Cinnamate 4-hydroxylase [CA4H; trans-cinnamate,NADPH:oxygen oxidoreductase (4-hydroxylating), EC 1.14.13.11] is a cytochrome P450 that catalyzes the first oxygenation step of the general phenylpropanoid metabolism in higher plants. The compounds formed are essential for lignification and defense against predators and pathogens. We recently reported the purification of this enzyme from Mn2 -induced Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) tuber tissues. Highly selective polyclonal antibodies raised against the purified protein were used to screen a Agtll cDNA expression library from wound-induced Jerusalem artichoke, allowing isolation of a 1130-base-pair insert. Typical P450 domains were identifi'ed in this incomplete sequence, which was used as a probe for the isolation ofa 1.7-kilobase clone in a AgtlO library. A full-length open reading frame of 1515 base pairs, encoding a P450 protein of 505 residues (Mr = 57,927), was sequenced. The N terminus, essentially composed of hydrophobic residues, matches perfectly the microsequenced N terminus of the purified protein. The calculated pI is 9.78, in agreement with the chromatographic behavior and two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis of CA4H. Synthesis of the corresponding mRNA is induced in wounded plant tissues, in correlation with CA4H enzymatic activity. This P450 protein exhibits the most similarity (28% amino acid identity) with avocado CYP71, but also good similarity with CYP17 and CYP21, or with CYP1 and CYP2 families. According to current criteria, it qualifies as a member of a new P450 family.

Helianthus tuberosus cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (CYP73 or CA4H), a member of the P450 superfamily which catalyses the first oxidative step of the phenylpropanoid pathway in higher plants by transforming cinnamate into p-coumarate, was expressed in the yeast Succharomyces cerevisiae. The PCR-amplified CA4H open reading frame was inserted into pYeDP60 under the transcriptional control of a galactose-inducible artificial promoter. Engineered S. cerevisk strains producing human P450 reductase or normal or overproduced amounts of yeast P450 reductase were transformed to express recombinant CA4H. When grown on galactose, yeast cells produced CA4H holoprotein bound to the endoplasmic reticulum membrane as judged from the reduced ironkarbon monoxide difference spectrum centered at 452 nm and from typical cinnamate 4-hydroxylase activity upon coupling with the different P450 reductases and NADPH. Some CA4H protein was found also addressed to the yeast mitochondria but as a low-activity form. The spectral and kinetic characterizations of the yeast-produced CA4H in different redox protein environments are presented using both assays on yeast microsomal fractions and bioconversions on living cells. Results indicate that the microsomal system constituted by the overexpressed yeast P450 reductase and CA4H is characterized by a 1 : 1 coupling between NADPH oxidation and cinnamate hydroxylation and by one of the highest turnover numbers reported for an NADPH-dependent P450 reaction. Based on spectral perturbation and inhibition studies, coumarate appeared to have no detectable affinity for the enzyme. A possible geometry of the substrate recognition pocket is discussed in the light of these data.

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