title: Reduction of the pea ferredoxin-NADP(H) reductase catalytic efficiency by the structuring of a carboxyl-terminal artificial metal binding site.
abstract: Ferredoxin (flavodoxin)-NADP(H) reductases (FNRs) are ubiquitous flavoenzymes that deliver NADPH or low-potential one-electron donors (ferredoxin, flavodoxin, and adrenodoxin) to redox-based metabolisms in plastids, mitochondria, and bacteria. The FNRs from plants and most eubacteria constitute a unique family, the plant-type ferredoxin-NADP(H) reductases. Plastidic FNRs are quite efficient at sustaining the demands of the photosynthetic process. At variance, FNRs from organisms with heterotrophic metabolisms or anoxygenic photosynthesis display turnover numbers that are 20-100-fold lower than those of their plastidic and cyanobacterial counterparts. To gain insight into the FNR structural features that modulate enzyme catalytic efficiency, we constructed a recombinant FNR in which the carboxyl-terminal amino acid (Tyr308) is followed by an artificial metal binding site of nine amino acids, including four histidine residues. This added structure binds Zn2+ or Co2+ and, as a consequence, significantly reduces the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme by decreasing its kcat. The Km for NADPH and the Kd for NADP+ were increased 2 and 3 times, respectively, by the addition of the amino acid extension in the absence of Zn2+. Nevertheless, the structuring of the metal binding site did not change the Km for NADPH or the Kd for NADP+ of the FNR-tail enzyme. Our results provide experimental evidence which indicates that mobility of the carboxyl-terminal backbone region of the FNR, mainly Tyr308, is essential for obtaining an FNR enzyme with high catalytic efficiency.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Division, Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario, Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Suipacha 531, S2002LRK Rosario, Argentina.
authors.forename: Daniela L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Catalano-Dupuy
authors.forename: Martín
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orecchia
authors.forename: Daniela V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Rial
authors.forename: Eduardo A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ceccarelli
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002384:Catalysis; D018744:DNA, Plant; D005287:Ferredoxin-NADP Reductase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008670:Metals / Q000378:metabolism*; D018532:Pisum sativum / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; D008670:Metals; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D005287:Ferredoxin-NADP Reductase