Characterization of PknC, a Ser/Thr kinase with broad substrate specificity from the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120.
Eukaryotic-like protein Ser/Thr and Tyr kinases have only recently been discovered in prokaryotes. In most cases, their biochemical properties have been poorly characterized. The nitrogen-fixing and heterocyst-forming cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 houses a family of eukaryotic-like Ser/Thr kinases. Some of these enzymes are required for cell growth or development under certain conditions. None of them, however, has been shown experimentally to possess Ser/Thr kinase activity. A gene, pknC, encoding a novel putative Ser/Thr kinase was isolated from Anabaena sp. PCC 7120. The recombinant PknC was shown to be phosphorylated on a Thr residue. This phosphorylation was probably due to the autophosphorylation activity of PknC itself because mutation of two amino acid residues within the subdomain II of its catalytic domain eliminated the phosphorylation of PknC. PknC displayed also a Ser kinase activity towards several nonspecific substrates, and the two residues needed for PknC autophosphorylation was equally required for the phosphorylation of other substrates. PknC is thus a Ser/Thr kinase with broad substrate specificity. The activity of PknC is likely to be regulated in vivo in order to limit the spectrum of its substrate specificity.
Gonzalez
L
L
Unité d'Immunotechnologie et Microbiologie Moléculaire, ESBS, Université Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France.
Phalip
V
V
Zhang
C C
CC
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017033:Anabaena / Q000201:enzymology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013379:Substrate Specificity
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C424908:PknC protein, Anabaena; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases