Presence of a fructose-2,6-bisphosphate-insensitive pyrophosphate: fructose-6-phosphate phosphotransferase in the anaerobic protozoa Tritrichomonas foetus, Trichomonas vaginalis and Isotricha prostoma.

Extracts of the anaerobic protozoa Tritrichomonas foetus, Trichomonas vaginalis and Isotricha prostoma contained a high activity (0.5-1 mumol min-1 (mg protein)-1) of pyrophosphate:fructose-6-phosphate phosphotransferase (PPi-PFK), but no detectable ATP: fructose-6-phosphate phosphotransferase. PPi-PFK from I. prostoma was purified close to homogeneity by adsorption on phospho-Ultrogel and elution with fructose-1,6-bisphosphate, and subsequent anion-exchange chromatography. The enzyme had an Mr of 95,000 as determined by gel filtration and consisted of subunits of Mr 48,000. PPi-PFK from I. prostoma and from T. foetus displayed hyperbolic kinetics with respect to their substrates and were not affected by fructose-2,6-bisphosphate. In sharp contrast with what has been found in other eukaryotes, no evidence could be found for the presence of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate in the two trichomonads, in I. prostoma and in Entamoeba histolytica.