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A Simple In Vitro Assay to Measure the Activity of Geranylgeranyl Diphosphate Synthase and Other Short-Chain Prenyltransferases

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Plant and Food Carotenoids

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2083))

Abstract

Most carotenoids are C40 metabolites produced from C20 geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP). The enzymes that produce this precursor, GGPP synthases (GGPPS), are members of the short-chain prenyltransferase (SC-PT) family. SC-PTs are enzymes that catalyze the sequential head-to-tail addition of one or more C5 molecules of isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) to dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) with the concomitant release of pyrophosphate (PPi). SC-PTs produce linear isoprenyl diphosphates of up to C20 (GGPP) that serve as precursors for many groups of isoprenoids with a wide range of essential biological functions in Eucarya, Bacteria, and Archaea. Enzymatic analysis of SC-PT activity normally requires complex, laborious and expensive methods such as radioactivity-based assays or liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Here we describe a fast and inexpensive spectrophotometric protocol for determining the kinetic parameters of SC-PTs in purified enzyme preparations, using an adapted assay for PPi quantification. We developed the method using the Arabidopsis thaliana GGPPS11 enzyme, which produces geranylgeranyl diphosphate for the synthesis of carotenoids in the chloroplast.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Barcelona, Spain

    M. Victoria Barja & Manuel Rodríguez-Concepción

Authors
  1. M. Victoria Barja
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  2. Manuel Rodríguez-Concepción
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Correspondence to Manuel Rodríguez-Concepción .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), Barcelona, Spain

    Manuel Rodríguez-Concepción

  2. Institute for Biology II, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Ralf Welsch

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Barja, M.V., Rodríguez-Concepción, M. (2020). A Simple In Vitro Assay to Measure the Activity of Geranylgeranyl Diphosphate Synthase and Other Short-Chain Prenyltransferases. In: Rodríguez-Concepción, M., Welsch, R. (eds) Plant and Food Carotenoids. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2083. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9952-1_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9952-1_2

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-9951-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-9952-1

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