Interaction with the small subunit of geranyl diphosphate synthase modifies the chain length specificity of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase to produce geranyl diphosphate.

Geranyl diphosphate synthase belongs to a subgroup of prenyltransferases, including farnesyl diphosphate synthase and geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase, that catalyzes the specific formation, from C(5) units, of the respective C(10), C(15), and C(20) precursors of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and diterpenes. Unlike farnesyl diphosphate synthase and geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase, which are homodimers, geranyl diphosphate synthase from Mentha is a heterotetramer in which the large subunit shares functional motifs and a high level of amino acid sequence identity (56-75%) with geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthases of plant origin. The small subunit, however, shares little sequence identity with other isoprenyl diphosphate synthases; yet it is absolutely required for geranyl diphosphate synthase catalysis. Coexpression in Escherichia coli of the Mentha geranyl diphosphate synthase small subunit with the phylogenetically distant geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthases from Taxus canadensis and Abies grandis yielded a functional hybrid heterodimer that generated geranyl diphosphate as product in each case. These results indicate that the geranyl diphosphate synthase small subunit is capable of modifying the chain length specificity of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (but not, apparently, farnesyl diphosphate synthase) to favor the production of C(10) chains. Comparison of the kinetic behavior of the parent prenyltransferases with that of the hybrid enzyme revealed that the hybrid possesses characteristics of both geranyl diphosphate synthase and geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase.