Plant Nucleotide Metabolism. Hiroshi Ashihara
genome sequence in A. thaliana, the genomic and pathway organization of purine biosynthesis in plants appears to be different from that occurring in other organisms. Plant organization seems to be somewhat similar to prokaryotes, but greater differences are found with higher eukaryotes such as Drosophila, chickens, and humans.
Prokaryotes, such as Escherichia coli, have single genes coding monofunctional proteins except for the purH gene which encodes the bifunctional protein 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxyamide ribonucleotide formyl transferase/inosine-5′-monophosphate (IMP) cyclohydrolase (ATIC, steps 9 and 10, in Table 4.1). Eukaryotes contain single genes encoding mono-, bi- and trifunctional proteins (Smith and Atkins 2002; van der Graaff et al. 2004). The de novo purine biosynthesis pathway in plants consist of monofunctional proteins, except for the bifunctional enzymes AIRC (pur6) and ATIC (pur9/10) (see Table 4.1).
Table 4.1 Summary of enzymes involved in the purine biosynthesis de novo in plants.
Genea) | ||||||
Step | Enzyme name | EC | Abbreviation | Plant | E. coli | TAIR locus |
1 | 5-Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase | 2.4.2.14 | PRAT1 | pur1 | purF | AT2G16570 |
PRAT2 | AT4G34740 | |||||
PRAT3 | AT4G38880 | |||||
2 | Glycineamide ribonucleotide synthase | 6.3.4.13 | GARS | pur2 | purD | AT1G09830 |
3 | Glycineamide ribonucleotide formyl transferase | 2.1.2.2 | GARFT | pur3 | purN | AT1G31220 |
4 | Formylglycinamide ribonucleotide amidotransferase | 6.3.5.3 | FGAMS | pur4 | purL | AT1G74260 |
5 | 5-Aminoimidazole ribonucleotide synthetase | 6.3.3.1 | AIRS | pur5 | purM | AT3G55010 |
6 | 5-Aminoimidazole ribonucleotide carboxylase | 4.1.1.21 | AIRC | pur6 | purEK | AT2G05140 AT2G37690 |
7 | 4-(N-Succinocarboxamide)-5-aminoimidazole synthetase | 6.3.2.6 | SAICARS | pur7 | purC | AT3G21110 |
8 | Adenylosuccinate lyase | 4.3.2.2 | ASL | pur8/12 | purB | AT1G36280 AT4G18840 |
9 | 5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxyamide ribonucleotide formyl transferase | 2.1.2.3 | AICARFT | pur9/10 | purH | AT2G35040 |
10 | IMP cyclohydrolase | 3.5.4.10 | IMPCH | pur9/10 | purH | AT2G35040 |
11 | Adenylosuccinate synthetase | 6.3.4.4 | ASS | pur11 | purA | AT3G57610 |
12 | Adenylosuccinate lyase | 4.3.2.2 | ASL | pur8/12 | purB | AT1G36280 AT4G18840 |
13 | IMP dehydrogenase | 1.1.1.205 | IMPDH | gua13 | guaB | AT1G79470 AT1G16350 |
14 | GMP synthetase | 6.3.5.2 | GMPS | gua14 | guaA | AT1G63660 |
a) Gene designations used for plants and E. coli are shown. The plant gene names are according to Senecoff et al. (1996). The gene names used for E. coli are also often used in plant literature.
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