Novel class of glutathione transferases from cyanobacteria exhibit high catalytic activities towards naturally occurring isothiocyanates

In the present paper, we report a novel class of GSTs (glutathione transferases), called the Chi class, originating from cyanobacteria and with properties not observed previously in prokaryotic enzymes. GSTs constitute a widespread multifunctional group of proteins, of which mammalian enzymes are the best characterized. Although GSTs have their origin in prokaryotes, few bacterial representatives have been characterized in detail, and the catalytic activities and substrate specificities observed have generally been very modest. The few well-studied bacterial GSTs have largely unknown physiological functions. Genome databases reveal that cyanobacteria have an extensive arsenal of glutathione-associated proteins. We have studied two cyanobacterial GSTs which are the first examples of bacterial enzymes that are as catalytically efficient as the best mammalian enzymes. GSTs from the thermophile Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1 and from Synechococcus elongatus PCC 6301 were found to catalyse the conjugation of naturally occurring plant-derived isothiocyanates to glutathione at high rates. The cyanobacterial GSTs studied are smaller than previously described members of this enzyme family, but display many of the typical structural features that are characteristics of GSTs. They are also active towards several classical substrates, but at the same moderate rates that have been observed for other GSTs derived from prokaryotes. The cloning, expression and characterization of two cyanobacterial GSTs are described. The possible significance of the observed catalytic properties is discussed in the context of physiological relevance and GST evolution.