Study and reengineering of the binding sites and allosteric regulation of biosynthetic threonine deaminase by isoleucine and valine in Escherichia coli

Journal
Applied microbiology and biotechnology  
Volume
97
Issue
7
Start Page
2939
End Page
2949
Citation
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 7 (97): 2939-2949 (2013)
Publisher DOI
10.1007/s00253-012-4176-z
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84876686644
Publisher
Springer
Biosynthetic threonine deaminase (TD) is a key enzyme for the synthesis of isoleucine which is allosterically inhibited and activated by Ile and Val, respectively. The binding sites of Ile and Val and the mechanism of their regulations in TD are not clear, but essential for a rational design of efficient productive strain(s) for Ile and related amino acids. In this study, structure-based computational approach and site-directed mutagenesis were combined to identify the potential binding sites of Ile and Val in Escherichia coli TD. Our results demonstrated that each regulatory domain of the TD monomer possesses two nonequivalent effector-binding sites. The residues R362, E442, G445, A446, Y369, I460, and S461 only interact with Ile while E347, G350, and F352 are involved not only in the Ile binding but also in the Val binding. By further considering enzyme kinetic data, we propose a concentration-dependent mechanism of the allosteric regulation of TD by Ile and Val. For the construction of Ile overproducing strain, a novel TD mutant with double mutation of F352A/R362F was also created, which showed both higher activity and much stronger resistance to Ile inhibition comparing to those of wild-type enzyme. Overexpression of this mutant TD in E. coli JW3591 significantly increased the production of ketobutyrate and Ile in comparison to the reference strains overexpressing wild-type TD or the catabolic threonine deaminase (TdcB). This work builds a solid basis for the reengineering of TD and related microorganisms for Ile production. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.
Subjects
Feedback inhibition
L-isoleucine
L-valine
Threonine deaminase
DDC Class
570: Biowissenschaften, Biologie
Funding(s)
Fundamentals for synthetic biological systems  
More Funding Information
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Hamburg Excellence Initiative