Covalently bound non-coenzyme phosphorus residues in flavoproteins: 31P nuclear magnetic resonance studies of Azotobacter flavodoxin.

In addition to the 5'-phosphate ester on its flavin mononucleotide (FMN) moiety, flavodoxin from Azotobacter vinelandii contains 2 moles of tightly bound phosphate. One non-coenzyme phosphate group is covalently bound to the protein, as it remains with the protein on acid precipitation, whereas the other phosphate is released. The invariance of the (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shift of the covalently bound phosphate (-0.8 ppm relative to 85% phosphoric acid) with pH, even in the presence of protein denaturants, implies it is in a diester linkage to the protein. Because no evidence could be found for the presence of covalently bound sugars, nucleotides, or phospholipids, it is suggested that the phosphate residue forms a diester linkage with two hydroxyl amino acids in the protein. The only other suggestion of a phosphodiester linkage in proteins is from previous studies on pepsin and pepsinogen [Perlmann, G. E. (1955) Adv. Prot. Chem. 10, 1-30]. The observed changes in (31)P chemical shift with pH show that the covalent phosphorus in pepsinogen has ionization properties of a monoester rather than a diester. The (31)P resonance of the FMN phosphate occurs at -5.6 ppm in native Azotobacter flavodoxin. No ionization of the protein-bound FMN phosphate is observed since the chemical shift does not change appreciably in the pH range of 5.5-9.5. The chemical shift data suggest, but do not prove, that the coenzyme phosphate in its protein-bound form is dianionic. Chemical analysis of several other flavoenzymes from a variety of sources shows the presence of covalently bound phosphorus in quantities stoichiometric with the flavin content in most of the enzymes tested. Thus, the presence of covalent phosphorus in flavoenzymes may be a general phenomenon with currently unknown catalytic significance.