Genetic and biochemical analysis of the aspartokinase from Corynebacterium glutamicum

The lysC/asd gene cluster of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 was cloned and sequenced. The lysC locus coding for aspartokinase consists of two in-frame overlapping genes, lysC alpha encoding a protein of 421 amino acids (Mr 44,300) and lysC beta encoding a protein of 172 amino acids (Mr 18,600). The C. glutamicum aspartokinase was purified and found to contain two proteins of Mr 47,000 and Mr 18,000. A C. glutamicum mutant expressing a feedback-resistant aspartokinase was shown to be changed in a single base pair of the lysC beta gene, leading to an amino acid exchange in the beta-subunit of the aspartokinase. In addition, the identified mutation was found to be responsible for the enhanced expression of the asd gene located downstream of lysC.