Structural studies on dehydroshikimate dehydratase

The soil bacterium, Pseudomonas putida, is capable of using the alicyclic compound quinate as a sole carbon source. During this process, quinate is converted to 3-dehydroshikimate, which subsequently undergoes a dehydration to form protocatechuate. The latter transformation is performed by the enzyme dehydroshikimate dehydratase (DSD). We have recombinantly produced DSD from P. putida and are currently performing x-ray crystallographic studies on the enzyme to gain structural insight into its catalytic mechanism and mode of substrate recognition. Initial crystals of DSD diffracted to 2.7 Ä resolution, but exhibited strong twinning. A redesigned construct has recently yielded crystals that diffract to similar resolution, but with a significantly reduced tendency toward twinning. Interestingly, sequence analysis of P. putida DSD reveals that the protein is in fact a fusion of two distinct domains: an N-terminal sugar phosphate isomerase-like domain associated with DSD activity, and a C-terminal hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD)-like domain with unknown functional significance. Structural characterization of the protein may provide novel insight into the functional relevance of the unusual HPPD-like domain.

Structural Insights into Regulation of Quinate Degradation in Bacteria

The shikimate pathway is an essential metabolic pathway in bacteria, as well as plants and fungi, which ultimately leads to the synthesis of three aromatic amino acids among other important aromatic compounds. The fourth step in the pathway is the reduction of dehydroshikimate to shikimate, catalyzed by shikimate dehydrogenase (SDH/AroE). In addition to AroE, at least four functionally distinct SDH homologs exist in bacteria. The structure and catalytic residues of the SDH enzyme family are highly conserved, however the key residues for substrate binding vary among the different homologs. Together, these data suggest that the catalytic mechanism is maintained among homologs, yet each may bind a different substrate. The YdiB homolog catalyzes the first step in the quinate degradation pathway, which is a branch of the shikimate pathway. In various species, the operons containing the ydiB gene are predicted to be controlled by one of two different transcriptional regulators belonging to either the TetR or LysR family. In both cases, these regulators are predicted to be activated or repressed by intermediates of the quinate degradation pathway. We will be using structural biology to determine how these regulators recognize pathway intermediates, and to understand the structural basis of how two distinct regulators can control transcription of the equivalent operon in different species.