Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) synthases catalyze the polymerization of 3-(R)-hydroxybutyrate coenzyme A (HBCoA) to produce polyoxoesters of 1–2 MDa. A substrate analogue HBCH2CoA, in which the S in HBCoA is replaced with a CH2 group, was synthesized in 13 steps using a chemoenzymatic approach in a 7.5% overall yield. Kinetic studies reveal it is a competitive inhibitor of a class I and a class III PHB synthases, with Kis of 40 and 14 μM, respectively. To probe the elongation steps of the polymerization, HBCH2CoA was incubated with a synthase acylated with a [3H]-saturated trimer-CoA ([3H]-sTCoA). The products of the reaction were shown to be the methylene analogue of [3H]-sTCoA ([3H]-sT-CH2-CoA), saturated dimer-([3H]-sD-CO2H), and trimer-acid ([3H]-sT-CO2H), distinct from the expected methylene analogue of [3H]-saturated tetramer-CoA ([3H]-sTet-CH2-CoA). Detection of [3H]-sT-CH2-CoA and its slow rate of formation suggest that HBCH2CoA may be reporting on the termination and repriming process of the synthases, rather than elongation.

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) synthases (PhaCs) catalyze the conversion of 3-(R)-hydroxybutyryl CoA (HBCoA) to PHB, which is deposited as granules in the cytoplasm of microorganisms. The class I PhaC from Caulobacter crescentus (PhaCCc) is a highly soluble protein with a turnover number of 75 s–1 and no lag phase in coenzyme A (CoA) release. Studies with [1-14C]HBCoA and PhaCCc monitored by sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE) and autoradiography reveal that the rate of elongation is much faster than the rate of initiation. Priming with the artificial primer [3H]sTCoA and monitoring for CoA release reveal a single CoA/PhaC, suggesting that the protein is uniformly loaded and that the elongation process could be studied. Reaction of sT-PhaCCc with [1-14C]HBCoA revealed that priming with sTCoA increased the uniformity of elongation, allowing distinct polymerization species to be observed by SDS–PAGE and autoradiography. However, in the absence of HBCoA, [3H]sT-PhaC unexpectedly generates [3H]sDCoA with a rate constant of 0.017 s–1. We propose that the [3H]sDCoA forms via attack of CoA on the oxoester of the [3H]sT-PhaC chain, leaving the synthase attached to a single HB unit. Comparison of the relative rate constants of thiolysis by CoA and elongation by PhaCCc, and the size of the PHB polymer generated in vivo, suggests a mechanism for chain termination and reinitiation.