The PHOT1 (NPH1) gene from Avena sativa specifies the blue light receptor for phototropism, phototropin, which comprises two FMN-binding LOV domains and a serine͞threonine protein kinase domain. Light exposure is conducive to autophosphorylation of the protein kinase domain. We have reconstituted a recombinant LOV2 domain of A. sativa phototropin with various 13 C͞ 15 N-labeled isotopomers of the cofactor, FMN. The reconstituted protein samples were analyzed by NMR spectroscopy under dark and light conditions. Blue light irradiation is shown to result in the addition of a thiol group (cysteine 450) to the 4a position of the FMN chromophore. The adduct reverts spontaneously in the dark by elimination. The light-driven flavin adduct formation results in conformational modification, which was diagnosed by 1 H and 31 P NMR spectroscopy. This conformational change is proposed to initiate the transmission of the light signal via conformational modulation of the protein kinase domain conducive to autophosphorylation of NPH1. N umerous phenomena in the life cycle of plants, including phototropism, stomatal opening, and circadian periodicity, are modulated by light. Photoreceptors responsive to UV, blue, red, and far red light have been reported. Together, they span the spectral range of about 280-800 nm.Blue light-responsive processes have been known for a long time, but cognate receptors have been characterized only recently. Thus, cryptochromes characterized by sequence similarity to DNA photolyases are now believed to be involved in the synchronization of the circadian clock (1-3). Phototropins are involved in phototropism (4, 5) and have no sequence similarity with the cryptochrome group. FAD and FMN serve as chromophores for cryptochromes and phototropins, respectively (6).Phototropin of Avena sativa is a protein with 923 amino acids specified by the NPH1 gene (ref. 7; for review, see also ref. 8).The protein comprises two FMN-binding LOV domains and a serine͞threonine protein kinase domain.The LOV domains of phototropin are similar to PAS domains involved in light, oxygen, or voltage sensing (4) in a variety of regulatory as well as sensor proteins exhibiting diverse functions (4, 9, 10). Recombinant LOV1 and LOV2 domains of phototropins from different plants have been shown to bind FMN (11). The crystal structure of the LOV2 domain of PHY3 protein of Adiantum capillus-veneris has been published recently (12).In this study, we reconstituted the LOV2 apoprotein from A. sativa with Experimental ProceduresMaterials. Stable isotope-labeled FMN samples were prepared by published procedures (13-15). Recombinant LOV2 Domain of Phototropin.A recombinant fusion protein comprising the calmodulin-binding domain from myosin light chain kinase and the LOV2 domain from NPH1 protein of A. sativa was prepared as described earlier (16,17). The fusion protein is subsequently designated recombinant LOV2 domain.Reconstitution of LOV2 Domain with Isotope-Labeled FMN. Recombinant LOV2 domain (fusion protein) was depleted of FMN and su...

The biosynthesis of one riboflavin molecule requires one molecule of GTP and two molecules of ribulose 5-phosphate as substrates. The imidazole ring of GTP is hydrolytically opened, yielding a 4, 5-diaminopyrimidine which is converted to 5-amino-6-ribitylamino-2, 4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione by a sequence of deamination, side chain reduction and dephosphorylation. Condensation of 5-amino-6-ribitylamino-2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione with 3, 4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate obtained from ribulose 5-phosphate affords 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine. Dismutation of the lumazine derivative yields riboflavin and 5-amino-6-ribitylamino-2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione, which is recycled in the biosynthetic pathway. The structure of the biosynthetic enzyme, 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine synthase, has been studied in considerable detail.

The blue-light sensitive photoreceptor, phototropin, is a flavoprotein which regulates the phototropism response of higher plants. The photoinduced triplet state and the photoreactivity of the flavin-mononucleotide (FMN) cofactor in two LOV domains of Avena sativa, Adiantum capillus-veneris, and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii phototropin have been studied by time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and UV-vis spectroscopy at low temperatures (T < or = 80 K). Differences in the electronic structure of the FMN as reflected by altered zero-field splitting parameters of the triplet state could be correlated with changes in the amino acid composition of the binding pocket in wild-type LOV1 and LOV2 as well as in mutant LOV domains. Even at cryogenic temperatures, time-resolved EPR experiments indicate photoreactivity of the wild-type LOV domains, which was further characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy. Wild-type LOV1 and LOV2 were found to form an adduct between the FMN cofactor and the functional cysteine with a yield of 22% and 68%, respectively. The absorption maximum of the low-temperature photoproduct of wild-type LOV2 is red-shifted by about 15 nm as compared with the FMN C(4a)-cysteinyl adduct formed at room temperature. In light of these observations, we discuss a radical-pair reaction mechanism for the primary photoreaction in LOV domains.

Ultraviolet radiation promotes the formation of a cyclobutane ring between adjacent pyrimidine residues on the same DNA strand to form a pyrimidine dimer. Such dimers may be restored to their monomeric forms through the action of a light-absorbing enzyme named DNA photolyase. The redox-active cofactor involved in the light-induced electron transfer reactions of DNA repair and enzyme photoactivation is a noncovalently bound FAD. In this paper, the FAD cofactor of Escherichia coli DNA photolyase was characterized as the neutral flavin semiquinone by EPR spectroscopy at 9.68 and 94.5 GHz. From the high-frequency/high-field EPR spectrum, the principal values of the axially symmetric g-matrix of FADH(*) were extracted. Both EPR spectra show an emerging hyperfine splitting of 0.85 mT that could be assigned to the isotropic hyperfine coupling constant (hfc) of the proton at N(5). To obtain more information about the electron spin density distribution ENDOR and TRIPLE resonance spectroscopies were applied. All major proton hfc's could be measured and unambiguously assigned to molecular positions at the isoalloxazin moiety of FAD. The isotropic hfc's of the protons at C(8alpha) and C(6) are among the smallest values reported for protein-bound neutral flavin semiquinones so far, suggesting a highly restricted delocalization of the unpaired electron spin on the isoalloxazin moiety. Two further hfc's have been detected and assigned to the inequivalent protons at C(1'). Some conclusions about the geometrical arrangement of the ribityl side chain with respect to the isoalloxazin ring could be drawn: Assuming tetrahedral angles at C(1') the dihedral angle between the C(1')-C(2') bond and the 2p(z)() orbital at N(10) has been estimated to be 170.4 degrees +/- 1 degrees.

Density functional theory is used to calculate the electronic structure of the neutral flavin radical, FADH(*), formed in the light-induced electron-transfer reaction of DNA repair in cis,syn-cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer photolyases. Using the hybrid B3LYP functional together with the double-zeta basis set EPR-II, (1)H, (13)C, (15)N, and (17)O isotropic and anisotropic hyperfine couplings are calculated and explained by reference to the electron densities of the highest occupied molecular orbital and of the unpaired spin distribution on the radical. Comparison of calculated and experimental hyperfine couplings obtained from EPR and ENDOR/TRIPLE resonance leads to a refined structure for the FAD cofactor in Escherichia coli DNA photolyase. Hydrogen bonding at N3H, O4, and N5H results in significant changes in the unpaired spin density distribution and hyperfine coupling constants. The calculated electronic structure of FADH(*) provides evidence for a superexchange-mediated electron transfer between the cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer lesion and the 7,8-dimethyl isoalloxazine moiety of the flavin cofactor via the adenine moiety.

Skeletal rearrangements of carbohydrates are crucial for many biosynthetic pathways. In riboflavin biosynthesis ribulose 5-phosphate is converted into 3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate while its C4 atom is released as formate in a sequence of metal-dependent reactions. Here, we present the crystal structure of Methanococcus jannaschii 3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate synthase in complex with the substrate ribulose 5-phosphate at a dimetal center presumably consisting of non-catalytic zinc and calcium ions at 1.7-Å resolution. The carbonyl group (O2) and two out of three free hydroxyl groups (OH3 and OH4) of the substrate are metal-coordinated. We correlate previous mutational studies on this enzyme with the present structural results. Residues of the first coordination sphere involved in metal binding are indispensable for catalytic activity. Only Glu-185 of the second coordination sphere cannot be replaced without complete loss of activity. It contacts the C3 hydrogen atom directly and probably initiates enediol formation in concert with both metal ions to start the reaction sequence. Mechanistic similarities to Rubisco acting on the similar substrate ribulose 1,5-diphosphate in carbon dioxide fixation as well as other carbohydrate (reducto-) isomerases are discussed.Riboflavin (vitamin B 2 ) is biosynthesized in plants and numerous microorganisms but not in animals, which depend on nutritional sources. Its derivatives, flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and flavinadenine dinucleotide (FAD), are indispensable in all cells where they serve a variety of redox reactions (1). They have also been shown to serve a variety of other functions in cells such as DNA photorepair (2), light sensing (3, 4), and bioluminescence (5-8) and in reactions without net-redox change (9).Gram-negative bacteria are absolutely dependent on endogenous synthesis of riboflavin, because they are devoid of an uptake system for flavins or flavocoenzymes. Hence, riboflavindeficient mutants e.g. of Escherichia coli and Salmonella sp. require extremely high concentrations of exogenous riboflavin for growth. The same is true for yeasts such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida guilliermondii (for review see Refs. 1 and 10 -13). Thus, these organisms should be vulnerable to inhibitors of the riboflavin biosynthesis, which could therefore qualify as novel anti-infective agents. The absence of the riboflavin pathway in the human host appears advantageous in this context, because host/parasite selectivity of inhibitory agents would not constitute a problem. The mechanistic and structural analysis of the riboflavin pathway could serve as the basis for the rational design of riboflavin pathway inhibitors.3,4-Dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate synthase supplies the building blocks for the assembly of the xylene ring of the vitamin (14 -17). In fact, all eight carbon atoms of the xylene moiety are derived from the product of the enzyme. In the biosynthetic pathway, 3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate is condensed with 5-amino-6-ribitylamino-2,4(1H,3H)-...

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The ribG gene at the 5 end of the riboflavin operon of Bacillus subtilis and a reading frame at 442 kb on the Escherichia coli chromosome (subsequently designated ribD) show similarity with deoxycytidylate deaminase and with the RIB7 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The ribG gene of B. subtilis and the ribD gene of E. coli were expressed in recombinant E. coli strains and were shown to code for bifunctional proteins catalyzing the second and third steps in the biosynthesis of riboflavin, i.e., the deamination of 2,5-diamino-6-ribosylamino-4(3H)-pyrimidinone 5-phosphate (deaminase) and the subsequent reduction of the ribosyl side chain (reductase). The recombinant proteins specified by the ribD gene of E. coli and the ribG gene of B. subtilis were purified to homogeneity. NADH as well as NADPH can be used as a cosubstrate for the reductase of both microorganisms under study. Expression of the N-terminal or C-terminal part of the RibG protein yielded proteins with deaminase or reductase activity, respectively; however, the truncated proteins were rather unstable.