The anthranilate aggregate of Escherichia coli: kinetics of inhibition by tryptophan of phosphoribosyltransferase

The kinetic mechanism of the phosphoribosyltransferase reaction is shown to be rapid equilibrium random bi bi with an enzyme-anthranilate-pyrophosphate abortive complex. We present a rate equation that not only predicts the observed kinetic patterns but also accommodates the fact that feedback inhibition is partial, even though tryptophan (Ki = 0.5 microM) and phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (Km = 50 microM) are competitive. Neither ligand completely abolishes the effect of the other. Instead, the binding of one ligand leads to a mutual elevation in the dissociation constant of the opposing ligand by a factor of two to three. Tryptophan inhibition is noncompetitive with respect to anthranilate (Km = 0.58 microM) and does not diminish the rate of interconversion of ternary complexes. Tryptophan cooperativity, with respect to the inhibition of phosphoribosyltransferase, conforms to the concerted Monod-Wyman-Changeux formulation (kinetic Hill coefficient = 2), whereas tryptophan as an inhibitor of anthranilate synthase more closely conforms to a Koshland model of sequential cooperativity with a kinetic Hill coefficient of 1.4. The aggregate contains only one class of tryptophan sites. Thus the first tryptophan molecule bound to the aggregate maximally inhibits both phosphoribosyltransferase active centers and one of the two anthranilate synthase catalytic sites. The remaining anthranilate synthase subunit thereupon is converted into a form with less (but not zero) affinity for chorismate and a greater affinity for a second molecule of tryptophan.     

Functional expression of Arabidopsis thaliana anthranilate synthase subunit I in Escherichia coli.

Anthranilate synthase is involved in tryptophan (Trp) biosynthesis. Functional expression of subunit I from Arabidopsis (ASA1) was achieved in bacteria as a protein fused with glutathione S-transferase (GST). The active product was purified in a single step on a glutathione-Sepharose column. The Vmax (45 nmol min-1mg-1), the apparent K(M) for chorismate (180 microM), and the feedback inhibition by Trp (complete inhibition by 10 microM Trp) of the purified fusion product (GST-ASA1) were comparable to anthranilate synthase purified from plants. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the fusion project and purified by affinity chromatography on a GST-ASA1-Sepharose column cross-reacted with a 61.5-kD protein in a partially purified anthranilate synthase preparation from corn seedlings. GST-ASA1 cleavage by thrombin, as well as site-directed mutagenesis modifications of the Trp allosteric site, inactivated the recombinant protein.     

Tryptophan Synthetic Pathway and Its Regulation in Chromobacterium violaceum

Extracts of Chromobacterium violaceum catalyzed all of the reactions involved in synthesizing tryptophan from chorismic acid. Tryptophan auxotrophs which had lost any of these activities did not produce the characteristic purple pigment, violacein, when grown on a medium in which tryptophan was limiting. Gel filtration of extracts allowed us to estimate molecular weights for the tryptophan enzymes. All of the enzymes appeared to have molecular weights below 100,000. No enzymes were observed to occur in aggregates. The specific activities of the enzymes of the tryptophan pathway did not change when mutants were grown under conditions of limiting or excess tryptophan. The first enzyme in the pathway, anthranilate synthetase, was subject to feedback control by the end product, tryptophan. Tryptophan acted as a noncompetitive inhibitor with respect to glutamine, one of the substrates for anthranilate synthetase, and as a competitive inhibitor of the reaction when chorismate, the other substrate, was varied. The nonlinearity observed in the Lineweaver-Burk plot in the latter case suggests that there may be more than one chorismate-binding site on anthranilate synthetase.     

Study of a corn (Zea mays L.) mutant (blue fluorescent-1) which accumulates anthranilic acid and its β-glucoside

A corn (Zea mays L.) mutant, blue fluorescent-1 (bf), is described that shows ultraviolet light induced blue fluorescence in young seedling leaves if homozygous for the mutant gene, and in anthers if either homozygous or heterozygous. The blue fluorescent compounds were extracted with acetone and separated by paper chromatography. Anthranilic acid was present and the beta-glucoside was also identified by paper chromatography and beta-glucosdase and acid treatment. A third major fluorescent compound was not identified, but it was convertible to anthranilic acid by acid treatment. Anthranilate synthetase from mutant plants was 3-40 times more active and was also more resistant to feedback inhibition by tryptophan than was the enzyme from normal plants. The high activity and feedback resistance would both lead to anthranilate accumulation. Anthranilate-phosphoribosylpyrophosphate phosphoribosyltransferase (PR transferase), the enzyme which usually utilizes anthranilate in the tryptophan pathway, was inhibited by the beta-glucoside of anthranilic acid in a noncompetitive manner and showed very little activity in the mutant plant extract. This inhibition of the enzyme which utilizes anthranilate would also lead to accumulation. Apparently the oversynthesis of anthranilate leads to the formation of the beta-glucoside, which inhibits anthranilate utilization. The fluorescent compounds are absent in seed, but form on germination. The levels decrease with age after 35 days postgermination, but are still present in leaves during grain filling.     

Metabolic engineering for improving anthranilate synthesis from glucose in Escherichia coli

Background  

Anthranilate is an aromatic amine used industrially as an intermediate for the synthesis of dyes, perfumes, pharmaceuticals and other classes of products. Chemical synthesis of anthranilate is an unsustainable process since it implies the use of nonrenewable benzene and the generation of toxic by-products. In Escherichia coli anthranilate is synthesized from chorismate by anthranilate synthase (TrpED) and then converted to phosphoribosyl anthranilate by anthranilate phosphoribosyl transferase to continue the tryptophan biosynthetic pathway. With the purpose of generating a microbial strain for anthranilate production from glucose, E. coli W3110 trpD9923, a mutant in the trpD gene that displays low anthranilate producing capacity, was characterized and modified using metabolic engineering strategies.     

Control of Tryptophan Biosynthesis in Plant Tissue Cultures: Lack of Repression of Anthranilate and Tryptophan Synthetases by Tryptophan

Tobacco (cv. Xanthi and cv. Wisconsin 38), rice, carrot, tomato, and soybean tissue cultures were grown in liquid media containing L-tryptophan. The addition of tryptophan increased the cellular tryptophan levels greatly (12–2500 fold), but did not lower appreciably the levels of two tryptophan biosynthetic enzymes, anthranilate synthetase and tryptophan synthetase. However, the addition of 50 μM tryptophan to the crude enzyme extract completely inhibited the anthranilate synthetase activity while 1 mM tryptophan inhibited the tryptophan synthetase activity by only 10–20°/o. This information indicates that tryptophan biosynthesis is controlled by the feedback inhibition of anthranilate synthetase by tryptophan and not by repression of enzyme synthesis. All of the species had significant enzyme levels. Anthranilate synthetase activity could not be detected in extracts from cells grown on tryptophan unless the extracts were first passed through two G-25 Sephadex columns with a short 30 °C warming step in between, a procedure shown to remove an inhibitor of the enzyme.     

Regulation of the tryptophan synthetic enzymes in Clostridium butyricum

Experiments concerned with the regulation of the tryptophan synthetic enzymes in anaerobes were carried out with a strain of Clostridium butyricum. Enzyme activities for four of the five synthetic reactions were readily detected in wild-type cells grown in minimal medium. The enzymes mediating reactions 3, 4, and 5 were derepressed 4- to 20-fold, and the data suggest that these enzymes are coordinately controlled in this anaerobe. The first enzyme of the pathway, anthranilate synthetase, could be derepressed approximately 90-fold under these conditions, suggesting that this enzyme is semicoordinately controlled. Mutants resistant to 5-methyl tryptophan were isolated, and two of these were selected for further analysis. Both mutants retained high constitutive levels of the tryptophan synthetic enzymes even in the presence of repressing concentrations of tryptophan. The anthranilate synthetase from one mutant was more sensitive to feedback inhibition by tryptophan than the enzyme from wild-type cells. The enzyme from the second mutant was comparatively resistant to feedback inhibition by tryptophan. Neither strain excreted tryptophan into the culture fluid. Tryptophan inhibits anthranilate synthetase from wild-type cells noncompetitively with respect to chorismate and uncompetitively with respect to glutamine. The Michaelis constants calculated for chorismate and glutamine are 7.6 x 10(-5)m and 6.7 x 10(-5)m, respectively. The molecular weights of the enzymes estimated by zonal centrifugation in sucrose and by gel filtration ranged from 24,000 to 89,000. With the possible exception of a tryptophan synthetase complex, there was no evidence for the existence of other enzyme aggregates. The data indicate that tryptophan synthesis is regulated by repression control of the relevant enzymes and by feedback inhibition of anthranilate synthetase. That this enzyme system more closely resembles that found in Bacillus than that found in enteric bacteria is discussed.     

Evidence for Compartmentation of Tryptophan in Cultured Plant Tissues: Free Tryptophan Levels and Inhibition of Anthranilate Synthetase

1. Anthranilate synthetase activity in crude extracts from tissue cultures of Daucus carota L. (carrot), Nicotiana tabacum L. (tobacco; cv. Wisconsin 38 and xanthi), Glycine max Merr. (soybean) and Oryza sativa L. (rice) was completely inhibited by l -tryptophan (5 to 50 μM). Mutant carrot and tobacco lines, capable of growth in the presence of 5-methyltryptophan, required 500 to more than 1000 μM tryptophan for complete inhibition of enzyme activity, respectively. 2. Except for the mutant tobacco line, the concentrations of free tryptophan in all tissue cultures tested were greater than the levels necessary to completely inhibit the respective anthranilate synthetase activities in vitro. These findings would indicate that much of the free tryptophan is compartmentalized away from the regulatory enzyme, anthranilate synthetase. This could implicate compartmentalization of the inhibitor as a biosynthetic control mechanism. 3. During the growth of normal and mutant carrot tissues the anthranilate synthetase enzyme must be at least 7.8 and 10.8% active, respectively, in order to accumulate the amount of tryptophan found in the tissues. 4. Of the substrates and cofactors required for anthranilate synthetase activity in vitro, Mg²⁺ and glutamine were present at near optimal levels in the carrot and tobacco tissues, but chorismate was found to be significantly below the optimal concentrations.     

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.     

Anthranilate synthase from Ruta graveolens. Duplicated AS alpha genes encode tryptophan-sensitive and tryptophan-insensitive isoenzymes specific to amino acid and alkaloid biosynthesis.

Anthranilate synthase (AS, EC 4.1.3.27) catalyzes the conversion of chorismate into anthranilate, the biosynthetic precursor of both tryptophan and numerous secondary metabolites, including inducible plant defense compounds. The higher plant Ruta graveolens produces tryptophan and elicitor-inducible, anthranilate-derived alkaloids by means of two differentially expressed nuclear genes for chloroplast-localized AS alpha subunits, AS alpha 1 and AS alpha 2. Mechanisms that partition chorismate between tryptophan and inducible alkaloids thus do not entail chloroplast/cytosol separation of AS isoenzymes and yet might involve differential feedback regulation of pathway-specific AS alpha subunits. The two AS alpha isoenzymes of R. graveolens were expressed as glutathione S-transferase fusion proteins in Escherichia coli deletion mutants defective in AS activity and were purified to homogeneity. Differential sensitivity of the transformed E. coli strains toward 5-methyltryptophan, a false-feedback inhibitor of AS, was demonstrated. Characterization of affinity-purified AS alpha isoenzymes revealed that the noninducible AS alpha 2 of R. graveolens is strongly feedback inhibited by 10 microns tryptophan. In contrast, the elicitor-inducible AS alpha 1 isoenzyme is only slightly affected even by tryptophan concentrations 10-fold higher than those observed in planta. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that chorismate flux into biosynthesis of tryptophan and defense-related alkaloid biosynthesis in R. graveolens is regulated at the site of AS alpha isoenzymes at both genetic and enzymatic levels.     

Studies on the subunits of the anthranilate synthetase-phosphoribosyltransferase enzyme complex from Salmonella typhimurium.

Both uncomplexed subunits of the anthranilate synthetase-phosphoribosyltransferase enzyme complex from Salmonella typhimurium have an absolute requirement for divalent metal ions which can be satisfied by Mg²⁺, Mn²⁺, or Co²⁺. The metal ion kinetics for uncomplexed anthranilate synthetase give biphasic double-reciprocal plots and higher apparent K_m values than those for anthranilate synthetase in the enzyme complex. In contrast, the apparent K_m values for phosphoribosyltransferase are the same whether the enzyme is uncomplexed or complexed with anthranilate synthetase. This suggests that the metal ion sites on anthranilate synthetase, but not those on phosphoribosyltransferase, are altered upon formation of the enzyme complex. These results and the results of studies reported by others, suggest that complex formation between anthranilate synthetase and phosphoribosyltransferase leads to marked alterations at the active site of the former, but not the latter enzyme. Uncomplexed anthranilate synthetase can be stoichiometrically labeled with Co(III) under conditions which lead to inactivation of 75% of its activity. A comparison of the effects of anthranilate and tryptophan on phosphoribosyltransferase activity in the uncomplexed and complexed forms shows that anthranilate, but not tryptophan, inhibits the uncomplexed enzyme. The complexed phosphoribosyltransferase shows substrate inhibition by anthranilate binding to the phosphoribosyltransferase subunits. In contrast, in a tryptophan-hypersensitive variant complex, anthranilate inhibits phosphoribosyltransferase activity by acting on the anthranilate synthetase subunits. The data are interpreted to mean that there are two classes of binding sites for anthranilate, one on each type of subunit, which may participate in the regulation of anthranilate synthetase and phosphoribosyltransferase under different conditions.     

Aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in Alcaligenes eutrophus H 16

Properties and regulation of anthranilate synthase from Alcaligenes eutrophus H 16 were investigated. Anthranilate synthase was partially purified from crude extracts by affinity chromatography on tryptophan-substituted Sepharose, and was used for kinetic measurements. During the purification procedure the enzyme was stabilized by 50 mM l-glutamine or during chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and Sephadex G-200 with 30% glycerol, respectively.The glutamine dependent activity of anthranilate synthase was examined; it showed little change between pH 8.4 and pH 9.1. The Arrhenius plot was broken and the activation energy, H, calculated therefrom amounted to 8.9 kcal/mole up to 30°C and 5.5 kcal/mole at higher temperatures. The molecular weight determined by gelfiltration on Sephadex G-200 and by sucrose density gradient centrifugation resulted in 158000 and 126000, respectively. The K _m -values for the two substrates chorismate and glutamine were found to be 5 M and 560 M, respectively.Anthranilate synthase was strongly inhibited by l-tryptophan; the only amino acid that affected enzyme activity. Homotropic interactions for chorismate (Hill coefficient n=1.4) were obtained in the presence of l-tryptophan. 50% inhibition were caused by 10 M l-tryptophan at 100 M chorismate. The inhibition with respect to l-glutamine was noncompetitive.Anthranilate synthase was not associated to phosphoribosyl transferase and easily separable from the latter by different chromatographic methods.Abbreviation TEA triethanolamine     

Partial Characterization of Phosphoribosyl Transferase, Phosphoribosyl Anthranilate Isomerase, and Indole Glycerol Phosphate Synthase from Serratia marcescens

The molecular organization of the enzymes phosphoribosyl (PR) transferase, phosphoribosyl anthranilate (PRA) isomerase, and indole glycerol phosphate (InGP) synthase of the tryptophan biosynthetic pathway of Serratia marcescens was investigated and compared with that reported in other enteric bacteria. PRA isomerase and InGP synthase activities were found to reside in a single polypeptide chain, a situation analogous to that in Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, and Aerobacter aerogenes. This bifunctional enzyme was purified to near homogeneity. Its molecular weight was estimated to be 48,000. PR transferase was found unassociated with PRA isomerase and InGP synthase after gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. Whereas in other enteric organisms PR transferase has been reported to form an aggregate with anthranilate synthase, it is a distinct entity in S. marcescens.     

Purification and characterization of yeast anthranilate phosphoribosyltransferase

Anthranilate phosphoribosyltransferase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been purified to homogeneity from an overproducing strain. Analytical ultracentrifugation demonstrated that the enzyme is a dimer of Mr = 83,000 +/- 4,000 (S20.w = 4.7 S). Moreover, as shown by active enzyme sedimentation, the enzyme remains dimeric even at low concentrations. The presence of yeast phosphoribosylanthranilate isomerase in the gradient does not lead to complex formation between the two enzymes as might be expected if phosphoribosyl anthranilate, the very labile product of the anthranilate phosphoribosyltransferase, were channelled to phosphoribosylanthranilate isomerase in vivo. The steady-state-kinetic behaviour of the enzyme suggests that catalysis involves a ternary enzyme-substrate complex, with KANTm = 1.6 microM, and KPRib-PPm = 22.4 microM. The enzyme has been used to generate phosphoribosylanthranilate in situ for kinetic studies of phosphoribosylanthranilate isomerase from Escherichia coli: KPRAm = 5 microM, kcat = 40 s-1.     

Magnetic resonance and kinetic studies of the partial complex and Component I subunit forms of Salmonella typhimurium anthranilate synthase

Metal ion interactions of the monofunctional partial complex of Salmonella typhimurium anthranilate synthase were investigated using kinetic, NMR, and EPR methods. Mn2+ activates AS-partial complex in place of Mg2+, with a Km of 0.08 microM for Mn2+ and of 3.5 microM for Mg2+ in glutamine-dependent anthranilate synthase activity. The kinetics indicated that the metal interacts at the active site with chorismate, not glutamine. EPR and NMR water proton relaxation rate (PRR) studies supported this conclusion. EPR binding analysis showed that chorismate dramatically tightens Mn2+ binding by the partial complex. PRR experiments indicated that stoichiometric amounts of chorismate cause a substantial decrease in the enhancement of water relaxation by Mn2+, while millimolar amounts of glutamine have no effect. Analysis of the frequency dependence of water proton relaxation rates yielded dipolar correlation times of 2.5 x 10(-9) s and 4.1 x 10(-9) s for the Mn2+-partial complex and Mn2+-partial complex-chorismate complexes, respectively. These studies also indicated that chorismate binding reduces the number of fast-exchanging water molecules on enzyme-bound Mn2+ from 1 to 0.25. PRR experiments with the native bifunctional anthranilate synthase-phosphoribosyltransferase enzyme indicated the existence of additional Mn2+-binding sites which presumably function to activate the phosphoribosyltransferase activity of the Component II subunit.     

New approach to tryptophan production by Escherichia coli: genetic manipulation of composite plasmids in vitro.

For the purpose of studying the production of L-tryptophan by Escherichia coli, the deletion mutants of the trp operon (trpAE1) were transformed with mutant plasmids carrying the trp operon whose anthranilate synthase and phosphoribosyl anthranilate transferase (anthranilate aggregate), respectively, had been desensitized to tryptophan inhibition. In addition to release of the anthranilate aggregate from the feedback inhibition required for plasmids such as pSC101 trp.I15, the properties of trp repression (trpR) and tryptophanase deficiency (tnaA) were both indispensable for host strains such as strain Tna (trpAE1 trpR tnaA). The gene dosage effects on tryptophan synthase activities and on production of tryptophan were assessed. A moderate plasmid copy number, approximately five per chromosome, was optimal for tryptophan production. Similarly, an appropriate release of the anthranilate aggregate from feedback inhibition was also a necessary step to ward off the metabolic anomaly. If the mutant plasmid pSC101 trp-I15 was further mutagenized (pSC101 trp.I15.14) and then transferred to Tna cells, an effective enhancement of tryptophan production was achieved. Although further improvement of the host-plasmid system is needed before commercial production of tryptophan can be realized by this means, a promising step toward this goal has been established.     

Two single-base-pair substitutions causing desensitization to tryptophan feedback inhibition of anthranilate synthase and enhanced expression of tryptophan genes of Brevibacterium lactofermentum.

A 5-fluorotryptophan-resistant mutant, termed 1041, was isolated from Brevibacterium lactofermentum AJ12036. The anthranilate synthase of 1041 was insensitive to feedback inhibition by tryptophan, and the specific activities of the anthranilate synthase and anthranilate phosphoribosyltransferase of 1041 were 29- and 23-fold higher than those in parental strain AJ12036, respectively. A single-base change (adenine to cytosine) that resulted in a Ser-to-Arg substitution was found in the trpE structural gene of 1041. This substitution was identified as the cause of the desensitization to feedback inhibition by tryptophan of anthranilate synthase in 1041. Another substitution (guanine to adenine) was found at a position in which a mutation would destabilize the rho-independent terminator structure within the putative attenuator. The enhanced synthesis of tryptophan enzymes in 1041 could be caused by this substitution in the attenuator.     

Tryptophan of facultative methylotrophic bacteria Pseudomonas sp. M. II. Regulation of tryptophan biosynthesis

Regulation of tryptophan biosynthesis of facultative methylotrophic Pseudomonas sp. M was studied. Repression of the trpE, trpD and trpC genes by tryptophan was demonstrated. It was also shown that the trpE and trpDC genes are derepressed noncoordinately. No regulation of the trpF gene product could be demonstrated, indicating that its synthesis is constitutive. The trpA and trpB genes are inducible by indol-3-glycerophosphate. Anthranilate synthase and tryptophan synthase were sensitive to the feedback inhibition. The tryptophan concentrations giving 50% inhibition were estimated to be 9 microM and 1 microM, respectively. Experimental evidence for activation of the N-5-phosphoribosyl anthranilate isomerase and for inhibition of the indol-3-glycerophosphate synthase by some tryptophan intermediates was obtained.     

Hyperproduction of tryptophan by Escherichia coli: genetic manipulation of the pathways leading to tryptophan formation.

Conversion of glucose and ammonium salts into tryptophan by mutants of Escherichia coli was examined as part of a feasibility study on the manufacture of tryptophan. This involved construction, largely by transduction, or a variety of multiple-mutation strains with defined genotypes. By comparing the properties of these strains, we were able to define in biochemical terms several changes that significantly enhance process productivity, namely (i) release of the first enzyme of the common pathway of aromatic biosynthesis and the first enzyme of the tryptophan pathway (3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase and the anthranilate aggregate, respectively) from inhibition by end products, (ii) blockage of the diversion of chorismate to phenylalanine and tyrosine biosynthesis, and (iii) presence of highly elevated tryptophan pathway enzyme levels, such as result from interference with both repression and attenuation, combined with gene amplification. By using strains carrying appropriate mutations to effect all of these changes, high values of specific productivity were obtained in bath culture (approximately 80 mg/g [dry weight] per h). Furthermore, a pronounced decay in the level of 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthase activity was implicated as a cause of declining process producitivity during stationary phase, emphasizing the value of having derepressed levels of this enzyme.