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We present a comprehensive mass spectrometric approach that integrates intact protein molecular mass measurement (“top-down”) and proteolytic fragment identification (“bottom-up”) to characterize the 70S ribosome from Rhodopseudomonas palustris. Forty-two intact protein identifications were obtained by the top-down approach and 53 out of the 54 orthologs to Escherichia coli ribosomal proteins were identified from bottom-up analysis. This integrated approach simplified the assignment of post-translational modifications by increasing the confidence of identifications, distinguishing between isoforms, and identifying the amino acid positions at which particular post-translational modifications occurred. Our combined mass spectrometry data also allowed us to check and validate the gene annotations for three ribosomal proteins predicted to possess extended C-termini. In particular, we identified a highly repetitive C-terminal “alanine tail” on L25. This type of low complexity sequence, common to eukaryotic proteins, has previously not been reported in prokaryotic proteins. To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive protein complex analysis to date that integrates two MS techniques. Keywords: bottom-up • top-down • Rhodopseudomonas palustris • protein complexes • 70S ribosome • post-translational modifications • proteomics • mass spectrometry

Here we present a comprehensive method for proteome analysis that integrates both intact protein measurement (“top-down”) and proteolytic fragment characterization (“bottom-up”) mass spectrometric approaches, capitalizing on the unique capabilities of each method. This integrated approach was applied in a preliminary proteomic analysis of Shewanella oneidensis, a metal-reducing microbe of potential importance to the field of bioremediation. Cellular lysates were examined directly by the “bottom-up” approach as well as fractionated via anion-exchange liquid chromatography for integrated studies. A portion of each fraction was proteolytically digested, with the resulting peptides characterized by on-line liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. The remaining portion of each fraction containing the intact proteins was examined by high-resolution Fourier transform mass spectrometry. This “top-down” technique provided direct measurement of the molecular masses for the intact proteins and thereby enabled confirmation of post-translational modifications, signal peptides, and gene start sites of proteins detected in the “bottom-up” experiments. A total of 868 proteins from virtually every functional class, including hypotheticals, were identified from this organism. Keywords: microbial proteomics • mass spectrometry • intact proteins • LC−MS/MS • database searching

We have achieved, to our knowledge, the first high-level heterologous expression of the gene encoding D-ribulose-5-phosphate 3-epimerase from any source, thereby permitting isolation and characterization of the epimerase as found in photosynthetic organisms. The extremely labile recombinant spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) enzyme was stabilized by DL-alpha-glycerophosphate or ethanol and destabilized by D-ribulose-5-phosphate or 2-mercaptoethanol. Despite this lability, the unprecedentedly high specific activity of the purified material indicates that the structural integrity of the enzyme is maintained throughout isolation. Ethylenediaminetetraacetate and divalent metal cations did not affect epimerase activity, thereby excluding a requirement for the latter in catalysis. As deduced from the sequence of the cloned spinach gene and the electrophoretic mobility under denaturing conditions of the purified recombinant enzyme, its 25-kD subunit size was about the same as that of the corresponding epimerases of yeast and mammals. However, in contrast to these other species, the recombinant spinach enzyme was octameric rather than dimeric, as assessed by gel filtration and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under nondenaturing conditions. Western-blot analyses with antibodies to the purified recombinant enzyme confirmed that the epimerase extracted from spinach leaves is also octameric.

Guided by comparative sequence considerations, we have examined the possibility of a catalytic role of Asp186 of D-ribulose 5-phosphate epimerase by site-directed mutagenesis of the recombinant spinach enzyme. Accordingly, D186A, D186N, and D186E mutants of the epimerase were constructed, purified, and characterized; as judged by their electrophoretic mobilities the mutants are properly assembled into octamers like the wild-type enzyme. Based on the extent of internal quenching of Trp fluorescence, the conformational integrity of the wild-type enzyme is preserved in the mutants. The wild-type kcat of 7.1 x 10(3) s-1 is lowered to 3.3 x 10(-4) s-1 in D186A, 0.13 s-1 in D186N, and 1.1 s-1 in D186E; as gauged by D186A, altogether lacking a functional side chain at position 186, the beta-carboxyl of Asp186 facilitates catalysis by >10(7)-fold. Relative to the wild-type enzyme, the Km for D-ribulose 5-phosphate is essentially unaltered with D186N and D186E but increased 10-fold with D186A. Apart from their impairments in epimerase activity, the mutants are unable to catalyze exchange between solvent protons and the C3 proton of substrates. This deficiency and the differential alterations of kinetic parameters among the mutants are consistent with Asp186 serving as an electrophile to facilitate alpha-proton abstraction. This study is the first to identify a catalytic group of the epimerase.

Phosphoribulokinase (PRK), unique to photosynthetic organisms, is regulated in higher plants by thioredoxin-mediated thiol-disulfide exchange in a light-dependent manner. Prior attempts to overexpress the higher plant PRK gene in Escherichia coli for structure-function studies have been hampered by sensitivity of the recombinant protein to proteolysis as well as toxic effects of the protein on the host. To overcome these impediments, we have spliced the spinach PRK coding sequence immediately downstream from the AOX1 (alcohol oxidase) promoter of Pichia pastoris, displacing the chromosomal AOX1 gene. The PRK gene is now expressed, in response to methanol, at 4-6% of total soluble protein, without significant in vivo degradation of the recombinant enzyme. This recombinant spinach PRK is purified to homogeneity by successive anion-exchange and dye-affinity chromatography and is shown to be electrophoretically and kinetically indistinguishable from the authentic spinach counterpart. Site-specific replacement of all of PRK's cysteinyl residues (both individually and in combination) demonstrates a modest catalytically facilitative role for Cys-55 (one of the regulatory residues) and the lack of any catalytic role for Cys-16 (the other regulatory residue), Cys-244, or Cys-250. Mutants with seryl substitutions at position 55 display non-hyperbolic kinetics relative to the concentration of ribulose 5-phosphate. Sulfate restores hyperbolic kinetics and enhances kinase activity, presumably reflecting conformational differences between the position 55 mutants and wild-type enzyme. Catalytic competence of the C16S-C55S double mutant proves that mere loss of free sulfhydryl groups by oxidative regulation cannot account entirely for the accompanying total inactivation.

The necessity for two types of thioredoxins (Trx f and m) within chloroplasts of higher plants that mediate the same redox chemistry with various target enzymes is not well understood. To approach this complex issue, we have applied site-directed mutagenesis to the identification of residues of Trx f that affect its binding to and selectivity for target enzymes. Based upon amino acid sequence alignments and the three-dimensional structure of Escherichia coli thioredoxin, putative key residues of Trx f were replaced with residues found at corresponding positions of Trx m to generate the mutants K58E, Q75D, N74D, and deletion mutants DeltaAsn-74 and DeltaAsn-77. Kinetics of activation of oxidized recombinant sorghum leaf NADP-dependent malate dehydrogenase and oxidized spinach chloroplastic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase by wild-type Trx f, wild-type Trx m, and Trx f mutants were compared. All of the mutants are less efficient than wild-type Trx f in the activation of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and are altered in both S0.5 and Vmax. In contrast to literature reports, the activation of NADP-dependent malate dehydrogenase does not display rate saturation kinetics with respect to the concentration of Trx f, thereby signifying very weak interactions between the two proteins. The mutants of Trx f likewise interact only weakly with NADP-dependent malate dehydrogenase, but the apparent second-order rate constants for activation are increased compared to that with wild-type Trx f. Thus, Lys-58, Asn-74, Gln-75, and Asn-77 of Trx f contribute to its interaction with target enzymes and influence target protein selectivity.

The AROl cluster gene was isolated by complementation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae after transformation with a comprehensive yeast DNA library of BamHI restriction fragments inserted into the shuttle vector YEp13. Most of the transformants exhibited the expected episomal inheritance of the ARO+ phenotype; however, one stable transformant has been shown to be an integration of the AROl fragment and the vector YEp13 at the arol locus. The insert containing AROl is a 17.2-kilobase pair (kbp) BamHI fragment which complements both nonsense and missense alleles of arol. Subcloning by Sau3AI partial digestion further locates the AROl segment to a 6.2-kbp region. An autonomously replicating sequence (ars) was found on the 17.2-kbp fragment. Yeast arol mutants transformed with the AROl episome express 5 to 12 times the normal level of the five AROl enzyme activities and possess elevated amounts of the AROl protein. The yeast AROl fragment also complemented aroA, aroB, aroD, and aroE mutants of Escherichia coli. The expression of AROl in both S. cerevisiae and E. coli was independent of the orientation of the fragment with respect to the vector.

Chemical modification of spinach ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase by diethyl pyrocarbonate led to the conclusion that His-298 is an essential active-site residue (Igarashi, Y., McFadden, B. A., and El-Gul, T. (1985) Biochemistry 24, 3957-3962). From the pH dependence of inactivation, the pKa of His-298 was observed to be approximately 6.8, and it was suggested that this histidine might be the essential base that initiates catalysis (Paech, C. (1985) Biochemistry 24, 3194-3199). To explore further the possible function of His-298, we have used site-directed mutagenesis to replace the corresponding residue of the Rhodospirillum rubrum carboxylase (His-291) with alanine. Assays of extracts of Escherichia coli JM107, harboring either the wild-type or mutant gene in an expression vector, revealed that the mutant protein is approximately 40% as active catalytically as the normal carboxylase. After purification to near homogeneity by immunoaffinity chromatography, the mutant protein was partially characterized with respect to subunit structure, kinetic parameters, and interaction with a transition-state analogue. The purified mutant carboxylase had a kcat of 1.5 s-1 and a kcat/Km of 1.7 X 10(4) M-1 s-1 in contrast to values of 3.6 s-1 and 6 X 10(5) M-1 s-1 for the normal enzyme. The high level of enzyme activity exhibited by the Ala-291 mutant excludes His-291 in the R. rubrum carboxylase (and by inference His-298 in the spinach carboxylase) as a catalytically essential residue.

The REV1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is required for normal induction of mutations by physical and chemical agents. We have determined the sequence of a 3,485-base-pair segment of DNA that complements the rev1-1 mutant. Gene disruption was used to confirm that this DNA contained the REV1 gene. The sequenced segment contains a single long open reading frame, which can encode a polypeptide of 985 amino acid residues. The REV1 transcript is 3.1 kilobase pairs in length. Frameshift mutations introduced into the open reading frame yielded a Rev-phenotype. A base substitution, encoding Gly-193 to Arg-193, was found in this open reading frame in rev1-1. Deletion mutants, lacking segments of the 5' region of REV1, had intermediate mutability relative to REV1 and rev1-1; a complete deletion exhibited lower mutability than rev1-1. REV1 is not an essential gene. An in-frame fusion of the 5' end of the REV1 open reading frame to the lacZ gene produced beta-galactosidase activity constitutively. The predicted REV1 protein is hydrophilic, with a predicted pI of 9.82. No homologies to RAD1, RAD2, RAD3, RAD7, or RAD10 proteins were noted. A 152-residue internal segment displayed 25% identity with UMUC protein.

Phosphoribulokinase (PRK) is one of several plant enzymes that is regulated by thiol-disulfide exchange as mediated by thioredoxin, which contains spatially vicinal, redox-active cysteinyl residues. In an earlier study (Brandes, H. K., Larimer, F. W., Geck, M. K., Stringer, C. D., Schürmann, P., and Hartman, F. C. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 18411-18414), our laboratory identified Cys-46 of thioredoxin f (Trx), as opposed to the other candidate Cys-49, as the primary nucleophile that attacks the disulfide of target proteins. The goal of the present study was to identify which of the two redox-active cysteinyl residues of PRK (Cys-16 or Cys-55) is paired with Cys-46 of Trx in the interprotein disulfide intermediate of the overall oxidation-reduction pathway. Incubation of a mixture of the C16S mutant of PRK and the C49S mutant of Trx with Cu2+ results in covalent complex formation as detected by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Complexation is fully reversible by dithiothreitol and is retarded by ligands for PRK. Under the same conditions, Cu2+ induces very little complex formation between the following pairs of mutants: C16S PRK/C46S Trx, C55S PRK/C49S Trx, and C55S PRK/C46S Trx. When either 5-thio-2-nitrobenzoate-derivatized C16S or C55S PRK, as mimics of the oxidized (disulfide) form of the enzyme, is mixed with C49S Trx, stable covalent complex formation occurs only with the C16S PRK. Thus, two independent approaches identify Cys-55 of PRK in the intermolecular disulfide pairing with Trx.