Inactivation of ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase from rhodospirillum rubrum and spinach with the new affinity label 2-bromo-1,5-dihydroxy-3-pentanone 1,5-bisphosphate

In an attempt to identify the active-site base believed to initiate catalysis by ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase, we have synthesized 2-bromo-1, 5-dihydroxy-3-pentanone 1,5-bisphosphate, a reactive analogue of a postulated intermediate of carboxylation. Although highly unstable, this compound can be shown to inactivate the carboxylases from both $\text{Rhodospirillum}\text{,}\text{rubrum}$ and spinach rapidly and irreversibly. Inactivation follows pseudo first-order kinetics, shows rate saturation and is greatly reduced by saturating amounts of the competitive inhibitor, 2-carboxyribitol 1,5-bisphosphate. The incorporation of reagent, quantified by reducing the modified carboxylases with ³H]NaBH₄, shows that inactivation results from the modification of approximately one residue per catalytic subunit of the $\text{Rhodospirillum}\text{,}\text{rubrum}$ enzyme and less than one residue per protomeric unit of the spinach enzyme.