Kinetic Properties of Pyrophosphate:Fructose-6-Phosphate Phosphotransferase from Germinating Castor Bean Endosperm

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Pyrophosphate:fructose-6-phosphate phosphotransferase (PFP) was purified over 500-cold from endosperm of germinating castor bean (Ricinus commiunis L. var. Hale). The kinetic properties of the purified enzyme were studied. PFP was specific for pyrophosphate and had a requirement for a divalent metal ion. The pH optimum for activity was 7.3 to 7.7. The enzyme had similar activities in the forward and reverse directions and exhibited hyperbolic kinetics with all substrates. Kinetic constants were determined in the presence of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, which stimulated activity about 20-fold and increased the affinity of the enzyme for fructose 6-phosphate, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, and pyrophosphate up to 10-fold. Half-maximum activation of PFP by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate was obtained at 10 nanomolar. The affinity of PFP for this activator was reduced by decreasing the concentration of fructose 6-phosphate or increasing that of phosphate. Phosphate inhibited PFP when the reaction was measured in the reverse direction, i.e. fructose 6-phosphate production. In the presence of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, phosphate was a mixed inhibitor with respect to both fructose 6-phosphate and pyrophosphate when the reaction was measured in the forward direction, i.e. fructose 1,6-bisphosphate production. The possible roles of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, fructose 6-phosphate, and phosphate in the control of PFP are discussed.