Microbial origin of plant-type 2-keto-3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthases, exemplified by the chorismate- and tryptophan-regulated enzyme from Xanthomonas campestris.

Enzymes performing the initial reaction of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis, 2-keto-3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthases, exist as two distinct homology classes. The three classic Escherichia coli paralogs are AroA(I) proteins, but many members of the Bacteria possess the AroA(II) class of enzyme, sometimes in combination with AroA(I) proteins. AroA(II) DAHP synthases until now have been shown to be specifically dedicated to secondary metabolism (e.g., formation of ansamycin antibiotics or phenazine pigment). In contrast, here we show that the Xanthomonas campestris AroA(II) protein functions as the sole DAHP synthase supporting aromatic amino acid biosynthesis. X. campestris AroA(II) was cloned in E. coli by functional complementation, and genes corresponding to two possible translation starts were expressed. We developed a 1-day partial purification method (>99%) for the unstable protein. The recombinant AroA(II) protein was found to be subject to an allosteric pattern of sequential feedback inhibition in which chorismate is the prime allosteric effector. L-Tryptophan was found to be a minor feedback inhibitor. An N-terminal region of 111 amino acids may be located in the periplasm since a probable inner membrane-spanning region is predicted. Unlike chloroplast-localized AroA(II) of higher plants, X. campestris AroA(II) was not hysteretically activated by dithiols. Compared to plant AroA(II) proteins, differences in divalent metal activation were also observed. Phylogenetic tree analysis shows that AroA(II) originated within the Bacteria domain, and it seems probable that higher-plant plastids acquired AroA(II) from a gram-negative bacterium via endosymbiosis. The X. campestris AroA(II) protein is suggested to exemplify a case of analog displacement whereby an ancestral aroA(I) species was discarded, with the aroA(II) replacement providing an alternative pattern of allosteric control. Three subgroups of AroA(II) proteins can be recognized: a large, central group containing the plant enzymes and that from X. campestris, one defined by a three-residue deletion near the conserved KPRS motif, and one possessing a larger deletion further downstream.