Defensive properties of pyrrolizidine alkaloids against microorganisms

The understanding of the selection factors that drive chemical diversification of secondary metabolites of constitutive defence systems in plants, such as pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), is still incomplete. Historically, plants always have been confronted with microorganisms. Long before herbivores existed on this planet, plants had to cope with microbial pathogens. Therefore, plant pathogenic microorganisms may have played an important role in the early evolution of the secondary metabolite diversity. In this review, we discuss the impact that plant-produced PAs have on plant-associated microorganisms. The objective of the review is to present the current knowledge on PAs with respect to anti-microbial activities, adaptation and detoxification by microorganisms, pathogenic fungi, root protection and PA induction. Many in vitro experiments showed effects of PAs on microorganisms. These results point to the potential of microorganisms to be important for the evolution of PAs. However, only a few in vivo studies have been published and support the results of the in vitro studies. In conclusion, the topics pointed out in this review need further exploration by carrying out ecological experiments and field studies

Refined crystal structure of lipoamide dehydrogenase from Azotobacter vinelandii at 2.2 A resolution. A comparison with the structure of glutathione reductase

The structure of lipoamide dehydrogenase from Azotobacter vinelandii has been refined by the molecular dynamics technique to an R-factor of 19.8% at 2.2 A resolution. In the final model, the root-mean-square deviation from ideality is 0.02 A for bond lengths and 3.2 degrees for bond angles. The asymmetric unit comprises two subunits, each consisting of 466 amino acid residues and the prosthetic group FAD, plus 512 solvent molecules. The last ten amino acid residues of both chains are not visible in the electron density distribution and they are probably disordered. The operation required to superimpose the two chains forming the dimer is a rotation of exactly 180 degrees with no translation component. The final model shows the two independently refined subunits to be very similar, except for six loops located at the surface of the molecule. The structure of each subunit of the enzyme consists of four domains with the catalytic centre located at the subunit interface. The reactive disulphide bridge, 48-53, is oxidized with S gamma of Cys53 located 3.5 A away from carbon C-4a of the isoalloxazine ring. The side-chain of His450' points its N epsilon 2 towards S gamma of Cys48 and is hydrogen bonded to the carboxylate of Glu455'. The FAD is bound in an extended conformation and the isoalloxazine ring is not completely planar with an angle between the pteridine and the benzene ring of 7.3 degrees in the first subunit and of 12.1 degrees in the second one. The overall folding of lipoamide dehydrogenase is very similar to that of glutathione reductase. However, a comparison of the two enzymes, which have only 26% sequence identity, reveals significant conformational differences. These concern the tertiary as well as the quaternary structure of the two molecules. In each subunit of lipoamide dehydrogenase the NAD-binding domain and the interface domain appear to be differently oriented with respect to the FAD-binding domain by 7.1 degrees and 7.8 degrees, respectively. The interface domain contains, in addition, major changes in tertiary structure. Furthermore, the two subunits forming the dimer appear to be shifted with respect to each other by more than 4 A, when the lipoamide dehydrogenase dimer is compared with that of glutathione reductase. In spite of all these changes at the tertiary and quaternary level the active sites of the enzymes, which occur at the dimer interface, appear to be remarkably similar

The refined crystal structure of Pseudomonas putida lipoamide dehydrogenase complexed with NAD+ at 2.45 A resolution

The three-dimensional structure of one of the three lipoamide dehydrogenases occurring in Pseudomonas putida, LipDH Val, has been determined at 2.45 A resolution. The orthorhombic crystals, grown in the presence of 20 mM NAD+, contain 458 residues per asymmetric unit. A crystallographic 2-fold axis generates the dimer which is observed in solution. The final crystallographic R-factor is 21.8% for 18,216 unique reflections and a model consisting of 3,452 protein atoms, 189 solvent molecules and 44 NAD+ atoms, while the overall B-factor is unusually high: 47 A2. The structure of LipDH Val reveals the conformation of the C-terminal residues which fold "back" into the putative lipoamide binding region. The C-terminus has been proven to be important for activity by site-directed mutagenesis. However, the distance of the C-terminus to the catalytically essential residues is surprisingly large, over 6 A, and the precise role of the C-terminus still needs to be elucidated. In this crystal form LipDH Val contains one NAD+ molecule per subunit. Its adenine-ribose moiety occupies an analogous position as in the structure of glutathione reductase. However, the nicotinamide-ribose moiety is far removed from its expected position near the isoalloxazine ring and points into solution. Comparison of LipDH Val with Azotobacter vinelandii lipoamide dehydrogenase yields an rms difference of 1.6 A for 440 well defined C alpha atoms per subunit. Comparing LipDH Val with glutathione reductase shows large differences in the tertiary and quaternary structure of the two enzymes. For instance, the two subunits in the dimer are shifted by 6 A with respect to each other. So, LipDH Val confirms the surprising differences in molecular architecture between glutathione reductase and lipoamide dehydrogenase, which were already observed in Azotobacter vinelandii LipDH. This is the more remarkable since the active sites are located at the subunit interface and are virtually identical in all three enzymes

Three-dimensional structure of lipoamide dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas fluorescens at 2.8 A resolution. Analysis of redox and thermostability properties

The structure of Pseudomonas fluorescens lipoamide dehydrogenase, a dimeric flavoenzyme with a molecular mass of 106,000 daltons, was solved by the molecular replacement method and refined to an R-factor of 19.4% at 2.8 A resolution. The root-mean-square difference from ideal values for bonds and angles is 0.019 A and 3.8 degrees, respectively. The structure is closely related to that of the same flavoprotein from Azotobacter vinelandii. The root-mean-square difference for 932 C alpha atoms is 0.64 A, with 84% sequence identity. The residues in the active site are identical, while 89% of the interface residues are the same in the two enzymes. A few structural variations provide the basis for the differences in thermostability and redox properties between the two homologous proteins. Particularly, in the A. vinelandii molecule a threonine to alanine (T452A) mutation leaves a buried carbonyl oxygen, located at the subunit interface and in proximity of the flavin ring, unpaired to any H-bond donor, probably providing an explanation for the lower stability of the A. vinelandii enzyme with respect to the P. fluorescens enzyme. Six surface loops, which previously could not be accurately positioned in the A. vinelandii structure, are well defined in P. fluorescens lipoamide dehydrogenase. On the basis of the P. fluorescens structure, the six loops could be correctly defined also in the A. vinelandii enzyme. This is an unusual case where similar refinement methodologies applied to two crystal forms of closely related proteins led to electron density maps of substantially different quality. The correct definition of these surface residues is likely to be an essential step for revealing the structural basis of the interactions between lipoamide dehydrogenase and the other members of the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex

Refined crystal structure of the catalytic domain of dihydrolipoyl transacetylase (E2p) from Azotobacter vinelandii at 2.6 A resolution

Dihydrolipoyl transacetylase (E2p) is both structurally and functionally the central enzyme of the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex. The crystal structure of the catalytic domain, i.e. residues 382 to 637, of Azotobacter vinelandii E2p (E2pCD) was solved by multiple isomorphous replacement and refined by energy minimization procedures. The final model contains 2182 protein atoms and 37 ordered water molecules. The R-factor is 18.7% for 10,344 reflections between 10.0 and 2.6 A resolution. The root-mean-square shift deviation from the ideal values is 0.017 A for bond lengths and 3.3 degrees for bond angles. The N-terminal residues 382 to 394 are disordered and not visible in the electron density map, otherwise all residues have well-defined density. The catalytic domain forms an oligomer of 24 subunits, having octahedral 432 symmetry. In the E2pCD crystals, the 24 subunits are related by the crystallographic symmetry. The cubic arrangement of subunits gives rise to a large hollow cube with edges of 120 A. The faces of the cube have pores of diameter of 30 A. The true building block of the cube is the E2p trimer, eight of which occupy the corners of the cube. Two levels of intermolecular contacts can be distinguished: (1) the extensive interactions between 3-fold related subunits leading to a tightly associated trimer; and (2) the interactions along the 2-fold axis leading to the assembly of the trimers into the cubic 24-mer. Each subunit has a topology similar to chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) and comprises a central beta-sheet surrounded by five alpha-helices. The comparison of the two proteins indicates a large rotation of the N-terminal residues 395 to 426 of E2pCD, which reshapes the substrate binding site and extends the interaction between threefold related subunits. The catalytic centre consists of a 30 A long channel extending from the "inner" side of the trimer to the "outer" side, where inner and outer refer to the position in the 24-meric cubic core of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex and correspond with CoA and lipoamide binding sites, respectively. The active site is formed by the residues with the lowest mobility as indicated by the atomic B-factors. Five proline residues surround the active site