Kinetic and Functional Analysis of l-Threonine Kinase, the PduX Enzyme of Salmonella enterica

The PduX enzyme of Salmonella enterica is an l-threonine kinase used for the de novo synthesis of coenzyme B(12) and the assimilation of cobyric acid. PduX with an N-terminal histidine tag (His(8)-PduX) was produced in Escherichiacoli and purified. The recombinant enzyme was soluble and active. Kinetic analysis indicated a steady-state Ordered Bi Bi complex mechanism in which ATP is the first substrate to bind. Based on a multiple sequence alignment of PduX homologues and other GHMP (galactokinase, homoserine kinase, mevalonate kinase, and phosphomevalonate kinase) family members, 14 PduX variants having changes at 10 conserved serine/threonine and aspartate/glutamate sites were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis. Each variant was produced in E. coli and purified. Comparison of the circular dichroism spectra and kinetic properties of the PduX variants with those of the wild-type enzyme indicated that Glu-24 and Asp-135 are needed for proper folding, Ser-99 and Glu-132 are used for ATP binding, and Ser-253 and Ser-255 are critical to l-threonine binding whereas Ser-100 is essential to catalysis, but its precise role is uncertain. The studies reported here are the first to investigate the kinetic and catalytic mechanisms of l-threonine kinase from any organism.