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Aspartokinase from Wheat Germ

Isolation, Characterization, and Regulation ¹

^a Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Aspartokinase has been isolated from wheat germ and a preliminary survey made of its properties in a partially purified extract. The enzyme has an absolute requirement for ATP and a divalent metal ion. The phosphate donor can be either ATP or GTP, but other nucleotides are ineffective. Both magnesium and manganese will activate the enzyme, whereas calcium shows a trace amount of activity. The enzyme has a Km of 16.7 mM for aspartate, 1.2 mM for ATP, and 3.3 mM for MgCl₂. Lysine inhibits the reaction at fairly low concentrations, and threonine inhibits at high concentrations. Other amino acids which are derived from aspartate (methionine, homoserine, threonine, and isoleucine) have little effect. When lysine and threonine are added together, they show a concerted inhibition of the reaction. The enzyme is also stabilized against heat inactivation by lysine and threonine together but not by either when added separately. It is suggested that aspartokinase from plants is a regulatory enzyme and exhibits a concerted feedback mechanism.