Anthranilate Synthase from Ruta graveolens (Duplicated ASα- Genes Encode Tryptophan-Sensitive and Tryptophan-Insensitive Isoenzymes Specific to Amino Acid and Alkaloid Biosynthesis)

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Abstract
Anthranilate synthase (AS, EC 4.1.3.27) catalyzes the conversion of chorismate into anthranilate, the biosynthetic precursor of both tryptophan and numerous secondary metabolites, including inducible plant defense compounds. The higher plant Ruta graveolens produces tryptophan and elicitor-inducible, anthranilate-derived alkaloids by means of two differentially expressed nuclear genes for chloroplast-localized ASα- subunits, ASα-1 and ASα-2. Mechanisms that partition chorismate between tryptophan and inducible alkaloids thus do not entail chloroplast/cytosol separation of AS isoenzymes and yet might involve differential feedback regulation of pathway-specific ASα- subunits. The two ASα- isoenzymes of R. graveolens were expressed as glutathione S-transferase fusion proteins in Escherichia coli deletion mutants defective in AS activity and were purified to homogeneity. Differential sensitivity of the transformed E. coli strains toward 5-methyltryptophan, a false-feedback inhibitor of AS, was demonstrated. Characterization of affinity-purified ASα- isoenzymes revealed that the noninducible ASα-2 of R. graveolens is strongly feedback inhibited by 10 [mu]M tryptophan. In contrast, the elicitor-inducible ASα-1 isoenzyme is only slightly affected even by tryptophan concentrations 10-fold higher than those observed in planta. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that chorismate flux into biosynthesis of tryptophan and defense-related alkaloid biosynthesis in R. graveolens is regulated at the site of ASα- isoenzymes at both genetic and enzymatic levels.

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