Purification and regulatory properties of fructose 1,6-diphosphatase from Hydrogenomonas eutropha

Activity of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase from Campylobacter jejuni

The glycolytic pathway of the enteric pathogen Campylobacter jejuni is incomplete; the absence of phosphofructokinase means that the suppression of futile cycling at this point in the glycolytic-gluconeogenic pathway might not be required, and therefore the mechanism for controlling pathway flux is likely to be quite different or absent. In this study, the characteristics of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) of C. jejuni are described and the regulation of this enzyme is compared with the equivalent enzymes from organisms capable of glycolysis. The enzyme is insensitive to AMP inhibition, unlike other type I FBPases. Campylobacter jejuni FBPase also shows limited sensitivity to other glycolytic and gluconeogenic intermediates. The allosteric cooperative control of the enzyme's activity found in type I FBPases appears to have been lost.

Acquisition of a new type of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase with resistance to hydrogen peroxide in cyanobacteria: molecular characterization of the enzyme from Synechocystis PCC 6803

We have previously described that Synechococcus PCC 7942 cells contain two fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase isozymes, designated F-I and F-II the former belongs to a new type of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, while the latter is a typical enzyme similar to the cytosolic and chloroplastic forms from eukaryotic cells [Tamoi et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 334, 1996, 27-36]. The genes of F-I and F-II were found in three species of cyanobacteria, Synechocystis PCC 6803, Anabaena 7120, and Plectonema boryanum according to the results of Southern hybridization with a probe from the S. 7942 F-I and F-II genes. In Western blotting, antibody raised against the S. 7942 F-I cross-reacted with a protein band corresponding to the F-I in each crude extract from cyanobacterial cells, whereas the antibody against F-II failed to cross-react with any protein band corresponding to the F-II. In cyanobacterial cells, only one form of F-I has been resolved by ion-exchange chromatography at same concentration of NaCl as shown in the F-I of S. 7942. The F-I from Synechocystis 6803 has been purified to electrophoretic homogeneity. The enzyme hydrolyzed both fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate. The apparent K(m) values of the enzyme for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate were 57 +/- 2.4 and 180 +/- 6.3 microM, respectively. The enzyme activity was inhibited by AMP with a Ki value of 0.57 +/- 0.03 mM for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and 0.35 +/- 0.02 mM for sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate. The enzyme showed a molecular mass of 168 kDa which was composed of four identical subunits. The activities of FBPase and SBPase from the F-I were resistant to hydrogen peroxide up to 1 mM. The nucleotide sequence of the S. 6803 F-I gene showed an open reading frame of 1164 bp that encoded a protein of 388 amino acid residues (approx. molecular mass of 41.6 kDa). The deduced amino acid sequences had homologous sequences with the S. 7942 F-I.

Higher-plant chloroplast and cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase isoenzymes: origins via duplication rather than prokaryote-eukaryote divergence

Full-size cDNAs encoding the precursors of chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBP), sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase (SBP), and the small subunit of Rubisco (RbcS) from spinach were cloned. These cDNAs complete the set of homologous probes for all nuclear-encoded enzymes of the Calvin cycle from spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.). FBP enzymes not only of higher plants but also of non-photosynthetic eukaryotes are found to be unexpectedly similar to eubacterial homologues, suggesting a eubacterial origin of these eukaryotic nuclear genes. Chloroplast and cytosolic FBP isoenzymes of higher plants arose through a gene duplication event which occurred early in eukaryotic evolution. Both FBP and SBP of higher plant chloroplasts have acquired substrate specificity, i.e. have undergone functional specialization since their divergence from bifunctional FBP/SBP enzymes of free-living eubacteria.

Fructosebisphosphatase isoenzymes of the chemoautotroph Xanthobacter flavus

Xanthobacter flavus employs two fructosebisphosphatase (FBPase)-sedoheptulosebisphosphatase (SBPase) enzymes. One of these is constitutively expressed and has a high FBPase-to-SBPase ratio. The alternative enzyme, which is encoded by cbbF, is induced during autotrophic growth. The cbbF gene was expressed in Escherichia coli, and the FBPase was purified to homogeneity. The purified enzyme has a specific FBPase activity of 114 mumol/min/mg of protein, a Michaelis constant for fructosebisphosphate of 3 microM, and a low FBPase-to-SBPase ratio. CbbF was activated by ATP and inhibited by Ca2+.

Analysis of the cbbF genes from Alcaligenes eutrophus that encode fructose-1,6-/sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase

The cbbF genes of the facultative chemoautotroph Alcaligenes eutrophus H16 are part of two highly homologous cbb operons. Both the chromosomal and the megaplasmid pHG1-borne copy of cbbF were cloned and sequenced. Subsequent analyses including comparison with known sequences from other organisms and heterologous expression in Escherichia coli revealed that each of the genes encodes fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase). A closely related activity likewise operating in the Calvin carbon reduction cycle, sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase, was also catalyzed by the two isoenzymes which were purified from autotrophically grown cells of A. eutrophus. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis allowed the separation of the cbbF gene products. Preliminary physical evidence by Southern hybridization with a heterologous gene probe was obtained for the existence of a third FBPase gene, fbp, on the chromosome of the organism. Its product is probably involved in the heterotrophic carbon metabolism.

Expression of the Escherichia coli pfkA gene in Alcaligenes eutrophus and in other gram-negative bacteria

The Escherichia coli pfkA gene has been cloned in the non-self-transmissible vector pVK101 from hybrid plasmids obtained from the Clarke and Carbon clone bank, resulting in the plasmids pAS300 and pAS100; the latter plasmid also encoded the E. coli tpi gene. These plasmids were transferred by conjugation to mutants of Alcaligenes eutrophus which are unable to grow on fructose and gluconate due to lack of 2-keto-3-deoxy-6-phosphogluconate aldolase activity. These transconjugants recovered the ability to grow on fructose and harbored pAS100 or pAS300. After growth on fructose, the transconjugants contained phosphofructokinase at specific activities between 0.73 and 1.83 U/mg of protein, indicating that the E. coli pfkA gene is readily expressed in A. eutrophus and that the utilization of fructose occurs via the Embden-Meyerhof pathway instead of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway. In contrast, transconjugants of the wild type of A. eutrophus, which are potentially able to catabolize fructose via both pathways, grew at a decreased rate on fructose and during growth on fructose did not stably maintain pAS100 or pAS300. Indications for a glycolytic futile cycling of fructose 6-phosphate and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate are discussed. Plasmid pA 100 was also transferred to 14 different species of gram-negative bacteria. The pfkA gene was expressed in most of these species. In addition, most transconjugants of these strains and of A. eutrophus exhibited higher specific activities of triosephosphate isomerase than did the corresponding parent strains.

Fructose 1,6-Bisphosphatase Form B from Synechococcus leopoliensis Hydrolyzes both Fructose and Sedoheptulose Bisphosphate

The substrate specificity of purified fructose bisphosphatase form B from Synechococcus leopoliensis (EC 3.1.3.11; cf. K-P Gerbling, M Steup, E Latzko 1985 Eur J Biochem 147: 207-215) has been investigated. Of the phosphate esters tested only fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate were hydrolyzed by the enzyme. Both sugar bisphosphates were cleaved at the carbon 1-ester. Fructose- and sedoheptulose bisphosphate stabilized the activated (i.e. tetrameric) state of the enzyme and prevented a slow inactivation that is observed in the absence of sugar bisphosphates. With the activated enzyme, kinetic constants (half-saturating substrate concentrations, maximal reaction velocity, and the catalytical constant) were similar for both fructose- and sedoheptulose bisphosphate. The data suggest that fructose bisphosphatase form B from Synechococcus leopoliensis can catalyze both bisphosphatase reactions within the reductive pentose phosphate cycle.

Effect of phosphoglycerate mutase deficiency on heterotrophic and autotrophic carbon metabolism of Alcaligenes eutrophus

Mutants of Alcaligenes eutrophus were isolated on the basis of their inability to grow on succinate as the sole source of carbon and energy. The mutants also failed to grow on other gluconeogenic substrates, including pyruvate, acetate, and citrate. Simultaneously, they had lost their capability for autotrophic growth. The mutants grew, but slower than the wild type, on fructose or gluconate. Growth retardation on gluconate was more pronounced. The mutants lacked phosphoglycerate mutase activity, and spontaneous revertants of normal growth phenotype had regained the activity. The physiological characteristics of the mutants indicate the role of phosphoglycerate mutase in heterotrophic and autotrophic carbon metabolism of A. eutrophus. Although the enzyme is necessary for gluconeogenesis during heterotrophic growth on three- or four-carbon substrates, its glycolytic function is not essential for the catabolism of fructose or gluconate via the Entner-Doudoroff pathway. The enzyme is required during autotrophic growth as a catalyst in the biosynthetic route leading from glycerate 3-phosphate to pyruvate. It is suggested that the mutants accomplish the complete degradation of fructose and gluconate mutase lesion. The catabolically produced triose phosphates are converted to fructose 6-phosphate which is rechanneled into the Entner-Doudoroff pathway. This carbon recycling mechanism operates less effectively in mutant cells growing on gluconate.