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Iowa State University

Selected Works

Diterpenes

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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Bifunctional Abietadiene Synthase: Mutual Structural Dependence Of The Active Sites For Protonation-Initiated And Ionization-Initiated Cyclizations, Reuben J. Peters, Ora A. Carter, Yan Zhang, Brian W. Matthews, Rodney B. Croteau Mar 2003

Bifunctional Abietadiene Synthase: Mutual Structural Dependence Of The Active Sites For Protonation-Initiated And Ionization-Initiated Cyclizations, Reuben J. Peters, Ora A. Carter, Yan Zhang, Brian W. Matthews, Rodney B. Croteau

Reuben J. Peters

Abietadiene synthase from grand fir catalyzes two sequential, mechanistically distinct cyclizations, of geranylgeranyl diphosphate and of copalyl diphosphate, in the formation of a mixture of abietadiene isomers as the committed step of diterpenoid resin acid biosynthesis. Each reaction is independently conducted at a separate active site residing in what were considered to be structurally distinct domains typical of terpene cyclases. Despite the presence of an unusual 250-residue N-terminal insertional element, a tandem pair of charged residues distal to the insertion was shown to form a functional part of the C-terminal active site. Because abietadiene synthase resembles the ancestral plant terpene …


Abietadiene Synthase Catalysis:  Conserved Residues Involved In Protonation-Initiated Cyclization Of Geranylgeranyl Diphosphate To (+)-Copalyl Diphosphate, Reuben J. Peters, Rodney B. Croteau Feb 2002

Abietadiene Synthase Catalysis:  Conserved Residues Involved In Protonation-Initiated Cyclization Of Geranylgeranyl Diphosphate To (+)-Copalyl Diphosphate, Reuben J. Peters, Rodney B. Croteau

Reuben J. Peters

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 by protonation of the terminal double bond of the universal diterpene precursor, geranylgeranyl diphosphate. The pH dependence of the overall reaction is consistent with an acid-base catalytic mechanism, and a divalent metal ion plays a role in this reaction probably by binding the diphosphate …