The lysine-ketoglutarate reductase-saccharopine dehydrogenase is involved in the osmo-induced synthesis of pipecolic acid in rapeseed leaf tissues.

Higher plant responses to abiotic stresses are associated with physiological and biochemical changes triggering a number of metabolic adjustments. We focused on L-lysine catabolism, and have previously demonstrated that degradation of this amino acid is osmo-regulated at the level of lysine-ketoglutarate reductase (LKR, EC 1.5.1.8) and saccharopine dehydrogenase (SDH, EC 1.5.1.9) in Brassica napus. LKR and SDH activities are enhanced by decreasing osmotic potential and decrease when the upshock osmotic treatment is followed by a downshock osmotic one. Moreover we have shown that the B. napus LKR/SDH gene is up-regulated in osmotically-stressed tissues. The LKR/SDH activity produces alpha-aminoadipate semialdehyde which could be further converted into alpha-aminoadipate and acetyl CoA. Alternatively alpha-aminoadipate could behave as a precursor for pipecolic acid. Pipecolic acid is described as an osmoprotectant in bacteria and is co-accumulated with proline in halophytic plants. We suggest that osmo-induction of the LKR/SDH activity could be partly responsible for pipecolic acid accumulation. This proposal has been assessed in this study through pipecolic acid amounts determination in rape leaf discs subjected to various upshift and downshift osmotic treatments. Changes in pipecolic acid level actually behave as those observed for LKR and SDH activities, since it increases or decreases in rape leaf discs treated under hyper- or hypo-osmotic conditions, respectively. In addition we show that pipecolic acid level is positively correlated with the external osmotic potential as well as with the duration of the applied treatment. On the other hand pipecolic acid level is related to the availability of L-lysine and not to that of D-lysine. Collectively the results obtained demonstrate that lysine catabolism through LKR/SDH activity is involved in osmo-induced synthesis of pipecolic acid.     

A novel composite locus of Arabidopsis encoding two polypeptides with metabolically related but distinct functions in lysine catabolism

Both plants and animals catabolize lysine via saccharopine by two consecutive enzymes, lysine-ketoglutarate reductase (LKR) and saccharopine dehydrogenase (SDH), which are linked on a single polypeptide. We recently demonstrated that Arabidopsis plants possess not only a bifunctional LKR/SDH but in addition a monofunctional SDH enzyme. We also speculated that these two enzymes may be controlled by a single gene (G. Tang et al. Plant Cell, 1997, 9, 1305-1316). By expressing several epitope-tagged and GUS reporter constructs, we demonstrate in the present study that the Arabidopsis monofunctional SDH is encoded by a distinct gene, which is, however, nested entirely within the coding and 3' non-coding regions of the larger bifunctional LKR/SDH gene. The entire open reading frame of the monofunctional SDH gene, as well as some components of its promoter, are also parts of the translated coding sequence of the bifunctional LKR/SDH gene. These special structural characteristics, combined with the fact that the two genes encode simultaneously two metabolically related but distinct enzymes, render the LKR/SDH locus a novel type of a composite locus. Not all plant species possess an active monofunctional SDH gene and the production of this enzyme is correlated with an increased flux of lysine catabolism. Taken together, our results suggest that the composite LKR/SDH locus serves to control an efficient, highly regulated flux of lysine catabolism     

Lysine catabolism, an effective versatile regulator of lysine level in plants

Lysine is a nutritionally important essential amino acid, whose synthesis in plants is strongly regulated by the rate of its synthesis. Yet, lysine level in plants is also finely controlled by a super-regulated catabolic pathway that catabolizes lysine into glutamate and acetyl Co-A. The first two enzymes of lysine catabolism are synthesized from a single LKR/SDH gene. Expression of this gene is subject to compound developmental, hormonal and stress-associated regulation. Moreover, the LKR/SDH gene of different plant species encodes up to three distinct polypeptides: (i) a bifunctional enzyme containing the linked lysine-ketoglutarate (LKR) and saccharopine dehydrogenase (SDH) whose LKR activity is regulated by its linked SDH enzyme; (ii) a monofunctional SDH encoded by an internal promoter, which is a part of the coding DNA region of the LKR/SDH gene; and (iii) a monofunctional, highly potent LKR that is formed by polyadenylation within an intron. LKR activity in the bifunctional LKR/SDH polypeptide is also post-translationally regulated by phosphorylation by casein kinase-2 (CK2), but the consequence of this regulation is still unknown. Why is lysine metabolism super-regulated by synthesis and catabolism? A hypothesis addressing this important question is presented, suggesting that lysine may serve as a regulator of plant growth and interaction with the environment.     

The activity of the Arabidopsis bifunctional lysine-ketoglutarate reductase/saccharopine dehydrogenase enzyme of lysine catabolism is regulated by functional interaction between its two enzyme domains

Lysine-ketoglutarate reductase/saccharopine dehydrogenase (LKR/SDH) is a bifunctional enzyme catalyzing the first two steps of lysine catabolism in animals and plants. To elucidate the biochemical signification of the linkage between the two enzymes of LKR/SDH, namely lysine ketoglutarate and saccharopine dehydrogenase, we employed various truncated and mutated Arabidopsis LKR/SDH polypeptides expressed in yeast. Activity analyses of the different recombinant polypeptides under conditions of varying NaCl levels implied that LKR, but not SDH activity, is regulated by functional interaction between the LKR and SDH domains, which is mediated by the structural conformation of the linker region connecting them. Because LKR activity of plant LKR/SDH enzymes is also regulated by casein kinase 2 phosphorylation, we searched for such potential regulatory phosphorylation sites using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and site-directed mutagenesis. This analysis identified Ser-458 as a candidate for this function. We also tested a hypothesis suggesting that an EF-hand-like sequence at the C-terminal part of the LKR domain functions in a calcium-dependent assembly of LKR/SDH into a homodimer. We found that this region is essential for LKR activity but that it does not control a calcium-dependent assembly of LKR/SDH. The relevance of our results to the in vivo function of LKR/SDH in lysine catabolism in plants is discussed. In addition, because the linker region between LKR and SDH exists only in plants but not in animal LKR/SDH enzymes, our results suggest that the regulatory properties of LKR/SDH and, hence, the regulation of lysine catabolism are different between plants and animals.     

Characterization of the two saccharopine dehydrogenase isozymes of lysine catabolism encoded by the single composite AtLKR/SDH locus of Arabidopsis

Arabidopsis plants possess a composite AtLKR/SDH locus encoding two different polypeptides involved in lysine catabolism: a bifunctional lysine-ketoglutarate reductase/saccharopine dehydrogenase (LKR/SDH) enzyme and a monofunctional SDH enzyme. To unravel the physiological significance of these two enzymes, we analyzed their subcellular localization and detailed biochemical properties. Sucrose gradient analysis showed that the two enzymes are localized in the cytosol and therefore may operate at relatively neutral pH values in vivo. Yet while the physiological pH may provide an optimum environment for LKR activity, the pH optima for the activities of both the linked and non-linked SDH enzymes were above pH 9, suggesting that these two enzymes may operate under suboptimal conditions in vivo. The basic biochemical properties of the monofunctional SDH, including its pH optimum as well as the apparent Michaelis constant (K(m)) values for its substrates saccharopine and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide at neutral and basic pH values, were similar to those of its SDH counterpart that is linked to LKR. Taken together, our results suggest that production of the monofunctional SDH provides Arabidopsis plants with enhanced levels of SDH activity (maximum initial velocity), rather than with an SDH isozyme with significantly altered kinetic parameters. Excess levels of this enzyme might enable efficient flux of lysine catabolism via the SDH reaction in the unfavorable physiological pH of the cytosol.     

Genetic manipulation of lysine catabolism in maize kernels

In plants, lysine catabolism is thought to be controlled by a bifunctional enzyme, lysine ketoglutarate reductase/saccharopine dehydrogenase (LKR/SDH). Lysine is converted to saccharopine, through condensation with alpha-ketoglutarate, by LKR, and subsequently to glutamate and alpha-aminoadipate-delta-semialdehyde by SDH. To investigate lysine catabolism in maize kernels, we generated transgenic plants with suppressed LKR/SDH activity in either endosperm or embryo. We found that the suppression of LKR/SDH in endosperm induced an increase in free lysine in developing endosperm, which peaked at 32 days after pollination. At later stages of kernel development, most of the free lysine was found in the embryo along with an elevated level of saccharopine. By combining endosperm LKR/SDH suppression with embryo LKR/SDH suppression through crosses, the saccharopine level in embryo was reduced and resulted in higher lysine accumulation in mature kernels. These results reveal new insights into how free lysine level is regulated and distributed in developing maize kernels and demonstrate the possibility of engineering high lysine corn via the suppression of lysine catabolism.     

Lysine catabolism in Haemonchus contortus and Teladorsagia circumcincta

Catabolism of lysine through the pipecolate, saccharopine and cadaverine pathways has been investigated in L3 and adult Haemonchus contortus and Teladorsagia circumcincta. Both enzymes of the saccharopine pathway (lysine ketoglutarate reductase (LKR) and saccharopine dehydrogenase (SDH)) were active in L3 and adult worms of both species. All three enzymes which catabolise lysine to α-amino adipic semialdehyde via pipecolate (lysine oxidase (LO), Δ(1)-piperideine-2-carboxylate reductase (Pip2CR) and pipecolate oxidase (PipO)) were present in adult worms, whereas the pathway was incomplete in L3 of both species; Pip2CR activity was not detected in the L3 of either parasite species. In adult worms, the saccharopine pathway would probably be favoured over the pipecolate pathway as the K(m) for lysine was lower for LKR than for LO. Neither lysine dehydrogenase nor lysine decarboxylase activity was detected in the two parasite species. Enzyme activities and substrate affinities were higher for all five enzymes in adult worms than in L3. An unexpected finding was that both LKR and SDH were dual co-factor enzymes and not specific for either NAD(+) or NADP(+), as is the case in other organisms. This novel property of LKR/SDH suggests it could be a good candidate for anthelmintic targeting.     

Purification and characterization of bifunctional lysine-ketoglutarate reductase/saccharopine dehydrogenase from developing soybean seeds

Both in mammals and plants, excess lysine (Lys) is catabolized via saccharopine into alpha-amino adipic semialdehyde and glutamate by two consecutive enzymes, Lys-ketoglutarate reductase (LKR) and saccharopine dehydrogenase (SDH), which are linked on a single bifunctional polypeptide. To study the control of metabolite flux via this bifunctional enzyme, we have purified it from developing soybean (Glycine max) seeds. LKR activity of the bifunctional LKR/SDH possessed relatively high K(m) for its substrates, Lys and alpha-ketoglutarate, suggesting that this activity may serve as a rate-limiting step in Lys catabolism. Despite their linkage, the LKR and SDH enzymes possessed significantly different pH optima, suggesting that SDH activity of the bifunctional enzyme may also be rate-limiting in vivo. We have previously shown that Arabidopsis plants contain both a bifunctional LKR/SDH and a monofunctional SDH enzymes (G. Tang, D. Miron, J.X. Zhu-Shimoni, G. Galili [1997] Plant Cell 9: 1-13). In the present study, we found no evidence for the presence of such a monofunctional SDH enzyme in soybean seeds. These results may provide a plausible regulatory explanation as to why various plant species accumulate different catabolic products of Lys.     

Plasticity of polyamine metabolism associated with high osmotic stress in rape leaf discs and with ethylene treatment

In rape leaf discs the response to osmotic stress has been found to be associated with increases in putrescine and 1,3-diaminopropane (an oxidation product of spermidine and/or spermine) and decreases in spermidine titers. In contrast, agmatine and spermine titers showed small changes while cadaverine accumulated massively. Similar results were observed in whole rape seedlings subjected to drought conditions. -DL-difluoromethylarginine (DFMA), a specific irreversible inhibitor of arginine decarboxylase, strongly inhibited polyamine accumulation in unstressed rape leaf discs, which suggested that the arginine decarboxylase pathway is constitutively involved in putrescine biosynthesis. In leaf discs treated under high osmotic stress conditions, both DFMA and DFMO (-DL-difluoromethylornithine, a specific and irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase) inhibited the accumulation of polyamines. Although the stressed discs treated with DFMA had a lower concentration of putrescine than those treated with DFMO, we propose that under osmotic stress the synthesis of putrescine might involve both enzymes. DFMA, but not DFMO, was also found to inhibit cadaverine formation strongly in stressed explants. The effects on polyamine biosynthesis and catabolism of cyclohexylamine, the spermidine synthase inhibitor, aminoguanidine, the diamine-oxidase inhibitor and -aminobutyric acid, a product of putrescine oxidation via diamine oxidase or spermidine oxidation via polyamine oxidase were found to depend on environmental osmotic challenges. Thus, it appears that high osmotic stress did not block spermidine biosynthesis, but induced a stimulation of spermidine oxidation. We have also demonstrated that in stressed leaf discs, exogenous ethylene, applied in the form of (2-chloroethyl) phosphonic acid or ethephon, behaves as an inhibitor of polyamine synthesis with the exception of agmatine and diaminopropane. In addition, in stressed tissues, when ethylene synthesis was inhibited by aminooxyacetic acid or aminoethoxyvinylglycine, S-adenosylmethionine utilization in polyamine synthesis was not promoted. The relationships between polyamine and ethylene biosynthesis in unstressed and stressed tissues are discussed.     

Lysine degradation through the saccharopine pathway in bacteria: LKR and SDH in bacteria and its relationship to the plant and animal enzymes

Lysine degradation through the saccharopine pathway has been shown only in plants and animals. Here, we show that bacteria possess the genes encoding lysine-ketoglutarate reductase (LKR) and saccharopine dehydrogenase (SDH). In Silicibacter, the contiguous lkr and sdh genes are interspersed, in another frame, by a polypeptide of unknown function. The bacterial enzyme does not contain the 110-amino-acid interdomain (ID) that intersperses the LKR and SDH domains of the plant enzyme. The ID was found in Cyanobacteria interspersing polypeptides without similarities and activities of LKR and SDH. The LKR/SDH bifunctional polypeptide of animals and plants may have arisen from a α-proteobacterium with a configuration similar to that of Silicibacter, whereas the ID in the plant enzyme may have been inherited from Cyanobacteria.     

Modifying lysine biosynthesis and catabolism in corn with a single bifunctional expression/silencing transgene cassette

Although it is one of the major crops in the world, corn has poor nutritional quality for human and animal consumption due to its low lysine content. Here, we report a method of simultaneous expression of a deregulated lysine biosynthetic enzyme, CordapA, and reduction of a bifunctional lysine degradation enzyme, lysine-ketoglutarate reductase/saccharophine dehydrogenase (LKR/SDH), in transgenic corn plants by a single transgene cassette. This is accomplished by inserting an inverted-repeat sequence targeting the maize LKR/SDH gene into an intron of a transgene cassette that expresses CordapA. This combination of LKR/SDH silencing and CordapA expression led to the accumulation of free lysine to over 4000 p.p.m. in transgenic corn grain, compared to less than 100 p.p.m. in wild-type controls. This intron-embedded silencing cassette design reduces the number of transgene cassettes needed in transgenic approaches for manipulating metabolic pathways that sometimes require expression of one gene and silencing of another.     

Effect of drought on sorbitol and sucrose metabolism in sinks and sources of peach

In peach (Prunus persica [L.] Batsch.), sorbitol and sucrose are the two main forms of photosynthetic and translocated carbon and may have different functions depending on the organ of utilization and its developmental stage. The role and interaction of sorbitol and sucrose metabolism was studied in mature leaves (source) and shoot tips (sinks) of ‘Nemaguard’ peach under drought stress. Plants were irrigated daily at rates of 100, 67, and 33% of evapotranspiration (ET). The relative elongation rate (RER) of growing shoots was measured daily. In mature leaves, water potential (Ψ_w), osmotic potential (Ψ_s), sorbitol‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (S6PDH, EC 1.1.1.200), and sucrose‐phosphate synthase (SPS, EC 2.4.1.14) activities were measured weekly. Measurements of Ψ_s, sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH, 1.1.1.14), sucrose synthase (SS, EC 2.4.1.13), acid invertase (AI, EC 3.2.1.26), and neutral invertase (NI, EC 3.2.1.27) activities were taken weekly in shoot tips. Drought stress reduced RER and Ψ_w of plants in proportion to water supply. Osmotic adjustment was detected by the second week of treatment in mature leaves and by the third week in shoot tips. Both SDH and S6PDH activities were reduced by drought stress within 4 days of treatment and positively correlated with overall Ψ_w levels. However, only SDH activity was correlated with Ψ_s. Among the sucrose enzymes, only SS was affected by drought, being reduced after 3 weeks. Sorbitol accumulation in both mature leaves and shoot tips of stressed plants was observed starting from the second week of treatment and reached up to 80% of total solutes involved in osmotic adjustment. Sucrose content was up to 8‐fold lower than sorbitol content and accumulated only occasionally. We conclude that a loss of SDH activity in sinks leads to osmotic adjustment via sorbitol accumulation in peach. We propose an adaptive role of sorbitol metabolism versus a maintenance role of sucrose metabolism in peach under drought stress.     

Functional analysis through site-directed mutations and phylogeny of the Candida albicans LYS1-encoded saccharopine dehydrogenase

Candida albicans LYS1-encoded saccharopine dehydrogenase (CaLys1p, SDH) catalyzes the final biosynthetic step (saccharopine to lysine + α-ketoglutarate) of the novel α-aminoadipate pathway for lysine synthesis in fungi. The reverse reaction catalyzed by lysine-α-ketoglutarate reductase (LKR) is used exclusively in animals and plants for the catabolism of excess lysine. The 1,146 bp C. albicans LYS1 ORF encodes a 382 amino acid SDH. In the present investigation, we have used E. coli-expressed recombinant C. albicans Lys1p for the determination of both forward and reverse SDH activities in vitro, compared the sequence identity of C. albicans Lys1p with other known SDHs and LKRs, performed extensive site-directed mutational analyses of conserved amino acid residues and analyzed the phylogenetic relationship of C. albicans Lys1p to other known SDHs and LKRs. We have identified 14 of the 68 amino acid substitutions as essential for C. albicans Lys1p SDH activity, including two highly conserved functional motifs, H93XXF96XH98 and G138XXXG142XXG145. These results provided new insight into the functional and phylogenetic characteristics of the distinct biosynthetic SDH in fungi and catabolic LKR in higher eukaryotes.