The first committed step in the biosynthesis of L-ascorbate from D-glucose in plants requires conversion of GDP-L-galactose to L-galactose 1-phosphate by a previously unidentified enzyme. Here we show that the protein encoded by VTC2, a gene mutated in vitamin C-deficient Arabidopsis thaliana strains, is a member of the GalT/Apa1 branch of the histidine triad protein superfamily that catalyzes the conversion of GDP-L-galactose to L-galactose 1-phosphate in a reaction that consumes inorganic phosphate and produces GDP. In characterizing recombinant VTC2 from A. thaliana as a specific GDP-L-galactose/GDP-Dglucose phosphorylase, we conclude that enzymes catalyzing each of the ten steps of the Smirnoff-Wheeler pathway from glucose to ascorbate have been identified. Finally, we identify VTC2 homologs in plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates, suggesting that a similar reaction is used widely in nature.Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) is well known as an important antioxidant and enzyme cofactor in animals (1, 2) and in plants (3). Apparently, all plants are able to produce vitamin C and mutants completely deficient in synthesis have not been described, suggesting an essential role of ascorbate biosynthesis in these organisms (4). Although vertebrate vitamin C synthesis is restricted to one organ (liver in mammals and kidney in fish, amphibians, and reptiles) (5, 6), virtually all cells in plants can form ascorbate (4). In the few vertebrate species, such as humans, which lack ascorbate biosynthesis, loss of the pathway is compensated by dietary intake, particularly from plants.Different pathways of ascorbate synthesis have evolved in animals and plants. In animals, ascorbate is formed from UDP-D-glucuronate in a pathway involving D-glucuronate formation, reduction and lactonization of D-glucuronate to L-gulonolactone and oxidation of the latter to L-ascorbate (reviewed in Ref. 7). Deficiency of the enzyme catalyzing this last step (L-gulonolactone oxidase) is responsible for the loss of ascorbate synthesis in the vitamin C-requiring vertebrates (8). In plants, the ascorbate synthesis pathway has remained elusive until recently and alternative pathways may exist (9). The Smirnoff-Wheeler pathway (10) has garnered strong biochemical and genetic support (11-16) and appears to represent the major route to ascorbate biosynthesis. In this pathway, GDP-D-mannose, formed from D-mannose 1-phosphate, is successively converted to GDP-L-galactose, L-galactose 1-phosphate, L-galactose, L-galactono-1,4-lactone, and finally to L-ascorbate.Screens for ozone-sensitive (17) or ascorbate-deficient (18) mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana led to the identification of four loci (VTC1, VTC2, VTC3, and VTC4) involved in the maintenance of the vitamin C pool. Characterization of the vtc1 (19) and vtc4 (15) mutants, as well as biochemical studies (14), have allowed the identification of two of the enzymes required for L-ascorbic acid synthesis through the Smirnoff-Wheeler pathway. VTC1 and VTC4 encode GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase (19) and L-Gal-1-P ...

NAD؉ is a co-enzyme for hydride transfer enzymes and an essential substrate of ADP-ribose transfer enzymes and sirtuins, the type III protein lysine deacetylases related to yeast Sir2. Supplementation of yeast cells with nicotinamide riboside extends replicative lifespan and increases Sir2-dependent gene silencing by virtue of increasing net NAD ؉ synthesis. Nicotinamide riboside elevates NAD ؉ levels via the nicotinamide riboside kinase pathway and by a pathway initiated by splitting the nucleoside into a nicotinamide base followed by nicotinamide salvage. Genetic evidence has established that uridine hydrolase, purine nucleoside phosphorylase, and methylthioadenosine phosphorylase are required for Nrk-independent utilization of nicotinamide riboside in yeast. Here we show that mammalian purine nucleoside phosphorylase but not methylthioadenosine phosphorylase is responsible for mammalian nicotinamide riboside kinase-independent nicotinamide riboside utilization. We demonstrate that so-called uridine hydrolase is 100-fold more active as a nicotinamide riboside hydrolase than as a uridine hydrolase and that uridine hydrolase and mammalian purine nucleoside phosphorylase cleave nicotinic acid riboside, whereas the yeast phosphorylase has little activity on nicotinic acid riboside. Finally, we show that yeast nicotinic acid riboside utilization largely depends on uridine hydrolase and nicotinamide riboside kinase and that nicotinic acid riboside bioavailability is increased by ester modification. NADϩ and its phosphorylated and reduced derivatives are essential co-enzymes for hydride transfer enzymes central to intermediary metabolism. NAD ϩ is also a consumed substrate of three classes of enzymes, which produce ADP-ribosyl products plus nicotinamide (Nam) 4 (1). Sirtuins utilize the ADPribose moiety of NAD ϩ to accept the acetyl modification of lysine, thereby producing a deacetylated protein plus Nam and a mixture of 2Ј-and 3Ј-acetylated ADP-ribose (2-4). Such reactions are important for chromatin silencing (5) and regulation of transcription factors and enzymes, thereby controlling a variety of genomic transactions (6), metabolic switches (7,8), and lifespan (9 -11). ADP-ribose transferases and polyADP-ribose polymerases utilize NAD ϩ to add ADP-ribose as a posttranslational modification and/or to form ADP-ribose polymers (12, 13). Finally, cyclic ADP-ribose synthases produce and hydrolyze the calcium-mobilizing compound, cADP-ribose (14, 15). Thus, via pleiotropic ways and means, NAD ϩ is a central mediator of cellular and organismal metabolism and signaling.Although co-enzymatic NAD ϩ functions do not necessitate ongoing NAD ϩ synthesis, the activities of the NAD ϩ -consuming enzymes mandate either ongoing de novo or salvage synthesis (see Fig. 1). In yeast, de novo synthesis from tryptophan maintains intracellular NAD ϩ at ϳ0.8 mM, at which concentration cells grow well but perform Sir2-dependent gene silencing poorly and have relatively short replicative life spans (16). However, supplementation with 10 M n...

Checkpoint with forkhead-associated and RING (Chfr) is a ubiquitin ligase (E3) that establishes an antephase or prometaphase checkpoint in response to mitotic stress. Though ubiquitination is essential for checkpoint function, the sites, linkages and ubiquitin conjugating enzyme (E2) specificity are controversial. Here we dissect the function of the two Chfr homologs in S. cerevisiae, Chf1 and Chf2, overexpression of which retard cell cycle at both G 1 and G 2 . Using a genetic assay, we establish that Ubc4 is required for Chf2-dependent G 1 cell cycle delay and Chf protein turnover. In contrast, Ubc13/Mms2 is required for G 2 delay and does not contribute to Chf protein turnover. By reconstituting cis and trans-ubiquitination activities of Chf proteins in purified systems and characterizing sites modified and linkages formed by tandem mass spectrometry, we discovered that Ubc13/Mms2-dependent modifications are a distinct subset of those catalyzed by Ubc4. Mutagenesis of Lys residues identified in vitro indicates that site-specific Ubc4-dependent Chf protein autoubiquitination is responsible for Chf protein turnover. Thus, combined genetic and biochemical analyses indicate that Chf proteins have dual E2 specificity accounting for different functions in the cell cycle.

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The Arabidopsis thaliana VTC2 gene encodes an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of GDP-L-galactose to L-galactose 1-phosphate in the first committed step of the SmirnoffWheeler pathway to plant vitamin C synthesis. Mutations in VTC2 had previously been found to lead to only partial vitamin C deficiency. Here we show that the Arabidopsis gene At5g55120 encodes an enzyme with high sequence identity to VTC2. Designated VTC5, this enzyme displays substrate specificity and enzymatic properties that are remarkably similar to those of VTC2, suggesting that it may be responsible for residual vitamin C synthesis in vtc2 mutants. The exact nature of the reaction catalyzed by VTC2/VTC5 is controversial because of reports that kiwifruit and Arabidopsis VTC2 utilize hexose 1-phosphates as phosphorolytic acceptor substrates. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy and a VTC2-H238N mutant, we provide evidence that the reaction proceeds through a covalent guanylylated histidine residue within the histidine triad motif. Moreover, we show that both the Arabidopsis VTC2 and VTC5 enzymes catalyze simple phosphorolysis of the guanylylated enzyme, forming GDP and L-galactose 1-phosphate from GDP-L-galactose and phosphate, with poor reactivity of hexose 1-phosphates as phosphorolytic acceptors. Indeed, the endogenous activities from Japanese mustard spinach, lemon, and spinach have the same substrate requirements. These results show that Arabidopsis VTC2 and VTC5 proteins and their homologs in other plants are enzymes that guanylylate a conserved active site His residue with GDP-L-galactose, forming L-galactose 1-phosphate for vitamin C synthesis, and regenerate the enzyme with phosphate to form GDP.Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) is the most abundant soluble antioxidant in plants, in which it plays crucial roles in protection against oxidative damage and is used as a cofactor for several enzymes. It is synthesized via reactions initially proposed by Wheeler et al. (1) that are distinct from those used in vitamin C biosynthesis in animals. Although the Smirnoff-Wheeler pathway, arising from GDP-D-mannose and involving L-galactose formation, might not be the only route to vitamin C biosynthesis in plants (alternative pathways arising from myo-inositol and methylgalacturonate or involving L-gulose formation have been proposed; for reviews, see Refs. 2 and 3), it is undoubtedly the pathway that has received the strongest biochemical and genetic support in recent years (4 -9).Of the four loci (VTC1-4) that have been found to be mutated in vitamin C-deficient Arabidopsis thaliana plants (10, 11), three are now known to encode enzymes involved in the Smirnoff-Wheeler pathway. VTC1 encodes GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase (12), whereasVTC4 encodes L-Gal-1-P 3 phosphatase (8). In 2007 the VTC2 gene product was identified as the enzyme that produces L-Gal-1-P from GDP-L-galactose, which completed the characterization of the 10 enzymatic steps leading from D-glucose to L-ascorbic acid (13,14). VTC2 is a member of the D-galactose-1-phosphate ...