Description
In Salmonella typhimurium LT2, under anaerobic conditions, CobU (EC 2.7.7.62 and EC 2.7.1.156), CobT (EC 2.4.2.21), CobC (EC 3.1.3.73) and CobS (EC 2.7.8.26) catalyse reactions in the nucleotide loop assembly pathway, which convert adenosylcobinamide (AdoCbi) into adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl). CobT and CobC are involved in 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole activation whereby 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole is converted to its riboside, α-ribazole. The second branch of the nuclotide loop assembly pathway is the cobinamide (Cbi) activation branch where AdoCbi or adenosylcobinamide-phosphate is converted to the activated intermediate AdoCbi-GDP by the bifunctional enzyme Cob U. The final step in adenosylcobalamin biosynthesis is the condensation of AdoCbi-GDP with α-ribazole, which is catalysed by EC 2.7.8.26, cobalamin synthase (CobS), to yield adenosylcobalamin. CobU is a bifunctional enzyme that has both kinase (EC 2.7.1.156) and guanylyltransferase (EC 2.7.7.62) activities. However, both activities are not required at all times.The kinase activity has been proposed to function only when S. typhimurium is assimilating cobinamide whereas the guanylyltransferase activity is required for both assimilation of exogenous cobinamide and for de novo synthesis of adenosylcobalamin. The guanylyltransferase reaction is a two-stage reaction with formation of a CobU-GMP intermediate. Guanylylation takes place at histidine-46.