Complementation of E. coli cysQ Mutant with Arabidopsis AHL Gene Encoding a 3'(2'),5'-Bisphosphate Nucleotidase

Arabidopsis AHL gene encodes a 3'(2')-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphate (PAP)-specific phosphatase that plays a role in the sulfate activation pathway. We complemented E. coli cysQ mutant defective in cysteine biosynthesis with the AHL gene. AHL cDNA was cloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pKK388-1 and transformed into the bacterial mutant. Since cysQ mutant is a leaky cysteine auxotroph only under aerobic conditions, the bacteria were grown in liquid media with vigorous shaking to provide more aeration. In cysteine-free medium, cysQ mutant and the mutant harboring empty vector did not grow well, whereas cells harboring AHL cDNA exhibited significantly improved growth with doubling time of approximately 3 h. cysQ is known to encode a 3'(2'),5'-diphosphonucleoside 3'(2')-phosphohydrolase (DPNPase). However, our data suggest that cysQ protein has PAP-specific phosphatase activity in addition to DPNPase activity. Microbial complementation procedure described in this paper is useful for structure-activity studies of PAP-specific phosphatases identified from microbes and plants.