RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Conserved Alternative Splicing of <em>Arabidopsis</em> Transthyretin-Like Determines Protein Localization and <em>S</em>-Allantoin Synthesis in Peroxisomes
JF The Plant Cell
JO Plant Cell
FD American Society of Plant Biologists
SP 1564
OP 1574
DO 10.1105/tpc.109.070102
VO 22
IS 5
A1 Lamberto, Ilaria
A1 Percudani, Riccardo
A1 Gatti, Rita
A1 Folli, Claudia
A1 Petrucco, Stefania
YR 2010
UL http://www.plantcell.org/content/22/5/1564.abstract
AB S-allantoin, a major ureide compound, is produced in plant peroxisomes from oxidized purines. Sequence evidence suggested that the Transthyretin-like (TTL) protein, which interacts with brassinosteroid receptors, may act as a bifunctional enzyme in the synthesis of S-allantoin. Here, we show that recombinant TTL from Arabidopsis thaliana catalyzes two enzymatic reactions leading to the stereoselective formation of S-allantoin, hydrolysis of hydroxyisourate through a C-terminal Urah domain, and decarboxylation of 2-oxo-4-hydroxy-4-carboxy-5-ureidoimidazoline through an N-terminal Urad domain. We found that two different mRNAs are produced from the TTL gene through alternative use of two splice acceptor sites. The corresponding proteins differ in the presence (TTL1−) and the absence (TTL2−) of a rare internal peroxisomal targeting signal (PTS2). The two proteins have similar catalytic activity in vitro but different in vivo localization: TTL1− localizes in peroxisomes, whereas TTL2− localizes in the cytosol. Similar splice variants are present in monocots and dicots. TTL originated in green algae through a Urad-Urah fusion, which entrapped an N-terminal PTS2 between the two domains. The presence of this gene in all Viridiplantae indicates that S-allantoin biosynthesis has general significance in plant nitrogen metabolism, while conservation of alternative splicing suggests that this mechanism has general implications in the regulation of the ureide pathway in flowering plants.