Properties of oxidized and reduced spinach (Spinacia oleracea) chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase activated by various agents.

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) can be reduced and activated by either dithiothreitol or reduced thioredoxin. This activation is pH-dependent. An amino acid group with a pK value of 5.55 is involved in this process. Both enzyme forms can also be stimulated by agents such as fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, Mg2+, Ca2+ and Ca2+/fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. FBPase reduced by dithiothreitol is more strongly activated than the enzyme reduced by thioredoxin. The specificity constant (kcat./Km) is enhanced over 2.5-25-fold and 1.5-2-fold (depending on the agent used) for FBPase reduced by dithiothreitol and thioredoxin respectively. In both cases, no new kinetic properties appeared. The pH-activity profile of the stimulated enzyme is slightly shifted towards the acidic side with respect to the reduced enzyme. A lag phase is observed in the progress curve of both enzymic forms, treated or untreated. Each agent used to stimulate must induce a new conformation of the enzyme, more active than the initial one, characterized by a specificity constant and a relaxation time. This lag phase tends to disappear when the assay temperature is increased. Temperature has the same effect on the activity of oxidized, reduced and stimulated FBPase, but different effects on the stability of the different forms.