Gene structure, expression in Escherichia coli and biochemical properties of the NAD+ -dependent glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from Pinus sylvestris chloroplasts

Abstract

Photosynthetic eukaryotes typically possess two distinct glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases, an NAD+ -specific enzyme in the cytosol (GapC: EC 1.2.1.12) and an NADP+ -dependent enzyme in the chloroplast (GapAB: EC 1.2.1.13). The gymnosperm Pinus sylvestris is an exception in that it is known to express a gene encoding a transit peptide-bearing GapC-like subunit that is imported into chloroplasts (GapCp), but the enzymatic properties of this novel GAPDH have not been described from any source. We have expressed the mature GapCp unit from Pinus in Escherichia coli and have characterized the active enzyme. GapCp has a specific activity of 89 units per milligram and is strictly NAD+ -dependent, showing no detectable activity with NADP+. Values of the apparent Km for NAD+ and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate were determined as 62 and 344 microM, respectively. The Pinus GapCpl gene possesses 12 introns, two in the region encoding the transit peptide and ten in the region encoding the mature subunit, all of which are found at positions strictly conserved across genes for higher plant GapC. A cDNA encoding a homologue of GapCp was isolated from the heterosporous fern Marsilea quadrifolia, indicating that NAD+ -dependent chloroplast GAPDH also occurs in other higher plants.