Trichodiene synthase: mechanism-based inhibition of a sesquiterpene cyclase.

The 10-cyclopropylidene analog of farnesyl diphosphate was shown to be a mechanism-based inhibitor of trichodiene synthase with an inactivation rate (k(inact)) of 0.010 +/- 0.0003 min(-1) and an apparent Ki of 663 +/- 75 nM. The presence of three anomalous sesquiterpene products detected in incubation mixtures indicate that the compound also serves as a substrate of the enzyme.