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Threonine Synthase of Lemna paucicostata Hegelm. 6746

Laboratory of General and Comparative Biochemistry, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20205

Threonine synthase (TS) was purified approximately 40-fold from Lemna paucicostata, and some of its properties determined by use of a sensitive and specific assay. During the course of its purification, TS was separated from cystathionine -synthase, establishing the separate identity of these enzymes. Compared to cystathionine -synthase, TS is relatively insensitive to irreversible inhibition by propargylglycine (both in vitro and in vivo) and to gabaculine, vinylglycine, or cysteine in vitro. TS is highly specific for O-phospho-L-homoserine (OPH) and water (hydroxyl ion). Nucleophilic attack by hydroxyl ion is restricted to carbon-3 of OPH and proceeds sterospecifically to form threonine rather than allo-threonine. The K_m for OPH, determined at saturating S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet), is 2.2 to 6.9 micromolar, two orders of magnitude less than values reported for TS from other plant tissues. AdoMet markedly stimulates the enzyme in a reversible and cooperative manner, consistent with its proposed role in regulation of methionine biosynthesis. Cysteine (1 millimolar) caused a slight (26%) reversible inhibition of the enzyme. Activities of TS isolated from Lemna were inversely related to the methionine nutrition of the plants. Down-regulation of TS by methionine may help to limit the overproduction of threonine that could result from allosteric stimulation of the enzyme by AdoMet.

No evidence was obtained for feedback inhibition, repression, or covalent modification of TS by threonine and/or isoleucine.

² Present address: Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6414.

³ Present address: Calgene, Inc., Davis, CA 95616.

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