[Back to Issue 12 ToC] [Back to Journal Contents] [Back to Biochemistry (Moscow) Home page]

Cloning and Characterization of Indolepyruvate Decarboxylase from Methylobacterium extorquens AM1


D. N. Fedorov, N. V. Doronina, and Yu. A. Trotsenko*

Skryabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Nauki 5, 142290 Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia; fax: (495) 956-3370; E-mail: trotsenko@ibpm.pushchino.ru

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received April 8, 2010; Revision received September 8, 2010
For the first time for methylotrophic bacteria an enzyme of phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) biosynthesis, indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.74), has been found. An open reading frame (ORF) was identified in the genome of facultative methylotroph Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 using BLAST. This ORF encodes thiamine diphosphate-dependent 2-keto acid decarboxylase and has similarity with indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylases, which are key enzymes of IAA biosynthesis. The ORF of the gene, named ipdC, was cloned into overexpression vector pET-22b(+). Recombinant enzyme IpdC was purified from Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) and characterized. The enzyme showed the highest kcat value for benzoylformate, albeit the indolepyruvate was decarboxylated with the highest catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km). The molecular mass of the holoenzyme determined using gel-permeation chromatography corresponds to a 245-kDa homotetramer. An ipdC-knockout mutant of M. extorquens grown in the presence of tryptophan had decreased IAA level (46% of wild type strain). Complementation of the mutation resulted in 6.3-fold increase of IAA concentration in the culture medium compared to that of the mutant strain. Thus involvement of IpdC in IAA biosynthesis in M. extorquens was shown.
KEY WORDS: Methylobacterium extorquens, indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase, heterologous expression, kinetic properties, mutants

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297910120035