PURIFICATION AND PROPERTIES OF THE DIHY DROFOLATE SYNTHETASE FROM SERRATIA INDICA

Abstract

The dihydrofolate synthetase (EC 6. 3. 2. 12) responsible for catalyzing the synthesis of dihydrofolic acid from dihydropteroic acid and L-glutamic acid was purified about 130-fold from extracts of Serratia indica IFO 3759 by ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-Sephadex column chromatography, Sephadex G-200 gel filtration, and DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. The enzyme preparation obtained was shown to be homogeneous by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography and ultracentrifugal analysis. The sedimentation coefficient of this enzyme was 3.9 S, and the molecular weight was determined to be about 47, 000 by Sephadex G-100. The optimum pH for the reaction was 9.0. The enzymatic reaction required dihydropteroate, γ-glutamate and ATP as substrates, and Mg²⁺ and K⁺ as cofactors. γ-L-GlutamylL-glutamic acid cannot replace L-glutamic acid as the substrate. Neither pteroic acid nor tetrahydropteroic acid can be used as the substrate. ATP was partially replaced by ITP or GTP. The enzyme reaction was inhibited by the addition of ADP, but not by AMP.
One mole of dihydrofolate, l mole of ADP and 1 mole of orthophosphate were produced from each 1 mole of dihydropteroic acid, L-glutamic acid, and ATP by the following equation:
7, 8-Dihydropteroic acid+L-Glutamic acid+ATP Mg²⁺, K⁺→Dihydrofolic acid+ADP+P_i
These results suggest that the systematic name for the dihydrofolate synthetase is 7, 8-dihydropteroate: L-glutamate ligase (ADP).