ABSTRACT
Lysine decarboxylase (LDC; EC 4.1.1.18
) from Selenomonas ruminantium comprises two identical monomeric subunits of 43 kDa and has decarboxylating activities toward both l-lysine andl-ornithine with similar Km
andVmax
values (Y. Takatsuka, M. Onoda, T. Sugiyama, K. Muramoto, T. Tomita, and Y. Kamio, Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 62:1063–1069, 1999). Here, the LDC-encoding gene (ldc) of this bacterium was cloned and characterized. DNA sequencing analysis revealed that the amino acid sequence of S. ruminantium LDC is 35% identical to those of eukaryotic ornithine decarboxylases (ODCs; EC 4.1.1.17
), including the mouse,Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Neurospora crassa,Trypanosoma brucei, and Caenorhabditis elegansenzymes. In addition, 26 amino acid residues, K69, D88, E94, D134, R154, K169, H197, D233, G235, G236, G237, F238, E274, G276, R277, Y278, K294, Y323, Y331, D332, C360, D361, D364, G387, Y389, and F397 (mouse ODC numbering), all of which are implicated in the formation of the pyridoxal phosphate-binding domain and the substrate-binding domain and in dimer stabilization with the eukaryotic ODCs, were also conserved inS. ruminantium LDC. Computer analysis of the putative secondary structure of S. ruminantium LDC showed that it is approximately 70% identical to that of mouse ODC. We identified five amino acid residues, A44, G45, V46, P54, and S322, within the LDC catalytic domain that confer decarboxylase activities toward bothl-lysine and l-ornithine with a substrate specificity ratio of 0.83 (defined as thek
cat/Km
ratio obtained with l-ornithine relative to that obtained withl-lysine). We have succeeded in converting S. ruminantium LDC to form with a substrate specificity ratio of 58 (70 times that of wild-type LDC) by constructing a mutant protein, A44V/G45T/V46P/P54D/S322A. In this study, we also showed that G350 is a crucial residue for stabilization of the dimer in S. ruminantium LDC.
Identification of the Substrate Specificity-conferring Amino Acid Residues of 4-Coumarate:Coenzyme A Ligase Allows the Rational Design of Mutant Enzymes with New Catalytic Properties
