were particularly sensitive to minor alterations in the size of their hydrophobic side chains; however, most mutations were tolerated quite well, suggesting that flap mobility could compensate for increases in the steric bulk of hydrophobic side chains. With the exception of V29L, with mandelate as the substrate, and V22F and V26A/V29L, with 2-naphthylglycolate (2-NG) as the substrate, the values of kcat and Km were not altered in a manner consistent with steric obstruction of the R-pocket, perhaps due to flap mobility compensating for the increased size of the hydrophobic side chains. Surprisingly, V22I and V29L catalyzed the racemization of the bulkier substrate 2-NG with kcat/Km values approximately 2-fold greater than those observed for wild-type mandelate racemase. Although minor changes in substrate specificity were achieved through alterations of the active site flap of mandelate racemase, our results suggest that hydrophobic residues that reside on a flexible flap and define the topology of an active site through their van der Waals contacts with the substrate are quite tolerant of a variety of steric substitutions.

Evolution of enzymatic activities in the enolase superfamily: D-Mannonate dehydratase from Novosphingobium aromaticivorans

The d-mannonate dehydratase (ManD) function was assigned to a group of orthologous proteins in the mechanistically diverse enolase superfamily by screening a library of acid sugars. Structures of the wild type ManD from Novosphingobium aromaticivorans were determined at pH 7.5 in the presence of Mg2+ and also in the presence of Mg2+ and the 2-keto-3-keto-d-gluconate dehydration product; the structure of the catalytically active K271E mutant was determined at pH 5.5 in the presence of the d-mannonate substrate. As previously observed in the structures of other members of the enolase superfamily, ManD contains two domains, an N-terminal alpha+beta capping domain and a (beta/alpha)7beta-barrel domain. The barrel domain contains the ligands for the essential Mg2+, Asp 210, Glu 236, and Glu 262, at the ends of the third, fourth, and fifth beta-strands of the barrel domain, respectively. However, the barrel domain lacks both the Lys acid/base catalyst at the end of the second beta-strand and the His-Asp dyad acid/base catalyst at the ends of the seventh and sixth beta-strands, respectively, that are found in many members of the superfamily. Instead, a hydrogen-bonded dyad of Tyr 159 in a loop following the second beta-strand and Arg 147 at the end of the second beta-strand are positioned to initiate the reaction by abstraction of the 2-proton. Both Tyr 159 and His 212, at the end of the third beta-strand, are positioned to facilitate both syn-dehydration and ketonization of the resulting enol intermediate to yield the 2-keto-3-keto-d-gluconate product with the observed retention of configuration. The identities and locations of these acid/base catalysts as well as of cationic amino acid residues that stabilize the enolate anion intermediate define a new structural strategy for catalysis (subgroup) in the mechanistically diverse enolase superfamily. With these differences, we provide additional evidence that the ligands for the essential Mg2+ are the only conserved residues in the enolase superfamily, establishing the primary functional importance of the Mg2+-assisted strategy for stabilizing the enolate anion intermediate.

Structure of 2-Amino-3,7-dideoxy-d-threo-hept-6-ulosonic Acid Synthase, a Catalyst in the Archaeal Pathway for the Biosynthesis of Aromatic Amino Acids,

Genes responsible for the generation of 3-dehydroquinate (DHQ), an early metabolite in the established shikimic pathway of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis, are absent in most euryarchaeotes. Alternative gene products, Mj0400 and Mj1249, have been identified in Methanocaldococcus jannaschii as the enzymes involved in the synthesis of DHQ. 2-Amino-3,7-dideoxy-d-threo-hept-6-ulosonic acid (ADH) synthase, the product of the Mj0400 gene, catalyzes a transaldol reaction between 6-deoxy-5-ketofructose 1-phosphate and l-aspartate semialdehyde to yield ADH. Dehydroquinate synthase II, the product of the Mj1249 gene, then catalyzes deamination and cyclization of ADH, resulting in DHQ, which is fed into the canonical pathway. Three crystal structures of ADH synthase were determined in this work: a complex with a substrate analogue, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, a complex with dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP), thought to be a product of fructose 1-phosphate cleavage, and a native structure containing copurified ligands, modeled as DHAP and glycerol. On the basis of the structural analysis and comparison of the enzyme with related aldolases, ADH synthase is classified as a new member of the class I aldolase superfamily. The description of the active site allows for the identification and characterization of possible catalytic residues, Lys184, which is responsible for formation of the Schiff base intermediate, and Asp33 and Tyr153, which are candidates for the general acid/base catalysis.

The chemistry of protein catalysis

We report, for the first time, on the statistics of chemical mechanisms and amino acid residue functions that occur in enzyme reaction sequences using the MACiE database of 202 distinct enzyme reaction mechanisms as a knowledge base. MACiE currently holds representatives from each Enzyme Commission sub-subclass where there is an available crystal structure and sufficient evidence in the primary literature for a mechanism. Each catalytic step of every reaction sequence in MACiE is fully annotated, so that it includes the function of the catalytic residues involved in the reaction and the chemical mechanisms by which substrates are transformed into products. We show that the most catalytic amino acid residues are histidine, cysteine and aspartate, which are also the residues whose side-chains are more likely to serve as reactants, and that have the greatest versatility of function. We show that electrophilic reactions in enzymes are very rare, and the majority of enzyme reactions rely upon nucleophilic and general acid/base chemistry. However, although rare, radical (homolytic) reactions are much more common than electrophilic reactions. Thus, the majority of amino acid residues perform stabilisation roles (as spectators) or proton shuttling roles (as reactants). The analysis presented provides a better understanding of the mechanisms of enzyme catalysis and may act as an initial step in the validation and prediction of mechanism in an enzyme active site.

Metabolic engineering of Pseudomonas putida for methylmalonyl-CoA biosynthesis to enable complex heterologous secondary metabolite formation

An operon consisting of three open reading frames, annotated in silico as methylmalonyl-CoA (mm-CoA) epimerase, mm-CoA mutase (MCM), and meaB, was identified in the sequencing project of the myxobacterium Sorangium cellulosum So ce56. This putative MCM pathway operon was subcloned from a bacterial artificial chromosome by Red/ET recombineering onto a minimal replicon derived from p15A. This plasmid was modified for integration and heterologous expression in Pseudomonas putida to enable the production of complex secondary metabolites requiring mm-CoA as precursor. Methylmalonate was identified in the recombinant P. putida strain by an analysis method based on gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The engineered strain is able to synthesize polyketides requiring mm-CoA as an extender unit, which was demonstrated by the production of myxothiazol after integration of the biosynthetic gene cluster into the chromosome, followed by induction of expression.

Minimalist active-site redesign: teaching old enzymes new tricks

Although nature evolves its catalysts over millions of years, enzyme engineers try to do it a bit faster. Enzyme active sites provide highly optimized microenvironments for the catalysis of biologically useful chemical transformations. Consequently, changes at these centers can have large effects on enzyme activity. The prediction and control of these effects provides a promising way to access new functions. The development of methods and strategies to explore the untapped catalytic potential of natural enzyme scaffolds has been pushed by the increasing demand for industrial biocatalysts. This Review describes the use of minimal modifications at enzyme active sites to expand their catalytic repertoires, including targeted mutagenesis and the addition of new reactive functionalities. Often, a novel activity can be obtained with only a single point mutation. The many successful examples of active-site engineering through minimal mutations give useful insights into enzyme evolution and open new avenues in biocatalyst research.

Phylogeny and evolution of papillomaviruses based on the E1 and E2 proteins

Papillomaviridae are a family of small double-stranded DNA viruses that infect stratified squamous epithelia in vertebrates. Members of this family are causative agents of malignant tumours, such as cervical cancer while others are associated with benign proliferative lesions. So far, Papillomaviruses (PVs) are classified according to the sequence identity in the capsid gene L1. However, evidence has accumulated indicating a discontinuity in the evolutionary history of the L1 and L2 genes of many PVs, giving rise to differences in the phylogenetic reconstructions of the early and of the late genes. Neither the oncogenes E5, E6 and E7 nor the upstream regulatory region are suitable for phylogenetic inference due to the poor conservation along the Papillomaviridae family. We have analysed here the evolutionary relationships of the PVs with respect to the E1 and E2 proteins, and the results provide both phylogeny and biologic behaviour of the viruses. The hierarchical taxonomic relationships can be structured as an alternative classification system in which mucosal high-risk viruses, mucosal low-risk viruses and viruses associated with cutaneous lesions are grouped separately and do not appear intermingled. Some important trends are also observed: first, evolution of the PVs has not been homogeneous, even in viruses that infect the same host, and second mucosal human PVs have evolved faster than their cutaneous counterparts. The evolutionary analysis based on the E1 and E2 proteins will allow us to better understand the generation of the diversity of the PVs and the development of malignancy associated with these viruses.

Formation of an enolate intermediate is required for the reaction catalyzed by 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase

Fluorinated substrate analogs were synthesized and incubated with rat liver 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, which reveals that the formation of an enolate intermediate is required for the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme.

Using reaction mechanism to measure enzyme similarity

The concept of reaction similarity has been well studied in terms of the overall transformation associated with a reaction, but not in terms of mechanism. We present the first method to give a quantitative measure of the similarity of reactions based upon their explicit mechanisms. Two approaches are presented to measure the similarity between individual steps of mechanisms: a fingerprint-based approach that incorporates relevant information on each mechanistic step; and an approach based only on bond formation, cleavage and changes in order. The overall similarity for two reaction mechanisms is then calculated using the Needleman-Wunsch alignment algorithm. An analysis of MACiE, a database of enzyme mechanisms, using our measure of similarity identifies some examples of convergent evolution of chemical mechanisms. In many cases, mechanism similarity is not reflected by similarity according to the EC system of enzyme classification. In particular, little mechanistic information is conveyed by the class level of the EC system.

Hydrolase-catalysed synthesis of peroxycarboxylic acids: Biocatalytic promiscuity for practical applications

The enzymatic promiscuity concept involves the possibility that one active site of an enzyme can catalyse several different chemical transformations. A rational understanding of the mechanistic reasons for this catalytic performance could lead to new practical applications. The capability of certain hydrolases to perform the perhydrolysis was described more than a decade ago, and recently its molecular basis has been elucidated. Remarkably, a similarity between perhydrolases (cofactor-free haloperoxidases) and serine hydrolases was found, with both groups of enzymes sharing a common catalytic triad, which suggests an evolution from a common ancestor. On the other hand, several biotechnological applications derived from the capability of hydrolases to catalyse the synthesis of peracids have been reported: the use of hydrolases as bleaching agents via in situ generation of peracids; (self)-epoxidation of unsaturated fatty acids, olefins, or plant oils, via Prileshajev epoxidation; Baeyer-Villiger reactions. In the present review, the molecular basis for this promiscuous hydrolase capability, as well as identified applications are reviewed and described in detail.

New superfamily members identified for Schiff-base enzymes based on verification of catalytically essential residues

Enzymes that utilize a Schiff-base intermediate formed with their substrates and that share the same alpha/beta barrel fold comprise a mechanistically diverse superfamily defined in the SCOPS database as the class I aldolase family. The family includes the "classical" aldolases fructose-1,6-(bis)phosphate (FBP) aldolase, transaldolase, and 2-keto-3-deoxy-6-phosphogluconate aldolase. Moreover, the N-acetylneuraminate lyase family has been included in the class I aldolase family on the basis of similar Schiff-base chemistry and fold. Herein, we generate primary sequence identities based on structural alignment that support the homology and reveal additional mechanistic similarities beyond the common use of a lysine for Schiff-base formation. The structural and mechanistic correspondence comprises the use of a catalytic dyad, wherein a general acid/base residue (Glu, Tyr, or His) involved in Schiff-base chemistry is stationed on beta-strand 5 of the alpha/beta barrel. The role of the acid/base residue was probed by site-directed mutagenesis and steady-state and pre-steady-state kinetics on a representative member of this family, FBP aldolase. The kinetic results are consistent with the participation of this conserved residue or position in the protonation of the carbinolamine intermediate and dehydration of the Schiff base in FBP aldolase and, by analogy, the class I aldolase family.

Purification and characterization of TrzF: biuret hydrolysis by allophanate hydrolase supports growth

TrzF, the allophanate hydrolase from Enterobacter cloacae strain 99, was cloned, overexpressed in the presence of a chaperone protein, and purified to homogeneity. Native TrzF had a subunit molecular weight of 65,401 and a subunit stoichiometry of alpha(2) and did not contain significant levels of metals. TrzF showed time-dependent inhibition by phenyl phosphorodiamidate and is a member of the amidase signature protein family. TrzF was highly active in the hydrolysis of allophanate but was not active with urea, despite having been previously considered a urea amidolyase. TrzF showed lower activity with malonamate, malonamide, and biuret. The allophanate hydrolase from Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP, AtzF, was also shown to hydrolyze biuret slowly. Since biuret and allophanate are consecutive metabolites in cyanuric acid metabolism, the low level of biuret hydrolase activity can have physiological significance. A recombinant Escherichia coli strain containing atzD, encoding cyanuric acid hydrolase that produces biuret, and atzF grew slowly on cyanuric acid as a source of nitrogen. The amount of growth produced was consistent with the liberation of 3 mol of ammonia from cyanuric acid. In vitro, TrzF was shown to hydrolyze biuret to liberate 3 mol of ammonia. The biuret hydrolyzing activity of TrzF might also be physiologically relevant in native strains. E. cloacae strain 99 grows on cyanuric acid with a significant accumulation of biuret.

New catalytic structures from an existing ribozyme

Although protein enzymes with new catalytic activities can arise from existing scaffolds, less is known about the origin of ribozymes with new activities. Furthermore, mechanisms by which new macromolecular folds arise are not well characterized for either protein or RNA. Here we investigate how readily ribozymes with new catalytic activities and folds can arise from an existing ribozyme scaffold. Using in vitro selection, we isolated 23 distinct kinase ribozymes from a pool of sequence variants of an aminoacylase parent ribozyme. Analysis of these new kinases showed that ribozymes with new folds and biochemical activities can be found within a short mutational distance of a given ribozyme. However, the probability of finding such ribozymes increases considerably as the mutational distance from the parental ribozyme increases, indicating a need to escape the fold of the parent.

Leveraging enzyme structure-function relationships for functional inference and experimental design: the structure-function linkage database

The study of mechanistically diverse enzyme superfamilies-collections of enzymes that perform different overall reactions but share both a common fold and a distinct mechanistic step performed by key conserved residues-helps elucidate the structure-function relationships of enzymes. We have developed a resource, the structure-function linkage database (SFLD), to analyze these structure-function relationships. Unique to the SFLD is its hierarchical classification scheme based on linking the specific partial reactions (or other chemical capabilities) that are conserved at the superfamily, subgroup, and family levels with the conserved structural elements that mediate them. We present the results of analyses using the SFLD in correcting misannotations, guiding protein engineering experiments, and elucidating the function of recently solved enzyme structures from the structural genomics initiative. The SFLD is freely accessible at http://sfld.rbvi.ucsf.edu.

A gold standard set of mechanistically diverse enzyme superfamilies

A gold standard set of enzyme superfamilies, clustered according to sequence, structure and functional criteria, is presented.

Superfamily and family analyses provide an effective tool for the functional classification of proteins, but must be automated for use on large datasets. We describe a 'gold standard' set of enzyme superfamilies, clustered according to specific sequence, structure, and functional criteria, for use in the validation of family and superfamily clustering methods. The gold standard set represents four fold classes and differing clustering difficulties, and includes five superfamilies, 91 families, 4,887 sequences and 282 structures.

Enzymes: An integrated view of structure, dynamics and function

Microbes utilize enzymes to perform a variety of functions. Enzymes are biocatalysts working as highly efficient machines at the molecular level. In the past, enzymes have been viewed as static entities and their function has been explained on the basis of direct structural interactions between the enzyme and the substrate. A variety of experimental and computational techniques, however, continue to reveal that proteins are dynamically active machines, with various parts exhibiting internal motions at a wide range of time-scales. Increasing evidence also indicates that these internal protein motions play a role in promoting protein function such as enzyme catalysis. Moreover, the thermodynamical fluctuations of the solvent, surrounding the protein, have an impact on internal protein motions and, therefore, on enzyme function. In this review, we describe recent biochemical and theoretical investigations of internal protein dynamics linked to enzyme catalysis. In the enzyme cyclophilin A, investigations have lead to the discovery of a network of protein vibrations promoting catalysis. Cyclophilin A catalyzes peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerization in a variety of peptide and protein substrates. Recent studies of cyclophilin A are discussed in detail and other enzymes (dihydrofolate reductase and liver alcohol dehydrogenase) where similar discoveries have been reported are also briefly discussed. The detailed characterization of the discovered networks indicates that protein dynamics plays a role in rate-enhancement achieved by enzymes. An integrated view of enzyme structure, dynamics and function have wide implications in understanding allosteric and co-operative effects, as well as protein engineering of more efficient enzymes and novel drug design.

The semi-phosphorylative Entner-Doudoroff pathway in hyperthermophilic archaea: a re-evaluation

Biochemical studies have suggested that, in hyperthermophilic archaea, the metabolic conversion of glucose via the ED (Entner-Doudoroff) pathway generally proceeds via a non-phosphorylative variant. A key enzyme of the non-phosphorylating ED pathway of Sulfolobus solfataricus, KDG (2-keto-3-deoxygluconate) aldolase, has been cloned and characterized previously. In the present study, a comparative genomics analysis is described that reveals conserved ED gene clusters in both Thermoproteus tenax and S. solfataricus. The corresponding ED proteins from both archaea have been expressed in Escherichia coli and their specificity has been identified, revealing: (i) a novel type of gluconate dehydratase (gad gene), (ii) a bifunctional 2-keto-3-deoxy-(6-phospho)-gluconate aldolase (kdgA gene), (iii) a 2-keto-3-deoxygluconate kinase (kdgK gene) and, in S. solfataricus, (iv) a GAPN (non-phosphorylating glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; gapN gene). Extensive in vivo and in vitro enzymatic analyses indicate the operation of both the semi-phosphorylative and the non-phosphorylative ED pathway in T. tenax and S. solfataricus. The existence of this branched ED pathway is yet another example of the versatility and flexibility of the central carbohydrate metabolic pathways in the archaeal domain.

Crystallization, preliminary X-ray diffraction and structure solution of MosA, a dihydrodipicolinate synthase from Sinorhizobium meliloti L5-30

The structure of MosA, a dihydrodipicolinate synthase and reported methyltransferase from Sinorhizobium meliloti, has been solved using molecular replacement with Escherichia coli dihydrodipicolinate synthase as the model. A crystal grown in the presence of pyruvate diffracted X-rays to 2.3 A resolution using synchrotron radiation and belonged to the orthorhombic space group C222(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 69.14, b = 138.87, c = 124.13 A.