Violaxanthin de-epoxidase disulphides and their role in activity and thermal stability

Hallin, EI; Guo, K; Åkerlund, HE

HERO ID

2902181

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year

2015

Language

English

PMID

25764016

HERO ID 2902181
In Press No
Year 2015
Title Violaxanthin de-epoxidase disulphides and their role in activity and thermal stability
Authors Hallin, EI; Guo, K; Åkerlund, HE
Journal Photosynthesis Research
Volume 124
Issue 2
Page Numbers 191-198
Abstract Violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE) catalyses the conversion of violaxanthin to zeaxanthin at the lumen side of the thylakoids during exposure to intense light. VDE consists of a cysteine-rich N-terminal domain, a lipocalin-like domain and a negatively charged C-terminal domain. That the cysteines are important for the activity of VDE is well known, but in what way is less understood. In this study, wild-type spinach VDE was expressed in E. coli as inclusion bodies, refolded and purified to give a highly active and homogenous preparation. The metal content (Fe, Cu, Ni, Mn, Co and Zn) was lower than 1 mol% excluding a metal-binding function of the cysteines. To investigate which of the 13 cysteines that could be important for the function of VDE, we constructed mutants where the cysteines were replaced by serines, one by one. For 12 out of 13 mutants the activity dropped by more than 99.9%. A quantification of free cysteines showed that only the most N-terminal of these cysteines was in reduced form in the native VDE. A disulphide pattern in VDE of C9-C27, C14-C21, C33-C50, C37-C46, C65-C72 and C118-C284 was obtained after digestion of VDE with thermolysin followed by mass spectroscopy analysis of reduced versus non-reduced samples. The residual activity found for the mutants showed a variation that was consistent with the results obtained from mass spectroscopy. Reduction of the disulphides resulted in loss of a rigid structure and a decrease in thermal stability of 15 °C.
Doi 10.1007/s11120-015-0118-9
Pmid 25764016
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Is Public Yes
Language Text English