Purification, Overproduction, and Partial Characterization of β-RFAP Synthase, a Key Enzyme in the Methanopterin Biosynthesis Pathway†

Methanopterin is a folate analog involved in the C(1) metabolism of methanogenic archaea, sulfate-reducing archaea, and methylotrophic bacteria. Although a pathway for methanopterin biosynthesis has been described in methanogens, little is known about the enzymes and genes involved in the biosynthetic pathway. The enzyme β-ribofuranosylaminobenzene 5′-phosphate synthase (β-RFAP synthase) catalyzes the first unique step to be identified in the pathway of methanopterin biosynthesis, namely, the condensation of p-aminobenzoic acid with phosphoribosylpyrophosphate to form β-RFAP, CO(2), and inorganic pyrophosphate. The enzyme catalyzing this reaction has not been purified to homogeneity, and the gene encoding β-RFAP synthase has not yet been identified. In the present work, we report on the purification to homogeneity of β-RFAP synthase. The enzyme was purified from the methane-producing archaeon Methanosarcina thermophila, and the N-terminal sequence of the protein was used to identify corresponding genes from several archaea, including the methanogen Methanococcus jannaschii and the sulfate-reducing archaeon Archaeoglobus fulgidus. The putative β-RFAP synthase gene from A. fulgidus was expressed in Escherichia coli, and the enzymatic activity of the recombinant gene product was verified. A BLAST search using the deduced amino acid sequence of the β-RFAP synthase gene identified homologs in additional archaea and in a gene cluster required for C(1) metabolism by the bacterium Methylobacterium extorquens. The identification of a gene encoding a potential β-RFAP synthase in M. extorquens is the first report of a putative methanopterin biosynthetic gene found in the Bacteria and provides evidence that the pathways of methanopterin biosynthesis in Bacteria and Archaea are similar.