Expression and biological properties of a novel methionine sulfoxide reductase A in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum).

Methionine (Met) residues in proteins/peptides are extremely susceptible to oxidation mediated by reactive oxygen species, resulting in the formation of methionine sulfoxide, which could be inversely reduced back to Met by methionine sulfoxide reductase (MSR). In the present study, an A-type MSR gene, termed NtMSRA4, was isolated from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Sequence analysis of NtMSRA4 amino acid sequence indicated that the gene, encoded a polypeptide with a molecular weight of 21 kDa, possessed the highly conserved motif, ‘GCFWG’ in the N-terminus and ‘KGCNDPIRCY’ motif in the C-terminus respectively. Substrate specific analysis revealed that recombinant NtMSRA4 protein could reduce specifically S-isomer of Dabsyl-MetSO to Dabsyl-Met in vitro using dithiothreitol as an electron donor. Enzymatic properties analysis showed that the temperature of 42 °C and pH 9.0 were optimum for NtMSRA4 activity. The K m and K cat values of NtMSRA4 were determined to be 40.04 μM and 0.048 S−1 in the thioredoxin dependent reduction system. Overexpression of NtMSRA4 in E. coli cells enhanced resistance to H2O2 toxicity. Subcellular localization result showed that NtMSRA4 was located in the chloroplast. The expression level of NtMSRA4 was affected differently after exposure to various abiotic stresses.