• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.278-283
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• 1991

Two amino acid residues ($Ala^{494}$ and $Ser^{495}$ of E. coli .gamma.-glutamylcysteine synthetase have been investigated whether they are the site of feedback inhibition by site specific mutagenesis. Single substitution of $serine^{495}$ (S495F), and double substitutions of alanine$^{494}$ and $serine^{495}$ (A494G-S495F) resulted in the inactivation of the .gamma.-glutamylcysteine synthetase activity. Substitution of $alanine^{494}$ with $glycine^{494}$ resulted in a higher level of feedback inhibition. These results suggest that $serine^{495}$ in .gamma.-glutamylcysteine synthetase is required for its catalytic acitvity and $alanine^{494}$ is presumably related to the feeback inhibition site.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.20-24
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• 1999

The first step of the branch pathway in tryptophan biosynthesis is catalyzed by anthranilate synthase, which is subjected to feedback inhibition by the end product of the pathway. The $trpE^{FBR}$ gene from a mutant Escherichia coli strain coding for anthranilate synthase that was insensitive to feedback inhibition by tryptophan has been cloned. To identify the amino acid changes involved in the feedback regulation of anthranilate synthase, the nucleotide sequence of the mutant $trpE^{FBR}$ gene was determined. Sequence analysis of the $trpE^{FBR}$ gene revealed that four bases were changed in the structural gene while alteration was not found in the 5' control region. Among these base changes, only two base substitutions caused the alterations in amino acid sequences. From the results of restriction fragment exchange mapping, the 61st nucleotide, C to A substitution, that changed $Pro^{21}{\rightarrow}Ser$ was identified as the cause of the desensitization to feedback inhibition by tryptophan. Additional feedback-resistant enzymes of the E. coli anthranilate synthases were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis to examine the effect of the $Ser^{40}\;{\rightarrow}\;Arg^{40}$ change found in the $trpE^{FBR}$ gene of Brevibacterium lactofermentum. From the feedback inhibition analysis, the $Pro^{21}{\rightarrow}Ser$ and $Ser^{40}{\rightarrow}Arg$ mutants maintained about 50% and 90% of their maximal activities, respectively, even at the extreme concentration of 10 mM tryptophan. From these results, we suggest that the $Pro^{21}$ and $Ser^{40}$ residues are involved in the tryptophan binding in the E. coli enzyme.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.277-282
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• 1997

Acetolactate synthase (ALS) was partially purified from Escherichia coli MF2000/pTATX containing Arabidopsis thaliana ALS gene. The partially purified ALS was examined for its sensitivity toward various modifying reagents such as iodoacetic acid, iodoacetamide, N-ethylmaleimide (NEM), 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB), p-chloromercuribenzoic acid (PCMB), and phenylglyoxal. It was found that PCMB inhibited the enzyme activity most strongly followed by DTNB and NEM. Since iodoacetic acid did not compete with substrate pyruvate, it appeared that cysteine is not involved in the substrate binding site. On the other hand, the substrate protected the enzyme partly from inactivation by phenylglyoxal, which might indicate interaction of arginine residue with the substrate. The partially purified enzyme was inhibited by end products, valine and isoleucine, but not by leucine. However, the ALS modified with PCMB led to potentiate the feedback inhibition of all end products. Additionally, derivatives of pyrimidyl sulfur benzoate, a candidate for a new herbicide for ALS, were examined for their inhibitory effects.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.306-314
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• 1998

Acetolactate synthase (ALS) is the common enzyme in the biosynthesis of branched chain amino acids, Val, Leu, and Ile in bacteria, yeast, and higher plants. The enzyme is target site of several classes of structually diverse herbicides, including the sulfonylureas, the imidazolinones, the triazolopyrimidines, and the primidyl-oxy-benzoates. We have synthesized new triazolopyrimidine (TP) derivatives, and determined their inhibitory activities on barley ALS. $lC_{50}$ values for the active compounds were 3.2 nM-0.62 mM, and some of them appeared to be potent inhibitors. The progress curves for inhibition of ALS by TP4, a representative derivative, indicated that the extent of inhibition increased with incubation time. The inhibition of ALS by TP4 showed mixed-type inhibition with respect to pyruvate. Dual inhibition analyses of TP4 versus imidazolinone Cadre and feedback inhibitor Leu suggested that three different classes of inhibitors bind to ALS in a mutually exclusive manner. Chemical modification of tyrosyl residues of ALS decreased sensitivity of ALS to TP4, while modification of tryptophan and cysteine did not affect the sensitivity.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.393-398
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• 1999

Acetolactate synthase (ALS) catalyzes the first reaction common to the biosynthesis of L-valine, L-leucine, and L-isoleucine. ALS is the target site of several classes of herbicides, including the sulfonylureas, the imidazolinones, and the triazolopyrimidines. Two forms of ALS (ALS I and ALS II) which have different affinity for Heparin have been separated from etiolated pea seedlings. The substrate saturation curves of both ALS I and ALS II were hyperbolic in contrast to previous reports. The two forms of ALS showed significant differences in their physical and kinetic properties. The values of $K_m$ for ALS I and ALS II were 9.0 mM and 4.8 mM, respectively. The pI values for ALS I and ALS II were determined to be 5.3 and 5.75 by isoelectric focusing, respectively. The native molecular weights for ALS I and ALS II obtained by nondenaturing gel electrophoresis and activity staining were 124 and 244 kDa, respectively. They also exhibited different sensitivity to feedback inhibition by end-product amino acids and inhibition by Cadre, an imidazolinone herbicide.

• BMB Reports
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.456-461
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• 2003

Acetolactate synthase (ALS) catalyzes the first common step in the biosynthesis of valine, leucine, and isoleucine. ALS is the target site for several classes of herbicides, including sulfonylureas, imidazolinones, and triazolopyrimidines. Two forms of ALS (designated ALS I and ALS II) were separated from barley shoots by heparin affinity column chromatography. The molecular masses of native ALS I and ALS II were determined to be 248 kDa and 238 kDa by nondenaturing gel electrophoresis and activity staining. Similar molecular masses of two forms of ALS were confirmed by a Western blot analysis. SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis showed that the molecular masses of the ALS I and ALS II subunits were identical - 65 kDa. The two ALS forms exhibited different properties with respect to the values of $K_m$, pI and optimum pH, and sensitivity to inhibition by herbicides sulfonylurea and imidazolinone as well as to the feedback regulation by the end-product amino acids Val, Leu, and Ile. These results, therefore, suggest that the two ALS forms are not different polymeric forms of the same enzyme, but isozymes.

• BMB Reports
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.274-279
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• 1997

Acetolactate synthase (ALS) catalyzes the first common step in the biosynthesis of branchedchain amino acids, valine, leucine, and isoleucine. ALS is the target site for several structually diverse classes of herbicides including sulfonylureas, imidazolinones. and triazolopyrimidines. We have purified ALS from etiolated barley shoots to homogeneity. The five major purification steps are ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE anion exchange, hydroxylapatite, Bio-Gel A gel filtration, and low pressure Mono-Q chrornatoqraphy. Approximately 170-fold purification was achieved and the yield was 0.45% of initial activity in the crude extract. Both SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis showed a single polypeptide of ALS with an apparent molecular mass of 64 kDa. The result of nondenaturing gel electrophoresis with activity staining indicated that the molecular mass of its native form is approximately 225 to 250 kDa. The values of $K_m$ for pyruvate. pl. and optimum pH of ALS were determined to be 2.0 mM, 5.2. and 7.0. respectively Feedback inhibition studies showed that ALS is more susceptible to leucine than valine. And $IC_{50}$ value of Cadre, a class of irnidazolinones, is about $1.5\mu{M}$ for ALS.