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PMID: 20139160 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Structure of a heterotetrameric geranyl pyrophosphate synthase from mint (Mentha piperita) reveals intersubunit regulation.

The Plant cell ·Vol. 22 ·No. 2 ·2010-02-00 ·Pages 454-67

Chang TH, Hsieh FL, Ko TP, Teng KH, Liang PH, Wang AH

Abstract

Terpenes (isoprenoids), derived from isoprenyl pyrophosphates, are versatile natural compounds that act as metabolism mediators, plant volatiles, and ecological communicators. Divergent evolution of homomeric prenyltransferases (PTSs) has allowed PTSs to optimize their active-site pockets to achieve catalytic fidelity and diversity. Little is known about heteromeric PTSs, particularly the mechanisms regulating formation of specific products. Here, we report the crystal structure of the (LSU . SSU)(2)-type (LSU/SSU = large/small subunit) heterotetrameric geranyl pyrophosphate synthase (GPPS) from mint (Mentha piperita). The LSU and SSU of mint GPPS are responsible for catalysis and regulation, respectively, and this SSU lacks the essential catalytic amino acid residues found in LSU and other PTSs. Whereas no activity was detected for individually expressed LSU or SSU, the intact (LSU . SSU)(2) tetramer produced not only C(10)-GPP at the beginning of the reaction but also C(20)-GGPP (geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate) at longer reaction times. The activity for synthesizing C(10)-GPP and C(20)-GGPP, but not C(15)-farnesyl pyrophosphate, reflects a conserved active-site structure of the LSU and the closely related mustard (Sinapis alba) homodimeric GGPPS. Furthermore, using a genetic complementation system, we showed that no C(20)-GGPP is produced by the mint GPPS in vivo. Presumably through protein-protein interactions, the SSU remodels the active-site cavity of LSU for synthesizing C(10)-GPP, the precursor of volatile C(10)-monoterpenes.

MeSH Terms
Amino Acid Sequence Crystallography, X-Ray Ligases/chemistry,metabolism Mentha piperita/enzymology Models, Molecular Molecular Sequence Data Polyisoprenyl Phosphates/metabolism Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Chemicals
Polyisoprenyl Phosphates geranyl pyrophosphate Ligases
Authors & Affiliations
6 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Chang Tao-Hsin
Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan. r93b46009@ntu.edu.tw
Hsieh Fu-Lien
Ko Tzu-Ping
Teng Kuo-Hsun
Liang Po-Huang
Wang Andrew H-J
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Article Info
Journal
The Plant cell
Abbr.
Plant Cell
ISSN
1532-298X
DOI
10.1105/tpc.109.071738
Email
r93b46009@ntu.edu.tw
Published
2010-02-00
Epub
2010-00-05
Pages
454-67
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
9208688
PMCID
PMC2845413
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1105/tpc.109.071738 PMC Full Text View journal details
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