Shikimate dehydrogenase from pepper (Capsicum annuum) seedlings. Purification and properties

Shikimate dehydrogenase (SKDH, EC 1.1.1.25) was extracted from seedlings of pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) and purified 347-fold. The purification procedure included precipitation with ammonium sulphate and chromatography in columns of Reactive Red-agarose, Q-Sepharose and Sephadex G-100. Pepper SKDH isozymes are separable only using PAGE. The purified enzyme has a relative molecular mass of 67 000 as estimated by gel filtration. The optimum pH of enzyme activity is 10.5 and the optimum temperature is 50°C, but the enzyme is quickly inactivated at temperatures higher than 40°C. The purified enzyme exhibited typical Michaelis-Menten kinetics and K_m values are 0.087 m M for shikimic acid and 0.017 m M for NADP. The mechanism of reaction is sequential considering NADP as a cosubstrate. Ions such as Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺ activate the enzyme, but Zn²⁺ and Cu²⁺ are strong inhibitors. Some phenolic compounds such as guaiacol, protocatechuic acid and 2,4-D are competitive inhibitors of pepper SKDH, showing K_i values of 0.38 m M , 0.27 m M and 0.16 m M , respectively.