Nucleotide sequence and characterization of a cDNA encoding the acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase from Arabidopsis thaliana

Enzymology, structure, and dynamics of acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase

Acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase is a key enzyme involved in the biosynthetic pathway of the amino acids isoleucine, valine, and leucine. This enzyme is of great interest in agrochemical research because it is present only in plants and microorganisms, making it a potential target for specific herbicides and fungicides. Moreover, it catalyzes an unusual two-step reaction that is of great fundamental interest. With a view to characterizing both the mechanism of inhibition by potential herbicides and the complex reaction mechanism, various techniques of enzymology, molecular biology, mass spectrometry, X-ray crystallography, and theoretical simulation have been used. The results and conclusions of these studies are described briefly in this paper.

The biosynthesis and metabolism of the aspartate derived amino acids in higher plants

The essential amino acids lysine, threonine, methionine and isoleucine are synthesised in higher plants via a common pathway starting with aspartate. The regulation of the pathway is discussed in detail, and the properties of the key enzymes described. Recent data obtained from studies of regulation at the gene level and information derived from mutant and transgenic plants are also discussed. The herbicide target enzyme acetohydroxyacid synthase involved in the synthesis of the branched chain amino acids is reviewed.

Interactions of plant acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase with reaction intermediate analogues: correlation of the slow, competitive, inhibition kinetics of enzyme activity and herbicidal effects

N-Hydroxy-N-isopropyloxamate (IpOHA) is known to inhibit extremely tightly (Ki of 22 pM) the bacterial acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase (EC 1.1.1.86) [Aulabaugh and Schloss (1990) Biochemistry 29, 2824-2830], the second enzyme of the branched-chain-amino-acid-biosynthetic pathway. Yet, although the same pathway exists in plant cells, this compound presents only very poor herbicidal action. Towards the goal of gaining a better understanding of this behaviour, we have studied the mechanism of interaction of this compound with a highly purified acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase of plant origin, i.e. the spinach (Spinacia oleracea) chloroplast enzyme. IpOHA behaved as a nearly irreversible inhibitor of the enzyme. Encounter complex formation was very slow (association rate constant 1.9 x 10(3) M-1.s-1) and involved a single bimolecular step. Since inhibition was competitive with respect to acetohydroxy acid substrates, the time needed to achieve substantial (90%) inhibition in vitro of enzyme activity in the simultaneous presence of substrates and inhibitors was extremely long (for example of the order of hours at 1 microM IpOHA and 100 microM acetohydroxy acid substrates). Thus, under in vivo conditions, binding of the inhibitor may be so slow that it may delay considerably the time required for inhibition of the target enzyme. Simialr kinetic behaviour was observed with another reaction intermediate analogue described by Schulz, Spönemann, Köcher and Wengenmayer [(1988) FEBS Lett. 238, 375-378], 2-dimethyl-phosphinoyl-2-hydroxyacetic acid (Hoe 704), which displays a higher herbicide activity than IpOHA. The herbicidal potency of these two compounds appeared to be correlated with their rates of association with the plant acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase, since the bimolecular rate constant for Hoe 704 (2.2 x 10(4) M-1.s-1) was higher than that for IpOHA.

Branched-chain-amino-acid biosynthesis in plants: molecular cloning and characterization of the gene encoding acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase (ketol-acid reductoisomerase) from Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress)

Towards the goal of gaining a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling branched-chain-amino-acid biosynthesis in plants, we have isolated, sequenced and characterized a gene encoding acetohydroxy acid isomero-reductase (ketol-acid reductoisomerase) from Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress). Comparison between the acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase cDNA and the genomic sequence has allowed us to determine the exon structure of the coding region. The isolated acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase gene is distributed over approx. 4.5 kbp and contains nine introns (79-347 bp). The transcriptional start site was found to be 52 bp upstream of the translational initiation site. Southern-blot analysis of A. thaliana genomic DNA shows that the acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase is encoded by a single-copy gene.