Background: In plants and photosynthetic bacteria, the tyrosine degradation pathway is crucial because homogentisate, a tyrosine degradation product, is a precursor for the biosynthesis of photosynthetic pigments, such as quinones or tocophenols. Homogentisate biosynthesis includes a decarboxylation step, a dioxygenation and a rearrangement of the pyruvate sidechain, This complex reaction is carried out by a single enzyme, the 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD), a non-heme iron dependent enzyme that is active as a homotetramer in bacteria and as a homodimer in plants. Moreover, in humans, a HPPD deficiency is found to be related to tyrosinemia, a rare hereditary disorder of tyrosine catabolism,Results: We report here the crystal structure of Pseudomonas fluorescens HPPD refined to 2.4 Angstrom resolution (R-free 27.6%; R factor 21.9%). The general topology of the protein comprises two barrel-shaped domains and is similar to the structures of Pseudomonas 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl dioxygenase (DHBD) and Pseudomonas putida catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (MPC), Each structural domain contains two repeated beta alpha beta beta beta alpha modules. There is one non-heme iron atom per monomer liganded to the sidechains of His161, His240, Glu322 and one acetate molecule,Conclusions: The analysis of the HPPD structure and its superposition with the structures of DHBD and MPC highlight some important differences in the active sites of these enzymes, These comparisons also suggest that the pyruvate part of the HPPD substrate (4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate) and the O-2 molecule would occupy the three free coordination sites of the catalytic iron atom. This substrate-enzyme model will aid the design of new inhibitors of the homogentisate biosynthesis reaction.

p-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase catalyses the transformation of p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate into homogentisate. In plants this enzyme has a crucial role because homogentisate is the aromatic precursor of all prenylquinones. Furthermore this enzyme was recently identified as the molecular target for new families of potent herbicides. In this study we examine precisely the localization of p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase activity within carrot cells. Our results provide evidence that, in cultured carrot cells, p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase is associated with the cytosol. Purification and SDS/PAGE analysis of this enzyme revealed that its activity is associated with a polypeptide of 45-46 kDa. This protein specifically cross-reacts with an antiserum raised against the p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase of Pseudomonas fluorescens. Gel-filtration chromatography indicates that the enzyme behaves as a homodimer. We also report the isolation and nucleotide sequence of a cDNA encoding a carrot p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase. The nucleotide sequence (1684 bp) encodes a protein of 442 amino acid residues with a molecular mass of 48094 Da and shows specific C-terminal regions of similarity with other p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenases. This cDNA encodes a functional p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase, as evidenced by expression studies with transformed Escherichia coli cells. Comparison of the N-terminal sequence of the 45-46 kDa polypeptide purified from carrot cells with the deduced peptide sequence of the cDNA confirms that this polypeptide supports p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase activity. Immunodetection studies of the native enzyme in carrot cellular extracts reveal that N-terminal proteolysis occurs during the process of purification. This proteolysis explains the difference in molecular masses between the purified protein and the deduced polypeptide.