Isomerization of Peroxidizing Thiadiazolidine Herbicides Is Catalyzed by Glutathione S-Transferase

Thiadiazolidine-converting activity (isomerase), detected in a 45-75% ammonium sulfate precipitate from corn seedlings extracts, was purified by chromatography on hydroxyapatite and by anion exchange on Mono Q Sepharose. Two fractions 1 and 2 with isomerase activity were separated on Mono Q by combination of a stepwise elution and continuous salt gradient; fraction 2 eluting at higher salt concentrations was found the most active. Total activity could be enhanced by treatment of seedlings with naphthalic anhydride. Both fractions containing isomerase activity were further purified by glutathione-(GSH) agarose affinity chromatography and characterized by their specificity for different thiadiazolidines. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel filtration revealed that the isomerase of fraction 2 consists either of a homodimer or a heterodimer of two proteins with apparent molecular weights of 28 and 31 kDa, respectively. The protein pattern as well as the strict dependence of activity on thiol groups (GSH or dithiothreitol) suggested a glutathione Stransferase (GST) catalyzing the thiadiazolidine conversion. Further evidence was obtained by measuring reactions specific for GSTs in both purified fractions, namely the conjugating activity for l-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB). atrazine and metazachlor. While no atrazine turnover was found, metazachlor and CDNB conjugation occurred rapidly. Both fractions differed in their activities to several GST substrates with fraction 2 being more effective in metazachlor but less active in C DN B conjugation. Inhibitors specific for GST-catalyzed reactions also inhibited thiadiazolidine conversion confirming that isomerizing activity is attributed to a GST form. We conclude that GST isoforms with different affinities towards thiadiazolidines have been isolated. CDNB activity, molecular weight, the protein pattern on SDS-PAGE as well as the amino acid sequence of one of its polypeptides suggest that fraction 1, less active in thiadiazolidine isomerization, is identical to GST I. The second peptide of this fraction was resistant to Edman degradation probably due to N-terminal blockage. The properties of the high isomerase activity found in fraction 2 are in agreement with characteristics of a GST previously termed as isoform II.