Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase and phosphoribulokinase in Prochloron

Cell-free extracts of Prochloron didemni were assayed for ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylase (EC 4.1.1.39) and phosphoribulokinase (EC 2.7.1.19), two key enzymes in the reductive pentose-phosphate cycle. In an RuBP-dependent reaction, the production of two molecules of 3-phosphoglycerate per molecule of CO₂ fixed was shown. Phosphoribulokinase activity was demonstrated by the production of ADP from ribulose 5-phosphate (Ru5P) and ATP and by measurement of ATP-, Ru5P-dependent ¹⁴CO₂ fixation in the presence of excess spinach RuBP carboxylase. When Prochloron RuBP carboxylase was purified from cell-free extracts by isopycnic centrifugation in reoriented linear 0.2 to 0.8 M sucrose gradients, the enzyme sedimented to a position which corresponded to that for the 520,000-dalton spinach enzyme. After polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) of Prochloron enzyme, a major band of enzyme activity corresponded to that for the spinach enzyme. Considerably more additional carboxylase activity was found in a less mobile species than was the case for spinach RuBP carboxylase. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE of the Prochloron enzyme indicates that it is composed of both large (molecular weight, MW=57,500) and small (MW=18,800) subunits.     

Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase and polyhedral bodies of Chlorogloeopsis fritschii

Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylase (EC 4.1.1.39) activity was approximately equally distributed between supernatant and pellet fractions produced by differential centrifugation of disrupted cells of Chlorogloeopsis fritschii. Low ionic strength buffer favoured the recovery of particulate RuBP carboxylase. Density gradient centrifugation of resuspended cell-free particulate material produced a single band of RuBP carboxylase activity, which was associated with the polyhedral body fraction, rather than with the thylakoids or other observable particles. Isolated polyhedral body stability was improved by density gradient centrifugation through gradients of Percoll plus sucrose in buffer, which yielded apparently intact polyhedral bodies. These were 100 to 150 nm in diameter and contained ring-shaped, 12 nm diameter particles. It is inferred that the C. fritschii polyhedral bodies are carboxysomes. Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of SDS-dissociated polyhedral bodies revealed 8 major polypeptides. The most abundant, with molecular weights of 52,000 and 13,000, correspond with the large and small subunits, respectively, of RuBP carboxylase.Abbreviations RuBP ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate - Ru5P ribulose 5-phosphate - SDS sodium dodecyl sulphate - PAGE polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis - EDTA ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid - Tris tris (hydroxymethyl) methylamine - IB isolation buffer - TCA trichloroacetic acid     

Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase and oxygenase from Thiocapsa roseopersicina: activation and catalysis.

Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase purified from malate-grown Thiocapsa roseopersicina required Mg²⁺ for the activation of both carboxylase and oxygenase activities. Mg²⁺ was either not required or required at very low concentrations for catalysis by both enzyme activities. EDTA and dithiothreitol had no effect on ribulose 1,5-biphosphate oxygenase. The K_0.5 values with respect to Mg²⁺ for activation of the carboxylase and oxygenase activities were 8.4 and 2 mm, respectively. Ribulose 1,5-biphosphate carboxylase and oxygenase activities revealed differential sensitivities to 6-phosphogluconate. This ligand at 1 mm inhibited the carboxylase activity 30%, whereas the oxygenase activity was inhibited by 69%.     

Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase from the halophilic cyanobacterium Aphanothece halophytica

Various structural and functional properties of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/ oxygenase (RuBisCO) isolated from the halophilic cyanobacterium (blue-green alga) Aphanothece halophytica were reexamined. The ready dissociation of this algal RuBisCO during sedimentation in a linear sucrose density gradient was observed. Low NaCl concentrations promote the dissociation of small subunit (B) from the original native enzyme molecule as evidenced by the sucrose density gradient centrifugation and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. It is thus possible that the intracellular osmoticum of A. halophytica might influence the structural integrity and activity of RuBisCO. The low residual carboxylase activity ascribed to the catalytic core, an oligomer form of the large subunit (A) apparently deficient in small subunit (B), was found to be markedly stimulated by a protein component which appears identical to subunit B. The purification and structural characterization of the catalytic core and subunit B were attempted by step-wise column chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, Utrogel AcA 34, Sephadex G-75, and hydroxylapatite, and at the final stage each component was purified to near homogeneity, although the catalytic core is still associated with a small quantity of subunit B. The addition of subunit B to the catalytic core does not alter the K_m (HCO₃^?, RuBP) values, but V_max values are markedly enhanced. Sucrose density gradient centrifugation gave a value of 16 S for the catalytic core. The molecular weights of the monomeric forms of the catalytic core (subunit A) and subunit B were 5.0 × 10⁴ and 1.4 × 10⁴, respectively.     

Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase from Pseudomonas oxalacticus.

Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase was purified by a rapid, facile procedure from formate-grown Pseudomonas oxalaticus. The electrophoretically homogeneous enzyme had specific activities of 1.9 mumol of CO2 fixed per min per mg of protein and 0.15 mumol of O2 consumed per min per mg of protein. The amino acid composition was similar to that of other bacterial sources of the enzyme. The molecular weights determined by sedimentation equilibrium and by gel filtration were 421,000 and 450,000, respectively. Upon sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis of enzyme purified under conditions which would limit proteolysis, two types of large (L) subunits and two types of small (S) subunits were observed with apparent molecular weights of 57,000, 55,000, 17,000 and 15,000. By densitometric scans at two different protein concentrations the stoichiometry of the total large to total small subunits was 1:1, implying an L6S6 structure. Electron micrographs of the enzyme revealed an unusual structure that was inconsistent with a cubical structure. The enzyme had an unusually high Km for ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (220 microM) and was strongly inhibited by 6-phosphogluconate in the ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase assay (Ki = 270 microM). One, 5, and 12 days after purification the enzyme was half-maximally activated at 0.13 microM, 0.23 mM, and 0.70 mM CO2, respectively, at saturating Mg2+. At saturating CO2, enzyme 1 day afer purification responded sigmoidally to Mg2+ and was half-maximally activated by 0.85 mM Mg2+ in the absence of 6-phosphogluconate (Hill coefficient, h = 2.0) and by 0.19 mM Mg2+ in the presence of mM 6-phosphogluconate (h = 1.7).     

Regeneration of Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate and Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase Activity Associated with Lack of Oxygen Inhibition of Photosynthesis at Low Temperature

The nature of the lack of oxygen inhibition of C₃-photosynthesisat low temperature was investigated in white clover (Trifoliumrepens L.). Detached leaves were brought to steady-state photosynthesisin air (34 Pa p(CO²), 21 kPa p(O₂), balance N₂) at temperaturesof 20°C and 8°C, respectively. Net photosynthesis, ribulose1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) and ATP contents, and ribulose 1,5-bisphosphatecarboxylase/oxygenase (RuBPCO) activities were followed beforeand after changing to 2·0 kPa p(O₂). At 20°C, lowering p(O₂) increased net photosynthesis by37%. This increase corresponded closely with the increase expectedfrom the effect on the kinetic properties of RuBPCO. Conversely,at 8°C net photosynthesis rapidly decreased following adecrease in p(O₂) and then increased again reaching a steady-statelevel which was only 7% higher than at 21 kPa p(O₂). The steady-staterates of RuBP and associated ATP consumption were both estimatedto have decreased. ATP and RuBP contents decreased by 18% and33% respectively, immediately after the change in p(O₂) suggestingthat RuBP regeneration was reduced at low p(O₂) due to reducedphotophosphorylation. Subsequently, RuBP content increased again.Steady-state RuBP content at 2·0 kPa p(O₂) was 24% higherthan at 21 kPa p(O₂). RuBPCO activity decreased by 22%, indicatingcontrol of steady-state RuBP consumption by RuBPCO activity. It is suggested that lack of oxygen inhibition of photosynthesisat low temperature is due to decreased photophosphorylationat low temperature and low p(O₂). This may be due to assimilateaccumulation within the chloroplasts. Decreased photophosphorylationseems to decrease RuBP synthesis and RuBPCO activity, possiblydue to an acidification of the chloroplast stroma. Key words: Oxygen inhibition, photosynthesis, ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase     

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase as a nuclear and chloroplast marker

Summary The data on the primary structure of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase are reviewed. Examples of their use as markers and in the elucidation of the evolution, adaptation and function of this key enzyme are given.     

Questions about the complexity of chloroplast ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco; EC 4.1.1.39) has played a central role in our understanding of chloroplast biogenesis and photosynthesis. In particular, its catalysis of the rate-limiting step of CO₂ fixation, and the mutual competition of CO₂ and O₂ at the active site, makes Rubisco a prime focus for genetically engineering an increase in photosynthetic productivity. Although it remains difficult to manipulate the chloroplast-encoded large subunit and nuclear-encoded small subunit of crop plants, much has been learned about the structure/function relationships of Rubisco by expressing prokaryotic genes in Escherichia coli or by exploiting classical genetics and chloroplast transformation of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. However, the complexity of chloroplast Rubisco in land plants cannot be completely addressed with the existing model organisms. Two subunits encoded in different genetic compartments have coevolved in the formation of the Rubisco holoenzyme, but the function of the small subunit remains largely unknown. The subunits are posttranslationally modified, assembled via a complex process, and degraded in regulated ways. There is also a second chloroplast protein, Rubisco activase, that is responsible for removing inhibitory molecules from the large-subunit active site. Many of these complex interactions and processes display species specificity. This means that attempts to engineer or discover a better Rubisco may be futile if one cannot transfer the better enzyme to a compatible host. We must frame the questions that address this problem of chloroplast-Rubisco complexity. We must work harder to find the answers.     

Activation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase by chloroplast metabolites in a reconstituted spinach chloroplast system

In a preparation of soluble components from isolated spinach (Spinecia oleracea L.) chloroplasts, the activity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (EC 4.1.1.39) is strongly increased by 6-phosphogluconate or by NADPH at pH 8.0. When the thylakoid system is added to these soluble components (reconstituted chloroplast system) plus ferredoxin, the carboxylase is even more strongly activated in the light. This light activation appears to be due to reduction of endogenous NADP⁺ by electrons from the light reactions transferred via ferredoxin, since NADPH alone can activate the purified enzyme in the dark while reduced ferredoxin does not. The regulatory properties of the enzyme in the reconstituted chloroplast system are compared with those of the isolated enzyme, and their possible physiologic significance is discussed.Abbreviations Fd ferredoxin - PPC pentose phosphate cycle - 6-PGluA 6-phosphogluconate - Rib-5-P ribose-5-phosphate - RuBP ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate     

Ribulose 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase and Chlorobium thiosulfatophilum

1. Cell-free extracts of the photosynthetic bacterium Chlorobium thiosulfatophilum, strains 8327 and Tassajara, were assayed for ribulose 1,5-diphosphate (RuDP) carboxylase and phosphoribulokinase-the two enzymes peculiar to the reductive pentose phosphate cycle. 2. RuDP carboxylase was consistently absent in strain 8327. The Tassajara strain showed a low RuDP-dependent CO₂ fixation activity that was somewhat higher in cells following transatlantic air shipment than in freshly grown cells. The stability and behaviour of this activity in sucrose density gradients were similar to those described by other workers. 3. The radioactive carboxylation products formed in the presence of RuDP by enzyme preparations from the Tassajara strain did not include 3-phosphoglycerate-the known product of the RuDP carboxylase reaction, but instead consisted of the unrelated acids glutamate, aspartate and malate. 4. Phosphoribulokinase was absent in all preparations of the two Chlorobium strains tested. By contrast, phosphoribulokinase as well as RuDP carboxylase were readily demonstrated in preparations from pea chloroplasts and the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum. 5. It is concluded that C. thiosulfatophilum appears to lack RuDP carboxylase, phosphoribulokinase, and hence, the reductive pentose phosphate cycle.Support of a J. S. Guggenheim Fellowship is gratefully acknowledged     

Loose association of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase with chloroplast thylakoid membranes

The intra-chloroplastic distribution of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) between thylakoid membranes and stroma was studied by determining the enzyme activities in the two fractions, obtained by the rapid centrifugation of hypotonically disrupted chloroplast preparations of spinach and pea leaf tissues. The membrane-associated form of RuBisCO was found to increase in proportion to the concentration of MgCl₂ in the disrupting medium; with 20 mM MgCl₂ approximately 20% of the total RuBisCO of spinach chloroplasts and 10% of that of pea chloroplasts became associated with thylakoid membranes. Once released from membranes in the absence of MgCl₂, addition of MgCl₂ did not cause reassociation of the enzyme. The inclusion of KCl in the hypotonic disruption buffer also caused the association of RuBisCO with membranes; however, up to 30 mM KCl, only minimal enzyme activities could be detected in the membranes, whereas above 40 mM KCl there was a sharp increase in the membrane-associated form of the enzyme.Higher concentrations of chloroplasts during the hypotonic disruption, as well as addition of purified preparations of RuBisCO to the hypotonic buffer, resulted in an increase of membrane-associated activity. Therefore, the association of the enzyme with thylakoid membranes appears to be dependent on the concentration of RuBisCO. P-glycerate kinase and aldolase also associated to the thylakoid membranes but NADP-linked glyceraldehyde-3-P dehydrogenase did not. The optimal conditions for enzyme association with the thylakoid membranes were examined; maximal association occurred at pH 8.0. The association was temperature-insensitive in the range of 4° to 25° C. RuBisCO associated with the thylakoid membranes could be gradually liberated to the soluble form upon shaking in a Vortex mixer at maximal speed, indicating that the association is loose.Abbreviations DTT dithiothreitol - RuBP ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate - RuBisCO ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase - MES 2-(N-morpholino) ethane sulfonic acid     

The state of activation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase in wheat leaves

In light and in darkness, exposure of leaf segments to CO₂-free atmospheres caused a marked reduction in extractable RuBP carboxylase activity. By contrast, darkness caused a relatively small decrease in carboxylase activity in extracts from leaf segments kept in air containing CO₂. Recovery of carboxylase activity in leaves during illumination in air after exposure to CO₂-free conditions paralleled recovery of capacity for photosynthesis; in darkness recovery of carboxylase activity in leaves was slower than in the light. Extracts from leaves exposed to CO₂-free conditions recovered activity when provided with CO₂ and Mg²⁺; there were clearly, however, substances in the extracts that modified the activity achieved and caused anomalous decreases and increases with time after extraction. Studies of the effect of orthophosphate on the activity of purified wheat carboxylase in vitro were consistent with the view that many of the effects observed on the activity of crude leaf extracts were due to orthophosphate content.     

Bicarbonate inhibits ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBPCO) rapidly extracted from leaves of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and purified activated RuBPCO were incubated in the presence and absence of 20 millimolar HCO₃⁻ and changes in activation state were followed. Rapid inactivation occurred in the presence, but not in the absence, of HCO₃⁻. Effects of CO₂ concentration and pH during preincubation before assay on activation state of RuBPCO were investigated in equilibrium studies. Twenty percent inactivation occurred at high CO₂ concentration if pH was high, but not if it was low, suggesting that RuBPCO was inactivated by HCO₃⁻. The inactivation by HCO₃⁻ was more rapid than the dissociation of activating CO₂ in CO₂-free buffer (both in the presence of 20 millimolar MgCl₂), suggesting that HCO₃⁻ was bound to the active enzyme complex. The dissociation of inactivating HCO₃⁻ from the enzyme was slow enough that inhibition could be demonstrated in experiments with HCO₃⁻ treatments during preincubation and constant conditions during assay. Inorganic phosphate did not seem to interfere with the binding of HCO₃⁻.     

Intermediates in the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase reaction

At least two intermediates of the D-ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (EC 4.1.1.39) reaction were liberated in detectable amounts when the functioning enzyme from Rhodospirillum rubrum was quenched in acid. Using substrate labeled with 32P in C-1, [32P]orthophosphate (Pi) was found when the quenched solution was rapidly processed for extraction of Pi as the acid molybdate complex. Reaction with sodium borohydride under mildly alkaline conditions immediately after acid quenching of the carboxylase reaction decreased the amount of 32Pi that was observed by 68%. The compound whose degradation to Pi was prevented by reaction with sodium borohydride decomposed under both acid and neutral conditions with a half-time of about 5 min at 25 degrees C and was assigned to the beta-keto acid recently demonstrated for the spinach enzyme ( Schloss , J.V., and Lorimer , G.H. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 4691-4694). It was sufficiently stable upon neutralization to react productively with fresh enzyme. As substrate CO2 concentration was decreased below the steady state Km value, the proportion of the 32P that did not react with sodium borohydride increased, indicative of a second unstable intermediate that precedes the carboxylation step. The decomposition of the latter intermediate to Pi, which occurs with a t1/2 less than or equal to 6 ms, was prevented if I2 was present in the acid quench medium. These are properties expected of the 2,3- enediol form of ribulose bisphosphate. Both intermediates reach their maximum levels when product formation is most rapid and disappear when product formation is complete as expected of reaction intermediates.     

Nine introns with conserved boundary sequences in the Euglena gracilis chloroplast ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase gene

The single, chloroplast encoded gene for the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (rbcL) from Euglena gracilis is found to contain nine intervening sequences. The intervening sequences were identified by heteroduplex analysis between Euglena rbcL and the non-intron-containing rbcL from Spinacea oleracea, by electron microscopy of Euglena rbcL DNA-mRNA hybrids, and by cloning, restriction endonuclease analysis, and partial DNA sequencing. The identification, locus, and coding properties for six of ten exons was confirmed by partial DNA sequence analysis. Each of the nine introns in the approximately 6.5 kb rbcL locus is approximately 0.5 kb in length. The DNA sequence of five 3'-intron/5'-exon and four 3'-exon/5'-intron boundaries are highly conserved. A proposed consensus sequence is (formula; see text) These conserved sequences could play a role in an mRNA splicing mechanism in chloroplasts analogous to that in eucaryotic nuclei.     

A point mutation in the N-terminus of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase affects ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate binding

Mutagenesis in vitro of the gene encoding the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/ oxygenase (EC 4.1.1.39) from Anacystis nidulans was used to generate novel enzymes. Two conserved residues, threonine 4 and lysine 11 in the N-terminus were changed. The substitution of threonine 4 with serine or valine had little effect on the kinetic parameters. The substitution of lysine 11 with leucine, which is non-polar, increased the K _m for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate from 82 to 190 M but its replacement with glutamine, which has polar properties, had no appreciable effect.Abbreviations Rubisco ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase - RuBP ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate - LSU large sub-unit of Rubisco - SSU small subunit of Rubisco We thank Dr. S. Gutteridge (DuPont, Wilmington, USA) for structural information and for his comments on the results described. The technical assistance of Mr. A. Cowland and Mr. I. Major was invaluable.     

Measurement and preservation of the in vivo activation of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase in leaf extracts

Photosynthetic carbon fixation is regulated in the chloroplast by the amount of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase which is activated. The activated carboxylase was preserved in detached leaves (barley, maize, soybean, spinach, wheat) for 90 min when stored on ice. With leaf extracts stored at 2°C, the amount of activated enzyme, representing that originally in the leaf, as well as the fully activated enzyme, formed by incubation of leaf extracts with Mg²⁺ and bicarbonate, both slowly declined in activity. However, for each activity this decline was proportional such that the ratio (percent activation) appeared constant. No change was observed in activation of the enzyme during the brief time of leaf homogenization. Optimal conditions (Mg²⁺, incubation time) for measurement of leaf activation of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase vary depending on the plant.     

The effect of magnesium and other ions on the distribution of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase in chloroplast extracts

In an attempt to produce chloroplast extracts containing ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylase in its fully activated state, MgCl₂ and NaHCO₃ were included in the medium used to osmotically shock chloroplasts. Extracts prepared in this manner contained lower levels of the enzyme than those prepared in the absence of MgCl₂ and NaHCO₃. The difference in enzyme levels was found to be attributable to an association in the presence of Mg²⁺, between RuBP carboxylase and the thylakoids removed from the extract during its preparation. Some monovalent cations caused a similar association, although to a lesser extent. The trivalent cation Tris(ethylenediamine) cobalt(III) was more effective in causing this association, but was highly inhibitory to the enzyme. The results suggest that the attraction between thylakoids and RuBP carboxylase in the presence of certain ions is likely to be electrical in nature. The results are discussed in terms of the media used to isolate RuBP carboxylase.