Eucaryotes possess one or more NADP-dependent methylene-THF
dehydrogenases as part of multifunctional enzymes. In addition,
yeast expresses an unusual monofunctional NAD-dependent
enzyme, yMTD. We report X-ray structures for the apoenzyme
and its complex with NAD+ at 2.8 and 3.0 Å
resolution, respectively. The protein fold resembles that
seen for the human and Escherichia coli dehydrogenase/cyclohydrolase
bifunctional enzymes. The enzyme has two prominent domains,
with the active site cleft between them. yMTD has a noncanonical
NAD-binding domain that has two inserted strands compared
with the NADP-binding domains of the bifunctional enzymes.
This insert precludes yMTD from dimerizing in the same
way as the bifunctional enzymes. yMTD functions as a dimer,
but the mode of dimerization is novel. It does not appear
that the difference in dimerization accounts for the difference
in cofactor specificity or for the loss of cyclohydrolase
activity. These functional differences are probably accounted
for by minor differences within the tertiary structure
of the active site of the monomeric protein.