Genes SNO1 and SNZ1 are Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologues of PDX2 and PDX1 which participate in pyridoxine synthesis in the fungus Cercospora nicotianae. In order to clarify their function, the two genes SNO1 and SNZ1 were expressed in Escherichia coli either individually or simultaneously and with or without a His-tag. When expressed simultaneously, the two protein products formed a complex and showed glutaminase activity. When purified to homogeneity, the complex exhibited a specific activity of 480 nmolAEmg )1 AEmin)1 as glutaminase, with a K m of 3.4 mM for glutamine. These values are comparable to those for other glutamine amidotransferases. In addition, the glutaminase activity was impaired by 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine in a time-and dose-dependent manner and the enzyme was protected from deactivation by glutamine. These data suggest strongly that the complex of Sno1p and Snz1p is a glutamine amidotransferase with the former serving as the glutaminase, although the activity was barely detectable with Sno1p alone. The function of Snz1p and the amido acceptor for ammonia remain to be identified.

Cathepsin B-like proteinase from Helicoverpa armigera (HCB) was proposed as being involved in the degradation of yolk proteins during embryonic development. Recombinant HCB was expressed as a fusion protein with GST in Escherichia coli BL21 on the basis of its cDNA and purified to homogeneity. The fusion protein was cleaved with thrombin to generate a soluble protease with a mass of 37 kDa. A polyclonal antiserum against this recombinant protein, raised in the rabbit, recognized three isoforms of HCB in an ovary homogenate of this insect. Expression of this enzyme during embryonic development was studied using immunoblotting, immunohistochemistry and activity assay. It was found that HCB was expressed during embryonic development and that its proteolytic activity was detected from embryonic developmental eggs. The fact that HCB activity is observed in ovaries and developing eggs suggested that the enzyme had already been activated before embryonic development. Immunohistochemistry indicated that the enzyme was located in follicular cells, the sphere of yolk granules, and the fat bodies of female adult. These lines of evidence suggested strongly that HCB takes part in the degradation of yolk proteins during the development of embryo.

Pyruvate carboxylase (PC) is distributed in many eukaryotes as well as in some prokaryotes. PC catalyzes the ATP-dependent carboxylation of pyruvate to form oxalacetate. PC has three functional domains, one of which is a biotin carboxylase (BC) domain. The BC subunit of PC from Aquifex aeolicus (PC-beta) was crystallized in an orthorhombic form with space group P2(1)2(1)2, unit-cell parameters a = 92.4, b = 122.1, c = 59.0 A and one molecule in the asymmetric unit. Diffraction data were collected at 100 K on BL24XU at SPring-8. The crystal structure was determined by the molecular-replacement method and refined against 20.0-2.2 A resolution data, giving an R factor of 0.199 and a free R factor of 0.236. The crystal structure revealed that PC-beta forms a dimeric quaternary structure consisting of two molecules related by crystallographic twofold symmetry. The overall structure of PC-beta is similar to other biotin-dependent carboxylases, such as acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). Although some parts of domain B were disordered in ACC, the corresponding parts of PC-beta were clearly determined in the crystal structure. From comparison between the active-site structure of ACC with ATP bound and a virtual model of PC-beta with ATP bound, it was shown that the backbone torsion angles of Glu203 in PC-beta change and some of water molecules in the active site of PC-beta are excluded upon ATP binding.

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To clarify the mechanism of carboxyl transfer from carboxylbiotin to pyruvate, the following conserved amino acid residues present in the carboxyl transferase domain of Bacillus thermodenitrificans pyruvate carboxylase were converted to homologous amino acids: Asp543, Glu576, Glu592, Asp649, Lys712, Asp713, and Asp762. The carboxylase activity of the resulting mutants, D543E, E576D, E576Q, E592Q, D649N, K712R, K712Q, D713E, D713N, D762E, and D762N, was generally less than that of the wild type from mutation, but it decreased the most to 5% or even less than that of the wild type with D543E, D576Q, D649N, K712R, and K712Q. The decrease in activity observed for Asp543, Asp649, and Lys712 mutants was not for structural reasons because their structures seemed to remain intact as assessed by gel filtration and circular dichroism. On the basis of these data, a mechanism is proposed where Lys712 and Asp543 serve as the key acid and base catalyst, respectively.