RutA is a novel flavoenzyme on the uracil catabolic pathway that catalyzes uracil ring opening by a unique amide oxidation reaction. Here we provide evidence that this reaction also involves the formation of a flavin-N5-oxide.

Bacteria and yeast utilize different strategies for sulfur incorporation in the biosynthesis of the thiamin thiazole. Bacteria use thiocarboxylated proteins. In contrast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae thiazole synthase (THI4p) uses an active site cysteine as the sulfide source and is inactivated after a single turnover. Here, we demonstrate that the Thi4 ortholog from Methanococcus jannaschii uses exogenous sulfide and is catalytic. Structural and biochemical studies on this enzyme elucidate the mechanistic details of the sulfide transfer reactions.

Roseoflavin is a naturally occurring riboflavin analogue with antibiotic properties. It is biosynthesized from riboflavin in a reaction involving replacement of the C8 methyl with a dimethylamino group. Herein we report the identification of a flavin-dependent enzyme that converts flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and glutamate to 8-amino-FMN via the intermediacy of 8-formyl-FMN. A mechanistic proposal for this remarkable transformation is proposed.

The dibenzothiophene catabolic pathway converts dibenzothiophene to 2-hydroxybiphenyl and sulfite. The third step of the pathway, involving the conversion of dibenzothiophene sulfone to 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-benzenesulfinic acid, is catalyzed by a unique flavoenzyme DszA. Mechanistic studies on this reaction suggest that the C2 hydroperoxide of dibenzothiophene sulfone reacts with flavin to form a flavin-N5-oxide. The intermediacy of the flavin-N5-oxide was confirmed by LC-MS analysis, a co-elution experiment with chemically synthesized FMN-N5-oxide and 18O2 labeling studies.

The biosynthesis of branched alkoxy groups, such as the unique t-butyl group found in a variety of natural products, is still poorly understood. Recently, cystobactamids were isolated and identified from Cystobacter sp as novel antibacterials. These metabolites contain an isopropyl group proposed to be formed using CysS, a cobalamin-dependent radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) methyltransferase. Here, we reconstitute the CysS-catalyzed reaction, on p-aminobenzoate thioester substrates, and demonstrate that it not only catalyzes sequential methylations of a methyl group to form ethyl and isopropyl groups but remarkably also sec-butyl and t-butyl groups. To our knowledge, this is the first in vitro reconstitution of a cobalamin-dependent radical SAM enzyme catalyzing the conversion of a methyl group to a t-butyl group.

Tryptophan lyase (NosL) is a radical S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) enzyme that catalyzes the formation of 3-methyl-2-indolic acid from l-tryptophan. In this paper, we demonstrate that the 5′-deoxyadenosyl radical is considerably more versatile in its chemistry than previously anticipated: hydrogen atom abstraction from Nα-cyclopropyltryptophan occurs at Cα rather than the amino group with NosL Y90A and replacing the substrate amine with a ketone or an alkene changes the chemistry from hydrogen atom abstraction to double bond addition. In addition, the 5′-deoxyadenosyl radical can add to the [4Fe−4S] cluster and dithionite can be used to trap radicals at the active site.

Thiamin diphosphate is an essential cofactor in all forms of life and plays a key role in amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism. Its biosynthesis involves separate syntheses of the pyrimidine and thiazole moieties, which are then coupled to form thiamin monophosphate. A final phosphorylation produces the active form of the cofactor. In most bacteria, six gene products are required for biosynthesis of the thiamin thiazole. In yeast and fungi only one gene product, Thi4, is required for thiazole biosynthesis. Methanococcus jannaschii expresses a putative Thi4 ortholog that was previously reported to be a ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate synthase [Finn, M. W. and Tabita, F. R. (2004) J. Bacteriol., 186, 6360–6366]. Our structural studies show that the Thi4 orthologs from M. jannaschii and Methanococcus igneus are structurally similar to Thi4 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In addition, all active site residues are conserved except for a key cysteine residue, which in S. cerevisiae is the source of the thiazole sulfur atom. Our recent biochemical studies showed that the archael Thi4 orthologs use nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, glycine, and free sulfide to form the thiamin thiazole in an iron-dependent reaction [Eser, B., Zhang, X., Chanani, P. K., Begley, T. P., and Ealick, S. E. (2016) J. Am. Chem. Soc., DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b00445]. Here we report X-ray crystal structures of Thi4 from M. jannaschii complexed with ADP-ribulose, the C205S variant of Thi4 from S. cerevisiae with a bound glycine imine intermediate, and Thi4 from M. igneus with bound glycine imine intermediate and iron. These studies reveal the structural basis for the iron-dependent mechanism of sulfur transfer in archael and yeast thiazole synthases.

Comparative genomics of the bacterial thiamin pyrimidine synthase (thiC) revealed a paralogue of thiC (bzaF) clustered with anaerobic vitamin B12 biosynthetic genes. Here we demonstrate that BzaF is a radical S-adenosylmethionine enzyme that catalyzes the remarkable conversion of aminoimidazole ribotide (AIR) to 5-hydroxybenzimidazole (5-HBI). We identify the origin of key product atoms and propose a reaction mechanism. These studies represent the first step in solving a long-standing problem in anaerobic vitamin B12 assembly and reveal an unanticipated intersection of thiamin and vitamin B12 biosynthesis.

Coenzyme F420 is a redox cofactor found in methanogens and in various actinobacteria. Despite the major biological importance of this cofactor, the biosynthesis of its deazaflavin core (8-hydroxy-5-deazaflavin, Fo) is still poorly understood. Fo synthase, the enzyme involved, is an unusual multidomain radical SAM enzyme that uses two separate 5′-deoxyadenosyl radicals to catalyze Fo formation. In this paper, we report a detailed mechanistic study on this complex enzyme that led us to identify (1) the hydrogen atoms abstracted from the substrate by the two radical SAM domains, (2) the second tyrosine-derived product, (3) the reaction product of the CofH-catalyzed reaction, (4) the demonstration that this product is a substrate for CofG, and (5) a stereochemical study that is consistent with the formation of a p-hydroxybenzyl radical at the CofH active site. These results enable us to propose a mechanism for Fo synthase and uncover a new catalytic motif in radical SAM enzymology involving the use of two 5′-deoxyadenosyl radicals to mediate the formation of a complex heterocycle.

NosL is a member of a family of radical S-adenosylmethionine enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of the Cα–Cβ bond of aromatic amino acids. In this paper, we describe a set of experiments with substrate analogues and mutants for probing the early steps of the NosL mechanism. We provide biochemical evidence in support of the structural studies showing that the 5′-deoxyadenosyl radical abstracts a hydrogen atom from the amino group of tryptophan. We demonstrate that d-tryptophan is a substrate for NosL but shows relaxed regio control of the first β-scission reaction. Mutagenesis studies confirm that Arg323 is important for controlling the regiochemistry of the β-scission reaction and that Ser340 binds the substrate by hydrogen bonding to the indolic N1 atom.

•MoaA catalyzes the first step in molybdopterin biosynthesis.•Novel insertion of the purine C8 carbon between C2′ and C3′ of the GTP ribose.•Reaction triggered by radical formation at C3′ of GTP.•Mechanistic proposal supported by intermediate trapping.The first step in the biosynthesis of the molybdopterin cofactor involves an unprecedented insertion of the purine C8 carbon between the C2′ and C3′ carbons of the ribose moiety of GTP. Here we review mechanistic studies on this remarkable transformation.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cofactor-dependent proteins: evolution, chemical diversity and bio-applications.

MoaA is a radical S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) enzyme that catalyzes a complex rearrangement of guanosine-5'-triphosphate (GTP) in the first step of molybdopterin biosynthesis. In this paper, we provide additional characterization of the MoaA reaction product, describe the use of 2′-chloroGTP to trap the GTP C3′ radical, generated by hydrogen atom transfer to the 5′-deoxyadenosyl radical, and the use of 2′-deoxyGTP to block a late step in the reaction sequence. These probes, coupled with the previously reported trapping of an intermediate in which C3′ of the ribose is linked to C8 of the purine, allow us to propose a plausible mechanism for the MoaA-catalyzed reaction.

Bacimethrin-derived 2′-methoxythiamin pyrophosphate inhibits microbial growth by disrupting metabolic pathways dependent on thiamin-utilizing enzymes. This study describes the discovery of the bacimethrin biosynthetic gene cluster of Clostridium botulinum A ATCC 19397 and in vitro reconstitution of bacimethrin biosynthesis from cytidine 5′-monophosphate.

Menaquinone (MK, vitamin K2) is a lipid-soluble molecule that participates in the bacterial electron transport chain. In mammalian cells, MK functions as an essential vitamin for the activation of various proteins involved in blood clotting and bone metabolism. Recently, a new pathway for the biosynthesis of this cofactor was discovered in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) in which chorismate is converted to aminofutalosine in a reaction catalyzed by MqnA and an unidentified enzyme. Here, we reconstitute the biosynthesis of aminofutalosine and demonstrate that the missing enzyme (aminofutalosine synthase, MqnE) is a radical SAM enzyme that catalyzes the addition of the adenosyl radical to the double bond of 3-[(1-carboxyvinyl)oxy]benzoic acid. This is a new reaction type in the radical SAM superfamily.

MoaA/MoaC catalyze a remarkable rearrangement reaction in which guanosine-5′-triphosphate (GTP) is converted to cyclic pyranopterin monophosphate (cPMP). In this reaction, the C8 of GTP is inserted between the C2′ and the C3′ carbons of the GTP ribose. Previous experiments with GTP isotopomers demonstrated that the ribose C3′ hydrogen atom is abstracted by the adenosyl radical. This led to a novel mechanistic proposal involving an intermediate with a bond between the C8 of guanine and C3′ of the ribose. This paper describes the use of 2′,3′-dideoxyGTP to trap this intermediate.

MoaA, a radical S-adenosylmethionine enzyme, catalyzes the first step in molybdopterin biosynthesis. This reaction involves a complex rearrangement in which C8 of guanosine triphosphate is inserted between C2′ and C3′ of the ribose. This study identifies the site of initial hydrogen atom abstraction by the adenosyl radical and advances a mechanistic proposal for this unprecedented reaction.

HpxO is a flavin-dependent urate oxidase that catalyzes the hydroxylation of uric acid to 5-hydroxyisourate and functions in a novel pathway for purine catabolism found in Klebsiella pneumoniae. We have determined the structures of HpxO with and without uric acid at 2.0 and 2.2 Å, respectively. We have also determined the structure of the R204Q variant at 2.0 Å resolution in the absence of uric acid. The variant structure is very similar to that of wild-type HpxO except for the conformation of Arg103, which interacts with FAD in the variant but not in the wild-type structure. Interestingly, the R204Q variant results in the uncoupling of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide oxidation from uric acid hydroxylation. This suggests that Arg204 facilitates the deprotonation of uric acid, activating it for the oxygen transfer. On the basis of these data, a mechanism for this reaction consisting of a nucleophilic attack of the urate anion on the flavin hydroperoxide resulting in the formation of 5-hydroxyisourate is proposed.

The radical S-adenosylmethionine enzyme MqnC catalyzes conversion of dehypoxanthine futalosine (DHFL) to the unique spiro compound cyclic DHFL in the futalosine pathway for menaquinone biosynthesis. This study describes the in vitro reconstitution of [4Fe-4S] cluster-dependent MqnC activity and identifies the site of abstraction of a hydrogen atom from DHFL by the adenosyl radical.

Toxoflavin (an azapteridine) is degraded to a single product by toxoflavin lyase (TflA) in a reaction dependent on reductant, Mn(II), and oxygen. The isolated product was fully characterized by NMR and MS and was identified as a triazine in which the pyrimidine ring was oxidatively degraded. A mechanism for toxoflavin degradation based on the identification of the enzymatic product and the recently determined crystal structure of toxoflavin lyase is proposed.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, thiamin pyrimidine is formed from histidine and pyridoxal phosphate (PLP). The origin of all of the pyrimidine atoms has been previously determined using labeling studies and suggests that the pyrimidine is formed using remarkable chemistry that is without chemical or biochemical precedent. Here we report the overexpression of the closely related Candida albicans pyrimidine synthase (THI5p) and the reconstitution and preliminary characterization of the enzymatic activity. A structure of the C. albicans THI5p shows PLP bound at the active site via an imine with Lys62 and His66 in close proximity to the PLP. Our data suggest that His66 of the THI5 protein is the histidine source for pyrimidine formation and that the pyrimidine synthase is a single-turnover enzyme.

Cofactors play key roles in metabolic pathways. Among them F420 has proved to be a very attractive target for the selective inhibition of archaea and actinobacteria. Its biosynthesis, in a unique manner, involves a key enzyme, F0-synthase. This enzyme is a large monomer in actinobacteria, while it is constituted of two subunits in archaea and cyanobacteria. We report here the purification of both types of F0-synthase and their in vitro activities. Our study allows us to establish that F0-synthase, from both types, uses 5-amino-6-ribitylamino-2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione and tyrosine as substrates but not 4-hydroxylphenylpyruvate as previously suggested. Furthermore, our data support the fact that F0-synthase generates two 5′-deoxyadenosyl radicals for catalysis which is unprecedented in reaction catalyzed by radical SAM enzymes.

In many bacteria tenI is found clustered with genes involved in thiamin thiazole biosynthesis. However, while TenI shows high sequence similarity with thiamin phosphate synthase, the purified protein has no thiamin phosphate synthase activity, and the role of this enzyme in thiamin biosynthesis remains unknown. In this contribution, we identify the function of TenI as a thiazole tautomerase, describe the structure of the enzyme complexed with its reaction product, identify the substrates phosphate and histidine 122 as the acid/base residues involved in catalysis, and propose a mechanism for the reaction. The identification of the function of TenI completes the identification of all of the enzymes needed for thiamin biosynthesis by the major bacterial pathway.

This communication describes the development of a thiamin sensor based on the bacterial thiamin binding protein. A triple mutant (C48S, C50S, S62C) of TbpA was labeled on C62 with N-[2-(l-maleimidyl)ethyl]-7-(diethylamino)coumarin-3-carboxamide (MDCC). Thiamin binding to this protein reduced the coumarin fluorescence giving a thiamin sensor with low nanomolar sensitivity.

High-resolution crystal structures are reported for apo, holo, and substrate-bound forms of a toxoflavin-degrading metalloenzyme (TflA). In addition, the degradation reaction is shown to be dependent on oxygen, Mn(II), and dithiothreitol in vitro. Despite its low sequence identity with proteins of known structure, TflA is structurally homologous to proteins of the vicinal oxygen chelate superfamily. Like other metalloenzymes in this superfamily, the TflA fold contains four modules that associate to form a metal binding site; however, the fold displays a rare rearrangement of the structural modules indicative of domain permutation. Moreover, unlike the 2-His-1-carboxylate facial triad commonly utilized by vicinal oxygen chelate dioxygenases and other dioxygen-activating non-heme Fe(II) enzymes, the metal center in TflA consists of a 1-His-2-carboxylate facial triad. The substrate-bound complex shows square-pyramidal geometry in which one position is occupied by O5 of toxoflavin. The open coordination site is predicted to be the dioxygen binding site. TflA appears to stabilize the reduced form of toxoflavin through second-sphere interactions. This anionic species is predicted to be the electron source responsible for reductive activation of oxygen to produce a peroxytoxoflavin intermediate.

Vitamin B6 is an essential cofactor that participates in a large number of biochemical reactions. Pyridoxal phosphate is biosynthesized de novo by two different pathways (the DXP dependent pathway and the R5P pathway) and can also be salvaged from the environment. It is one of the few cofactors whose catabolic pathway has been comprehensively characterized. It is also known to function as a singlet oxygen scavenger and has protective effects against oxidative stress in fungi. Enzymes utilizing vitamin B6 are important targets for therapeutic agents. This review provides a concise overview of the mechanistic enzymology of vitamin B6 biosynthesis and catabolism. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Pyridoxal Phosphate Enzymology.

A new pyrimidine catabolic pathway (the Rut pathway) was recently discovered in Escherichia coli K12. In this pathway, uracil is converted to 3-hydroxypropionate, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. The seven-gene Rut operon is required for this conversion. Here we demonstrate that the flavoenzyme RutA catalyzes the initial uracil ring-opening reaction to give 3-ureidoacrylate. This reaction, while formally a hydrolysis reaction, proceeds by an oxidative mechanism initiated by the addition of a flavin hydroperoxide to the C4 carbonyl. While peroxide-catalyzed amide hydrolysis has chemical precedent, we are not aware of a prior example of analogous chemistry catalyzed by flavin hydroperoxides. This study further illustrates the extraordinary catalytic versatility of the flavin cofactor.

Protein thiocarboxylates are involved in the biosynthesis of thiamin, molybdopterin, thioquinolobactin, and cysteine. Sequence analysis suggests that this post-translational modification is widely distributed in bacteria. Here we describe the development of lissamine rhodamine B sulfonyl azide as a sensitive click reagent for the detection of protein thiocarboxylates and describe the use of this reagent to detect PdtH, a putative protein thiocarboxylate involved in the biosynthesis of the pyridine dithiocarboxylic acid siderophore, in the Pseudomonas stutzeri proteome.

Thiocarboxylated proteins are important intermediates in a variety of biochemical sulfide transfer reactions. Here we identify a protein thiocarboxylate-dependent methionine biosynthetic pathway in Wolinella succinogenes. In this pathway, the carboxy terminal alanine of a novel sulfur transfer protein, HcyS-Ala, is removed in a reaction catalyzed by a metalloprotease, HcyD. HcyF, an ATP-utilizing enzyme, catalyzes the adenylation of HcyS. HcyS acyl-adenylate then undergoes nucleophilic substitution by bisulfide produced by Sir to give the HcyS thiocarboxylate. This adds to O-acetylhomoserine to give HcyS-homocysteine in a PLP-dependent reaction catalyzed by MetY. HcyD-mediated hydrolysis liberates homocysteine. A final methylation completes the biosynthesis. The biosynthetic gene cluster also encodes the enzymes involved in the conversion of sulfate to sulfide suggesting that sulfate is the sulfur source for protein thiocarboxylate formation in this system.

THI6 is a bifunctional enzyme found in the thiamin biosynthetic pathway in eukaryotes. The N-terminal domain of THI6 catalyzes the ligation of the thiamin thiazole and pyrimidine moieties to form thiamin phosphate, and the C-terminal domain catalyzes the phosphorylation of 4-methyl-5-hydroxyethylthiazole in a salvage pathway. In prokaryotes, thiamin phosphate synthase and 4-methyl-5-hydroxyethylthiazole kinase are separate gene products. Here we report the first crystal structure of a eukaryotic THI6 along with several complexes that characterize the active sites responsible for the two chemical reactions. THI6 from Candida glabrata is a homohexamer in which the six protomers form a cage-like structure. Each protomer is composed of two domains, which are structurally homologous to their monofunctional bacterial counterparts. Two loop regions not found in the bacterial enzymes provide interactions between the two domains. The structures of different protein−ligand complexes define the thiazole and ATP binding sites of the 4-methyl-5-hydroxyethylthiazole kinase domain and the thiazole phosphate and 4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine pyrophosphate binding sites of the thiamin phosphate synthase domain. Our structural studies reveal that the active sites of the two domains are 40 Å apart and are not connected by an obvious channel. Biochemical studies show 4-methyl-5-hydroxyethylthiazole phosphate is a substrate for THI6; however, adenosine diphospho-5β-ethyl-4-methylthiazole-2-carboxylic acid, the product of THI4, is not a substrate for THI6. This suggests that an unidentified enzyme is necessary to produce the substrate for THI6 from the THI4 product.

The gene identification and kinetic characterization of (E)-2-(acetamidomethylene)succinate (E-2AMS) hydrolase has recently been described. This enzyme catalyzes the final reaction in the degradation of vitamin B6 and produces succinic semialdehyde, acetate, ammonia, and carbon dioxide from E-2AMS. The structure of E-2AMS hydrolase was determined to 2.3 Å using SAD phasing. E-2AMS hydrolase is a member of the α/β hydrolase superfamily and utilizes a serine/histidine/aspartic acid catalytic triad. Mutation of either the nucleophilic serine or the aspartate resulted in inactive enzyme. Mutation of an additional serine residue in the active site causes the enzyme to be unstable and is likely structurally important. The structure also provides insight into the mechanism of hydrolysis of E-2AMS and identifies several potential catalytically important residues.

This communication describes the development of a thiamin sensor based on the bacterial thiamin binding protein. A triple mutant (C48S, C50S, S62C) of TbpA was labeled on C62 with N-[2-(l-maleimidyl)ethyl]-7-(diethylamino)coumarin-3-carboxamide (MDCC). Thiamin binding to this protein reduced the coumarin fluorescence giving a thiamin sensor with low nanomolar sensitivity.