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PubMed1984

A comparison of the glycosomes (microbodies) isolated from Trypanosoma brucei bloodstream form and cultured procyclic trypomastigotes.

Highly purified glycosomes were isolated from Trypanosoma brucei bloodstream forms and cultured procyclic trypomastigotes. A comparison of the specific activities of glycosomal enzymes revealed that glycosomes from insect stages had decreased levels of hexokinase, phosphoglucose isomerase, phospho-fructokinase, fructose-bisphosphate aldolase, glyceraldehyde-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoglycerate kinase, but contained increased levels of adenylate kinase, malate dehydrogenase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. Glycosomes from bloodstream forms were almost totally devoid of the latter two activities. Comparison of the two types of glycosomes by sodium dodecylsulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that bloodstream form glycosomes contained 3 prominent polypeptides (64, 46 and 40 kDa) which were hardly detectable in insect stage glycosomes, whereas the latter contained 3 insect stage specific bands with molecular weight of 34 000, 61 000 and 77 000 and 4 additional bands with molecular weights between 94 000 and 110 000. Both types of glycosome contained the phospholipids phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. Insect stage glycosomes contained in addition also phosphatidylinositol and some phosphatidylserine.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Changes in enzyme pattern of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells following serial cultivation in media with increased (hypertonic) NaCl content.

Adaptation of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells to serial cultivation in media with progressively elevated (hypertonic) NaCl content ("high NaCl"-tolerant cells) has resulted in progressive increases of the cellular activities of NAD-dependent glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.8), NAD-dependent malate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.37), glutamate--oxalacetate transaminase (EC 2.6.1.1), NAD (P)-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.3), NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.42). The activities of glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (EC 2.6.1.2.) and of glycolytic enzymes as phospho-fructokinase (EC 2.7.1.11), glyceraldehydephosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.12) and lactate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.27) were only slightly and not in progressive manner (in response to the progressive increase of the environmental NaCl concentration) affected. These changes are discussed with respect to a metabolic pattern of these "high NaCl"-tolerant cells which is compatible with increased energy requirements, especially for active cation transport. It is suggested that these increased cellular enzyme activities reflect an increased transfer of reducing equivalents across mitochondrial membranes (via the "glycerophosphate cycle and the malate-aspartate shuttle") and possibly a stimulated lipid metabolism. These alterations in the level of enzyme activities must be regarded asan adaptive cellular response to the "high NaCl" environment, since readaptation to growth in regular isotonic media resulted in a reversion to the enzyme pattern characteristic of the parent cells.

Alanine Transaminase↗
PubMed1990

Identification of non-equilibrium glycolytic reactions in suspension-cultured plant cells.

Levels of all enzymes and metabolites involved in glycolysis were determined in suspension-cultured Catharanthus roseus cells. From both the maximum catalytic activities of the enzymes and comparisons of mass-action ratios with the apparent equilibrium constants for the reactions, it is concluded that the reactions catalysed by hexokinase, fructokinase, phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase are far from equilibrium, whereas the other reactions including that catalysed by pyrophosphate-fructose-6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase, are close to equilibrium in vivo.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1992

Transcriptional regulation of the Tn5276-located Lactococcus lactis sucrose operon and characterization of the sacA gene encoding sucrose-6-phosphate hydrolase.

The Lactococcus lactis sucrose operon was located on the conjugative transposon Tn5276 and the nucleotide sequence of the sacA gene, encoding sucrose-6-phosphate hydrolase, and its surrounding regions was determined. Northern blot analysis showed that the sucrose operon contains two divergent transcriptional units of 3.2 and 3.6 kb, the expression of which is considerably higher in cells grown on sucrose than in cells grown on glucose. This was confirmed by primer extension studies which demonstrated that transcription is initiated at two sucrose-inducible promoters with a back-to-back organization. The 3.2-kb transcriptional unit includes the sacB gene which most probably encodes the sucrose-specific enzyme II of the phosphotransferase system, and may contain the gene encoding fructokinase. The 3.6-kb transcriptional unit includes genes sacA and sacR. The protein encoded by the sacR gene is likely to be involved in the regulation of the sac operon expression, since its deduced N terminus is homologous to helix-turn-helix DNA-binding domains found in several regulatory proteins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2004

A proteomic approach to studying plant response to crenate broomrape (Orobanche crenata) in pea (Pisum sativum).

Crenate broomrape (Orobanche crenata) is a parasitic plant that threatens legume production in Mediterranean areas. Pea (Pisum sativum) is severely affected, and only moderate levels of genetic resistance have so far been identified. In the present work we selected the most resistant accession available (Ps 624) and compared it with a susceptible (Messire) cultivar. Experiments were performed by using pot and Petri dish bioassays, showing little differences in the percentage of broomrape seed germination induced by both genotypes, but a significant hamper in the number of successfully installed tubercles and their developmental stage in the Ps 624 compared to Messire. The protein profile of healthy and infected P. sativum root tissue were analysed by two-dimensional electrophoresis. Approximately 500 individual protein spots could be detected on silver stained gels. At least 22 different protein spots differentiated control, non-infected, Messire and Ps 624 accessions. Some of them were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and database searching as cysteine proteinase, beta-1,3-glucanase, endochitinase, profucosidase, and ABA-responsive protein. Both qualitative and quantitative differences have been found among infected and non-infected root extracts. Thus, in the infected susceptible Messire genotype 34 spots were decreased, one increased and three newly detected, while in Ps 624, 15 spots were increased, three decreased and one newly detected. In response to the inoculation, proteins that correspond to enzymes of the carbohydrate metabolism (fructokinase, fructose-bisphosphate aldolase), nitrogen metabolism (ferredoxin-NADP reductase) and mitochondrial electronic chain transport (alternative oxidase 2) decreased in the susceptible check, while proteins that correspond to enzymes of the nitrogen assimilation pathway (glutamine synthetase) or typical pathogen defence, PR proteins, including beta-1,3-glucanase and peroxidases, increased in Ps 624. Results are discussed in terms of changes in the carbohydrate and nitrogen metabolism an induction of defence proteins in response to broomrape parasitism.

Databases, Protein↗
PubMed2005

Activities of enzymes in some types of peripheral leucocytes may reflect the differences in nutrient metabolism between dogs and cats.

Plasma metabolites and immunoreactive insulin (IRI) concentrations and enzyme activities of some types of peripheral leucocytes were measured to clarify one aspect of the differences in nutrient metabolism between dogs and cats. There were no significant differences in plasma concentrations of glucose, triglyceride, free fatty acids and IRI between dogs and cats. Higher total cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol concentrations were observed in feline plasma, and H/T ratio (HDL/total cholesterol concentrations) was significantly lower than that in canine plasma. The cytosolic activities of fructokinase (FK), pyruvate kinase (PK), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly higher and the activities of cytosolic malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and mitochondrial glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) were significantly lower in feline leucocytes than those in canine leucocytes. Higher activities of FK, PK and G6PD, which regulate the rate of biosynthesis of fatty acids, may reflect the different characteristics in nutrient metabolism in feline tissues from canine tissues.

Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena↗
PubMed2002

Comparison between D-[3-3H]- and D-[5-3H]glucose and fructose utilization in pancreatic islets from control and hereditarily diabetic rats.

The metabolism of D-glucose and/or D-fructose was investigated in pancreatic islets from control rats and hereditarily diabetic GK rats. In the case of both D-glucose and D-fructose metabolism, a preferential alteration of oxidative events was observed in islets from GK rats. The generation of 3HOH from D-[5-3H]glucose (or D-[5-3H]fructose) exceeded that from D-[3-3H]glucose (or D-[3-3H]fructose) in both control and GK rats. This difference, which is possibly attributable to a partial escape from glycolysis of tritiated dihydroxyacetone phosphate, was accentuated whenever the rate of glycolysis was decreased, e.g., in the absence of extracellular Ca(2+) or presence of exogenous D-glyceraldehyde. D-Mannoheptulose, which inhibited D-glucose metabolism, exerted only limited effects upon D-fructose metabolism. In the presence of both hexoses, the paired ratio between D-[U-14C]fructose oxidation and D-[3-3H]fructose or D-[5-3H]fructose utilization was considerably increased, this being probably attributable, in part at least, to a preferential stimulation by the aldohexose of mitochondrial oxidative events. Moreover, this coincided with the fact that D-mannoheptulose now severely inhibited the catabolism of D-[5-3H]fructose and D-[U-14C]fructose. The latter situation is consistent with both the knowledge that D-glucose augments D-fructose phosphorylation by glucokinase and the findings that D-mannoheptulose, which fails to affect D-fructose phosphorylation by fructokinase, inhibits the phosphorylation of D-fructose by glucokinase.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Effect of high temperature on the metabolic processes affecting sorbitol synthesis in the silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia argentifolii.

Whiteflies accumulate the polyhydric alcohol, sorbitol, when exposed to temperatures greater than about 30 degrees C. Feeding experiments using artificial diets containing labeled sucrose showed that more of the label was incorporated into whitefly bodies and less was excreted in the honeydew when feeding was conducted at 41 compared with 25 degrees C. Analysis of the components of the honeydew showed that more of the excreted label was in glucose and fructose and less in trehalulose at 41 degrees C than at 25 degrees C. A similar effect of temperature on honeydew composition occurred for whiteflies feeding on cotton leaves. Measurement of the activities of glycolytic, pentose-phosphate and polyol pathway enzymes at 30 and 42 degrees C showed that NADPH-dependent ketose reductase/sorbitol dehydrogenase (NADPH-KR/SDH), sucrase, glucokinase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activities were stimulated to a greater extent at 42 degrees C than trehalulose synthase and fructokinase. NAD(+)-sorbitol dehydrogenase (NAD(+)-SDH) activity was inhibited at 42 degrees C. We propose that high temperature alters metabolic activity in a way that increases the availability of fructose and stimulates pentose-phosphate pathway activity, providing both the substrate and coenzyme for sorbitol synthesis. High temperature also increases the activity of NADPH-KR/SDH, the enzyme in whiteflies that synthesizes sorbitol, but inhibits the activity of NAD(+)-SDH, the enzyme that degrades sorbitol.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Differences in substrate specificity and kinetic properties of the recombinant hexokinases HXK1 and HXK2 from Entamoeba histolytica.

Entamoeba histolytica is responsible for amoebic colitis and liver abscess in humans. Entamoeba dispar is a closely related, morphologically indistinguishable nonpathogenic species. The hexokinase (ATP:D-hexose 6-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.1) isoenzyme patterns distinguish the pathogenic and nonpathogenic species. Both species possess two hexokinases with very similar molecular mass and different isoelectric points. In order to understand the role of the two different isoenzymes from E. histolytica, we purified the recombinant hexokinases HXK1 and HXK2 and examined substrate spectrum and kinetic properties. The two enzymes displayed similar temperature and pH optima, they were inhibited strongly by AMP and ADP, not by glucose 6-phosphate. Both enzymes phosphorylated glucose well and were unable to phosphorylate fructose or galactose. We also detected significant differences. HXK1 was more sensitive to inhibition by AMP and ADP. Mannose was phosphorylated well by HXK1, but at a much lower rate by HXK2. We attempted to expand the substrate spectrum of E. histolytica HXK1 by modifying its active site to become similar to the active site of the fructose phosphorylating yeast hexokinase PII. None of the nine mutants gained any fructokinase activity, but all of them retained at least some glucokinase and mannokinase activity. Mannokinase activity was decreased drastically by two single amino acid exchanges, both of which contributed significantly to this effect. The data indicate that a complex interaction of a number of amino acid residues is necessary for the ability to phosphorylate a given hexose.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hepatic fructose-metabolizing enzymes and related metabolites: role of dietary copper and gender.

The purpose of this study was to further examine the hypothesis that variations in hepatic fructose-metabolizing enzymes between males and females might account for the differences in the severity of copper (Cu) deficiency observed in fructose-fed male rats. Weanling rats of both sexes were fed high-fructose diets either adequate or deficient in copper for 45 days. Cu deficiency decreased sorbitol dehydrogenase activity and dihydroxyacetone phosphate levels and increased glyceraldehyde levels in both sexes. Gender effects were expressed by higher activities of glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase in male than in female rats and higher levels of dihydroxyacetone phosphate and fructose 1,6-diphosphate (F1,6DP) in female than in male rats. The interactions between dietary Cu and gender were as follows: alcohol dehydrogenase activities were higher in female rats and were further increased by Cu deficiency in both sexes; aldehyde dehydrogenase activities were decreased by Cu deficiency only in male rats; sorbitol levels were higher in male rats and were further increased by Cu deficiency in male rats; fructose 1-phosphate (F1P) levels were increased by Cu deficiency in both sexes, but to a greater extent in male rats; glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate levels were higher in female rats, but were decreased by Cu deficiency in female and increased in male rats. Though most of the examined hepatic fructose-metabolizing enzymes and metabolites showed great differences between rats fed diets either adequate or deficient in Cu, it is the activity of fructokinase and aldolase-B, and the concentrations of their common metabolites, F1P and notably F1,6DP, that could be in part responsible for differences in the severity of pathologies associated with Cu deficiency observed between female and male rats.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1982

A proteolyzed derivative of Escherichia coli phosphofructokinase is no longer sensitive to allosteric effectors and still shows cooperativity in substrate binding.

Limited proteolysis of Escherichia coli phosphofructokinase by subtilisin yields a homogeneous derivative. This proteolyzed protein is composed of four polypeptide chains, with a molecular weight of 32 000 as compared to 37 000 for the original enzyme. Removal on each chain of about 5 kdaltons maintains the enzymatic activity and does not change the apparent affinity for the substrates ATP and fructose 6-phosphate. Limited proteolysis, however, affects the cooperativity of fructose 6-phosphate binding: the Hill coefficient is reduced from almost 4 in the native enzyme to only 2 in its proteolyzed derivative. Also, the proteolyzed protein is no longer sensitive to allosteric effectors, activator, or inhibitor. These changes in regulatory properties upon proteolysis are apparently due to the destruction of the effector binding site. The allosteric effector GDP protects phospho-fructokinase against proteolysis and irreversible thermal inactivation; GDP is, however, inefficient in protecting the proteolyzed protein against thermal denaturation. These results suggest that phosphofructokinase may function as a dimer of dimers, in which homotropic and heterotropic allosteric effects are not mediated by the same sets of quaternary interactions.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1984

A novel method for determining rate constants for dehydration of aldehyde hydrates.

A method has been developed for calculating rate constants for dehydration of aldehydes that induce ATPase reactions by kinases and where 18O is transferred from the aldehyde or its hydrate to inorganic phosphate during the reaction. The method involves measurement of the fraction of 18O in phosphate by 31P NMR after the ATPase reaction has proceeded for several minutes with zero-order kinetics. The reaction is started by addition of the aldehyde in a small volume of H2 18O, and the speed of washout of 18O by reversible dehydration relative to the rate of the ATPase reaction allows calculation of the rate constants if the hydration equilibrium constant is known from the proton NMR spectrum of the aldehyde. Dehydration rate constants (s-1 at pH 8-8.5, 0.1 M buffer, 25 degrees C) for the following aldehydes (all over 95% hydrated) and kinases used are as follows: D-glyceraldehyde with glycerokinase, 0.03; 2,5-anhydro-D-mannose 6-phosphate with fructose-6-phosphate kinase, 0.025; 2,5-anhydro-D-mannose or 2,5-anhydro-D-talose with fructokinase, 0.029 and 0.017, respectively; D-gluco-hexodialdose with hexokinase, 0.068. With betaine aldehyde and choline kinase or glyoxylate and pyruvate kinase, no 18O was transferred to phosphate during the ATPase reactions. However, the dehydration rate constant for glyoxylate (0.007 s-1 at pH 7 extrapolated to zero buffer concentration and up to 0.11 s-1 at pH 9.0 with 0.3 M buffer) was determined by extrapolating the initial rate of reduction of the free aldehyde catalyzed by lactate dehydrogenase to infinite enzyme levels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed2000

Hepatic intralobular mapping of fructose metabolism in the rat liver.

Detailed mapping of glucose and lactate metabolism along the radius of the hepatic lobule was performed in situ in rat livers perfused with 1.5 mM lactate before and during the addition of 5 mM fructose. The majority of fructose uptake occurred in the periportal region; 45% of fructose taken up in the periportal half of the lobular volume being converted into glucose. Periportal lactate uptake was markedly decreased by addition of fructose. Basal perivenous lactate output, which was derived from glucose synthesized periportally, was increased in the presence of fructose. During fructose infusion there was a small decrease in cell pH periportally, but acidification of up to 0.5 pH units perivenously. The evidence suggests that in situ the apparent direct conversion of fructose into lactate represents, to a substantial extent, the result of periportal conversion of fructose into glucose and the subsequent uptake and glycolysis to lactate in the perivenous zone of some of that glucose. (31)P NMR spectroscopy showed that the cellular concentration of phosphomonoesters changes very little periportally during fructose infusion, but there was an approximate twofold increase perivenously, presumably due to the accumulation of fructose 1-phosphate. It may be inferred that fructokinase activity is expressed throughout the hepatic lobule.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Mechanism of activation of glycogen phosphorylase by fructose in the liver. Stimulation of phosphorylase kinase related to the consumption of adenosine triphosphate.

1. A dose-dependent activation of phosphorylase and consumption of ATP was observed in isolated hepatocytes incubated in the presence of fructose; histone kinase and phosphorylase kinase activities were unchanged at doses of this sugar that were fully effective on phosphorylase. The activation of phosphorylase by fructose was also observed in cells incubated in a Ca2+-free medium as well as in the livers of rats in vivo. 2. In a liver high-speed supernatant, fructose, tagatose and sorbose stimulated the activity of phosphorylase kinase; this effect was dependent on the presence of K+ ions, which are required for the activity of fructokinase; it was accompanied by the transformation of ATP into ADP. In the presence of hexokinase, glucose also stimulated phosphorylase kinase, both in an Na+ or a K+ medium. 3. The activities of partially purified muscle or liver phosphorylase kinase were unchanged in the presence of fructose. 4. Some properties of liver phosphorylase kinase are described, including a high molecular weight and an inhibition at ATP/Mg ratios above 0.5, as well as an effect of ATP concentration on the hysteretic behaviour of this enzyme. 5. The effect of fructose on the activation of phosphorylase is discussed in relation to the comsumption of ATP.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1996

Characterization of transgenic potato (Solanum tuberosum) tubers with increased ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase.

The aim of the work described in this paper was to characterize the tubers of potato (Solanum tuberosum var. Prairie) plants that had been transformed with the Escherichia coli ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase (EC 2.7.7.27) gene, glgC-16, under the control of a patatin promoter. Over 30 lines of transformed plants with increased ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase activity were obtained. The tubers of six of these lines were compared with those of control plants expressing the gene for beta-glucuronidase. The average increase in pyrophosphorylase activity was 200%, and the highest was 400%. Western immunoblotting of tuber extracts showed that the amounts of glgC-16 protein were linearly related to the extractable activity of the ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase. Cell fractionation studies showed that the increased activity of the pyrophosphorylase in the glgC-16 tubers had a similar intracellular location, the amyloplast fraction, to that found in the control tubers. No pleiotropic changes in the maximum catalytic activities of the following enzymes could be detected in the glgC-16 tubers: sucrose synthase, fructokinase, UDPglucose pyrophosphorylase, phosphofructokinase, soluble starch synthase, starch branching enzyme, phosphoglucomutase and alkaline inorganic pyrophosphatase. The glgC-16 tubers are held to be suitable for the study of the role of ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase in the control of starch synthesis.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗
PubMed2000

Effects of oral D-tagatose, a stereoisomer of D-fructose, on liver metabolism in man as examined by 31P-magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

D-tagatose, which is a stereoisomer of D-fructose, is phosphorylated to D-tagatose-1-phosphate by fructokinase in the liver. Because of a slow degradation rate of D-tagatose-1-phosphate, this substance may accumulate, and ingested D-tagatose may therefore cause a longer lasting reduction in inorganic phosphate (Pi) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels in the liver compared with D-fructose. Similar to what is seen in patients with hereditary fructose intolerance, this may increase purine nucleotide degradation and thereby increase uric acid production. The effect of 30 g D-tagatose or D-fructose administered orally on ketohexose-1-phosphates, ATP, and Pi levels in the liver was studied by 31P-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (PMRS) in 5 young male volunteers. Blood and urine were collected to detect a possible increased uric acid production. A peak at 5.2 ppm assigned as D-tagatose-1-phosphate equivalent to about 1 mmol/L was found in the spectrum within 30 minutes after D-tagatose was administered in all subjects. Concomitantly, ATP was reduced by about 12% (P < .05). Both effects had vanished after 150 minutes. Serum uric acid concentration was increased by 17% 50 minutes after D-tagatose (P < .05) and did not reach baseline level when the experiment was terminated 230 minutes after the load. Although renal fractional extraction of uric acid decreased by approximately 12%, this could not explain the acute hyperuricemic effect of D-tagatose. No changes in 31PMRS spectra or serum uric acid concentration were found after D-fructose. These results suggest that a moderate intake of D-tagatose may affect liver metabolism by phosphate trapping despite the fact that the sugar may only be incompletely absorbed in the gut.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Expressed sequence tags from poplar wood tissues--a comparative analysis from multiple libraries.

Xylogenesis involves successive developmental processes--cambial division, cell expansion and differentiation, cell death--each occurring along a gradient from the cambium to the pith of the stem. Taking advantage of the high level of organisation of wood tissues, we isolated cambial zone (CZ), differentiating xylem (DX) and mature xylem (MX) from both tension wood (TW) and opposite wood (OW) of bent poplars. Four different cDNA libraries were then constructed and used to generate 10,062 EST, reflecting the genes expressed in the different wood tissues. For the most abundant clusters, the EST distributions were compared between libraries in order to identify genes specific or over-represented at some specific developmental stages. They clearly showed a developmental shift between CZ and DX, whereas there is a continuity of development between DX and MX. CZ was mainly characterized by clusters of genes involved in cell cycle, protein synthesis and fate. Interestingly, two clusters with no assigned function were found specific to the cambial zone. In DX and MX, clusters were mostly involved in methylation of lignin precursors and microtubule cytoskeleton. In addition, in DX, EST from TW and OW were compared: five clusters of arabinogalactan proteins, one for sucrose synthase and one for fructokinase were specific or over-represented in TW. Moreover, a putative transcription factor and a cluster of unknown function were also identified in DX-TW. The informative comparison of multiple libraries prepared from wood tissues led to the identification of genes--some with still unknown functions--putatively involved in xylogenesis and tension wood formation.

Cell Cycle↗
PubMed2003

The hexokinase of the hyperthermophile Thermoproteus tenax. ATP-dependent hexokinases and ADP-dependent glucokinases, teo alternatives for glucose phosphorylation in Archaea.

The phosphorylation of glucose by different sugar kinases plays an essential role in Archaea because of the absence of a phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent transferase system characteristic for Bacteria. In the genome of the hyperthermophilic Archaeon Thermoproteus tenax a gene was identified with sequence similarity to glucokinases of the so-called ROK family (repressor protein, open reading frame, sugar kinase). The T. tenax enzyme, like the recently described ATP-dependent "glucokinase" from Aeropyrum pernix, shows the typical broad substrate specificity of hexokinases catalyzing not only phosphorylation of glucose but also of other hexoses such as fructose, mannose, or 2-deoxyglucose, and thus both enzymes represent true hexokinases. The T. tenax hexokinase shows strikingly low if at all any regulatory properties and thus fulfills no important control function at the beginning of the variant of the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway in T. tenax. Transcript analyses reveal that the hxk gene of T. tenax is cotranscribed with an upstream located orfX, which codes for an 11-kDa protein of unknown function. Growth-dependent studies and promoter analyses suggest that post-transcriptional RNA processing might be involved in the generation of the monocistronic hxk message, which is observed only under heterotrophic growth conditions. Data base searches revealed T. tenax hexokinase homologs in some archaeal, few eukaryal, and many bacterial genomes. Phylogenetic analyses confirm that the archaeal hexokinase is a member of the so-called ROK family, which, however, should be referred to as ROK group because it represents a group within the bacterial glucokinase fructokinase subfamily II of the hexokinase family. Thus, archaeal hexokinases represent a second major group of glucose-phosphorylating enzymes in Archaea beside the recently described archaeal ADP-dependent glucokinases, which were recognized as members of the ribokinase family. The distribution of the two types of sugar kinases, differing in their cosubstrate as well as substrate specificity, within Archaea is discussed on the basis of physiological constraints of the respective organisms.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗