Flavanone 3β-hydroxylase Research Articles

Significance of C-terminal sequence elements for Petunia flavanone 3β-hydroxylase activity

Flavanone 3β-hydroxylase (FHT), a 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase (2-ODD), catalyzes the hydroxylation of (2 S)-flavanones to (2 R/3 R)-dihydroflavonols in plants as a key step towards the biosynthesis of flavonols, anthocyanins and catechins. Crystallographic studies of 2-ODDs typically revealed a jelly roll in the enzyme core, and the C-terminus of the enzyme polypeptides was proposed to form a lid covering the active site cavity, thereby reducing the chances for oxidative or proteolytic damage and unfolding. Moreover, it has been proposed that in some cases the C-terminus is involved in substrate selectivity of 2-ODDs. In a systematic approach with highly active Petunia FHT, four C-terminally truncated enzyme forms were generated by deletion of five, 11, 24 or 29 amino acids. The recombinant FHTs preserved their substrate selectivity, but the specific activity decreased gradually with the extent of truncation. Then, an enzyme chimera was constructed by domain swapping replacing the C-terminal 52 amino acids of Petunia FHT by the equivalent region of flavonol synthase (FLS) from Citrus unshiu, an enzyme showing ambiguous FLS and FHT activity. The chimeric dioxygenase still revealed exclusively FHT activity, albeit at a moderate level only. The data predict that the selectivity of FHT is not governed by the C-terminal sequence accounting for about 13% of the enzyme polypeptide.

Divergent evolution of flavonoid 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases in parsley

Flavone synthases (FNSs) catalyze the oxidation of flavanones to flavones, i.e. the formation of apigenin from (2 S)-naringenin. While many plants express a microsomal-type FNS II, the soluble FNS I appears to be confined to a few species of the Apiaceae and was cloned recently from parsley plants. FNS I belongs to the Fe II/2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases characterized by short conserved sequence elements for cofactor binding, and its evolutionary context and mode of action are under investigation. Using a homology-based reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction approach, two additional flavonoid-specific dioxygenases were cloned from immature parsley leaflets, which were identified as flavanone 3β-hydroxylase (FHT) and flavonol synthase (FLS) after expression in yeast cells. Sequence alignments revealed marginal differences among the parsley FNS I and FHT polypeptides of only 6%, while much less identity (about 29%) was observed with the parsley FLS. Analogous to FNS I, FLS oxidizes the flavonoid γ-pyrone by introducing a C2, C3 double bond, and (2 R,3 S)-dihydrokaempferol ( cis-dihydrokaempferol) was proposed recently as the most likely intermediate in both FNS I and FLS catalysis. Incubation of either FNS I or FLS with cis-dihydrokaempferol exclusively produced kaempferol and confirmed the assumption that flavonol formation occurs via hydroxylation at C3 followed by dehydratation. However, the lack of apigenin in these incubations ruled out cis-dihydrokaempferol as a free intermediate in FNS I catalysis. Furthermore, neither (+)- trans-dihydrokaempferol nor unnatural (−)- trans-dihydrokaempferol and 2-hydroxynaringenin served as a substrate for FNS I. Overall, the data suggest that FNS I has evolved uniquely in some Apiaceae as a paraphyletic gene from FHT, irrespective of the fact that FNS I and FLS catalyze equivalent desaturation reactions.

Flavonol synthase from Citrus unshiu is a bifunctional dioxygenase

Flavonol synthase was classified as a 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase converting natural (2 R,3 R)-dihydroflavonols, i.e. dihydrokaempferol, to the corresponding flavonols (kaempferol). Flavonol synthase from Citrus unshiu (Satsuma mandarin), expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity, was shown to accept also (2 S)-naringenin as a substrate, producing kaempferol in high yield and assigning sequential flavanone 3β-hydroxylase and flavonol synthase activities to the enzyme. In contrast, dihydrokaempferol was identified as the predominant product from assays performed with the unnatural (2 R)-naringenin as substrate. The product which was not converted any further on repeated incubations was identified by 1H NMR and CD spectroscopies as (−)- trans-dihydrokaempferol. The data demonstrate that Citrus flavonol synthase encompasses an additional non-specific activity trans-hydroxylating the flavanones (2 S)-naringenin as well as the unnatural (2 R)-naringenin at C-3.

Purification and Antigenicity of Flavone Synthase I from Irradiated Parsley Cells

Flavone synthase I, a soluble 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase catalyzing the oxidation of flavanones to flavones in several Apiaceae species, was induced in parsley cell cultures by continuous irradiation with ultraviolet/blue light for 20 h. The enzyme was extracted from these cells and purified by a revised purification protocol including the fractionation on hydroxyapatite, Fractogel EMD DEAE, and Mono Q anion exchangers, which resulted in an apparently homogeneous flavone synthase at approximately 10-fold higher yield as compared to the previous report. The homogeneous enzyme was employed to raise an antiserum in rabbit for partial immunological characterization. The specificity of the polyclonal antibodies was demonstrated by immunotitration and Western blotting of the crude ammonium sulfate-fractionated enzyme as well as of the enzyme at various stages of the purification. High titer cross-reactivity was observed toward flavone synthase I, showing two bands in the crude extract corresponding to molecular weights of 44 and 41 kDa, respectively, while only the 41 kDa was detected on further purification. The polyclonal antiserum did not cross-react with recombinantly expressed flavanone 3β-hydroxylase from Petunia hybrida or flavonol synthase from Citrus unshiu, two related 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases involved in the flavonoid pathway.

Purification of Recombinant Flavanone 3β-Hydroxylase from Petunia hybrida and Assignment of the Primary Site of Proteolytic Degradation

Flavanone 3β-hydroxylase catalyzes the FeII/oxoglutarate-dependent hydroxylation of (2S)-flavanones to (2R,3R)-dihydroflavonols in the course of flavonol/anthocyanin or catechin biosynthesis. The enzyme from Petunia hybrida consists of a 41,655-Da polypeptide that is prone to rapid proteolysis in crude plant extracts as well as on expression in Escherichia coli, and commercial protease inhibitors were inefficient in stopping the degradation. To pinpoint the primary site of proteolysis and to improve the activity yields, two revised schemes of purification were developed for the recombinant polypeptides. Applying a four-step protocol based on extraction and ion-exchange chromatography at pH 7.5, the primary, catalytically inactive proteolytic enzyme fragment (1.1 mg) was isolated and shown to cross-react on Western blotting as one homogeneous band of about 38 kDa. Mass spectrometric analysis assigned a mass of 37,820 ± 100 Da to this fragment, and partial sequencing revealed an unblocked amino terminus identical to that of the native 3β-hydroxylase. Thus, the native enzyme had been degraded by proteolysis of a small carboxy-terminal portion, and the primary site of cleavage must be assigned most likely to the Glu 337–Leu 338 bond, accounting for a loss of about 3800 Da. Alternatively, the enzyme degradation was greatly reduced when the extraction of recombinant bacteria was carried out with phosphate buffer at pH 5.5 followed by size exlusion and anion-exchange chromatography. This rapid, two-step purification resulted in a homogeneous 3β-hydroxylase of high specific acitivity (about 32 mkat/kg) at roughly 5% yield, and the procedure is a major breakthrough in mechanistic investigations of this class of labile dioxygenases.

The monomeric polypeptide comprises the functional flavanone 3β-hydroxylase from Petunia hybrida

Flavanone 3β-hydroxylase catalyzes the FeII/oxoglutarate-dependent hydroxylation of (2S)-flavanones to (2R,3R)-dihydroflavonols in the biosynthesis of flavonoids, catechins and anthocyanidins. The enzyme had been partially purified from Petunia hybrida and proposed to be active as a dimer of roughly 75 kDa in size. More recently, the Petunia 3β-hydroxylase was cloned and shown to be encoded in a 41 655 Da polypeptide. In order to characterize the molecular composition, the enzyme was expressed in a highly active state in Escherichia coli and purified to apparent homogeneity. Size exclusion chromatographies of the pure, recombinant enzyme revealed that this flavanone 3β-hydroxylase exists in functional monomeric and oligomeric forms. Protein cross-linking experiments employing a specific homobifunctional sulfhydryl group reagent or the photochemical activation of tryptophan residues confirmed the tendency of the enzyme to aggregate to oligomeric complexes in solution. Thorough equilibrium sedimentation analyses, however, revealed a molecular mass of 39.2±12 kDa for the recombinant flavanone 3β-hydroxylase. The result implies that the monomeric polypeptide comprises the catalytically active flavanone 3β-hydroxylase of P. hybrida, which may readily associate in vivo with other proteins.

Molecular cloning of the flavanone 3β-hydroxylase gene (FHT) from carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) and analysis of stable and unstable FHT mutants

Using a cDNA encoding the flavanone 3β-hydroxylase (FHT) from Dianthus caryophyllus (carnation) as a probe, we isolated the FHT gene from a genomic library. Sequence analysis revealed that the FHT gene consists of three exons and two introns. Two putative light-regulated elements were identified in the promoter region by sequence comparison. Southern blot analysis indicated that a single copy of the FHT gene is in the plant genome. Furthermore, a stable and an unstable FHT mutant of D. caryophyllus, both showing almost no FHT activity, were analyzed by Southern, Northern and Western blotting. It turned out that the FHT gene is present in both mutants, but no protein was detectable in the mutant flowers. FHT mRNA in amounts comparable to that found in the wildtype is present in flowers of the stable mutant, indicating a block in translation, but not in flowers of the unstable mutant, indicating a block in transcription. The translational block of the FHT mRNA of the stable mutant was demonstrated by in vitro translation of total flower mRNA followed by the specific measurement of FHT activity.

Purification of flavanone 3β-hydroxylase from Petunia hybrida: Antibody preparation and characterization of a chemogenetically defined mutant

Flavanone 3β-hydroxylase from Petunia hybrida has been purified to apparent homogeneity utilizing an improved purification protocol including chromatography of the partially purified enzyme on hydroxyapatite, chromatofocusing, and hydrophobic interaction chromatography on phenyl-Superose. The specificity of mouse and rabbit polyclonal antisera directed to flavanone 3β-hydroxylase was demonstrated by Western blotting and immunotitration with crude extracts from wild-type flowers of P. hybrida and with the purified enzyme. Cross-reactivity was observed with flavanone 3β-hydroxylase from extracts of illuminated parsley cells. A Petunia mutant with white flowers, previously shown to lack 3β-hydroxylase activity and to accumulate flavanone glycosides, showed complete absence of the enzyme protein.