The structure of Neurospora crassa 3-carboxy-cis,cis-muconate lactonizing enzyme, a beta propeller cycloisomerase.
Kajander, T., Merckel, M.C., Thompson, A., Deacon, A.M., Mazur, P., Kozarich, J.W., Goldman, A.(2002) Structure 10: 483-492
- PubMed: 11937053 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/s0969-2126(02)00744-x
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
1JOF - PubMed Abstract: 
Muconate lactonizing enzymes (MLEs) convert cis,cis-muconates to muconolactones in microbes as part of the beta-ketoadipate pathway; some also dehalogenate muconate derivatives of xenobiotic haloaromatics. There are three different MLE classes unrelated by evolution. We present the X-ray structure of a eukaryotic MLE, Neurospora crassa 3-carboxy-cis,cis-muconate lactonizing enzyme (NcCMLE) at 2.5 A resolution, with a seven-bladed beta propeller fold. It is related neither to bacterial MLEs nor to other beta propeller enzymes, but is structurally similar to the G protein beta subunit. It reveals a novel metal-independent cycloisomerase motif unlike the bacterial metal cofactor MLEs. Together, the bacterial MLEs and NcCMLE structures comprise a striking structural example of functional convergence in enzymes for 1,2-addition-elimination of carboxylic acids. NcCMLE and bacterial MLEs may enhance the reaction rate differently: the former by electrophilic catalysis and the latter by electrostatic stabilization of the enolate.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Institute of Biotechnology, Research Program in Structural Biology and Biophysics, University of Helsinki, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland.