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J. Bacteriol. doi:10.1128/JB.00785-06
Copyright (c) 2006, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

PHOSPHORYLATION OF PHENOL BY PHENYLPHOSPHATE SYNTHASE. Role of histidine phosphate in catalysis

Department Biochemie und Mikrobiologie, Institut Biologie II, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: georg.fuchs{at}biologie.uni-freiburg.de.

	Abstract

The anaerobic metabolism of phenol proceeds via carboxylation to 4-hydroxybenzoate by a two-step process involving seven proteins and two enzymes ("biological Kolbe-Schmitt carboxylation"). MgATP dependent phosphorylation of phenol catalyzed by phenylphosphate synthase is followed by phenylphosphate carboxylation. Phenylphosphate synthase shows similarities to phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) synthase and was studied in the bacterium Thauera aromatica. It consists of three proteins and transfers the -phosphoryl from ATP to phenol; the products are phenylphosphate, AMP and phosphate. We showed that protein 1 becomes phosphorylated in the course of the reaction cycle by [-³²P]ATP. This reaction requires protein 2 and is several fold stimulated by protein 3. Stimulation of the reaction by 1 M sucrose is probably due to stabilization of the protein(s). Phosphorylated protein 1 transfers the phosphoryl group to phenolic substrates. The primary structure of protein 1 was analyzed by nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry after CNBr cleavage, trypsin digestion and online HPLC at alkaline pH. His-569 was identified as the phosphorylated amino acid. We propose a catalytic ping-pong mechanism similar to that of PEP synthase: First, a diphosphoryl group is transferred to His569 in protein 1 from which phosphate is cleaved off to render the reaction unidirectional. Histidine phosphate subsequently serves as the actual phosphorylation agent.

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