Evidence against a temperature-dependent conformational change in urocanase from Pseudomonas putida

Enzymatic activity of urocanase (4-imidazolone-5-propionate hydro-lyase, EC 4.2.1.49) has an unusual resistance to temperature changes, and a temperature-dependent conformational change has been suggested (Hug, D.H. and Hunter, J.K. (1974) Biochemistry 13, 1427-1431). A conformational change or dissociation has been proposed in the range of 29-31 degrees C (Cohn, M.S., Lynch, M.C. and Phillips, A.T. (1975) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 377, 444-453). In this work, no evidence was found for a temperature-dependent conformational change or dissociation. Arrhenius plots of Km and Vmax were linear; the sedimentation coefficient was independent of temperature; tryptophanyl fluorescence was a linear function of temperature; and heat capacity calorimetry showed no transitions below 60 degrees C.     

Activation of urocanase from Pseudomonas putida by electronically excited triplet species

Urocanase from Pseudomonas putida becomes inactive in growing and resting cells and, as shown previously, is activated by the direct absorption of ultraviolet light. In this study, we describe the activation of urocanase by energy transfer from triplet indole-3-aldehyde, generated in the peroxidase-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of indole-3-acetic acid. The activation was time-, temperature-, and pH-dependent. The involvement of reactive oxygen intermediates was excluded by the lack of effect of appropriate quenchers and traps. Triplet quenchers, in contrast, reduced the level of activation. Photoexcited rose bengal, a triplet species of a different nature and origin, was also effective in promoting activation. These results demonstrate a potential mechanism of urocanase regulation not dependent on an environmental source of light, but rather brought about by an enzymically generated excited species.     

Photoactivation of Urocanase in Pseudomonas putida: Possible Role in Photoregulation of Histidine Metabolism

Irradiation by near-ultraviolet light of cells or extracts of Pseudomonas putida increased the urocanase activity. Irradiated cells exhibited enhanced catabolic activity on histidine and urocanate.     

Substrate-mediated inactivation of urocanase from Pseudomonas putida. Evidence for an essential sulfhydryl group

Incubation of urocanase from Pseudomonas putida with either its substrate, urocanic acid, or product, 4'(5')-imidazolone-5'(4')-propionic acid, resulted in an oxygen-dependent inhibition of enzyme activity. Coincident with the inactivation was the stoichiometric incorporation of radioactivity from [14C]urocanate into the protein. NAD+ which is required for activity or urocanase was not directly involved in the inactivation process. The inactivation of urocanase was irreversible, could be partially blocked by the competitive inhibitor imidazolepropionate, and involved the modification of a single active-site thiol. The inhibition resulted from oxidative decomposition of 4'(5')-imidazolone-5'(4')-propionate but was not due to the formation of the major degradative product, 4-ketoglutaramate, since this compound was not an irreversible inactivator of urocanase although it did produce some inhibition at high concentrations. A mechanism is presented in which a reactive imine intermediate in the decomposition scheme is subject to nucleophilic attack by an active-site thiol, thereby generating a covalent enzyme--thioaminal adduct. These results emphasize the importance of a catalytic center sulfhydryl group for urocanase activity.     

Roles of cysteine sulfinate and transaminase on in vitro dark reversion of urocanase in Pseudomonas putida.

Urocanase is inactivated in intact cells of Pseudomonas putida and photoactivated by brief exposure of the cells to the UV radiation in sunlight. The dark reversion (inactivation) in vitro is explained by the formation of a sulfite-NAD adduct. Our objective was to investigate the dark reversion in vivo. Various compounds were added to P. putida cells, and the reversion was measured, after sonication, by comparison of the activity before and after UV irradiation. Sulfite, cysteine sulfinate, and hypotaurine enhanced the reversion of urocanase in resting cells. The reversion was time and concentration dependent. Sulfite modified the purified enzyme, but cysteine sulfinate and hypotaurine could not, indicating that those two substances had to be metabolized to support the reversion. Both of those compounds yielded sulfite when they were incubated with cells. Transaminases form sulfite from cysteine sulfinate. P. putida extract contained a transaminase whose activity involved as alpha-keto acid and either cysteine sulfinate or hypotaurine for (i) production of sulfite, (ii) disappearance of substrates, (iii) formation of corresponding amino acids, and (iv) urocanase reversion. Porcine crystalline transaminase caused reversion of highly purified P. putida urocanase with cysteine sulfinate and alpha-ketoglutarate. We conclude that in P. putida cysteine sulfinate or hypotaurine is catabolized in vivo by a transaminase reaction to sulfite, which modifies urocanase to a form that can be photoactivated. We suggest that this photoregulatory process is natural because it occurs in cells with the aid of sunlight and cellular metabolism.     

Structure and action of urocanase

Urocanase (EC 4.2.1.49) from Pseudomonas putida was crystallized after removing one of the seven free thiol groups. The crystal structure was solved by multiwavelength anomalous diffraction (MAD) using a seleno-methionine derivative and then refined at 1.14 A resolution. The enzyme is a symmetric homodimer of 2 x 557 amino acid residues with tightly bound NAD+ cofactors. Each subunit consists of a typical NAD-binding domain inserted into a larger core domain that forms the dimer interface. The core domain has a novel chain fold and accommodates the substrate urocanate in a surface depression. The NAD domain sits like a lid on the core domain depression and points with the nicotinamide group to the substrate. Substrate, nicotinamide and five water molecules are completely sequestered in a cavity. Most likely, one of these water molecules hydrates the substrate during catalysis. This cavity has to open for substrate passage, which probably means lifting the NAD domain. The observed atomic arrangement at the active center gives rise to a detailed proposal for the catalytic mechanism that is consistent with published chemical data. As expected, the variability of the residues involved is low, as derived from a family of 58 proteins annotated as urocanases in the data banks. However, one well-embedded member of this family showed a significant deviation at the active center indicating an incorrect annotation.     

Broad spectrum and narrow spectrum mercury resistance encoded by different plasmids of a Pseudomonas putida strain

Abstract Pseudomonas putida strain H harbours two plasmids of different sizes. It was demonstrated that the large plasmid pPGH1 confers a broad spectrum resistance to mercurials, whereas the small plasmid pPGH2 confers a narrow spectrum one. Under the influence of the small plasmid the resistance of cells against poisoning with 2,4-di-chlorophenol or o -cresol increases in comparison to cells without this plasmid. Both plasmids proved to be not self-transmissible, but pPGH1 is transferable by mobilisation by means of the IncP-1 vectors R68.45 or RP1.     

Chromium reduction in Pseudomonas putida

Reduction of hexavalent chromium (chromate) to less-toxic trivalent chromium was studied by using cell suspensions and cell-free supernatant fluids from Pseudomonas putida PRS2000. Chromate reductase activity was associated with soluble protein and not with the membrane fraction. The crude enzyme activity was heat labile and showed a Km of 40 microM CrO4(2-). Neither sulfate nor nitrate affected chromate reduction either in vitro or with intact cells.     

Pseudomonas putida Tryptophan Synthetase

The two protein components of Pseudomonas putida tryptophan synthetase have been purified to homogeneity. Although there is general similarity between the Pseudomonas enzyme and that of the enteric bacteria, many differences were found. Components from Escherichia coli and P. putida do not stimulate each other enzymatically, and the enzymes differ in their response to monovalent cations. Serine deamination occurs best with the intact enzyme of P. putida, not with the beta(2) subunit alone as in E. coli. The amino acid compositions of the alpha subunits differ appreciably. These findings extend earlier studies showing differences between enteric organisms and pseudomonads in the regulation and genetic organization of the enzymes of the tryptophan pathway.     

Raman spectrum of protocatechuate dioxygenase from Pseudomonas putida. New low frequency bands.

The Raman spectrum (441.6 nm excitation) of protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase (PCD) from Pseudomonas putida shows resonance enhanced bands at 1605, 1504, 1270, 858, and 830 cm^?1 which are due to the p-hydroxyphenyl group of tyrosine coordinated to iron. In addition, we observe strong resonance enhanced bands at 592 and 524 cm^?1 and weak (presumably iron-ligand) vibrations at 465, 423, and 371 cm^?1. Recent publications of the Raman spectrum of PCD from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Tatsuno $\text{et al}$, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 100, 4614–4615 (1978) and Keyes $\text{et al}$, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 83, 941–945 (1978) using 488 and 514 nm excitation did not report these bands. Our 441.6 nm excitation Raman spectrum of human serum transferrin, another metalloprotein with an iron-tyrosine linkage, does not show the 592 and 524 cm^?1 bands and has only two very weak bands at about 423 and 364 cm^?1. We discuss several interpretations of these data.     

The purification and properties of urocanase from Pseudomonas testosteroni.

Urocanase (urocanate hydratase, EC 4.2.1.49) purified from Pseudomonas testosteroni has a mol.wt. of 118000 determined by sedimentation-equilibrium analysis. Ultracentrifugation in 6M-guanidine hydrochloride and polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate show that the enzyme consists of two identical or very similar subunits. It is, like urocanase isolated from other sources, inhibited by reagents that react with carbonyl groups. Although urocanase from Ps. testosteroni is strongly inhibited by NaBH4, no evidence could be obtained for the presence of covalently bound 2-oxobutyrate as a prosthetic group; this is in contrast with findings elsewhere for urocanase from Pseudomonas putida. Urocanase from Ps. testosteroni does not contain pyridoxal 5'-phosphate as a coenzyme and in this respect is similar to all urocanases studied in purified form.     

Alpha-hydroxyglutarate oxidoreductase of Pseudomonas putida

Oxidation of d-alpha-hydroxyglutarate to alpha-ketoglutarate is catalyzed by d-alpha-hydroxyglutarate oxidoreductase, an inducible membrane-bound enzyme of the electron transport particle [ETP; a comminuted cytoplasmic membrane preparation with enzymic properties and chemical composition resembling beef heart mitochondrial ETP (1)] of Pseudomonas putida P2 (P2-ETP). Treatment of P2-ETP with a nonionic detergent yields a preparation with the sedimentation characteristics of a soluble enzyme, but which retains an intact electron transport chain. Oxygen acts solely as a terminal electron acceptor and may be replaced by ferricyanide, 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol, or mammalian cytochrome c. The oxidoreductase is specific for the d-isomer (K(m) = 4.0 x 10(-4)m for dl-alpha-hydroxyglutarate) and is distinct both from l- and d-malate dehydrogenases. Spectral studies suggest that the carrier sequence is substrate --> flavine or nonheme iron --> cyt b --> [cyt c] --> oxygen.