Role of connecting loop I in catalysis and allosteric regulation of human glucokinase.

Glucokinase (GCK, hexokinase IV) is a monomeric enzyme with a single glucose binding site that displays steady-state kinetic cooperativity, a functional characteristic that affords allosteric regulation of GCK activity. Structural evidence suggests that connecting loop I, comprised of residues 47-71, facilitates cooperativity by dictating the rate and scope of motions between the large and small domains of GCK. Here we investigate the impact of varying the length and amino acid sequence of connecting loop I upon GCK cooperativity. We find that sequential, single amino acid deletions from the C-terminus of connecting loop I cause systematic decreases in cooperativity. Deleting up to two loop residues leaves the kcat value unchanged; however, removing three or more residues reduces kcat by 1000-fold. In contrast, the glucose K0.5 and KD values are unaffected by shortening the connecting loop by up to six residues. Substituting alanine or glycine for proline-66, which adopts a cis conformation in some GCK crystal structures, does not alter cooperativity, indicating that cis/trans isomerization of this loop residue does not govern slow conformational reorganizations linked to hysteresis. Replacing connecting loop I with the corresponding loop sequence from the catalytic domain of the noncooperative isozyme human hexokinase I (HK-I) eliminates cooperativity without impacting the kcat and glucose K0.5 values. Our results indicate that catalytic turnover requires a minimal length of connecting loop I, whereas the loop has little impact upon the binding affinity of GCK for glucose. We propose a model in which the primary structure of connecting loop I affects cooperativity by influencing conformational dynamics, without altering the equilibrium distribution of GCK conformations.

The selection and use of sorghum (Sorghum propinquum) bacterial artificial chromosomes as cytogenetic FISH probes for maize (Zea mays L.).

The integration of genetic and physical maps of maize is progressing rapidly, but the cytogenetic maps lag behind, with the exception of the pachytene fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) maps of maize chromosome 9. We sought to produce integrated FISH maps of other maize chromosomes using Core Bin Marker loci. Because these 1 Kb restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) probes are below the FISH detection limit, we used BACs from sorghum, a small-genome relative of maize, as surrogate clones for FISH mapping. We sequenced 151 maize RFLP probes and compared in silico BAC selection methods to that of library filter hybridization and found the latter to be the best. BAC library screening, clone verification, and single-clone selection criteria are presented along with an example of transgenomic BAC FISH mapping. This strategy has been used to facilitate the integration of RFLP and FISH maps in other large-genome species.

Evolutionary bases of carbohydrate recognition and substrate discrimination in the ROK protein family.

The ROK (repressor, open reading frame, kinase) protein family (Pfam 00480) is a large collection of bacterial polypeptides that includes sugar kinases, carbohydrate responsive transcriptional repressors, and many functionally uncharacterized gene products. ROK family sugar kinases phosphorylate a range of structurally distinct hexoses including the key carbon source D: -glucose, various glucose epimers, and several acetylated hexosamines. The primary sequence elements responsible for carbohydrate recognition within different functional categories of ROK polypeptides are largely unknown due to a limited structural characterization of this protein family. In order to identify the structural bases for substrate discrimination in individual ROK proteins, and to better understand the evolutionary processes that led to the divergent evolution of function in this family, we constructed an inclusive alignment of 227 representative ROK polypeptides. Phylogenetic analyses and ancestral sequence reconstructions of the resulting tree reveal a discrete collection of active site residues that dictate substrate specificity. The results also suggest a series of mutational events within the carbohydrate-binding sites of ROK proteins that facilitated the expansion of substrate specificity within this family. This study provides new insight into the evolutionary relationship of ROK glucokinases and non-ROK glucokinases (Pfam 02685), revealing the primary sequence elements shared between these two protein families, which diverged from a common ancestor in ancient times.