| Type: | Domain | Name: | Glutamine amidotransferase type 2 domain |
| Description: | A large group of biosynthetic enzymes are able to catalyse the removal of the ammonia group from glutamine and then to transfer this group to a substrate to form a new carbon-nitrogen group. This catalytic activity is known as glutamine amidotransferase (GATase) []. The GATase domain exists either as a separate polypeptidic subunit or as part of a larger polypeptide fused in different ways to a synthase domain. On the basis of sequence similarities two classes of GATase domains have been identified [, ]: class-I (also known as trpG-type or triad) and class-II (also known as purF-type or Ntn). Class-II (or type 2) GATase domains have been found in the following enzymes:Amido phosphoribosyltransferase (glutamine phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase). An enzyme which catalyses the first step in purine biosynthesis, the transfer of the ammonia group of glutamine to PRPP to form 5-phosphoribosylamine (gene purF in bacteria, ADE4 in yeast).Glucosamine--fructose-6-phosphate aminotransferase. This enzyme catalyses a key reaction in amino sugar synthesis, the formation of glucosamine 6-phosphate from fructose 6-phosphate and glutamine (gene glmS in Escherichia coli, nodM in Rhizobium, GFA1 in yeast).Asparagine synthetase (glutamine-hydrolyzing). This enzyme is responsible for the synthesis of asparagine from aspartate and glutamine.Glutamate synthase (gltS), an enzyme which participates in the ammonia assimilation process by catalysing the formation of glutamate from glutamine and 2-oxoglutarate. Glutamate synthase is a multicomponent iron-sulphur flavoprotein and three types occur which use a different electron donor: NADPH-dependent gltS (large chain), ferredoxin-dependent gltS and NADH-dependent gltS [].The active site is formed by a cysteine present at the N-terminal extremity of the mature form of all these enzymes [, , , ]. Two other conserved residues, Asn and Gly, form an oxyanion hole for stabilisation of the formed tetrahedral intermediate. An insert of ~120 residues can occur between the conserved regions []. In some class-II GATases (for example in Bacillus subtilisor chicken amido phosphoribosyltransferase) the enzyme is synthesised with a short propeptide which is cleaved off post-translationally by a proposed autocatalytic mechanism. Nuclear-encoded Fd-dependent gltS have a longer propeptide which may contain a chloroplast-targeting peptide in addition to the propeptide that is excised on enzyme activation.The 3-D structure of the GATase type 2 domain forms a four layer alpha/beta/beta/alpha architecture which consists of a fold similar to the N-terminal nucleophile (Ntn) hydrolases. These have the capacity for nucleophilic attack and the possibility of autocatalytic processing. The N-terminal position and the folding of the catalytic Cys differ strongly from the Cys-His-Glu triad which forms the active site of GATases of type 1. | Short Name: | GATase_2_dom |
