NMR study of the metabolic 15N isotopic enrichment of cyanophycin synthesized by the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6308.

1H, 13C and 15N nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been used to characterize cyanophycin, a multi-l-arginyl-poly-[l-aspartic acid] polypeptide from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6308. 1H, 13C and 15N chemical shifts and 1JHN and 1JCN coupling constants were measured in isolated 15N-labeled cyanophycin, and showed chemical shift values and J-couplings consistent with the reported polypeptide structure. 15N enrichment levels were determined from the extent of 1H-15N J-coupling in 1H NMR spectra of cyanophycin. Similar experiments using 13C-15N coupling in 13C NMR spectra were not useful in determining enrichment levels.