Characterization of Aspartate Transcarbamoylase in the Archaebacterium Methanococcus Jannaschii

Asparate transcarbamoylase catalyzes the first committed step in the de novo synthesis of pyrmidine nucleotides UMP, UDP, UTP, and CTP. The archetype enzyme found in Escherichia coli (310 kDa) exhibits sigmodial substrate binding kinetics with positive control by ATP and negative control with CTP and UTP. The ATCase characterized in this study is from the extreme thermophilic Archaebacterium, Methanococcus jannaschii. The enzyme was very stable at elevated temperatures and possessed activity from 20 degrees Celsius to 90 degrees Celsius. M. Jannaschii ATCase retained 75% of its activity after incubation at 100 degrees Celsius for a period of 90 minutes. No sigmodial allosteric response to substrate for the enzyme was observed. Velocity substrate plots gave Michaelis-Menten (hyperbolic) kinetics. The Km for aspartate was 7 mM at 30 degrees Celsius and the KM for carbamoylphosphate was .125 mM. The enzyme from M. jannaschii had a broad pH response with an optimum above pH 9. Kinetic measurements were significantly affected by changes in pH and temperature. The enzyme catalyzed reaction had an energy of activation of 10,300 calories per mole. ATCase from M. jannaschii was partially purified. The enzyme was shown to have a molecular weight of 110,000 Da., with a subunit molecular weight of 37,000 Da. The enzyme was thus a trimer composed of three identical subunits. The enzyme did not possess any regulatory response and no evidence for a regulatory polypeptide was found, DNA from M. jannaschii did hybridize to probes corresponding to genes for both the catalytic and regulatory subunits from E. coli. Analysis of DNA sequences for the M. jannaschii ATCase genes showed that the gene for the catalytic subunits shares significant homology with the pyrB genes from E. coli, and maximum homology amongst known ATCase genes to pyrB from Bacillus. An unlinked gene homologous to E. coli pyrl encoding the regulatory subunit was identified, though its expression and true function remain uncharacterized