Translocation of the precursor of 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase into chloroplasts of higher plants in vitro.

5-enolPyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSP synthase; 3-phosphoshikimate 1-carboxyvinyl-transferase; EC 2.5.1.19) is a chloroplast-localized enzyme of the shikimate pathway in plants. This enzyme is the target for the nonselective herbicide glyphosate (N-phosphonomethylglycine). We have previously isolated a full-length cDNA clone of EPSP synthase from Petunia hybrida. DNA sequence analysis suggested that the enzyme is synthesized as a cytosolic precursor (pre-EPSP synthase) with an amino-terminal transit peptide. Based on the known amino terminus of the mature enzyme, and the 5' open reading frame of the cDNA, the transit peptide of pre-EPSP synthase would be maximally 72 amino acids long. To confirm this prediction and to assay directly for translocation of pre-EPSP synthase into chloroplasts in vitro, we cloned the full-length cDNA into an SP6 transcription system to produce large amounts of mRNA for in vitro translation. The translation products, when analyzed by NaDodSO(4)/PAGE autoradiography, indicate a relative molecular mass for pre-EPSP synthase of approximately 55 kDa. Uptake studies with intact chloroplasts, in vitro, indicate that pre-EPSP synthase was rapidly taken up into chloroplasts and proteolytically cleaved to the mature approximately 48-kDa enzyme. The transit peptide was shown to be essential for import of the precursor enzyme into the chloroplast. To our knowledge, post-translational import into chloroplasts of a precursor enzyme involved in amino acid biosynthesis has not been reported previously. Furthermore, enzymatic analysis of translation products indicates that pre-EPSP synthase is catalytically active and has a similar sensitivity to the herbicide glyphosate as the mature enzyme. To our knowledge, pre-EPSP synthase represents the only example of a catalytically competent chloroplast-precursor enzyme.