title: Characterization of tobacco protein kinase NPK5, a homolog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae SNF1 that constitutively activates expression of the glucose-repressible SUC2 gene for a secreted invertase of S. cerevisiae.
abstract: We have isolated a cDNA (cNPK5) that encodes a protein kinase of 511 amino acids from suspension cultures of tobacco cells. The predicted kinase domain of NPK5 is 65% identical in terms of amino acid sequence to that of the SNF1 serine/threonine protein kinase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which plays a central role in catabolite repression in yeast cells. SNF1 positively regulates transcription of various glucose-repressible genes of the yeast, such as the SUC2 gene for a secreted invertase, in response to glucose deprivation: snf1 mutants cannot utilize sucrose as a carbon source. Expression of cNPK5 in yeast cells allowed the snf1 mutant cells to utilize sucrose for growth and caused constitutive expression of the SUC2 gene in wild-type cells even in the presence of glucose, an indication that the NPK5 protein is present in a constitutively active form in S. cerevisiae. On the other hand, expression of cNPK5 failed to suppress the growth defect of the snf4 mutant cells in the presence of sucrose and to induce expression of the SUC2 gene. These results indicate that SNF4 is required for the induction of SUC2 expression by NPK5, as by SNF1, even if NPK5 is constitutively active in S. cerevisiae. The recombinant NPK5 protein is capable of autophosphorylation in vitro in a reaction that requires Mn2+ rather than Mg2+ ions but is inhibited by Ca2+ ions. Both dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous plants have several copies of the NPK5-related gene, which probably constitute a small gene family. NPK5-related genes were found to be expressed in the roots, leaves, and stems of tobacco plants. The high degree of structural conservation and the functional similarity of NPK5 to SNF1 lead us to speculate that NPK5 (or a related kinase) also plays a role in sugar metabolism in higher plants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Nagoya University, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Muranaka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Banno
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Machida
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002460:Cell Line; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004794:Enzyme Repression; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000187:drug effects; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D005947:Glucose / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010947:Plants, Toxic; D010957:Plasmids; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D016364:Reading Frames; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000201:enzymology*; D043324:beta-Fructofuranosidase
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D004247:DNA; D011494:Protein Kinases; C071570:SNF1-related protein kinases; C086921:tobacco protein kinase NPK5; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases; D043324:beta-Fructofuranosidase; D005947:Glucose