PHOTOREACTIVATING ENZYME FROM <i>ESCHERICHIA COLI</i>

Abstract

Abstract— Escherichia coli photoreactivating enzyme (PRE) has been purified in large amounts from an E. coli strain lysogenic for a defective Λ bacteriophage carrying the phr gene. The resulting enzyme has a pH optimum of 7.2 and an ionic strength optimum of 0.18. It consists of an apoprotein and cofactor, both of which are necessary for catalytic activity. The apoprotein has a monomer molecular weight of 35 ,200 and shows stable aggregates under denaturing conditions. The amino acid analysis of the E. coli enzyme is very similar to that of the photoreactivating enzyme from orchid seedlings ( Cattelya aurantiuca ). Both have arginine at the amino terminus. The cofactor, like the holoenzyme, shows absorption, magnetic circular dichroism, and emission properties indicative of an adenine moiety. Although the isolated enzyme has an action spectrum which peaks at about 360 nm, neither the cofactor, apoenzyme nor holoenzyme shows any detectable absorption between 300 and 400 nm.