Sponsor
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health Grant (grant no. R01 GM70641-01.) to VdC-L and DI-R and by the National Science Foundation (Grant no. MCB 0722787) to RHW. MB is a recipient of a postdoctoral fellowship from Human Frontier Scientific Program (HFSP).
Document Type
Post-Print
Publication Date
1-2012
Subjects
Metabolites -- Synthesis, Transfer RNA, Proteins -- Analysis, Vitamin B2
Abstract
The biosynthesis of GTP derived metabolites such as tetrahydrofolate (THF), biopterin (BH4), and the modified tRNA nucleosides queuosine (Q) and archaeosine (G+) relies on several enzymes of the Tunnel-fold superfamily. A subset of these proteins include the 6-pyruvoyl-tetrahydropterin (PTPS-II), PTPS-III, and PTPS-I homologs, all members of the COG0720 family, that have been previously shown to transform 7,8-dihydroneopterin triphosphate (H2NTP) into different products. PTPS-II catalyzes the formation of 6-pyruvoyltetrahydropterin in the BH4 pathway. PTPS-III catalyzes the formation of 6-hydroxylmethyl-7,8-dihydropterin in the THF pathway. PTPS-I catalyzes the formation of 6-carboxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydropterin in the Q pathway. Genes of these three enzyme families are often misannotated as they are difficult to differentiate by sequence similarity alone. Using a combination of physical clustering, signature motif, and phylogenetic codistribution analyses, in vivo complementation studies, and in vitro enzymatic assays, a complete reannotation of the COG0720 family was performed in prokaryotes. Notably, this work identified and experimentally validated dual function PTPS-I/III enzymes involved in both THF and Q biosynthesis. Both in vivo and in vitro analyses showed that the PTPS-I family could tolerate a translation of the active site cysteine and was inherently promiscuous, catalyzing different reactions on the same substrate, or the same reaction on different substrates. Finally, the analysis and experimental validation of several archaeal COG0720 members confirmed the role of PTPS-I in archaeosine biosynthesis, and resulted in the identification PTPS-III enzymes with variant signature sequences in Sulfolobus species. This study reveals an expanded versatility of the COG0720 family members and illustrates that for certain protein families, extensive comparative genomic analysis beyond homology is required to correctly predict function.
DOI
10.1021/cb200329f
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/12474
Citation Details
Phillips, Gabriela; Grochowski, Laura L.; Bonnett, Shilah; Xu, Huimin; Bailly, Marc; Haas-Blaby, Crysten; El Yacoubi, Basma; Iwata-Reuyl, Dirk; White, Robert H.; and de Crécy-Lagard, Valérie, "Functional Promiscuity of the COG0720 Family" (2012). Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations. 91.
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/12474
Description
This document is the unedited author's version of a Submitted Work that was subsequently accepted for publication in ACS Chemical Biology copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review. To access the final edited and published work, see http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/cb200329f