NADP+-isocitrate dehydrogenase from the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120: Purification and characterization of the enzyme and cloning, sequencing, and disruption of the icd gene

Abstract

NADP+-isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP+-IDH) from the dinitrogen-fixing filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 was purified to homogeneity. The native enzyme is composed of two identical subunits (M(r), 57,000) and cross-reacts with antibodies obtained against the previously purified NADP+-IDH from the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803. Anabaena NADP+-IDH resembles in its physicochemical and kinetic parameters the typical dimeric IDHs from prokaryotes. The gene encoding Anabaena NADP+-IDH was cloned by complementation of an Escherichia coli icd mutant with an Anabaena genomic library. The complementing DNA was located on a 6-kb fragment. It encodes an NADP+-IDH that has the same mobility as that of Anabaena NADP+-IDH on nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels. The icd gene was subcloned and sequenced. Translation of the nucleotide sequence gave a polypeptide of 473 amino acids that showed high sequence similarity to the E. coli enzyme (59% identity) and with IDH1 and IDH2, the two subunits of the heteromultimeric NAD+-IDH from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (30 to 35% identity); however, a low level of similarity to NADP+-IDHs of eukaryotic origin was found (23% identity). Furthermore, Anabaena NADP+-IDH contains a 44-residue amino acid sequence in its central region that is absent in the other IDHs so far sequenced. Attempts to generate icd mutants by insertional mutagenesis were unsuccessful, suggesting an essential role of IDH in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120.