Fatty acid hydroperoxide lyase in tomato fruits: cloning and properties of a recombinant enzyme expressed in Escherichia coli.

Fatty acid hydroperoxide lyase (HPL) is a member of a novel subfamily of cytochrome P450 and catalyzes a cleavage reaction of fatty acid hydroperoxides to form short-chain aldehydes and oxo-acids. A cDNA encoding tomato fruit HPL (LeHPL) was obtained. An active LeHPL was expressed in E. coli and purified. It showed highest activity against the 13-hydroperoxide of linolenic acid, followed by that of linoleic acid. 9-Hydroperoxides were poor substrates. The absorption spectrum of the purified LeHPL in the native form was similar to that of most P450s although a CO-adduct having a lambda max at 450 nm could not be obtained. LeHPL activity is reversibly inhibited by nordihydroguaiaretic acid, while salicylic acid irreversibly inhibited it. LeHPL is kinetically inactivated by fatty acid hydroperoxides, especially 9-hydroperoxides. The inactivation is prevented by inhibitors of LeHPL. Thus, HPL catalytic activity is thought to be essential to its inactivation. During the inactivation, an abolition of the Soret band was evident, indicating that inactivation is caused mainly by degradation of the prosthetic heme in LeHPL.