Abstract
The complete amino acid sequence (296 amino acids) of Chromobacterium violaceum phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) was determined by nucleotide analysis of a DNA clone isolated using both a synthetic oligonucleotide probe based on the NH2-terminal amino acid sequence and an antibody against this enzyme. The ApaL I fragment (approximately 1.9 kilobase pairs) containing the entire PAH gene was subcloned in pBluescript II and induced by isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside. In order to eliminate fusion proteins the XbaI/ClaI fragment which contained the PAH gene from the Bluescript construct was subcloned into pMAC 5-8 containing the TAC promoter. The recombinant protein reacts with antibody raised to authentic C. violaceum PAH and its NH2-terminal 20-amino acid sequence and COOH-terminal amino acid residue were identical with the wild-type protein. Key physical and chemical characteristics of the recombinant protein, i.e. its copper content and Michaelis-Menten parameters, were the same as wild-type. Comparison of amino acid sequences revealed a highly conserved region between C. violaceum PAH and three different mammalian aromatic amino acid hydroxylases. This conserved area may well be a catalytically important domain of these pterin- and metal-requiring aromatic amino acid hydroxylases. The over-expression of C. violaceum PAH in Escherichia coli will facilitate the analysis of the enzyme mechanism by various spectroscopic methods.
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