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Effect of nitrite upon leghemoglobin and interaction with nitrogen fixation.

Nitrite (0.4 mM) added to soybean bacteroid preparations strongly inhibited C2H2 reduction. In the presence of leghemoglobin (0.1mM), a 3-fold enhancement of nitrogen fixation occurred but the inhibitory effect of nitrite was delayed. Spectra of leghemoglobin showed a rapid disappearance of the 574 nm and 541 nm peaks of oxyleghemoglobin the presence of nitrite. Concomitant oxidation of this hemoprotein gave ferric leghemoglobin as the single final product. High nitrite levels could depress nitrogen fixation both by inactivation of nitrogenase and by conversion of leghemoglobin into an inactive form. Nitrite present at low concentrations reacts with this hemoprotein and is then no longer able to penetrate into bacteroids.

Hemeproteins↗

Symbiotic leghemoglobins are crucial for nitrogen fixation in legume root nodules but not for general plant growth and development.

Hemoglobins are ubiquitous in nature and among the best-characterized proteins. Genetics has revealed crucial roles for human hemoglobins, but similar data are lacking for plants. Plants contain symbiotic and nonsymbiotic hemoglobins; the former are thought to be important for symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF). In legumes, SNF occurs in specialized organs, called nodules, which contain millions of nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, called bacteroids. The induction of nodule-specific plant genes, including those encoding symbiotic leghemoglobins (Lb), accompanies nodule development. Leghemoglobins accumulate to millimolar concentrations in the cytoplasm of infected plant cells prior to nitrogen fixation and are thought to buffer free oxygen in the nanomolar range, avoiding inactivation of oxygen-labile nitrogenase while maintaining high oxygen flux for respiration. Although widely accepted, this hypothesis has never been tested in planta. Using RNAi, we abolished symbiotic leghemoglobin synthesis in nodules of the model legume Lotus japonicus. This caused an increase in nodule free oxygen, a decrease in the ATP/ADP ratio, loss of bacterial nitrogenase protein, and absence of SNF. However, LbRNAi plants grew normally when fertilized with mineral nitrogen. These data indicate roles for leghemoglobins in oxygen transport and buffering and prove for the first time that plant hemoglobins are crucial for symbiotic nitrogen fixation.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

13C nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the binding of alkyl isocyanides to soybean leghemoglobin; comparison with animal myoglobins.

13C NMR of labelled alkyl isocyanide ligands has been used with a view to probe the protein environment around the heme site of Soybean leghemoglobin, and comparatively, those of sperm whale myoglobin and monomeric Glycera hemoglobin. The terminal carbon of the isocyanide, which is known to be highly sensitive to change in hybridization of the nitrogen, could be expected to reflect the movement of the alkyl group through steric interactions. Three alkyl isocyanides (alkyl = methyl, ethyl & n-butyl) have therefore been used and the 13C0 chemical shift values were measured for each ligand bound to the various proteins studied. In all cases, the 13C0 resonance of the bound ligand were shifted considerably down-field with respect to those of the free unbound species, but the pattern of these displacements revealed more pronounced steric hindrance in the case of some proteins compared to others. The modifications of the chemical shift values of binding delta delta = delta bound -- delta free) were least in the case of leghemoglobin; moreover, the delta delta values were insensitive to the length of the alkyl chain (methyl to n-butyl) when bound to leghemoglobin, in contrast to the other proteins examined. The results are interpreted as arising from a diminished steric hindrance to isocyanide binding with leghemoglobin, in conformity with the recently published X-ray structure which reports the existence of a large heme pocket on the distal side.

Animals↗

Bacterial heme synthesis is required for expression of the leghemoglobin holoprotein but not the apoprotein in soybean root nodules.

In Bradyrhizobium japonicum/soybean symbiosis, the leghemoglobin (legume hemoglobin) apoprotein is a plant product, but the origin of the heme prosthetic group is not known. B. japonicum strain LO505 is a transposon Tn5-induced cytochrome-deficient mutant; it excreted the oxidized heme precursor coproporphyrin III into the growth medium. Mutant strain LO505 was specifically deficient in protoporphyrinogen oxidase (protoporphyrinogen-IX:oxygen oxidoreductase, EC 1.3.3.4) activity, and thus it could not catalyze the penultimate step in heme biosynthesis. Soybean root nodules formed from this mutant did not contain leghemoglobin, but the apoprotein was synthesized nevertheless. Data show that bacterial heme synthesis is required for leghemoglobin expression, but the heme moiety is not essential for apoleghemoglobin synthesis by the plant. Soybean leghemoglobin, therefore, is a product of both the plant and bacterial symbionts.

Apoproteins↗

The nucleotide sequences of two leghemoglobin genes from soybean.

We present the complete nucleotide sequences of two leghemoglobin genes isolated from soybean DNA. Both genes contain three intervening sequences in identical positions. Comparison of the coding sequences with known amino-acid sequences of soybean leghemoglobins suggest that the two genes correspond to leghemoglobin C2 and leghemoglobin C3, respectively.

Base Sequence↗

The amino-acid sequence of leghemoglobin component a from Phaseolus vulgaris (kidney bean).

1. Leghemoglobin component a from Phaseolus vulgaris (kidney bean) was digested with trypsin; 15 tryptic peptides and free lysine were purified and the amino acid sequences of the peptides determined. 2. The internal order of the tryptic peptides was determined by the bridge peptides obtained from the thermolytic digest and the dilute acid hydrolyzate of kidney bean leghemoglobin a; 12 thermolytic peptides and two acid hydrolysis peptides were purified and the sequences were partially or completely determined. 3. The complete amino acid sequence of kidney bean leghemoglobin a is compared to that of leghemoglobin a from soybean (Glycine max) and to some animal globins. As regards sequence, the kidney bean globin has 79% identity with the soybean globin and 21% identity with human hemoglobin gamma-chain. Seven of the 14 amino acid residues common to most globins are found in the kidney bean globin. Trp-15 and Tyr-145 are evolutionarily conserved in this globin, which confirms the concept of a common origin of animal and plant globins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

1H resonance assignments and secondary structure of the carbon monoxide complex of soybean leghemoglobin determined by homonuclear two-dimensional and three-dimensional NMR spectroscopy.

Homonuclear two-dimensional and three-dimensional 1H-NMR spectroscopy has been utilized to study the 15.9-kDa protein soybean leghemoglobin. NMR experiments were performed on the diamagnetic carbon monoxide complex at two temperatures and two pH values. Sequence-specific assignments have been made for 94% of the backbone and approximately 70% of the expected side-chain resonances. The secondary structure of leghemoglobin in solution has been determined on the basis of NOE connectivity patterns, hydrogen exchange and chemical-shift analyses. Leghemoglobin consists of seven helices and, unlike mammalian myoglobins, is missing the D helix. Instead an extended loop, the CE loop, is observed which might have importance for ligand entry into and exit from the protein interior. The hydrogen exchange behavior for the F helix and at the beginning of the A helix suggests different dynamic stability compared to other helical regions in leghemoglobin. Population of a second protein conformation, in which there is perturbation at the A-G-H helix interface, is observed at low pH.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Binding of alkylisocyanides with soybean leghemoglobin. Comparisons with sperm whale myoglobin.

The binding of various linear and branched chain alkylisocyanides to soybean leghemoglobin has been studied with respect to association and dissociation kinetics and the results compared with those obtained in parallel on sperm whale and horse heart myoglobins; the linear ligands used (methyl to n-heptyl) cover a greater distribution of chain lengths than hitherto used. The association rate constants are much higher for leghemoglobin than for myoglobin, while the dissociation rates are slower. For a given protein, the dissociation rate constants are not much different when different isocyanides are used (except for methyl), whereas the association rates show complex behavior in relation with the alkyl chain length; singular differences are observed between leghemoglobin and sperm whale myoglobin in this regard. For myoglobin, the binding rate constants decrease from methyl to n-propyl, but remain approximately the same when the ligand carries a still longer alkyl chain. In contrast, for leghemoglobin, although the rate constants decrease from methyl to n-propyl, they show a progressive and important rise with longer alkyl substituents: n-butyl and n-pentyl.

Animals↗

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance study of the dynamic stability of the heme pocket of soybean leghemoglobin a. Exchange rates for the labile proton of the proximal histidyl imidazole.

Intrinsic spin lattice relaxation times for the hyperfine-shifted exchangeable resonances and the downfield heme methyls for the low spin met-cyano-, met-nicotinate-, and deoxy- complexes of soybean leghemoglobin a were determined in H2O. When exchange with the bulk solvent is slow on the T1 time scale, comparison of the intrinsic T1 values for the exchangeable protons and the heme methyl resonances has provided the assignment of the proximal histidyl imidazole N1H proton resonance. Transfer of saturation experiments and linewidth data as a function of pH at 25 degrees C permitted the determination of the proximal histidyl imidazole N1H exchange rates in various protein oxidation/ligation states. The exchange rates were found to be base-catalyzed in the deoxy- as well as the met-cyano-, met-nicotinate-, and met-azide- complexes. The exchange rates are taken as measures of the magnitude of the fluctuations of the protein conformation near the heme cavity. The unligated deoxy-protein exhibited a greater kinetic stability than ligated forms of the protein, and the bulky nicotinate ligand resulted in the lowest kinetic stability for the ligated protein forms. In contrast to met-cyanomyoglobin, no resonance which could be attributed to the distal histidyl imidazole NH was observed for any of the low spin complexes of leghemoglobin. Comparison between the same form of leghemoglobin and myoglobin reveals that the former exhibits exchange rates an order of magnitude faster than the latter protein in both ligated and unligated states, confirming the greater flexibility of the heme pocket in leghemoglobin.

Heme↗

Heme symmetry, vibronic structure, and dynamics in heme proteins: ferrous nicotinate horse myoglobin and soybean leghemoglobin.

We report the visible and Soret absorption bands, down to cryogenic temperatures, of the ferrous nicotinate adducts of native and deuteroheme reconstituted horse heart myoglobin in comparison with soybean leghemoglobin-a. The band profile in the visible region is analyzed in terms of vibronic coupling of the heme normal modes to the electronic transition in the framework of the Herzberg-Teller approximation. This theoretical approach makes use of the crude Born-Oppenheimer states and therefore neglects the mixing between electronic and vibrational coordinates; however, it takes into account the vibronic nature of the visible absorption bands and allows an estimate of the vibronic side bands for both Condon and non-Condon vibrational modes. In this framework, an x-y splitting of the Q transition for native and deuteroheme reconstituted horse myoglobin is clearly assessed and attributed to electronic perturbations that, in turn, are caused by a reduction of the typical D(4h) symmetry of the system due to heme distortions of B(1g)-type symmetry and/or to an x-y asymmetric position of the nicotinate ring; in deuteroheme reconstituted horse myoglobin the asymmetric heme peripheral substituents add to the above effect(s). On the contrary, in leghemoglobin-a no spectral splitting upon nicotinate binding is observed, pointing to a planar heme configuration in which only distortions of A(1g)-type symmetry are effective and to which the nicotinate ring is bound in an x - y symmetric position. The local dynamic properties of the heme pocket of the three proteins are investigated through the temperature dependence of spectral line broadening. Leghemoglobin-a behaves as a softer matrix with respect to horse myoglobin, thus validating the hypothesis of a looser heme pocket conformation in the former protein, which allows a nondistorted heme configuration and a symmetric binding of the bulky nicotinate ligand.

Animals↗

Regulation of plant genes specifically induced in nitrogen-fixing nodules: role of cis-acting elements and trans-acting factors in leghemoglobin gene expression.

Transgenic alfalfa plants harboring a gene fusion between the soybean leghemoglobin (lbc3) promoter region and the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (cat) gene were used to determine the influence of rhizobial mutants on lb gene expression in nodules. The promoter region of the Sesbania rostrata glb3 (Srglb3) leghemoglobin gene was examined for the presence of conserved motifs homologous to binding site 1 and 2 of the soybean lbc3 promoter region, found to interact with a trans-acting factor present in soybean nodule nuclear extracts (Jensen EO, Marcker KA, Schell J, de Bruijn FJ, EMBO J 7:1265-1271, 1988). Subfragments of the S. rostrata glb3 (Srglb3) promoter region were examined for binding to trans-acting factors from nodule nuclear extracts. In addition to the binding sites previously identified (Metz BA, Welters P, Hoffmann HJ, Jensen EO, Schell J, de Bruijn FJ, Mol Gen Genet 214: 181-191), several other sites were found to interact with trans-acting factors. In most cases the same trans-acting factor(s) were shown to be involved. One fragment (202) was found to bind specifically to a different factor (protein) which was extremely heat-resistant (100 degrees C). The appearance of this factor was shown to be developmentally regulated since the expected protein-DNA complexes were first observed around 12 days after infection, concomitant with the production of leghemoglobin proteins. Fragments of the Srglb3 5' upstream region were fused to the beta-glucuronidase reporter gene with its own CAAT and TATA box region or those of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S and nopaline synthase (nos) promoters.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Base Sequence↗

Turnover of nitrogenase and leghemoglobin in root nodules of Pisum sativum.

Turnover rates of the two nitrogenase components and leghemoglobin in root nodules of pea plants nodulated with Rhizobium leguminosarum were determined with three different methods: 1, Kinetics of 35S incorporation into protein; 2, pulse-chase experiments; 3, chloramphenicol inhibition of bacteroid protein synthesis. Methods 1 and 3 revealed that the turnover rates of the two nitrogenase components and leghemoglobin are identical to the average rate of bacteroid and plant nodule protein turnover. The t1/2 times of component I and II and leghemoglobin were about 2 days. Pulse-chase experiments with 35SO(2-)4 appeared to be rather unsuitable for determination of turnover rates in pea root nodules.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Circular dichroism of soybean leghemoglobin.

Circular dichroic (CD) spectra of soybean leghemoglobin, and some of its liganded derivatives were measured over the wavelength range of 650 to 200 nm. The heme-related circular dichroic bands in the visible, Soret and ultraviolet wavelength regions exhibit Cotton effects characteristic of each of the compounds examined. The positions of the dichroic bands vary with ligand substitutions and the oxidation state of the iron. All leghemoglobin derivatives, except the apoprotein, exhibit negative circular dichroic bands in the region of Soret absorption. In this region the optical activity of compounds with high-spin moments is greater than that of compounds with low or intermediate spin moments. The ellipticity of the heme band at about 260 nm is also altered by ligand binding and spin state. The dichroic spectra in the far-ultraviolet region indicated a high extent of alpha-helical structure (about 70%) in the native leghemoglobin and its liganded derivatives. The helicality of the apoprotein seems to diminish suggesting a decrease caused by the removal of the heme.

Azides↗

The effect of ammonium nitrate on the synthesis of nitrogenase and the concentration of leghemoglobin in pea root nodules induced by Rhizobium leguminosarum.

The effects of NH4NO3 on the development of root nodules of Pisum sativum after infection with Rhizobium leguminosarum (strain PRE) and on the nitrogenase activity of the bacteroids in the nodule tissue were studied. The addition of NH4NO3 decreased the nitrogenase activity measured on intact nodules. This reduction of nitrogen fixation did not result from a reduced number of bacteroids or a decreased amount of bacteroid proteins per gram of nodule. The synthesis of nitrogenase, measured as the relative amount of incorporation of [35S]sulfate into the components I and II of nitrogenase was similarly not affected. The addition of NH4NO3 decreased the amount of leghemoglobin in the nodules and there was a quantitative correlation between the leghemoglobin content and the nitrogen-fixing capacity of the nodules. The conclusion is that the decrease of nitrogen-fixing capacity is caused by a decrease of the leghemoglobin content of the root nodules and not by repression of the nitrogenase synthesis.

Enzyme Precursors↗

Purification of leghemoglobin from nodules of Crotalaria infected with Rhizobium.

The leghemoglobin from nodules of Crotalaria juncea infected with Rhizobium spp. was purified to homogeneity. The protein was purified after precipitation with 40-80% (NH4)2SO4, and chromatography by anionic exchange and gel filtration. The leghemoglobin has a single component and showed an apparent M(r) of ca. 17,300 and 23,700 determined by SDS-PAGE and gel filtration, respectively. The amino acid composition showed that asparagine/aspartic acid, glutamine/glutamic acid, alanine, lysine, serine and leucine were the main amino acids. Iron was detected only in the band corresponding to the purified protein. The N-terminal amino acid sequence for the first 19 residues showed high similarities with several other leghemoglobins from other plants.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Cloning of soybean leghemoglobin structural gene sequences synthesized in vitro.

Double-stranded soybean leghemoglobin DNA was synthesized from leghemoglobin mRNA isolated from soybean nodules. The dsDNA was inserted into the Bam H1 site of plasmid pBR322 using the poly-dAT-joiner method. A cloned DNA fragment of one recombinant plasmid was isolated and characterized by restriction endonuclease digestion. The restriction cleavage map and the DNA sequence of a selected part of the inserted DNA are in complete accordance with the amino-acid sequence of soybean leghemoglobin.

Base Sequence↗

Coordinated synthesis of leghemoglobin and root protein R18 in yellow lupin.

Uninfected roots of yellow lupin contain an abundant 18 kDa protein (referred to as R18), absent in the mature nodules. Some properties of this polypeptide are apparently similar to those of lupin leghemoglobins. However, the lack of any immuno crossreaction between R18 and leghemoglobin and differences in N-terminal amino acid sequences indicate that these proteins are coded by different genes. The decrease in the content of R18 protein in developing nodule is associated with the increased synthesis of leghemoglobin. This implies coordination of both events.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Lupin leghemoglobins during root nodule development.

Two yellow lupin leghemoglobins, Lb I and Lb II, were purified to homogeneity using the HPLC technique for final separation. Lb I and Lb II were identified by the N-terminal sequences and their reaction with antibodies against electrophoretically pure leghemoglobin. The third Lb species was detected by the combined method of isoelectrofocusing and PAGE of Lb I. It seems that Lb III represents a posttranslational modification of Lb I. Developmental changes in Lb multiple forms were examined using the Western blotting method. The content of leghemoglobin, first detectable approximately 3 weeks after infection, increased up to 6-7 weeks, and then it remained at the same level until 8-9 weeks after the infection. At the early stages of nodule formation Lb I prevailed over Lb II, while later Lb II became the predominant form. This suggests physiological role of particular forms and precise regulation of the expression of Lb genes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗