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Plant Physiol. (1999) 119: 961-978
A Multisubunit Acetyl Coenzyme A
Carboxylase from
Soybean1
Sergei Reverdatto,
Vadim Beilinson, and
Niels C. Nielsen*
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research
Service, and Departments of Agronomy and Biochemistry, Purdue
University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1150
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ABSTRACT |
A multisubunit form of acetyl
coenzyme A (CoA) carboxylase (ACCase) from soybean (Glycine
max) was characterized. The enzyme catalyzes the formation of
malonyl CoA from acetyl CoA, a rate-limiting step in fatty acid
biosynthesis. The four known components that constitute plastid ACCase
are biotin carboxylase (BC), biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP),
and the - and -subunits of carboxyltransferase ( - and -CT).
At least three different cDNAs were isolated from germinating soybean
seeds that encode BC, two that encode BCCP, and four that encode
-CT. Whereas BC, BCCP, and -CT are products of nuclear genes, the
DNA that encodes soybean -CT is located in chloroplasts. Translation
products from cDNAs for BC, BCCP, and -CT were imported into
isolated pea (Pisum sativum) chloroplasts and became
integrated into ACCase. Edman microsequence analysis of the subunits
after import permitted the identification of the amino-terminal
sequence of the mature protein after removal of the transit sequences.
Antibodies specific for each of the chloroplast ACCase subunits were
generated against products from the cDNAs expressed in
bacteria. The antibodies permitted components of ACCase to be followed
during fractionation of the chloroplast stroma. Even in the presence of
0.5 M KCl, a complex that contained BC plus BCCP emerged
from Sephacryl 400 with an apparent molecular mass greater than about
800 kD. A second complex, which contained - and -CT, was also
recovered from the column, and it had an apparent molecular mass of
greater than about 600 kD. By mixing the two complexes together at
appropriate ratios, ACCase enzymatic activity was restored. Even higher
ACCase activities were recovered by mixing complexes from pea and
soybean. The results demonstrate that the active form of ACCase can be reassembled and that it could form a high-molecular-mass complex.
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INTRODUCTION |
The ATP-dependent carboxylation of acetyl CoA to yield malonyl CoA
is a primary reaction that occurs during de novo fatty acid
biosynthesis. ACCase (EC 6.4.1.2), the enzyme that directs this
reaction, carries out a two-step process. The first step in the
reaction involves the ATP-dependent carboxylation of a biotin
prosthetic group in the enzyme. The second step results in the transfer
of the carboxyl from carboxybiotin to acetyl CoA to form malonyl CoA.
This is a regulated step in de novo fatty acid biosynthesis (Page et
al., 1994 ) and is subject to feedback inhibition by long-chain fatty
acids (Shintani and Ohlrogge, 1995 ).
Two forms of ACCase have been described in plants. The first is a very
large (>200 kD) MF protein similar to the one originally discovered in
animals (Gregolin et al., 1966 ). The second is a MS complex with a
structure of yet-unknown configuration. The MF enzyme form, also
designated as a homomeric- or eukaryotic-type enzyme in the literature,
is found in the cytoplasm of many eukaryotic organisms such as mammals
(Lopez-Casillas et al., 1988 ; Ha et al., 1994 ), yeast (Al-Feel et al.,
1992 ), algae (Roessler and Ohlrogge, 1993 ), and plants (Gornicki et
al., 1994 ; Roesler et al., 1994 ; Anderson et al., 1995 ; Egli et al.,
1995 ; Yanai et al., 1995 ). The MS type of ACCase, also known as the
heteromeric or prokaryotic form in the literature, is best
characterized from bacteria such as Escherichia coli (Li and
Cronan, 1992a , 1992b ; Waldrop et al., 1994 ). A MS enzyme has also been
described in plant chloroplasts (Kannangara and Stumpf, 1972 ; Sasaki et
al., 1993 ).
The malonyl CoA generated by the cytoplasmic and chloroplast enzymes
are used for different purposes. The malonyl CoA produced in cytosol by
the MF form of ACCase is used for fatty acid elongation and
the biosynthesis of phytoalexins and flavonoids (Ebel et al., 1984 ),
whereas that produced by the chloroplast enzyme is used for de novo
fatty acid biosynthesis. Although chloroplasts from members of the
Gramineae harbor a homomeric MF ACCase, chloroplasts from
many other higher plants contain MS ACCases (Sasaki et al., 1993 , 1995 ;
Alban et al., 1994 ; Konishi et al., 1996 ). An exception to this
generalization is that chloroplasts from Brassica napus seem
to contain both MF and MS ACCases (Elborough et al., 1996 ; Markham et
al., 1997; Schulte et al., 1997). The MS ACCase from pea
chloroplasts is organized like the MS form of the enzyme from E. coli. The bacterial enzyme has four subunits: BCCP, BC, and two
carboxyl transferases, - and -CT (Guchhait et al., 1974 ; Li and
Cronan, 1992b ). Whereas the three-dimensional structure of the E. coli BC subunit has been reported (Waldrop et al., 1994 ), those
for the other three components are unknown.
The study of chloroplast ACCase by the traditional methods of protein
chemistry has proven difficult because the enzyme is extremely unstable
(Alban et al., 1994 ). An alternative to protein purification involves
the isolation of cDNAs that encode each of the chloroplast ACCase
components, and their use in producing the various subunits in vitro.
In this regard, DNAs that encode the chloroplast ACCase -CT subunit
from pea (Sasaki et al., 1993 ), BC from tobacco (Shorrosh et al., 1995 )
and Arabidopsis (Bao et al., 1997 ; Sun et al., 1997 ), BCCP from
Arabidopsis (Choi et al., 1995 ) and Brassica spp. (Elborough
et al., 1996 ), and -CT from pea (Pisum sativum) (Shorrosh
et al., 1996 ) have been reported.
Because ACCase is likely to be a primary control point in the pathway
for the biosynthesis of oil storage reserves in soybeans (Glycine
max), we have undertaken a study of the MS ACCase from this
important oil crop. We isolated cDNA clones that encode each subunit
from the MS ACCase in developing soybean seeds. Unlike pea,
in which there are single copies of genes that encode each of the four
ACCase subunits, evidence is reported that each of the nuclear-encoded
subunits of soybean ACCase are encoded by small families of genes.
Subunits synthesized at the direction of these soybean cDNAs interact
with a MS ACCase when they are imported into isolated pea
chloroplasts. By comparing the deduced amino acid sequences of the
precursors with the chemically determined sequence of the ACCase
subunits after import and assembly in the chloroplast, the N-terminal
regions constituting the transit sequences in the precursors could be
deduced. Antibodies that specifically recognize each component of the
MS ACCase were generated with the cloned cDNAs and used to
demonstrate that the soybean chloroplast enzyme separates into two
large, high-molecular-mass complexes during purification. Recombining
these complexes caused a restoration of ACCase activity. The
implications of these observations on the regulation of ACCase are
discussed.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Plant Material
Peas (Pisum sativum var Green Arrow) were grown at
18°C in a growth chamber set on a 12-h light/12-h dark cycle. Plants
were watered daily with tap water. Soybeans (Glycine max cv
Resnik) were collected in the field at mid-maturation, and after
removing the pods, they were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen. The seeds were transferred to 80°C for storage.
Soybean cDNA Library Construction and Screening
A soybean cDNA library was prepared in vector ZAP Express
following the protocol from the manufacturer (Stratagene cDNA synthesis
kit). Poly(A+) mRNA was isolated from cv Resnik
soybean seeds collected on the 3rd d of germination and stored in
liquid nitrogen. The library totaled 1.3 × 106 primary clones and was amplified once. The
degenerate oligonucleotides for -CT cDNA amplification were designed
after an analysis of conserved segments in -CT gene sequences from
other species. Amplification by PCR was carried out with soybean cDNA
and resulted in several fragments to probe the cDNA library.
Arabidopsis clone VCVDE11, obtained from the Arabidopsis Biological
Resources Center (The Ohio State University, Columbus), and that
contained the 3 portion of a BCCP gene, was used as a probe to screen
the library at low stringency. Plaque lifts and hybridizations were
carried out with nylon membranes according to the manufacturer's
recommendations (Magnalift, MSI, Westborough, MA). Plaques positive
after a secondary screening were used for in vivo plasmid excision with
ExAssist helper phage and Escherichia coli strain XLORL
according to the manufacturer's recommendations (Stratagene). The
resulting colonies were randomly screened with PCR and then used for
phagemid DNA preparation. Inserts were characterized by
restriction analysis and partial readings from T3 and T7 primers.
Selected clones were finally sequenced by the shifting-primer method
(Sequenase 2.0 kit, United States Biochemical).
Probe Preparation and Labeling
The desired DNA fragment (restriction fragment or PCR product) was
purified by gel electrophoresis through low melting point agarose (ultrapure grade; BRL). Fragments were excised from the gel and digested for several hours to overnight with the Gelase enzyme
(Epicentre, Madison, WI). Labeling was carried out with the DECAPRIME
II kit (Ambion, Austin, TX) in accordance with instructions from the
manufacturer. After labeling, the probe was filtered through two layers
of nitrocellulose BA85 (0.45 µm, Schleicher & Schuell) in a spin
column to reduce background, and then denatured by a 5-min incubation
in boiling water.
Nucleic Acid Preparation and DNA-Blot Analysis
Total RNA was obtained from germinating soybean seeds with the
TriPure isolation reagent from Boehringer Mannheim. Total RNA was used
for mRNA preparation with the PolyATract System kit (Promega). Genomic
DNA was isolated from young soybean leaves by phenol/chloroform extraction with a final CsCl purification step (Cho, 1988 ). Restriction enzyme digestions of DNAs for DNA gel blots were performed overnight with appropriate buffers and conditions. Soybean genomic DNA
restriction fragments were separated on 0.5% agarose gels cast with
5× Tris-acetate-EDTA buffer. The same buffer was used for
electrophoresis, which was at 1 to 1.5 V/cm for 15 to 25 h at
4°C. A vacuum blotting system (VacuGene XL, Pharmacia) was used to
transfer nucleic acids from gels to membranes (GeneScreen Plus,
DuPont). Protocols recommended by the manufacturer were used for DNA
alkaline vacuum transfer. The same buffers and conditions described for
library screening were used for blot hybridization.
Preparation of the Plasmid Constructs for in Vivo and in Vitro
Expression
Plasmid vector pET16b (Novagen, Madison, WI) was used for
expression in E. coli. The constructs used for in vitro
transcription-translation experiments were prepared in the pGEMEX
vector (Promega). NdeI sites were created at the 5 termini
of the -CT1, -CT2, BCCP precursor, -CT gene, and BC PCR
fragments. The oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis procedure described
by Jung et al. (1992) was used for this purpose, except in the case of
the -CT cDNAs, for which a PCR approach was used. Cloning was
carried out at NdeI-XhoI sites of the receptor
vectors, except for the BC PCR fragment, which was cloned at the
NdeI-BamHI site of pET16b. Triple ligation at an
internal BstEII site was required for -CT cDNAs because of the presence of additional NdeI sites in the gene
sequence. The fragments of -CT and -CT cDNAs were cloned into
pET16b/BamHI and NdeI-BamHI vectors.
The constructs obtained were used to transform BL21(DE3) E. coli cells. Growing cells were induced at optical densities of 0.4 to 0.6 by addition of isopropyl- -thiogalactopyranoside to 1 mM and incubated for 2 to 4 h at 37°C.
Expressed proteins were analyzed by direct lysis in gel-loading buffer
(Laemmli, 1970 ) with subsequent SDS-PAGE and Coomassie blue staining.
For antibody production, the antigens in protein bodies were isolated from the insoluble fraction of lysed cells, solubilized in 6 M urea or 6 M
guanidine-HCl, and purified through the nickel-agarose column according
to recommendations of the manufacturer (Novagen). The proteins were
purified further by preparative SDS-PAGE, and the bands of interest
were excised, ground in PBS, and used to immunize female New Zealand
White rabbits at the Antibody Production Core Facility (Purdue
University Cancer Center, Lafayette, IN).
Transcription-Translation in Vitro and Import of the Translation
Products into Isolated Pea Chloroplasts
Plasmids with DNAs encoding ACCase subunits in pGEMEX-1 were
isolated in preparative amounts using the modified alkali lysis/PEG precipitation method described by Beilinson (1992) . The purified plasmids were used to generate proteins in a coupled
transcription-translation (rabbit reticulocyte) system (Promega) and
either [35S]Met or
[3H]Leu. Pea chloroplasts were isolated
essentially as described by Bruce et al. (1994) . Import reactions
(usually in a volume of 200 µL) contained 0.25 to 0.3 mg/mL
chlorophyll, 3 mM MgATP, and an aliquot of translation
reaction diluted by 1× IB buffer (50 mM Hepes-KOH, pH 8.0, and 330 mM sorbitol). It was essential to keep the
amount of translation reaction in the total reaction mixture below 5%.
The import reaction was carried out for 20 to 30 min at 25°C with
occasional mixing. Chloroplasts that survived were reisolated through a
40% Percoll cushion, washed and lysed in 25 mM Hepes, pH
8.0, and kept on ice for 10 min. The fractionation of components from
the chloroplasts was performed as described by Bruce et al. (1994) , or
stromal and membrane fractions were separated by rapid
ultracentrifugation at 100,000g for 30 min. Preparative
import reactions were scaled up to a volume of 10 to 12 mL. Washed
chloroplasts were lysed in 50 mM Hepes, pH 8.0, 1 mM EDTA, 5 mM DDT, 1 mM PMSF, 5 mM
-aminohexanoic acid, and 1 mM benzamidine-HCl
for 10 min on ice with subsequent centrifugation at 10,000g
for 10 min. The supernatant was further centrifuged at
85,000g over a layer of 0.6 M Suc.
Samples were collected from the top of the tubes. Glycerol was added to
a final concentration of 10%, and the samples were concentrated in a
Centricon-10 (Amicon, Beverly, MA). All preparations were stored at
80°C until use.
Determination of the Cleavage Sites for -CT and BCCP Transit
Peptides
Chloroplast import reactions were scaled up to obtain preparative
amounts of clarified pea stroma that contained soybean -CT2 and BCCP
subunits. The in vitro-translated proteins were labeled with
[3H]Leu, and a small amount of
[35S]Met-labeled subunit was added to
facilitate detection. Pea stromal proteins were separated by
preparative SDS-PAGE and transferred to PVDF membranes (Bio-Rad).
Radioactively labeled bands were detected by autoradiography.
Appropriate portions of the membranes were excised and subjected to 25 cycles of protein sequencing at the Purdue Center for Protein
Sequencing (West Lafayette, IN). Cycles from sequencing were collected,
spotted on glass-fiber discs, and counted in a liquid-scintillation
counter.
Determination of the Cleavage Site for the BC Transit
Peptide
Pea stromal extract with CPE activity was prepared basically as
described by Abad et al. (1989) . Briefly, intact chloroplasts were
lysed hypotonically by resuspension in a volume of ice-cold 25 mM Hepes-KOH, pH 8.0, to produce a final chlorophyll
concentration between 0.8 and 1 mg/mL. After incubation for 30 to 40 min on ice, the lysed chloroplast suspension was centrifuged at
16,000g for 15 min, and then the supernatant that resulted
was centrifuged at 140,000g in an ultracentrifuge. The CPE
extract from this procedure was stored on ice until used. A typical
cleavage reaction consisted of two parts CPE extract, one part in vitro
translation reaction (diluted 1:1 with 2× IB buffer that contained 60 mM of the corresponding cold amino acid), and two
parts CPE reaction buffer (100 mM Gly-NaOH, pH
9.0, 220 mM KCl, 6 mM
MgCl2). Reactions were incubated at 27°C for 60 to 90 min, and then stopped by adding 0.5 volume of SDS-PAGE 3×
loading buffer (2% SDS, 10% glycerol, 100 mM
DTT, 60 mM Tris-HCl, pH 6.8, 0.001% bromphenol
blue). The samples were boiled for 1 min, separated by SDS-PAGE,
transferred to PVDF membranes, and sequenced as described above.
Soybean Extracts
Frozen soybeans were ground to a fine powder in a mortar and
suspended in three volumes of extraction buffer. The slurry was stirred
for 1 h, filtered through two layers of Miracloth (Calbiochem), and centrifuged for 30 min at 30,000g. The filtrate was
brought to 20% saturation with ammonium sulfate, stirred for another
hour at 4°C, and centrifuged at 30,000g for 20 min. This
supernatant was brought to 60% saturation with ammonium sulfate and
stirred for another hour. The precipitate was collected by
centrifugation and dissolved in fresh extraction buffer that contained
20 mM Hepes, pH 8.0, 0.5 mM
DTT, 1 mM EDTA, 10% glycerol, 1 mM PMSF, 5 mM
-aminohexanoic acid, and 1 mM benzamidine-HCl
(buffer A). That suspension was desalted and concentrated by several
repeated rounds of ultrafiltration on 50-kD concentrators (Filtron,
Northborough, MA). The resulting protein solution was brought to 40 mg/mL and stored at 80°C.
Protein Gel-Blot Analysis
A minigel system for SDS-PAGE (Bio-Rad) was used with 7.5%
acrylamide for -CT proteins and 9% acrylamide for all other MS ACCase components. After separation the proteins were transferred to
PVDF membranes (Bio-Rad) with a Hoefer T70 semidry transfer unit.
Membranes were washed with TBS and blocked with a solution containing
0.8% blocking reagent (Boehringer Mannheim) and 0.02% NaN3 in TBST (TBS containing 0.1% [v/v] Tween
20). Primary antibodies against -CT, BCCP, and BC were used at a
1:2,000 dilution, whereas those against -CT were used at a 1:10,000
dilution in blocking solution. An anti-rabbit IgG-alkaline phosphatase
conjugate (Bio-Rad), used as secondary antibodies, was applied at a
1:3,000 dilution. Biotinylated proteins were detected with a
streptavidin-alkaline phosphatase conjugate (Boehringer Mannheim)
diluted 1:2,000. Blots were visualized with a
5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolylphosphate-p-toluidine/nitroblue tetrazolium color reagent kit (Bio-Rad).
Chromatographic Procedures
Pea and soybean protein extracts were separated in 1- × 55-cm
glass columns packed with Sephacryl 300 HR or 400 HR (Pharmacia). Columns were eluted with buffer A at 0.05 mL/min. For high-salt chromatography, the buffer was supplemented with 0.5 M KCl.
Fractions of 0.75 mL were collected and analyzed. Typically, 2 to 5 mg
of total protein was loaded on the column in each run. For
anion-exchange chromatography, either a 1- × 23-cm glass column or a
small, plastic, 5-mL column was packed with Q-Sepharose (Sigma).
Proteins were loaded on the columns in buffer A and washed with 1 to 2 volumes of the same buffer. Columns were eluted with a 0 to 0.5 M gradient of KCl in buffer A. A total of 15 to 20 column
volumes were collected in 2-mL fractions at 0.5 mL/min. Finally, the
columns were washed with 1 to 2 volumes of 2 M KCl in
buffer A.
Affinity Chromatography
Monomeric avidin-agarose resin from Sigma was used to capture
biotinylated proteins from seed extracts. A 1-mL column was washed
according to the manufacturer's recommendations and equilibrated with
buffer containing 20 mM Hepes, pH 8.0, 1 mM
EDTA, 0.5 mM DDT, 10% glycerol, 1 mM PMSF, 5 mM -aminohexanoic acid, 1 mM benzamidine-HCl, and 0.5 M KCl. A total of 4 mg of soybean
seed extract was loaded onto the column and incubated for 16 h at
4°C as described previously (Alban et al., 1994 ). The column was then washed extensively with the same buffer, and the biotinylated proteins
were eluted by applying 1 mg/mL biotin (Sigma). Eluates were
concentrated with Microcon-10 units (Amicon) and stored at 80°C for
analysis.
Polyclonal antibodies against soybean MS ACCase subunits from whole
serum were purified by caproic acid/ammonium sulfate precipitation as
described by Harlow and Lane (1988) . The antibodies were used to
derivatize Affi-Gel-10 activated resin (Bio-Rad) according to the
manufacturer's recommendations. Coupling yields ranged from 3 to 5 mg
of protein per milliliter of resin. Four small (1-mL) columns were
constructed, one with each of the antibody resins. Before loading, each
column was washed with PBS, 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5)
containing 0.5 M KCl, 0.1 M Gly, pH 2.5, 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, 0.1 M ethanolamine, pH
11.5, and then PBS again. Finally, the columns were equilibrated with
PBS containing 1% NP40. A soybean seed extract (10 mg of protein) in
equilibration buffer was loaded onto each column and shaken overnight
at 4°C. The columns were extensively washed with PBS-NP40, PBS, 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5) containing 0.5 M KCl, and
then eluted with 0.1 M Gly, pH 2.5. The eluates were
immediately neutralized with Tris buffer, pH 7.5. Then the columns were
washed with Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, and eluted with 0.1 M
ethanolamine, pH 11.5. This eluate was neutralized with Tris-HCl, pH
7.5. The eluates were concentrated and desalted by repeated cycles of
ultrafiltration with concentrators (Centricon-30, Amicon). Analysis
showed that the majority of proteins were eluted with 0.1 M
Gly.
Assay for ACCase Activity
The procedure described by Alban et al. (1994) was used for
determination of ACCase activity.
Computer Analysis
The Genetics Computer Group (Devereux et al., 1984 ) software
package was used for sequence alignments and calculations of molecular
mass and pI. Secondary structure predictions were accomplished with the
PHDsec program (Rost and Sander, 1994 ). The prediction sites
where proteins were localized in chloroplasts were determined by
the PSORT program (Nakai and Kanehisa, 1992 ), and the COILs program (Lupas et al., 1991 ) was used for analysis of putative coiled-coil structures.
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RESULTS |
Gene Cloning and Characterization
Table I summarizes the clones used
for these studies, clones that encode putative BC, BCCP, -CT, and
-CT subunits of soybean ACCase. Their nucleotide sequences can be
found in previous publications by Reverdatto et al. (1995 , 1996 , 1997) .
Also provided in Table I is the nomenclature we used to identify each
cDNA, together with a summary of various parameters that can be
calculated for the protein sequences deduced from them.
The -CT DNA was obtained as a part of 5.6-kb fragment of soybean
ctDNA, whereas several copies each of the BC, BCCP, and -CT genes
were obtained by screening of a cDNA library prepared from seeds 3 d after germination. A cDNA encoding a partial BC subunit was obtained
from soybean cDNA by PCR with an oligonucleotide primer to a consensus
sequence from a conserved region of BCs described previously. Two
additional clones that contained the full-length coding sequences for
BC were later obtained after PCR on soybean cDNA using oligonucleotide
primers based on the nucleotide sequence of the partial BC clone.
Data obtained from PCR amplification experiments revealed that the
accA genes probably contain introns (data not shown). To demonstrate this, PCR amplifications performed with degenerate oligonucleotides resulted in a product approximately 1 kb larger when
genomic DNA served as a template, compared with when cDNA was used. A
partial nucleotide-sequence analysis of the genomic fragment indicated
that the position of the insertion was after the Val-107 codon in the
-CT sequence ATT GAT GTA-(intron)-CAG/A AAG ATG. This DNA sequence
is conserved among all of the -CT genes that have been described.
Figure 1 shows the results of a DNA-blot
analysis of soybean genomic DNA when probed with accA ( -CT), accB
(BCCP), or accC (BC) cDNA. The complex hybridization patterns obtained
suggest that in soybean there are several genes that encode each
subunit. Consistent with this conclusion, four clones with different
nucleotide sequences that encoded -CT subunits were isolated from
the cDNA library. Although the inserts in these clones all had very
similar coding regions, they differed from one another in both their
3 - and 5 -UTRs. As is apparent from the data in Figure
2, the -CT cDNAs can be divided into
two groups based on their nucleotide sequence homology. Clones 1b and
8a make up one group, and clones 17a and 21a make up the second.
Members of the two groups are easily distinguished by their 5 -UTRs,
where considerably more sequence heterogeneity is evident among members
of the accA-1 group of clones than among those in the accA-2 group
(Fig. 2A). The clones with the longest nucleotide sequences in each
group were submitted to GenBank; these correspond to accession numbers U34392 and U40979, respectively.

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| Figure 1.
DNA gel-blot analysis of soybean genomic DNA.
Blots were probed with coding parts of soybean BCCP (A), -CT (B),
and BC (C) cDNAs at high stringency (65°C; see ``Materials and Methods'' for details). DNA was digested overnight; the restriction
enzymes are indicated above each lane. The complexity of the
restriction patterns suggests multiple gene copies for each of these
ACCase subunits. Positions of /HindIII DNA size
markers are indicated in thousands of bp.
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| Figure 2.
Alignment of the 5 -UTR (A) and 3 -UTR (B) regions
of soybean accA cDNAs. The ATG start codons are boxed and the
terminator codons are underlined. Note that the deletion in clones 17a
and 21a (marked with arrowheads) result in a frame shift in the coding
region (shown by uppercase letters) such that the C terminus of the
protein encoded by these clones is different from the one encoded in
clones 1b and 8a. C, Alignment of a segment of ACCase -CT subunits
from different organisms. The region considered to be involved in
acetyl CoA binding (Li and Cronan, 1992b ) is underlined. All sequences
are aligned to the E. coli protein.
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Figure 2B shows that there is a 270-bp deletion in the 3 -UTR of accA-2
cDNA compared with accA-1. The deletion includes the end of the accA-1
coding region and the beginning of the 3 -UTR. The deletion in accA-2
results in proteins with different C-terminal ends compared with
accA-1. It causes the last 28 codons of the accA-2 cDNA to be included
in the 3 -UTR instead of lying at the C terminus of the encoded
protein, as in accA-1. As indicated in Table I, the open reading frames
in the sequenced inserts translate into -CT proteins. Those have a
high proportion of positively (>17%) and negatively charged (>14%)
amino acid residues, which account for roughly one-third of the
residues in the entire deduced primary structure of the subunit. There
are also a considerable number of hydrophobic amino acids (>25%),
almost half of which are Leu (>11%). Secondary structure analysis
predicted that the -CTs contained 58.5% -helices, 5.8% extended
-sheets, and 35.7% loops.
The cDNA clones that encode complete BC subunits translated into
precursors with about 540 amino acids and molecular masses around 60 kD. About one-fourth of the amino acids in the deduced BC proteins are
charged, one-half positive and the rest negative. Secondary structure
predictions for BC-2 indicate that it is a protein with 34.4%
-helix, 17.6% -sheet secondary structure, and the remainder
loops. It is interesting that the deduced protein sequence from the
partial accC-1 cDNA clone was different from that encoded by accC-2 and
accC-3. Like the -CT cDNA described above, the two full-length BC
cDNAs (accC-2 and accC-3) are quite homologous (approximately 97%
identical) but diverge from each other in both 5 - and 3 -UTRs.
As anticipated, the primary structure of proteins that were deduced
from the putative soybean MS ACCase cDNAs exhibited
considerable homology to the corresponding ACCase subunits from
E. coli (Table I) and from other higher plants (Sasaki et
al., 1993 ; Choi et al., 1995 ; Shorrosh et al., 1995 , 1996 ; Elborough et
al., 1996 ). Even more striking, however, were the homologies among the
predicted secondary structures for the E. coli and soybean
ACCase subunits (Fig. 3).

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| Figure 3.
Alignment of predicted secondary structures for
subunits from soybean chloroplast and E. coli ACCases.
Plots represent potential -helix rods and -sheets. The homologous
regions of soybean and E. coli proteins are indicated.
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Certain structural elements shared by the two types of ACCases can be
found in the deduced sequences of the soybean proteins. For example,
the biotinylation motif
(C/G/M)-I-(V/I/L)-G-A-M-K-(M/L)-(M/E)-(N/I), which is
conserved among all of the BCCPs characterized to date, is present at
amino acids 239 to 248 in the soybean BCCP primary structure. The Lys
at amino acid 245 is the probable biotin attachment site (Samols et
al., 1988 ). Alignment of the regions proposed to be involved in acetyl
CoA binding in -CTs from different species (Li and Cronan, 1992b ) is
presented in Figure 2C. That the primary structure is conserved is
evident even between distant members of this family. The alignments
exhibit more homology between E. coli protein and -CT
subunits from MS enzymes than with the equivalent domains of the MF
ACCases.
The -CT subunit from soybean is about 300 amino acids longer than
the corresponding subunit from E. coli. As can be seen in
Figure 3, amino acids from residues 100 to 400 of the soybean subunit
correspond in predicted secondary structure to those of the E. coli subunit; the remaining 300 C-terminal amino acids of the
soybean subunit are unique. A computer-assisted structure prediction
indicates that the 300 amino acids at the C terminus of -CT might
assume a coiled-coil structural conformation.
Expression of Putative Soybean MS ACCase cDNAs in a Cell-Free
System
The deduced precursors from the soybean cDNAs were examined for
transit sequences that would guide cytoplasm-produced proteins into
chloroplasts. The accA and accB cDNA translation products have
N-terminal sequences that are rich in the hydroxylated amino acids Ser
and Thr, contain multiple small hydrophobic residues such as Ala and
Val, and have positively charged amino acids such as Arg and Lys. These
features are characteristic of many transit sequences. The transit
peptides also have a characteristic Met-Ala sequence at their N
termini. Analysis of the protein-sorting signals performed by the PSORT
program indicated a high probability for chloroplast localization of
the proteins, with a predicted likelihood of 0.934 for stromal
localization in the case of -CT, and 0.61 for
BCCP.
We investigated the possibility that the proteins encoded by the
various cDNAs could interact with MS ACCase from pea. Accordingly, the
accA, accB, and accC cDNA inserts were introduced into pGEMEX-1 under
the control of T7 bacteriophage promoters (Table
II). The subunits encoded by these
chimeric genes were synthesized in vitro with the TNT system (Promega).
Data reported earlier (Reverdatto et al., 1997 ) demonstrated that the
-CT1, -CT2, and BCCP precursors could successfully be imported
into isolated pea chloroplasts. This was indicated by the observation
that translation products became protected from protease (thermolysin)
digestion, and that there was an apparent shift in electrophoretic
mobility. It is interesting that the distribution of imported proteins
among chloroplast compartments seemed to be dependent on the
fractionation scheme. Upon application of the Suc step-gradient
protocol for chloroplast fractionation described by Bruce et al.
(1994) , BCCP was found mainly in stroma. In these experiments the
-CT subunits distributed almost equally between stromal and
chloroplast membrane fractions (thylakoid plus envelope membranes). No
labeled product was found in the thylakoid lumen fraction in either
case. On the other hand, when a rapid fractionation scheme was used to
separate components of lysed chloroplasts into stromal and membrane
fractions, almost 100% of the labeled, mature subunits were in the
stromal fraction. We believe the inconsistency between the two results
to be attributable to an instability of the complex upon chloroplast
fractionation, and that there are differences in the hydrophobicity of
subunit subcomplexes derived from ACCase. The dissociation of ACCase
into subcomplexes will be described in more detail below.
To test whether radioactive soybean ACCase subunits that were
synthesized in vitro could be incorporated into functional pea ACCase
complexes after import, clarified pea stromal preparations containing
imported soybean proteins were resolved by gel-filtration chromatography using Sephacryl S300. The data in Figure
4A show that radioactively labeled
soybean BCCP subunit coeluted from the columns together with ACCase
activity in the high-molecular-mass region. Similar results were
obtained for the soybean -CT subunit (see Reverdatto et al., 1997 ).
We concluded, therefore, that the soybean accA and accB cDNAs
encode members of a soybean ACCase complex, and that they are
incorporated into the ACCase complex of pea chloroplasts. The latter
result implies that pea ACCase is structurally and functionally similar
to soybean ACCase.

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| Figure 4.
A, Coelution of pea ACCase and
[3H]BCCP. [3H]BCCP precursors were
synthesized in vitro and imported into isolated pea chloroplasts.
Plastid ACCase activity in the stromal fractions was determined after
chromatography with a Sephacryl S300 column. Identical results obtained
with -CT precursors produced from accA were used in the same type of
experiment (Reverdatto et al., 1997 ). B and C, Processing of the in
vitro-synthesized soybean BC precursor by pea chloroplasts. Lanes 1, Translation with [35S]Met. Lanes 2, Intact pea
chloroplasts incubated with the BC precursor and reisolated through a
Percoll cushion (total chloroplast protein). Lanes 3, BC precursor
incubated with pea stromal preparation that has CPE activity. Lanes 4, Same as for lanes 3, but 5× concentrated (by ultrafiltration through
Microcon-30) pea stroma. Note that lanes 2 and 4 contain sizable
amounts of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase, which causes the band
attributable to mature BC to be distorted, whereas in lanes 3 there is
no distortion. B, Coomassie blue stain for total protein. C,
Autoradiogram of the gel from B. These data show that the soybean BC
precursors processed after import into chloroplasts, and by cleavage
with CPE, are of the same apparent size.
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|
A determination of the amino acid sequence of the labeled mature
soybean -CT and BCCP subunits isolated from pea stroma after import
permitted a determination of the position where cleavage of the transit
peptide took place. The data in Figure 5
show the amount of radioactivity recovered in each cycle of Edman
degradation as the imported soybean subunits were sequenced. In both
-CT and BCCP, the positions where the precursors were cleaved were remarkably close to the location predicted on the basis of
-sheet/ -helix transitions. The position determined for -CT2
was: Thr-45-Val-46-Ala-47-Ala-48 Lys-49-Leu-50-Arg-51-Lys-52-Val-53; the
position determined for BCCP was:
Arg-44-Val-45-Lys-46-Ala-47 Gln-48-Leu-49-Asn-50-Glu-51-Val-52.

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| Figure 5.
Microsequence analysis of the N termini of soybean
-CT2, BCCP, and BC after import into isolated pea chloroplasts.
Proteins synthesized in vitro as precursors were labeled with
[3H]Leu. The lower horizontal axis in each plot records
the deduced amino acid sequences of the corresponding precursor, and
the upper horizontal axis in each plot records the sequencer cycle.
Vertical bars indicate the [3H]Leu recovered from each
sequencer cycle.
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|
The transit peptides of both subunits were about the same size, and the
amino acid sequences surrounding the cleavage sites (identical amino
residues are underlined) were similar. We speculate that -CT1
protein has the same cleavage-site position as -CT2 because of the
similarity of the two proteins in this region (see Fig. 5 for
sequencing data).
A different approach was necessary to determine where the transit
peptide of the BC was cleaved. Because the recovery of mature protein
from isolated pea chloroplasts was extremely low after the import of
labeled precursor into chloroplasts, we treated the BC precursor with
the CPE from pea (Robinson and Ellis, 1984 ; Abad et al., 1989 , 1991 ;
Musgrove et al., 1989 ). Figure 4, B and C, shows the results from such
an experiment. As is evident from Figure 4C, the BC precursor was the
predominant product from in vitro translation but was accompanied by
less prevalent products of an unknown origin. When these translation
products were imported into chloroplast and the chloroplast was washed
extensively, only intact BC and the cleavage products were present in
chloroplast preparations (Fig. 4C, lane 2). When freshly prepared pea
stromal extract was used to process the radioactive products from
translation, a product of the same size as the soybean BC precursor was
recovered in the translation mixture (Fig. 4C, lanes 3 and 4). By using CPE, enough mature BC protein was recovered after isolation by SDS-PAGE
so that the cleavage-site position could be identified by N-terminal
protein sequence analysis (see Fig. 5):
Gln-59-Thr-60-Arg-61-His-62 Cys-63-Gly-64-Ala-65-Leu-66-His-67.
These results show that the transit peptide on the BC precursors (62 amino acid residues) is slightly larger than the transit peptides in
precursors from the two other ACCase subunits. In addition,
there is no apparent homology among the sequences immediately upstream
or downstream of the cleavage site in BC compared with either -CT or
BCCP. Finally, the alignments of the N-terminal sequences corresponding
to the transit peptide of BC from soybean, Arabidopsis (Bao et al.,
1997 ; Sun et al., 1997 ), and tobacco (Shorrosh et al., 1995 )
demonstrate that they are not well conserved.
Expression of ACCase cDNAs in E. coli and
Antibody Preparation
The cDNAs encoding soybean chloroplast ACCase subunits (accA-1 and
-2, accB, accD, and part of accC) were introduced into the prokaryotic
expression vector pET16b (Novagen). Translation products from these
vector constructions that were accumulated by the bacteria were used to
generate antibodies against individual components of the complex. Each
of the products carried a cleavable His-tag extension on its N terminus
to facilitate purification. Unfortunately, as indicated in Table II,
the full-size -CT genes were not expressed. All attempts to obtain
an expression product with the portion of the gene encoding amino acids
155 to 450 failed. This is the part of the molecule that is homologous
with the E. coli -CT subunit. To solve the problem, a
chimeric construction (pA1-4x) was generated that was composed of the
two pieces of the accA-1 gene that did not correspond to the E. coli coding region (i.e. DNA encoding amino acids 158-453 and
682-709 plus the soybean -CT gene 3 -UTR). A second clone (pA1-4X)
that encoded plant-specific protein sequence was also generated. These
clones resulted in the synthesis of polypeptides of the expected sizes by the bacteria and were used for antibody production (Fig.
6A). Proteins for each of the other
ACCase subunits were successfully produced in a similar manner, and the
translation products that were accumulated had the expected sizes.

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| Figure 6.
A, Expression of soybean chloroplast ACCase
subunits in E. coli. Total cell lysates were separated
on a 9% SDS-PAGE gel. Gels were stained with Coomassie blue and
photographed. Lane 1, Construct pB-1x; lane 2, pC-1x; lane 3, pD-1x;
lane 4, pD-3x; lane 5, pA1-3x; lane 6, pA1-4x; lane 7, pB-2x. (See
Table II for overview of expression constructs.) B, Refolding of
E. coli-expressed BCCP subunit precursor. Soluble
protein was run on SDS-PAGE and then probed with streptavidin (lane 1)
or stained with Coomassie blue for total protein (lane 2). A
substantial proportion of the bacterially expressed BCCP became soluble
after refolding. In addition, the BCCP synthesized in E. coli is biotinylated.
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Each of the expressed proteins accumulated in protein inclusion bodies.
All of the ACCase subunit proteins except for -CT were soluble in 6 M urea after their purification, and it took 6 M guanidine chloride to solubilize -CT and its fragment.
The solubilized proteins were purified by nickel-agarose column
chromatography and used to immunize rabbits. It is interesting that the
purified recombinant soybean BCCP protein was biotinylated when
isolated from E. coli (Fig. 6B), an indication that this
modification took place before accumulation of proteins in the
inclusion bodies.
The polyclonal antibodies obtained from rabbit serum varied
considerably in their affinity and specificity for the various subunits. Because the proteins used for antibody production were from
E. coli, other bacterial proteins inevitably contaminated them and caused a certain degree of cross-reactivity. This resulted in
the appearance of the background bands, but the signal ratio of
specific binding over the background remained quite high. All of the
antibodies recognized proteins of the expected sizes in protein blots,
not only when total soybean seed extracts were used, but also in stroma
prepared from pea chloroplasts (Fig. 7).
Unexpectedly, antibodies raised against the conserved part of the
-CT subunit (construct pA1-4x) had lower specificity (Fig. 7) and
were therefore abandoned. Antibody preparations selected for additional
purification were pB-1x, which recognized BCCP; pC-1x, which bound to
BC; pA1-3x, which recognized -CT; and pD-3x, which detected -CT.
The antibodies were purified by a combination of caproic acid/ammonium
sulfate precipitation (Harlow and Lane, 1988 ) or with the DEAE Affi-Gel
resin (Bio-Rad).

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| Figure 7.
SDS-PAGE gel blots probed with antibodies against
soybean MS ACCase subunits. Soybean total seed (A) and pea leaf
chloroplast stroma (B) extracts were probed. Lanes 1, Anti-BCCP; lanes
2, anti-BC; lanes 3, anti- -CT (anti-pD-1x); lanes 4, anti- -CT
(anti-pD-3x); lanes 5, anti- -CT (anti-pA1-3x); and lanes 6, anti- -CT (anti-pA1-4x). (See Table II for overview of expression
constructs.) Membranes were treated with both immune (lanes a) and
preimmune (lanes b) sera. Whole membranes were cut into strips and each
was incubated with a different antibody. Primary antibodies were used
at 1:10,000 dilutions.
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The Purification of ACCase Components by Affinity-Antibody
Columns
To purify components from the stromal ACCase,
affinity-purification columns were prepared by coupling the purified
antibodies to Affi-Gel resins (Bio-Rad). Seed extracts were passed
through these columns, and any proteins retained by the column were
eluted with an acidic Gly solution (pH 2.5). Protein blots were
prepared after electrophoresis of eluates from the columns, and these
were probed with each of the four antibodies and with streptavidin. Figure 8 reveals that proteins recognized
by the anti-BCCP antibody (and also streptavidin) are detected in both
the anti-BCCP and anti-BC column eluates. The same eluates were also
positive for BC. In the same manner, eluates from the anti- -CT and
anti- -CT columns each contained both kinds of subunits. The results
demonstrate that ACCase components separate but tend to form the stable
complexes containing either BC/BCCP or -CT/ -CT. Such complexes
are stable even in the presence of the 1% nonionic detergent NP40 used
in these studies.

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| Figure 8.
Analysis of column fractions from total soybean
seed extracts after chromatography through antibody-affinity columns.
Lanes 1, Protein-gel blot probed with streptavidin-alkaline phosphatase
conjugate; lanes 2, anti-BCCP probe; lanes 3, anti-BC probe; lanes 4, anti- -CT probe; lanes 5, anti- -CT probe. Gly eluates from each
column (indicated above the lanes) were separated on 9% SDS-PAGE and
transferred to PVDF membranes. Each membrane was subsequently cut into
strips and probed with each ACCase antibody.
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A similar behavior has been reported for pea ACCase (Sasaki et al.,
1993 ; Alban et al., 1994 ; Shorrosh et al., 1995 , 1996 ; Roesler et al.,
1996 ). Apparently, a minimal amount of intact MS ACCase complex
survived the dissociation conditions used for protein isolation,
because traces of -CT subunit were captured by anti-BCCP and anti-BC
columns, and the anti- -CT and anti- -CT column eluates contained
traces of BCCP (Fig. 8). It is interesting that up to three bands can
be seen in those lanes probed with streptavidin or anti-BCCP
antibodies. These lie between the positions of the 30- and 46-kD
proteins. This observation could mean that at least three BCCP-like
proteins are contained in the extracts. The lanes probed with
streptavidin also contained a protein of approximately 85 kD. That
signal is probably attributable to 3-methylcrotonyl carboxylase, and is
recognized by the antibodies because of structural homology between
components of ACCase and 3-methylcrotonyl carboxylase (Song et al.,
1994 ). When soybean seed extracts were separated by chromatography with
monomeric avidin-agarose (Sigma), a BC/BCCP complex was also captured
by the column (data not shown).
Gel-Filtration Chromatography of ACCase with Sephacryl S400
The distinctive behavior of ACCase during gel-permeation
chromatography is well documented for pea (Sasaki et al., 1993 ; Alban et al., 1994 ; Roesler et al., 1996 ; Shorrosh et al., 1996 ). In these
reports the MS ACCase complexes elute from Sephacryl S300 immediately
after the void volume and have an estimated molecular mass of 600 to
700 kD. Sephacryl S400 was used for our experiments with the soybean
ACCase because this chromatography medium provided better resolution in
high-molecular-mass regions than did S300. The chromatographic elution
profile and analysis of fractions from such an experiment are presented
in Figure 9. Protein-blot analysis
performed with either antibodies against each subunit or streptavidin
showed the majority of the four ACCase components to be located in
fractions that eluted before the 669-kD marker (thyroglobulin). It is
interesting that the strong signals against both BCCP and -CT were
confined to a relatively small number of fractions, whereas signals for
the BC and -CT subunits seemed to be present in many fractions.
Those fractions that contained BCCP also had strong signals with BC
antibodies, which by analogy with the pea enzyme probably contain
BC/BCCP complexes. The point at which most of the BC/BCCP pair eluted
seemed to be shifted slightly toward higher apparent molecular mass,
compared with those fractions that contained strong signals against
both -CT and -CT. We believe that the latter contains both
subunits as part of -CT/ -CT subcomplexes.

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| Figure 9.
Separation of soybean seed protein extract by gel
filtration on Sephacryl S400. The column was eluted with buffer A (see
``Materials and Methods'') at 0.05 mL/min. Fractions (0.75 mL) were
collected, and a high-molecular-mass gel-filtration calibration kit
(Pharmacia) was used to calibrate the column. Eluted protein fractions
were separated on SDS-PAGE, blotted to nylon membranes, and analyzed
with different antibodies as indicated. strept, Streptavidin-alkaline
phosphatase conjugate. The results from the protein-gel blot are
aligned with the chromatographic profile. Approximate positions of
electrophoretic molecular-mass markers are shown at the right of the
protein-blot panels. The position of Blue Dextran 2000 (BD) and other
markers used to calibrate the column are shown above the elution
profile. The markers were thryoglobulin (667 kD), ferritin (440 kD),
catalase (232 kD), and aldolase (158 kD).
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A similar shift in the elution of the two subunit pairs was reported by
Sasaki et al. (1993) and Shorrosh et al. (1996) , who attributed this
effect to a probable partial dissociation of the enzyme complex during
chromatography. The shift seems more apparent on the larger-pore-sized
Sephacryl S400 than on S300, perhaps because of an increased resolution
of high-molecular-mass complexes on S400. We observed that most of the
measurable ACCase activity coincided with the elution of MF ACCase
(determined by streptavidin binding to approximately 220-kD proteins in
protein blots). The elution of subunits of the MS ACCase overlapped the
elution position of the large MF ACCase and appeared at a position
where high-molecular-mass proteins would elute. This result was not
expected in view of the report that MS ACCase accounted for 80% of
total ACCase activity in pea leaves (Alban et al., 1994 ). It is
possible that the ratio of MF to MS forms of the enzymes is different
in leaves and seeds. Alternatively, the apparent instability of the MS
ACCase from soybean may be greater than in the pea system because of
our use of Sephacryl S400 to increase the resolution of partially
dissociated enzyme complexes.
The protein gel blots shown in Figure 9 indicate that there are several
molecular species each of -CT and BCCP after separation of the
soybean seed extracts by gel-permeation chromatography. The pattern of
bands attributable to the BC and -CT subunits detected by their
respective antibodies were less complicated than those of -CT and
BCCP. What seems to be a degraded form of BCCP is found in the
fractions with molecular mass < 200 kD relative to the markers.
This band is recognized by anti-BCCP antibodies but not by
streptavidin, a result indicative of nonbiotinylated BCCP. These
fractions emerged from the column soon after the aldolase marker (e.g.
158 kD) but before the inner volume of the column (20 kD). The same
fractions from the column also contained proteins that reacted with
anti-BC antibodies, although the most intense BC signals seemed to be
shifted to slightly lower molecular mass than those fractions with the
most intense signals for BCCP.
Chromatographic Behavior of the ACCase System during Gel Filtration
on Sephacryl S400 in High Salt (0.5 M KCl)
There have been some reports (Alban et al., 1994 ; Shorrosh et al.,
1996 ) that indicate that high ionic strength causes the MS ACCase from
pea to dissociate into the BC/BCCP and -CT/ -CT subcomplexes with
a loss of enzyme activity. To test the effect of high ionic strength on
the soybean enzyme, seed extracts were resolved by chromatography on
Sephacryl S400 using a buffer that contained 0.5 M KCl.
After the proteins in fractions from the column were separated by
SDS-PAGE, protein blots were prepared and probed either with antibodies
against individual ACCase subunits or with streptavidin. We interpret
the data shown in Figure 10 as
indicating that soybean ACCase dissociated into two complexes in 0.5 M KCl. The BC/BCCP pair eluted from the column first, and in a region where proteins with an unexpectedly high molecular mass
would be expected to emerge (>800 kD). These fractions from the column
were characterized by strong signals in protein-gel blots with both the
BC and BCCP antibodies. It is interesting that strong signals for BCCP
in the protein-gel blots were confined to a fairly narrow range of
fractions, whereas signals to anti-BC were observed in nearly every
fraction. In the area of the elution profile from the column where
200-kD proteins would emerge, a number of strong signals for BCCP and
BC subunits were detected immunologically. As in the case of
chromatography in low-salt conditions, those BCCP-positive proteins did
not react with streptavidin, were apparently not biotinylated, and were
probably degraded. These subunit complexes, which presumably contained
BC and degraded BCCP, did not form high-molecular-mass
assemblies like BC/BCCP with the intact biotin
carrier proteins. The -CT/ -CT subunits eluted from the column
after the BC/BCCP pair and seemed to overlap the fractions where the
cytoplasmic MF ACCase eluted from the gel-permeation column. Strong
signals for -CT in the protein gel blots were confined to only a few
fractions (i.e. 40-44), whereas strong signals against -CT were
much more widely distributed, especially in fractions that would
contain lower-molecular-mass proteins. Thus,
biotinylated BCCP and -CT seemed to be found only in fractions where
they were associated with either BC or -CT, respectively.

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| Figure 10.
The same experiment as in Figure 9, except that
buffer A contained 0.5 M KCl. Each fraction was
concentrated and desalted with Microcon-30 concentrators. Other
conditions are as in Figure 9. Note that the BC/BCCP and -CT/ -CT
complexes were resolved from one another and from the MF ACCase more
completely at 0.5 M KCl than they were at lower salt, and
that the salt did not cause disassembly of the two complexes.
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Purification of ACCase Components by Anion-Exchange Chromatography
on Q-Sepharose
A shallow salt gradient was reported to separate the two forms of
maize ACCase on a Q-Sepharose column (Herbert et al., 1996 ). Figure
11 shows the results of a similar
experiment carried out with an extract from soybeans. As indicated by
these data, the various components of ACCase were well resolved by this
approach. When antibodies were used to probe the fractions eluted from
the column, the BC/BCCP subunit pair emerged from the column first, followed by the MF ACCase, and finally by the -CT/ -CT subunit pair. It is interesting that the strong anion-exchange matrix apparently dissociated the MS ACCase complex, even in low-salt conditions, because the elution of the BC/BCCP pair at approximately 0.2 M KCl was not accompanied by detectable amounts of
other ACCase subunits. The broad elution range for the -CT/ -CT
pair may be attributable to several different -CT subunits in the
extract, each with a different apparent pI (see Table I). The small
amounts of -CT subunits that emerged from the column at the low-salt concentration were probably attributable to nonpaired proteins. The pI
values for -CT (6.5-7.7) might lead one to expect that they would
be released from the column at low-salt concentrations, a consideration
that suggests that the -CT/ -CT pair has a substantially higher
net pI. Note also that a small proportion of total BCCP eluted in
fractions 56 and 57, well before the bulk of these proteins were
released from the column. This was attributable to the nonbiotinylated BCCP described above, which remains associated with BC. It is unclear
whether a special function can be ascribed to this form of BCCP or
whether it represents a portion of the protein modified during
purification (e.g. proteolytically).

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| Figure 11.
Anion-exchange chromatography (Q-Sepharose
column) of a soybean seed extract. After loading, the column was washed
with buffer A (see ``Materials and Methods'') at 0.5 mL/min, and then
a KCl gradient (0-0.5 M) was applied. Final wash was with
2 M KCl. Fractions of 2 mL were collected, desalted, and
concentrated with Microcon-10 concentrators. Proteins were
separated on 9% SDS-PAGE, transferred to PVDF membranes, and probed
with antibodies as indicated. strept, Streptavidin-alkaline phosphatase
conjugate. The central part of the chromatographic profile is expanded
to align with the lanes on the protein-blot panels. The positions of
electrophoretic protein molecular-mass markers are shown at the right
side of the panels for the protein blots.
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The availability of BC/BCCP and -CT/ -CT fractions that were
essentially free of the MF form of ACCase facilitated reconstitution of
the complexes in vitro. By mixing aliquots (see Fig. 11) from fraction
65 (BC/BCCP) with an aliquot of fraction 81 ( -CT/ -CT), a sample
was obtained in which 4-fold stimulation of ACCase activity was
achieved compared with the sum of the individual fraction activities
(Fig. 12). The combination of the
BC/BCCP and -CT/ -CT components of MS ACCase from pea
chloroplast stroma (see Shorrosh et al., 1996 ) was carried out in a
similar manner, and resulted in only a 2-fold increase in activity.
This is less than was reported by Shorrosh et al. (1996) , and could be
attributable to a lower concentration of enzyme used in our
experiments. As indicated by the data in Figure 12, an attempt was also
made to construct hybrid ACCase complexes to test for interspecies
compatibility. Mixing of the BC/BCCP and -CT/ -CT pairs from both
plants at different ratios resulted in surprisingly large increases in
ACCase activity for some of the combinations. These results support our conclusion that the proteins synthesized at the direction of the cDNAs
we isolated are indeed components of the MS ACCase from soybean.

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| Figure 12.
Reconstitution of ACCase activity. The BC/BCCP
and -CT/ -CT components of soybean and pea ACCase from
chloroplasts were each purified by ion-exchange chromatography as
illustrated in Figure 11. Aliquots from fractions that contained either
the BC/BCCP or -CT/ -CT complexes were assayed for ACCase activity
both individually and when combined with one another in various ratios
(v/v). The expected activity refers to the sum of residual
ACCase activity from each fraction from the column. Observed
activity refers to that actually recovered after combining fractions at
various ratios. In each case combining the BC/BCCP and -CT/ -CT
complexes stimulated ACCase activity. Remarkably higher activities than
expected were observed when the soybean BC/BCCP and pea -CT/ -CT
complexes were combined.
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 |
DISCUSSION |
We isolated cDNA clones that encode BC, BCCP, -CT, or -CT,
the four known components of MS ACCase in legume chloroplasts. Several
lines of evidence support this conclusion. First, each of the
proteins encoded by the cDNAs share structural similarities with
subunits of bacterial MS ACCase. Not only is there extensive homology
between portions of their primary structures, but extended regions of
their predicted secondary structures are also similar. Second, the
subunits of soybean ACCase are homologous with the corresponding proteins from MS ACCases described from other
higher plants. Nonetheless, significant differences in structure exist between certain deduced soybean proteins and their higher-plant counterparts. For example, -CT from soybean lacked a 96-amino acid
insert in the interior of the molecule found in the pea protein. The
insert in pea contained a number of repetitive elements and probably
arose by duplication (Sasaki et al., 1993 ). In the case of the -CT,
the deduced soybean proteins are almost 200 amino acids shorter than
the corresponding pea subunit. When compared, the soybean -CT
protein lacks five regions in its primary structure ranging in size
from 2 to just over 100 amino acids. The largest deletion contains four
of five of the 26-amino acid repeats found in the pea subunit (Shorrosh
et al., 1996 ). The third piece of evidence supporting the conclusion
that these cDNAs encode subunits of soybean MS ACCase is that the
domain where biotin is bound to BCCP is present, and a putative acetyl
CoA binding site is conserved in the deduced -CT subunit (Fig. 2C).
Finally, after expression of the cDNAs in vitro, the translation
products are imported into isolated pea chloroplasts, processed to
remove a transit sequence, and then incorporated into
high-molecular-mass complexes, which coelute with MS ACCase enzymatic
activity. Together, this evidence strongly supports the conclusion that
the cDNAs we described encode subunits of the chloroplast MS ACCase, an enzyme considered to be involved in the regulation of the fatty acid
biosynthesis pathway in this oil seed.
Unlike pea, in which only a single gene has been identified that
encodes each subunit for the plastid ACCase, there seem to be small
families of genes that encode the BC, BCCP, and -CT subunits in
soybean. Several observations are consistent with this conclusion.
First, not only do multiple restriction fragments hybridize to probes
for each of these cDNAs in DNA blots of genomic DNA, but so far, two
different BCCP, three different BC, and four different -CT cDNA
clones have been recovered that vary in their nucleotide sequences.
Second, antibodies generated against BCCP and -CT recognize several
different soybean proteins in protein-gel blots prepared from seed
extracts from soybeans. The multiple proteins that are recognized may
correspond to products from the multiple genes. The presence of
multiple genes that encode MS ACCase subunits in soybean may resemble
the situation reported to occur in Brassica napus, in which
several BCCPs have been reported (Elborough et al., 1996 ). The reason
for the existence of multiple genes for BC, BCCP, and -CT in the
soybean genome is not known. One possibility is that they reflect the
allotetraploid nature of soybean, but the number of genes involved
suggests that the answer may be more complex.
We generated antibodies that recognize BC, BCCP, -CT, and -CT.
These antibodies were used to identify members of the MS ACCase complex
isolated from extracts of developing soybeans. As with the pea enzyme
(Alban et al., 1994 ; Shorrosh et al., 1995 , 1996 ; Roesler et al.,
1996 ), soybean ACCase appears to resolve into two stable complexes
during purification with red 120-agarose (data not shown), affinity
chromatography with monovalent avidin (data not shown), anion-exchange
chromatography on Q-Sepharose, and chromatography with
antibody-affinity columns. The two subcomplexes, which consist of
either the BC/BCCP or the -CT/ -CT subunit pair, were remarkably
stable and tended to form large aggregates. Even in the presence of 0.5 M KCl, the BC/BCCP and -CT/ -CT subcomplexes eluted
from Sephacryl S400 gel-permeation columns with retention times
characteristic of proteins with molecular masses that are greater than
800 and 600 kD, respectively. For complexes of this size, there would
be at least 10 BC/BCCP pairs, each with an aggregate size of about 75 kD, and at least 5 -CT/ -CT pairs, each with a combined size of
approximately 120 kD. An active complex could be at least partially
reconstituted by combining fractions containing each of the subunit
pairs. We do not know if these large, aggregated subcomplexes function
in vivo or are artifacts from purification.
The MF ACCase seemed to emerge from the Sephacryl S400 column between
the BC/BCCP and -CT/ -CT subcomplexes at low ionic strength (Fig.
9), and was clearly resolved and between them after elution of the
column with 0.5 M KCl (Fig. 10). In both cases the MF
enzyme emerged with an apparent molecular mass greater than that of the
thyroglobulin standard (669 kD). Although the MF ACCase has been
reported to be a homodimer of 450 to 550 kD (Everson et al., 1994 ),
there are a number of reports in the literature that indicate that the
enzyme emerges with retention times characteristic of proteins with a
higher apparent molecular mass. For example, the parsley and wheat MF
ACCase had molecular masses estimated to be around 840 and 700 kD,
respectively, when purified through Sepharose 6B (Egin-Bühler et
al., 1980 ; Egin-Bühler and Ebel, 1983 ). It is interesting
that the same authors reported an apparent molecular mass of 420 kD
after purification of the parsley enzyme through Sephacryl S300.
Italian ryegrass is reported to have an apparent molecular mass of
about 840 kD when purified by Superose 6 (Everson et al., 1997 ). Thus,
both the MF and MS forms of plant ACCase seem prone to aggregation
under the conditions typically used for their purification. The meaning
of the tendency of these proteins to aggregate is not clear. The
aggregation certainly could be an artifact that arises during
extraction and purification. However, the occurrence of aggregation
effects is of interest, considering that the animal ACCase undergoes a
citrate-induced activation that is accompanied by its assembly into
polymers of several million kilodaltons (Gregolin et al., 1966 ).
Although the plant enzyme does not respond to citrate, it seems
premature to disregard the possibility that the aggregation effects of
the plant enzymes could be related to a physiological function.
Our data indicated that the majority of activity associated with
extracts from developing soybeans was attributable to MF ACCase and not
to the MS form of the enzyme. The BC/BCCP and -CT/ -CT subcomplexes, therefore, are labile and they separate from one another
easily. Although activity could be restored by combining fractions
identified immunologically to contain the two subcomplexes from
soybean, experiments in which appropriate soybean and pea subcomplexes
were mixed suggested that considerably higher activities were possible.
A more-than 20-fold stimulation was obtained by mixing the BC/BCCP
subcomplex from soybean with the -CT/ -CT complex from pea (Fig.
12). Mixed complexes made in the reciprocal manner were not nearly as
active. The reason for this difference is unclear. Nonetheless, it is
possible to conclude from these data that the ACCase complex can be
reassembled from its component subcomplexes, and that the pea and
soybean components are to some extent interchangeable. Although many
explanations could account for the stimulation, these results could
imply that more active MS ACCases could be engineered by
biotechnological approaches.
Another interesting observation that emerged during purification of
ACCase subunits was that neither BCCP nor -CT appeared in fractions
from the columns unless their putative counterparts from the
subcomplexes were present in the same fractions. This observation could
mean that they were stable only when associated with their respective
partners in the subcomplexes. BC and -CT, on the other hand, were
found in fractions that contained little or no BCCP or -CT. These
phenomena can be observed in the data shown in Figures 9, 10, and 11.
The same phenomenon held for fractions in which BCCP was recognized by
anti-BCCP antibodies but not by streptavidin, an observation that
indicated that these subunits apparently were devoid of biotin. Some of
the fractions that contained nonbiotinylated BCCP subunits apparently
also contained BC, because they reacted with anti-BC antibodies.
Although fractions that contained these molecules emerged immediately
before fractions derived from the inner volume of the gel-permeation
columns, it is possible that a complex between the degraded BCCP and a
BC molecule existed. This notion was supported by the observation that
both BC and the degraded BCCP emerged together among the first
fractions from the anion-exchange column (Fig. 11) and were not
separated by this treatment. We have no explanation for the lack of
free BCCP and -CT in the column fractions other than they may be
rapidly degraded when separated from their partners in the
subcomplexes.
There is uncertainty about the localization of the MS ACCase complex
within chloroplasts. Kannangara and Stumpf (1972) and Sasaki et al.
(1993) both suggested that one or more of the ACCase components were
associated with thylakoid membranes. Shorrosh et al. (1996)
demonstrated that the carboxyltransferase subunits in the total pea
leaf extracts tended to accumulate in the insoluble fraction, but the
BC subunit remained in solution. Nonetheless, the same authors used
stromal fractions of isolated pea chloroplasts for ACCase isolation, as
did Alban et al. (1994 , 1995) . Our own results (Reverdatto et
al., 1997 ) demonstrated that imported ACCase subunits tend to remain
soluble after chloroplast lysis if organelle fractionation is done
rapidly. These seemingly contradictory results could be explained if
the ACCase components redistribute among organellar fractions after
dissociation of the complex according to the hydrophobic nature of
individual subunits or subcomplexes. Rapid fractionation results in
purification of the ACCase components before the more hydrophobic
subunits have an opportunity to become associated with membranes.
 |
FOOTNOTES |
1
This research was supported in part by American
Soybean Association grant no. SPR-2305 to N.C.N.
*
Corresponding author; e-mail nnielsen{at}dept.agry.purdue.edu;
fax 1-765-494-6508.
Received July 20, 1998;
accepted November 11, 1998.
 |
ABBREVIATIONS |
Abbreviations:
ACCase, acetyl CoA carboxylase.
BC, biotin
carboxylase.
BCCP, biotin carboxyl carrier protein.
CPE, chloroplast
processing enzyme.
- and -CT, the - and -subunits of
carboxyltransferase, respectively.
MF, multifunctional.
MS, multisubunit.
UTR, untranslated region.
 |
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