Abietadiene synthase catalyzes two sequential, mechanistically distinct cyclization reactions in the formation of a mixture of abietadiene double bond isomers as the committed step in resin acid biosynthesis. Each reaction is carried out at a separate active site residing in a structurally distinct domain, and the reactions are kinetically separable. The first cyclization reaction is initiated ...

A set of bisphosphonate ethers has been prepared through sequential phosphonylation and alkylation of monophosphonate ethers. After formation of the corresponding phosphonic acid salts, these compounds were tested for their ability to inhibit the enzyme geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (GGDPS). Five of the new compounds show IC50 values of less than 1 μM against GGDPS with little to no activ...

cis-polyprenyl diphosphate synthases are involved in the biosynthesis of the glycosyl carrier lipid in most organisms. However, only little is known about this enzyme of archaea. In this report, we isolated the gene of cis-polyprenyl diphosphate synthase from a thermoacidophilic archaeon, Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, and characterized the recombinant enzyme.

The discovery of a distinct metabolic pathway, the non-mevalonate or 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate (DOXP) pathway for isoprenoid precursor biosynthesis, in eubacteria and apicomplexan parasites has revealed a new set of potential drug targets. The emphasis of research on this pathway has been on delineating the intermediates and the biochemical and structural characterization of component enzy...

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae the RER2 and SRT1 genes encode Rer2 and Srt1 proteins with cis-prenyltransferase (cis-PT-ase) activity. Both cis-PT-ases utilize farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) as a starter for polyprenyl diphosphate (dolichol backbone) formation. The products of the Rer2 and Srt1 proteins consist of 14-17 and 18-23 isoprene units, respectively. In this work we demonstrate that...

Undecaprenyl diphosphate synthase (UPS) catalyzes the cis-prenyl chain elongation onto trans, trans-farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) to produce undecaprenyl diphosphate (UPP), which is indispensable for the biosynthesis of bacterial cell walls. We report here the crystal structure of UPS as the only three-dimensional structure among cis-prenyl chain elongating enzymes. The structure is classified int...

Background: 1-Deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate (DXP) synthase is a thiamine diphosphate (ThDP)dependent enzyme in pathogen isoprenoid biosynthesis and a potential drug target. Results: Tryptophan fluorescence and kinetic analyses show that donor and acceptor substrates bind reversibly and independently to DXP synthase. Conclusion: DXP synthase catalyzes a novel, ThDP-dependent, random sequential me...