Higher-plant chloroplast and cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphophosphatase 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.Abbreviations FBP fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase - SBP sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase - FBA fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase     

Regulation of sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase by sedoheptulose-7-phosphate and glycerate,and of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase by glycerate in spinach chloroplasts

Using partially purified sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase from spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) chloroplasts the effects of metabolites on the dithiothreitoland Mg²⁺-activated enzyme were investigated. A screening of most of the intermediates of the Calvin cycle and the photorespiratory pathway showed that physiological concentrations of sedoheptulose-7-phosphate and glycerate specifically inhibited the enzyme by decreasing its maximal velocity. An inhibition by ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate was also found. The inhibitory effect of sedoheptulose-7-phosphate on the enzyme is discussed in terms of allowing a control of sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate hydrolysis by the demand of the product of this reaction. Subsequent studies with partially purified fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase from spinach chloroplasts showed that glycerate also inhibited this enzyme. With isolated chloroplasts, glycerate was found to inhibit CO₂ fixation by blocking the stromal fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase. It is therefore possible that the inhibition of the two phosphatases by glycerate is an important regulatory factor for adjusting the activity of the Calvin cycle to the ATP supply by the light reaction.Abbreviations DTT dithiothreitol - FBPase fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase - Fru-1,6-P₂ fructose-1,6-bisphosphate - Fru-6-P fructose-6-phosphate - 3-PGA 3-phosphoglycerate - Ru-1,5-P₂ ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate - Ru-5-P ribulose-5-phosphate - SBPase sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase - Sed-1,7-P₂ sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate - Sed-7-P sedoheptulose-7-phosphate This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemein-schaft.     

Chloroplast class I and class II aldolases are bifunctional for fructose-1,6-biphosphate and sedoheptulose-1,7-biphosphate cleavage in the Calvin cycle

Class I and class II aldolases are products of two evolutionary non-related gene families. The cytosol and chloroplast enzymes of higher plants are of the class I type, the latter being bifunctional for fructose-1,6- and sedoheptulose-1,7-P2 in the Calvin cycle. Recently, class II aldolases were detected for the cytosol and chloroplasts of the lower alga Cyanophora paradoxa. The respective chloroplast enzyme has been shown here to be also bifunctional for fructose-1,6- and sedoheptulose-1,7-P2. Kinetics, also including fructose-1-P, were determined for all these enzymes. Apparently, aldolases are multifunctional enzymes, irrespective of their class I or class II type.     

Differential effects of chilling-induced photooxidation on the redox regulation of photosynthetic enzymes

Photosynthesis in plant species that are evolutionarily adapted for growth in warm climates is highly sensitive to illumination under cool conditions. Although it is well documented that illumination of these sensitive species under cool conditions results in the photosynthetic production of reactive oxygen molecules, the underlying mechanism for the inhibition of photosynthesis remains uncertain. Determinations of chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase activity showed that the light-dependent, reductive activation of these key carbon reduction cycle enzymes was substantially inhibited in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) following illumination at 4 degrees C. However, other chloroplast enzymes also dependent on thioredoxin-mediated reductive activation were largely unaffected. We performed equilibrium redox titrations to investigate the thermodynamics of the thiol/disulfide exchange between thioredoxin f and the regulatory sulfhydryl groups of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase, phosphoribulokinase, NADP-glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase, and the chloroplast ATPsynthase. We determined that the redox midpoint potentials for the regulatory sulfhydryl groups of the various enzymes spanned a broad range ( approximately 50 mV at pH 7. 9). The electron-sharing equilibria among thioredoxin f and its target enzymes largely explained the differential effects of photooxidation induced at low temperature on thioredoxin-mediated activation of chloroplast enzymes in tomato. These results not only provide a plausible mechanism for the low-temperature-induced inhibition of photosynthesis in this important group of plants, but also provide a quantitative basis to evaluate the influence of thioredoxin/target enzyme electron-sharing equilibria on the differential activation and deactivation kinetics of thioredoxin-regulated chloroplast enzymes.     

Fructose-1,6-biphosphatase of the small intestine. Purification and comparison with liver and muscle fructose-1,6-bisphosphatases.

The occurrence of specific fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase [D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphate 1-phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.11] (Fru-1,6-P2ase) in the small intestine was confirmed. 1. Fru-1,6-P2ase was isolated from mouse small intestine by a simple method. The isolated enzyme preparation was an electrophoretically homogeneous protein. 2. The molecular weight and subunit molecular weight were 140,000 and 38,000, respectively. 3. The intestinal enzyme was electrophoretically distinct from the liver enzyme. 4. The kinetic properties of the purified intestinal enzyme were compared with those of the mouse liver and muscle enzymes. 5. Mouse intestinal and muscle Fru-1,6-P2ases hydrolyzed ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate in addition to fructose-1,6-bisphosphate and sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate.     

Regulation of photosynthetic carbon metabolism. The effect of inorganic phosphate on stromal sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase

The activation and steady-state kinetics of wheat chloroplast sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase at several concentrations of inorganic phosphate are examined. Inorganic phosphate competitively inhibits substrate binding to both the active and inactive forms of the enzyme and reduces the rate of enzyme activation. Modulation of the apparent Km of sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase for their substrates by inorganic phosphate is discussed in terms of the control of intermediate pool sizes in the reductive pentose phosphate pathway and of the flux of fixed carbon towards starch synthesis or export from the chloroplast.     

Metabolite levels in the stroma of spinach chloroplasts exposed to osmotic stress: Effects of the pH of the medium and exogenous dihydroxyacetone phosphate

The levels of stromal photosynthetic intermediates were measured in isolated intact spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) chloroplasts exposed to reduced osmotic potentials. Stressed chloroplasts showed slower rates of metabolite accumulation upon illumination than controls. Relative to other metabolites sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate (SBP) and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (FBP) accumulated in the stroma in the stressed treatments. Under these conditions 3-phosphoglycerate (3-PGA) efflux to the medium was restricted. Chloroplasts previously incubated with [³²P]KH₂PO₄ and [³²P]dihydroxyacetone phosphate ([³²P]DAP) in the dark were characterized by very high FBP and SBP levels prior to illumination. Metabolism of these pools upon illumination increased with increasing pH of the medium but was consistently inhibited in osmotically stressed chloroplasts. The responses of stromal FBP and SBP pools under hypertonic conditions are discussed in terms of both inhibited light activation of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (EC 3.1.3.11) and sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase (EC 3.1.3.37), and likely increases in stromal ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (EC 4.1.1.39) active-site concentrations.Abbreviations and symbols DAP dihydroxyacetone phosphate - FBP fructose-1,6-bisphosphate - PGA 3-phosphoglycerate - RuBP ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate - SBP sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate - _s osmotic potential     

Role of ferredoxin in the activation of sedoheptulose diphosphatase in isolated chloroplasts

Sedoheptulose 1,7-diphosphatase activity of isolated spinach chloroplasts shows a requirement for (i) reduced ferredoxin and (ii) a protein factor. Activation by ferredoxin, reduced photochemically by chloroplast fragments, was optimal at pH 7.8 and at a Mg²⁺ concentration of 5 mM. The protein factor needed for activation appears to be the same as that required by the chloroplast fructose-1,6-diphosphatase that is activated by reduced ferredoxin. The results indicate that sedoheptulose-1,7-diphosphatase, like fructose-1,6-diphosphatase, is a regulatory enzyme whose activity in chloroplasts is controlled via ferredoxin by light.     

Inactivation of the photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle in isolated mesophyll protoplasts subjected to freezing stress

Isolated mesophyll protoplasts from Valerianella locusta L. were subjected to freeze-thaw cycles. Subsequently, steady-state pool sizes of ¹⁴C-labeled intermediates of the photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Protoplasts in which CO₂ fixation was inhibited by preceding freezing stress, showed a strong increase in the proportion of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate, sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate and triose phosphates. These results indicate an inhibition of the activities of stromal fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase. Furthermore, freezing stress caused a slight increase in the proportion of labeled ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate, which may be based on an inhibition or ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase activity. It was shown earlier (Rumich-Bayer and Krause 1986) that freezing-thawing readily affects photosynthetic CO₂ assimilation independently of thylakoid inactivation. The present results are interpreted in terms of an inhibition of the light-activation system of the photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle, caused by freezing stress.Abbreviations FBP Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate - HMP Hexose Monophosphates - PGA 3-phosphoglycerate - PMP Pentose Monophosphates - RBP Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate - SBP Sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate - TP Triose Phosphates     

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) chloroplast sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase. Activation and deactivation, and immunological relationship to fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase.

In this paper we study activation by dithiothreitol and reduced thioredoxins and deactivation by oxidized thioredoxins f of sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase. The behaviour of the enzyme when chromatographed on a thioredoxin-Sepharose column is also described. The enzyme is autoxidizable upon removal of reducing agents, and is activated when reduced by any of the thioredoxins. This mechanism may allow the regulation of the Calvin cycle upon light-dark and dark-light transitions. The formation of a stable complex between enzyme and thioredoxin could explain the inhibitory effect of high thioredoxin concentrations. The use of immunological techniques shows that sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase are poorly related immunologically.     

Chromosomal location and copy number in wheat and some of its close relatives of genes for enzymes involved in photosynthesis

Summary Homologous probes for the wheat coding sequences of the enzymes phosphoribulokinase, phosphoglycerate kinase (both chloroplast and cytosolic forms), chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase were used to determine the copy number and chromosomal location of the genes encoding these enzymes by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Heterologous probes were similarly used to characterize the genes for the enzymes glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (both chloroplast and cytosolic forms), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and pyruvate, orthophosphate dikinase. Several of the genes are present in single copies per haploid genome, and the different enzymes are encoded by loci dispersed on different chromosomes. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to gene expression and control of copy number.     

Isolation and nucleotide sequence of the Thiobacillus ferrooxidans genes for the small and large subunits of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase

The genes encoding for the large (rbcL) and small (rbcS) subunits of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBisCO) were cloned from the obligate autotroph Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, a bacterium involved in the bioleaching of minerals. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the cloned DNA showed that the two coding regions are separated by a 30-bp intergenic region, the smallest described for the RuBisCO genes. The rbcL and rbcS genes encode polypeptides of 473 and 118 amino acids, respectively. Comparison of the nucleotide and amino acid sequences with those of the genes for rbcL and rbcS found in other species demonstrated that the T. ferrooxidans genes have the closest degree of identity with those of Chromatium vinosum and of Alvinoconcha hessleri endosymbiont. Both T. ferrooxidans enzyme subunits contain all the conserved amino acids that are known to participate in the catalytic process or in holoenzyme assembly.     

Sequence analysis of the chromosomal and plasmid genes encoding phosphoribulokinase from Alcaligenes eutrophus

Two DNA fragments encoding the chromosomal and plasmid copies of the gene (cfxP) encoding phosphoribulokinase (PRK) from the chemoautotrophic bacterium Alcaligenes eutrophus, were sequenced and found to be highly homologous. The gene (cfxF) of another Calvin cycle enzyme, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase), was identified as terminating immediately upstream of cfxP, but was not completely contained on both fragments. A hypothetical, also incompletely contained, open reading frame starts closely downstream from cfxP. Genes cfxF, cfxP, and the third hypothetical gene seem to belong to the same operon. The cfxP genes encode highly homologous PRK isoenzyme subunits consisting of 292 aa residues with calculated Mrs of 33 319 (chromosomal PRKc) and 33 164 (plasmid-encoded PRKp). There is little overall sequence similarity between the bacterial and plant (spinach) PRK, apart from some structural motifs.     

Molecular characterization of transketolase (EC 2.2.1.1) active in the Calvin cycle of spinach chloroplasts

A cDNA encoding the Calvin cycle enzyme transketolase (TKL; EC 2.2.1.1) was isolated from Sorghum bicolor via subtractive differential hybridization, and used to isolate several full-length cDNA clones for this enzyme from spinach. Functional identity of the encoded mature subunit was shown by an 8.6-fold increase of TKL activity upon induction of Escherichia coli cells that overexpress the spinach TKL subunit under the control of the bacteriophage T₇ promoter. Chloroplast localization of the cloned enzyme is shown by processing of the in vitro synthesized precursor upon uptake by isolated chloroplasts. Southern blot-analysis suggests that TKL is encoded by a single gene in the spinach genome. TKL proteins of both higher-plant chloroplasts and the cytosol of non-photosynthetic eukaryotes are found to be unexpectedly similar to eubacterial homologues, suggesting a possible eubacterial origin of these nuclear genes. Chloroplast TKL is the last of the demonstrably chloroplast-localized Calvin cycle enzymes to have been cloned and thus completes the isolation of gene probes for all enzymes of the pathway in higher plants.Abbreviations RPE ribulose-5-phosphate 3-epimerase - RPI ribose-5-phosphate isomerase - TKL transketolase - GAPDH glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase - PGK phosphoglycerate kinase - FBP fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase - SBP sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase - OPPP oxidative pentose phosphate pathway - Rubisco, ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase - FBA fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase - IPTG isopropyl -d-thiogalactoside - TPI triosephosphate isomerase     

Increase in the activity of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase in cytosol affects sugar partitioning and increases the lateral shoots in tobacco plants at elevated CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> levels

We generated transgenic tobacco plants with high levels of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase expressing cyanobacterialfructose-1,6-/sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase in the cytosol. At ambient CO₂ levels (360 ppm), growth, photosynthetic activity, and fresh weight were unchanged but the sucrose/hexose/starch ratio was slightly altered in the transgenic plants compared with wild-type plants. At elevated CO₂ levels (1200 ppm), lateral shoot, leaf number, and fresh weight were significantly increased in the transgenic plants. Photosynthetic activity was also increased. Hexose accumulated in the upper leaves in the wild-type plants, while sucrose and starch accumulated in the lower leaves and lateral shoots in the transgenic plants. These findings suggest that cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase contributes to the efficient conversion of hexose into sucrose, and that the change in carbon partitioning affects photosynthetic capacity and morphogenesis at elevated CO₂ levels.     

Overexpression of a cyanobacterial fructose-1,6-/sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase in tobacco enhances photosynthesis and growth

Transgenic tobacco plants expressing a cyanobacterial fructose-1,6/sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase targeted to chloroplasts show enhanced photosynthetic efficiency and growth characteristics under atmospheric conditions (360 p.p.m. CO2). Compared with wild-type tobacco, final dry matter and photosynthetic CO2 fixation of the transgenic plants were 1.5-fold and 1.24-fold higher, respectively. Transgenic tobacco also showed a 1.2-fold increase in initial activity of ribulose 1,5 bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) compared with wild-type plants. Levels of intermediates in the Calvin cycle and the accumulation of carbohydrates were also higher than those in wild-type plants. This is the first report in which expression of a single plastid-targeted enzyme has been shown to improve carbon fixation and growth in transgenic plants.