Cysteine residues at the active site of glutamine synthetase from spinach leaves.

Titration of cysteine residues of spinach glutamine synthetase with 5-5' dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid) indicates that there are five such residues per monomer of enzyme and that two of these five are on the surface of the molecule. The presence of substrates, or either of the competitive inhibitors methionine sulfoximine or phosphinothricin, completely protects both of the surface sulfhydryls from titration. This suggests that both are located at the active site. In the absence of Mg2+ and ATP, both surface sulfhydryls must be modified before loss of activity. We conclude that while both of the cysteine residues are located at the active site, only one of them may be involved in catalysis. Because the cysteine residue which is implicated in catalysis can be protected by Mg2+ and ATP, we believe that it may be located at or near the binding site of these ligands.