Functional groups in the activity and regulation of Escherichia coli citrate synthase

1. Citrate synthase has been purified from Escherichia coli and shown to exist at an equilibrium between three forms: monomer (mol.wt. 57000), tetramer (mol.wt. 230000) and, possibly, octamer. Modification of the enzyme by photo-oxidation and by treatment with specific chemical reagents has been carried out to gain information on the amino acid residues involved in enzymic activity and in the inhibition of activity by NADH and alpha-oxoglutarate. 2. Several photo-oxidizable amino acids appear to be involved in activity. The nature of the pH-dependence of their rates of photo-oxidation with Methylene Blue suggests that these are histidines, a conclusion supported by the greater rate of photo-inactivation with Rose Bengal and the destruction of activity by diethyl pyrocarbonate. 3. The participation of histidine at the alpha-oxoglutarate effector site is indicated by photo-oxidation and the participation of cysteine at the NADH effector site suggested by photo-oxidation is confirmed by the desensitization to NADH produced by treatment with 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoate). Inactivation of the enzyme after modification with this reagent suggests the additional involvement of cysteine in catalytic activity. 4. Amino acid analyses of native and photo-oxidized enzyme are consistent with these conclusions. 5. Modification with 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide indicates the participation of tryptophan in the activity of the enzyme.