Phenylalanine and tyrosine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12: mutants derepressed for 3-deoxy-D-arabinoheptulosonic acid 7-phosphate synthetase (phe), 3-deoxy-D-arabinoheptulosonic acid 7-phosphate synthetase (tyr), chorismate mutase T-prephenate dehydrogenase, and transaminase A

Mutant strains of Escherichia coli have been isolated in which the synthesis of 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase (phe) is derepressed, in addition to those enzymes of tyrosine biosynthesis previously shown to be controlled by the gene tyrR. The major enzyme of the terminal pathway of phenylalanine biosynthesis chorismate mutase-prephenate dehydratase is not derepressed in these strains. Genetic analysis of the mutants shows that the mutation or mutations causing derepression map close to previously reported tyrR mutations. A study of one of the mutations has shown it to be recessive to the wild-type allele in a diploid strain. It is proposed that the tyrR gene product is involved in the regulation of the synthesis of DAHP synthetase (phe) as well as the synthesis of DAHP synthetase (tyr), chorismate mutase-prephenate dehydrogenase, and transaminase A.     

Regulation of tyrosine and phenylalanine biosynthesis in Salmonella.

Several types of 4-fluorophenylalanine resistant mutants were isolated. In one type of mutant DAHP synthetase (tyr) and prephenate dehydrogenase were coordinately derepressed. The mutation was linked to aroF and tyrA and was cis- dominant by merodiploid analysis, thus confirming that it is an operator constitutive mutation (tyrOc). A second type of mutation showed highly elevated levels of tyrosine pathway enzymes which were not repressed by L-tyrosine. It was unlinked to tyrA and aroF, and was trans-recessive in merodiploids. These properties were attributed to a mutation in a regulator gene, tyrR (linked to pyr F), that resulted in altered or non-functional aporepressor. Hence tyrO, tyrA, and aroF constitute an operon regulated by tyrR. In a third type of mutation chorismate mutase P-prephenate dehydratase was highly elevated. It was not linked to pheA, was located in the 95--100 min region of the Salmonella chromosome, and was recessive to the wild type gene in merodiploids. A mutation was, therefore, indicated in a regulatory gene, pheR, which specified an aporepressor for regulating pheA. DAHP synthetase (phe), specified by aroG, was not regulated by pheR, but was derepressed in one of the tyrR mutants, suggesting that as in Escherichia coli tyrR may regulate DAHP synthetase(phe) and DAHP synthetase (tyr) with the same aporepressor. A novel mutation in chorismate mutase is described.     

Regulation of enzyme synthesis in the aromatic amino acid pathway of Bacillus subtilus

The control of the synthesis of certain key enzymes of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis was studied. Tyrosine represses the first enzyme of the 3-deoxy-d-arabino heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate pathway, DAHP synthetase, as well as shikimate kinase and chorismate mutase about fivefold in cultures grown under conditions limiting the synthesis of the aromatic amino acids. A mixture of tyrosine and phenylalanine represses twofold further. Tryptophan does not appear to be involved in the control of these enzymes. The specific activity of at least one early enzyme, dehydroquinase, remains essentially constant under a variety of nutritional supplementations. Two enzymes in the terminal branches are repressed by the amino acids they help to synthesize: prephenate dehydrogenase can be repressed fourfold by tyrosine, and anthranilate synthetase can be repressed over 200-fold by tryptophan. There is no evidence that phenylalanine represses prephenate dehydratase. Regulatory mutants have been isolated in which various enzymes of the pathway are no longer repressible. One class is derepressed for several of the prechorismate enzymes, as well as chorismate mutase and prephenate dehydrogenase. In another mutant, several enzymes of tryptophan biosynthesis are no longer repressible. Thus, the rate of synthesis of enzymes at every stage of the pathway is under control of various aromatic amino acids. Tyrosine and phenylalanine control the synthesis of enzymes involved in the synthesis of the three aromatic amino acids. Each terminal branch is under the control of its end product.     

Tyrosine and phenylalanine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12: complementation between different tyrR alleles

Dominance tests in diploids have confirmed that the product of the tyrR gene is involved in a negative control system affecting the synthesis of both 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase (tyr) and DAHP synthetase (phe). Some tyrR mutants are derepressed for the synthesis of both DAHP synthetase (tyr) and (phe), whereas others are derepressed for the synthesis of DAHP synthetase (tyr) but overrepressed for the synthesis of DAHP synthetase (phe). Complementation tests between these alleles confirm that they are in the same cistron. The allele causing overrepression of enzyme synthesis is dominant over both the wild type and the derepressing allele in diploids.     

Regulation of 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonic 7-phosphate acid synthetase activity in relation to the synthesis of the aromatic vitamins in Escherichia coli K-12

Both in vivo and in vitro experiments on wild-type Escherichia coli K-12 and mutant strains possessing only single 3-deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonic 7-phosphate acid (DAHP) synthetase isoenzymes indicated that, under conditions when all three isoenzymes are fully repressed, sufficient chorismate is still formed for the synthesis of aromatic vitamins. Under repressed conditions both DAHP synthetase (phe) and (trp), but not DAHP synthetase (tyr), were shown to contribute to vitamin production.     

Regulation of tyrosine and phenylalanine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12: properties of the tyrR gene product

A spontaneous amber tyrR mutant has been isolated in which constitutive synthesis of 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase (tyr) and DAHP synthetase (phe) is suppressible by supC(-), supD(-), supF(-) and supU(-). This finding suggests the tyrR gene product is a protein. Derepression of DAHP synthetase (phe) in this and in seven other spontaneous tyrR mutants and in four Mu-1-induced tyrR mutants provides further evidence for the involvement of the tyrR gene product in phenylalanine biosynthesis. Evidence that the tyrR product is a component of repressor, rather than an enzyme involved in its synthesis or modification, comes from a study of a temperature-sensitive tyrR mutant. This mutant is of the thermolabile type, since derepression occurs rapidly and in the presence and absence of growth.     

大肠杆菌aroG基因的克隆表达及与pheA、tyrB基因的串联表达

３－脱氧－２－阿拉伯庚酮糖－７－磷酸合成酶（ＤＡＨＰ）是苯丙氨酸合成途径中关键酶之一,在大肠杆菌中由ａｒｏＧ基因编码。本文用ＮＴＧ诱变得到对苯丙氨酸类似物间氟苯丙氨酸（ｍＦＰ）和对氟苯丙氨酸（ｐＦＰ）有抗性的大肠杆菌突变株,采用聚合酶链反应（ＰＣＲ）扩增得到了ａｒｏＧ基因,在大肠杆菌中进行了表达。结果表明,该基因能在λ噬菌体的ｐＲ启动子驱动下得到表达,在ＳＤＳ－聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳图上出现清晰的条带,酶的比活提高了１．７倍。在ｐｈｅＡ（编码分枝酸变位酶ＣＭ和预苯酸脱水酶ＰＤ）、ｔｙｒＢ（编码苯丙氨酸转氨酶ＰＡＴ）基因克隆、串联克隆和表达完成的基础上,将ａｒｏＧ基因和ｐｈｅＡ、ｔｙｒＢ基因以ａｒｏＧ－ｐｈｅＡ－ｔｙｒＢ的顺序三基因串联到表达载体进行表达,酶活测定结果表明,三个基因都能在λ噬菌体的ｐＲ启动子驱动下表达,与对照菌株相比,酶比活分别提高了１．７倍、１３．９／７．８倍和２．３倍。     

Two components of chorismate mutase in Brevibacterium flavum.

Chorismate mutase of Brevibacterium flavum, a common enzyme in phenylalanine and tyrosine biosynthesis, was separted into two different component, A and B, with molecular weights of 250,000 and 25,000, respectively, by ammonium sulfate fractionation or gel-filtration. Both components were essential for the enzymatic activity. In the presence of the reaction substrate, chorismate, the two components associated reversibly to give an active enzyme complex with a molecular weight of 320,000. Binding sites of the feedback inhibitors, phenylalanine and tyrosine, on the enzyme were localized on component A as determined by hybridization experiments with the wild-type and mutant components. Tyrosine repressed the synthesis of component B much more strongly than that of component A, while phenylalanine did not show any significant repressive effect on either component. The wild-type strain No. 2247 had four times more component A than component B. Elution patterns in gel, DEAE-cellulose or hydroxyapatite column chromatography as well as the disc-gel electrophoretic pattern of chorismate mutase component A and 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase activities completely overlapped, suggesting the presence of a bifunctional protein having the two activities. In accord with this suggestion, chorismate mutase as well as DAHP synthetase was insensitive to feedback inhibition by phenylalanine and tyrosine in all the 3-fluorophenylalanine-resistant mutants tested that excreted both phenylalanine and tyrosine. All the phenylalanine and tyrosine double auxotrophs defective in chorismate mutase lacked component B but not A.     

Regulated enzymes of aromatic amino acid synthesis: control, isozymic nature, and aggregation in Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis

Several regulated enzymes involved in aromatic amino acid synthesis were studied in Bacillus subtilis and B. licheniformis with reference to organization and control mechanisms. B. subtilis has been previously shown (23) to have a single 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase but to have two isozymic forms of both chorismate mutase and shikimate kinase. Extracts of B. licheniformis chromatographed on diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) cellulose indicated a single DAHP synthetase and two isozymic forms of chorismate mutase, but only a single shikimate kinase activity. The evidence for isozymes has been supported by the inability to find strains mutant in these activities, although strains mutant for the other activities were readily obtained. DAHP synthetase, one of the isozymes of chorismate mutase, and one of the isozymes of shikimate kinase were found in a single complex in B. subtilis. No such complex could be detected in B. licheniformis. DAHP synthetase and shikimate kinase from B. subtilis were feedback-inhibited by chorismate and prephenate. DAHP synthetase from B. licheniformis was also feedback-inhibited by these two intermediates, but shikimate kinase was inhibited only by chorismate. When the cells were grown in limiting tyrosine, the DAHP synthetase, chorismate mutase, and shikimate kinase activities of B. subtilis were derepressed in parallel, but only DAHP synthetase and chorismate mutase were derepressible in B. licheniformis. Implications of the differences as well as the similarities between the control and the pattern of enzyme aggregation in the two related species of bacilli were discussed.     

Regulation of tyrosine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12: isolation and characterization of operator mutants

Mutant strains of Escherichia coli have been isolated in which the synthesis of two of the enzymes involved in tyrosine biosynthesis, 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonic acid-7 phosphate synthetase (tyr) and chorismate mutase T-prephenate dehydrogenase, is partially constitutive. The mutations involved are closely linked to aroF and tyrA, the structural genes of these enzymes. The gene in which the mutations occur has been designated aroK, and the gene sequence is aroK, aroF, tyrA. In aroK(+)/aroK diploids, the aroK allele only affects the structural genes in the cis position. The mutant allele aroK is not recessive to aroK(+) and aroK/aroK(+) strains exhibit the aroK phenotype of resistance to 4-aminophenylalanine. It is proposed that aroK is an operator locus for an aroF tyrA operon.     

Altered prephenate dehydratase in phenylalanine-excreting mutants of Brevibacterium flavum.

The regulatory properties of three key enzymes in the phenylalanine biosynthetic pathway, 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthetase (DAHP synthetase) [EC 4.1.2.15], chorismate mutase [EC 5.4.99.5], and prephenate dehydratase [prephenate hydro-lyase (decarboxylating), EC 4.2.1.51] were compared in three phenylalanine-excreting mutants and the wild strain of Brevibacterium flavum. Regulation of DAHP synthetase by phenylalanine and tyrosine in these mutants did not change at all, but the specific activities of the mutant cell extracts increased 1.3- to 2.8-fold, as reported previously (1). Chorismate mutase activities in both the wild and the mutant strains were cumulatively inhibited by phenylalanine and tyrosine and recovered with tryptophan, while the specific activities of the mutants increased 1.3- to 2.8-fold, like those of DAHP synthetase. On the other hand, the specific activities of prephenate dehydratase in the mutant and wild strains were similar, when tyrosine was present. While prephenate dehydratase of the wild strain was inhibited by phenylalanine, tryptophan, and several phenylalanine analogues, the mutant enzymes were not inhibited at all but were activated by these effectors. Tyrosine activated the mutant enzymes much more strongly than the wild-type enzyme: in mutant 221-43, 1 mM tyrosine caused 28-fold activation. Km and the activation constant for tyrosine were slightly altered to a half and 6-fold compared with the wild-type enzyme, respectively, while the activation constants for phenylalanine and tryptophan were 500-fold higher than the respective inhibition constants of the wild-type enzyme. The molecular weight of the mutant enzyme was estimated to be 1.2 x 10(5), a half of that of the wild-type enzyme. The molecular weight of the mutant enzyme was estimated to be 1.2 X 10(5) a half of that of the wild type enzyme, while in the presence of tyrosine, phenylalanine, or tryptophan, it increased to that of the wild-type enzyme. Immediately after the mutant enzyme had been activated by tyrosine and then the tyrosine removed, it still showed about 10-fold higher specific activity than before the activation by tyrosine. However, on standing in ice the activity gradually fell to the initial level before the activation by tyrosine. Ammonium sulfate promoted the decrease of the activity. On the basis of these results, regulatory mechanisms for phenylalanine biosynthesis in vivo as well as mechanisms for the phenylalanine overproduction in the mutants are discussed.     

Regulator gene controlling enzymes concerned in tyrosine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli

Mutants of Escherichia coli K-12 have been isolated in which several enzymes concerned with tyrosine biosynthesis are derepressed. These mutants were obtained from a parent strain possessing only a single 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonic acid-7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase isoenzyme, DAHP synthetase (tyr), by selecting for resistance to the tyrosine analogue, 4-aminophenylalanine. The mutation responsible for this derepression has been mapped and the gene, which is not closely linked to aroF and tyrA, has been designated tyrR.     

Isolation of cyanobacterial auxotrophs by direct selection of regulatory-mutant phenotypes

We have isolated a chorismate mutase bradytroph (leaky auxotroph) ofAnabaena sp. PCC 7119 (ATCC 29151) as a spontaneous 6-fluorotryptophan-resistant mutant. The decreased chorismate mutase activity resulted in the production of quantities of the phenylalanine and tyrosine that limited rate of growth. 3-Deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthase activity in the mutant was elevated more than twofold over the wild-type activity, suggesting derepression of this enzyme. The physiological deregulation of DAHP synthase and the genetic-based deficiency of chorismate mutase promoted an elevated level of intracellular chorismate, which then overwhelmed the competitive inhibition of anthranilate synthase by tryptophan, resulting in the overproduction of tryptophan and indoleglycerolphosphate. The presence of exogenous serine increased the production of tryptophan at the expense of indoleglycerolphosphate. This indicated that the endogenous potential for increasing the amount of serine available for increased tryptophan production is limited.     

大肠杆菌苯丙氨酸生物合成关键酶的串联表达

ａｒｏＧ基因编码的 ３－脱氧－２－阿拉伯庚酮糖－７－磷酸合成酶（ＤＡＨＰ　Ｓｙｎｔｈｅｔａｓｅ　ＤＳ）和 ｐｈｅＡ基因编码的分支酸变位酶／预苯酸脱水酶（Ｃｈｏｒｉｍａｔｅ ｍｕｔａｓｅ／ Ｐｒｅｐｈｅｎａｔｅ　ｄｅｈｙｄｒａｔａｓｅ,ＣＷ／ＰＤ）都是本丙氨酸合成途径中的关键酶,为了通过基因工程手段来增加本丙氨酸生物的产量,在利用高效的原核表达载体ｐＢＶ２２ ０对ｐｈｅＡ基因编码的ＣＭ／ ＰＤ 酶进行了表达的基础上,采用ＰＣＲ方法扩增了抗反馈抑制的ａｒｃＧ基因,进行克隆表达,并与ｐｈｅＡ基因串联,以ＰＲＰＬ－ａｒｏＧ－ＰＬ－ｐｈｅＡ的形式,实现了２种酶基因在大肠杆菌中的表达, ＳＤＳＰＡＧＥ 图谱显示了新增的４３ｋｕ及３５ｋｕ蛋白带,经酶活性测定ＤＳ、ＣＭ／ＰＤ酶的比活分别提高了 ４．６７倍、８０５／１０．７１倍。     

Enzymatic Basis for Overproduction of Tryptophan and Its Metabolites in Hansenula polymorpha Mutants

3-Deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase and anthranilate synthetase are key regulatory enzymes in the aromatic amino acid biosynthetic pathway. The DAHP synthetase activity of Hansenula polymorpha was subject to additive feedback inhibition by phenylalanine and tyrosine but not by tryptophan. The synthesis of DAHP synthetase in this yeast was not repressed by exogenous aromatic amino acids, singly or in combinations. The activity of anthranilate synthetase was sensitive to feedback inhibition by tryptophan, but exogenous tryptophan did not repress the synthesis of this enzyme. Nevertheless, internal repression of anthranilate synthetase probably exists, since the content of this enzyme in H. polymorpha strain 3-136 was double that in the wild-type and less sensitive 5-fluorotryptophan-resistant strains. The biochemical mechanism for the overproduction of indoles by the 5-fluorotryptophan-resistant mutants was due primarily to a partial desensitization of the anthranilate synthetase of these strains to feedback inhibition by tryptophan. These results support the concept that inhibition of enzyme activities rather than enzyme repression is more important in the regulation of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in H. polymorpha.     

Regulatory gene of phenylalanine biosynthesis (pheR) in Salmonella typhimurium

4-Fluorophenylalanine-resistant mutants of Salmonella typhimurium were isolated in which synthesis of chorismate mutase P-prephenate dehydratase (specified by pheA) was highly elevated. Transduction analysis showed that the mutation affecting pheA activity was not linked to pheA, and conjugation and merodiploid analysis indicated that it was in the 95- to 100-min region of the Salmonella chromosome. Evidence is presented for the hypothesis that the mutation responsible for constitutivity of chorismate mutase P-prephenate dehydratase occurred in pheR, a gene specifying a cytoplasmic product that affected pheA. pheR mutants were found to carry a second mutation, tyrO. The tyrO mutation acts cis to cause increased levels of the tyrosine biosynthetic enzymes 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonate 7-phosphate synthetase (tyr) and prephenate dehydrogenase, but it has no effect on regulation of pheA.     

Shikimate pathway activity in shake and fermenter cultures of Cinchona succirubra

Cell suspension cultures of Cinchona succirubra were cultivated in shake cultures and for the first time in airlift fermenters. Under both conditions L-tryptophan exerts a stimulatory effect on alkaloid formation. In this context the regulatory pattern of some shikimate pathway enzymes was investigated in non-supplemented and tryptophan supplemented Cinchona cell cultures. A remarkable increase of tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC) activity was observed in Cinchona cells under the influence of tryptophan. Apparently, like in some other indole alkaloid producing cell cultures, a high TDC activity is a prerequisite for alkaloid formation. Growth pattern and some enzyme activities of C. succirubra fermenter cultures at controlled and non-regulated pH levels were followed. Optimum growth and alkaloid formation were recorded under non-regulated (normal) pH conditions.Abbreviations TDC tryptophan decarboxylase - try L-tyrosine - phe L-phenylalanine - DAHP 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonic acid-7-phosphate - trp L-tryptophan - E-4-P erythrose-4-phosphate - PEP phosphoenolpyruvate - MDH malate dehydrogenase - G-6-PDH glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase - 6-PG-DH 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase - Ch-mutase chorismate mutase - AS-synthase anthranilate synthase - n.d. not determined     

Biochemistry and genetics of chloramphenicol production

In Streptomyces venezuelae, chloramphenicol is derived by an unusual diversion of chorismate, the branchpoint intermediate of the pathway involved in the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids. In the chloramphenicol-producing organism, the DAHP synthetase was neither feedback inhibited nor repressed. Chorismate mutase was not repressed or inhibited by the intermediates or end-products of the shikimate-chorismate pathway. However, anthranilate synthetase and prephenate dehydratase are feedback inhibited by tryptophan and phenylalanine, respectively. During growth, when primary metabolism is not perfectly coordinated, decreasing demand for aromatic amino acids results in shunting of chorismate towards chloramphenicol biosynthesis.The endogenous synthesis of chloramphenicol produced by Streptomyces venezuelae is inhibited by the increasing concentration of chloramphenicol in the medium. Arylamine synthetase, the first enzyme involved in chloramphenicol biosynthesis, is repressed by the secreted chloramphenicol, by dl-p-aminophenylalanine and l-threo-p-aminophenylserinol. The excess intracellular chorismate pool is diverted to other aromatic shunt metabolites if biosynthesis of chloramphenicol is inhibited. There appears to be a glutamine binding protein subunit which is shared by several enzymes involved in amination of the aromatic ring of chorismate.Chloramphenicol producing organism also inactivated intracellular chloramphenicol. However, the resistance of the streptomycetes is due to inducible impermeability of the organism to chloramphenicol during antibiotic production. Streptomyces venezuelae is sensitive to chloramphenicol when it is not engaged in antibiotic production. The resistance to and production of chloramphenicol are induced simultaneously.A linkage map for 17 marker loci using Streptomyces venezuelae has been constructed. Restriction enzyme map of a plasmid from the chloramphenicol-producing streptomycetes has also been developed. The role of the plasmid in chloramphenicol biosynthesis and the life-cycle of the Streptomyces venezuelae is not yet understood.     

Amino Acid Composition of Elm Seeds

In the biosynthetic pathway of aromatic amino acids of Brevibacterium flavum, ratios of each biosynthetic flow at the chorismate branch point were calculated from the reaction velocities of anthranilate synthetase for tryptophan and chorismate mutase for phenylalanine and tyrosine at steady state concentrations of chorismate. When these aromatic amino acids were absent, the ratio was 61, showing an extremely preferential synthesis of tryptophan. The presence of tryptophan at 0.01 mM decreased the ratio to 0.07, showing a diversion of the preferential synthesis to phenylalanine and tyrosine. Complete recovery by glutamate of the ability to synthesize the Millon-positive substance in dialyzed cell extracts confirmed that tyrosine was synthesized via pretyrosine in this organism. Partially purified prephenate aminotransferase, the first enzyme in the tyrosine-specific branch, had a pH optimum of 8.0 and Km’s of 0.45 and 22 mM for prephenate and glutamate, respectively, and its activity was increased 15-fold by pyridoxal-5-phosphate. Neither its activity nor its synthesis was affected at all by the presence of the end product tyrosine or other aromatic amino acids. The ratio of each biosynthetic flow for tyrosine and phenylalanine at the prephenate branch point was calculated from the kinetic equations of prephenate aminotransferase and prephenate dehydratase, the first enzyme in the phenylalanine-specific branch. It showed that tyrosine was synthesized in preference to phenylalanine when phenylalanine and tyrosine were absent. Furthermore, this preferential synthesis was diverted to a balanced synthesis of phenylalanine and tyrosine through activation of prephenate dehydratase by the tyrosine thus synthesized. The feedback inhibition of prephenate dehydratase by phenylalanine was proposed to play a role in maintaining a balanced synthesis when supply of prephenate was decreased by feedback inhibition of 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP*) synthetase, the common key enzyme. Overproduction of the end products in various regulatory mutants was also explained by these results.