Soluble cytochrome composition of the purple phototrophic bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides ATCC 17023

Catalysis and Electron Transfer in De Novo Designed Metalloproteins

One of the hallmark advances in our understanding of metalloprotein function is showcased in our ability to design new, non-native, catalytically active protein scaffolds. This review highlights progress and milestone achievements in the field of de novo metalloprotein design focused on reports from the past decade with special emphasis on de novo designs couched within common subfields of bioinorganic study: heme binding proteins, monometal- and dimetal-containing catalytic sites, and metal-containing electron transfer sites. Within each subfield, we highlight several of what we have identified as significant and important contributions to either our understanding of that subfield or de novo metalloprotein design as a discipline. These reports are placed in context both historically and scientifically. General suggestions for future directions that we feel will be important to advance our understanding or accelerate discovery are discussed.

Constructing a man-made c-type cytochrome maquette in vivo: electron transfer, oxygen transport and conversion to a photoactive light harvesting maquette

The successful use of man-made proteins to advance synthetic biology requires both the fabrication of functional artificial proteins in a living environment, and the ability of these proteins to interact productively with other proteins and substrates in that environment. Proteins made by the maquette method integrate sophisticated oxidoreductase function into evolutionarily naive, non-computationally designed protein constructs with sequences that are entirely unrelated to any natural protein. Nevertheless, we show here that we can efficiently interface with the natural cellular machinery that covalently incorporates heme into natural cytochromes c to produce in vivo an artificial c-type cytochrome maquette. Furthermore, this c-type cytochrome maquette is designed with a displaceable histidine heme ligand that opens to allow functional oxygen binding, the primary event in more sophisticated functions ranging from oxygen storage and transport to catalytic hydroxylation. To exploit the range of functions that comes from the freedom to bind a variety of redox cofactors within a single maquette framework, this c-type cytochrome maquette is designed with a second, non-heme C, tetrapyrrole binding site, enabling the construction of an elementary electron transport chain, and when the heme C iron is replaced with zinc to create a Zn porphyrin, a light-activatable artificial redox protein. The work we describe here represents a major advance in de novo protein design, offering a robust platform for new c-type heme based oxidoreductase designs and an equally important proof-of-principle that cofactor-equipped man-made proteins can be expressed in living cells, paving the way for constructing functionally useful man-made proteins in vivo.

Iron homeostasis in the Rhodobacter genus

Metals are utilized for a variety of critical cellular functions and are essential for survival. However cells are faced with the conundrum of needing metals coupled with e fact that some metals, iron in particular are toxic if present in excess. Maintaining metal homeostasis is therefore of critical importance to cells. In this review we have systematically analyzed sequenced genomes of three members of the Rhodobacter genus, R. capsulatus SB1003, R. sphaeroides 2.4.1 and R. ferroxidans SW2 to determine how these species undertake iron homeostasis. We focused our analysis on elemental ferrous and ferric iron uptake genes as well as genes involved in the utilization of iron from heme. We also discuss how Rhodobacter species manage iron toxicity through export and sequestration of iron. Finally we discuss the various putative strategies set up by these Rhodobacter species to regulate iron homeostasis and the potential novel means of regulation. Overall, this genomic analysis highlights surprisingly diverse features involved in iron homeostasis in the Rhodobacter genus.

Occurrence and sequence of Sphaeroides Heme Protein and diheme cytochrome C in purple photosynthetic bacteria in the family Rhodobacteraceae

Background

Sphaeroides Heme Protein (SHP) was discovered in the purple photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobacter sphaeroides, and is the only known c-type heme protein that binds oxygen. Although initially not believed to be widespread among the photosynthetic bacteria, the gene has now been found in more than 40 species of proteobacteria and generally appears to be regulated. Rb. sphaeroides is exceptional in not having regulatory genes associated with the operon. We have thus analyzed additional purple bacteria for the SHP gene and examined the genetic context to obtain new insights into the operon, its distribution, and possible function.

Results

We found SHP in 9 out of 10 strains of Rb. sphaeroides and in 5 out of 10 purple photosynthetic bacterial species in the family Rhodobacteraceae. We found a remarkable similarity within the family including the lack of regulatory genes. Within the proteobacteria as a whole, SHP is part of a 3-6 gene operon that includes a membrane-spanning diheme cytochrome b and one or two diheme cytochromes c. Other genes in the operon include one of three distinct sensor kinase - response regulators, depending on species, that are likely to regulate SHP.

Conclusions

SHP is not as rare as generally believed and has a role to play in the photosynthetic bacteria. Furthermore, the two companion cytochromes along with SHP are likely to function as an electron transfer pathway that results in the reduction of SHP by quinol and formation of the oxygen complex, which may function as an oxygenase. The three distinct sensors suggest at least as many separate functional roles for SHP. Two of the sensors are not well characterized, but the third is homologous to the QseC quorum sensor, which is present in a number of pathogens and typically appears to regulate genes involved in virulence.

Rhodobacter sphaeroides haem protein: a novel cytochrome with nitric oxide dioxygenase activity

Rhodobacter sphaeroides produces a novel cytochrome, designated as SHP (sphaeroides haem protein), that is unusual in having asparagine as a redox-labile haem ligand. The gene encoding SHP is contained within an operon that also encodes a DHC (dihaem cytochrome c) and a membrane-associated cytochrome b. DHC and SHP have been shown to have high affinity for each other at low ionic strength (Kd=0.2 microM), and DHC is able to reduce SHP very rapidly. The reduced form of the protein, SHP2+ (reduced or ferrous SHP), has high affinity for both oxygen and nitric oxide (NO). It has been shown that the oxyferrous form, SHP2+-O2 (oxygen-bound form of SHP), reacts rapidly with NO to produce nitrate, whereas SHP2+-NO (the NO-bound form of SHP) will react with superoxide with the same product formed. It is therefore possible that SHP functions physiologically as a nitric oxide dioxygenase, protecting the organism against NO poisoning, and we propose a possible mechanism for this process.

Electron transfer to nitrite reductase of Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.3: examination of cytochromes c 2 and c Y

The role of cytochromec2, encoded bycycA, and cytochromecY, encoded bycycY, in electron transfer to the nitrite reductase ofRhodobacter sphaeroides2.4.3 was investigated using bothin vivoandin vitroapproaches. BothcycAandcycYwere isolated, sequenced and insertionally inactivated in strain 2.4.3. Deletion of either gene alone had no apparent effect on the ability ofR. sphaeroidesto reduce nitrite. In acycA–cycYdouble mutant, nitrite reduction was largely inhibited. However, the expression of the nitrite reductase genenirKfrom a heterologous promoter substantially restored nitrite reductase activity in the double mutant. Using purified protein, a turnover number of 5 s−1was observed for the oxidation of cytochromec2by nitrite reductase. In contrast, oxidation ofcYonly resulted in a turnover of ∼0·1 s−1. The turnover experiments indicate thatc2is a major electron donor to nitrite reductase butcYis probably not. Taken together, these results suggest that there is likely an unidentified electron donor, in addition toc2, that transfers electrons to nitrite reductase, and that the decreased nitrite reductase activity observed in thecycA–cycYdouble mutant probably results from a change innirKexpression.

Global transcriptional profiling of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 during Cr(VI) and U(VI) reduction

Whole-genome DNA microarrays were used to examine the gene expression profile of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 during U(VI) and Cr(VI) reduction. The same control, cells pregrown with nitrate and incubated with no electron acceptor, was used for the two time points considered and for both metals. U(VI)-reducing conditions resulted in the upregulation (> or = 3-fold) of 121 genes, while 83 genes were upregulated under Cr(VI)-reducing conditions. A large fraction of the genes upregulated [34% for U(VI) and 29% for Cr(VI)] encode hypothetical proteins of unknown function. Genes encoding proteins known to reduce alternative electron acceptors [fumarate, dimethyl sulfoxide, Mn(IV), or soluble Fe(III)] were upregulated under both U(VI)- and Cr(VI)-reducing conditions. The involvement of these upregulated genes in the reduction of U(VI) and Cr(VI) was tested using mutants lacking one or several of the gene products. Mutant testing confirmed the involvement of several genes in the reduction of both metals: mtrA, mtrB, mtrC, and menC, all of which are involved in Fe(III) citrate reduction by MR-1. Genes encoding efflux pumps were upregulated under Cr(VI)- but not under U(VI)-reducing conditions. Genes encoding proteins associated with general (e.g., groL and dnaJ) and membrane (e.g., pspBC) stress were also upregulated, particularly under U(VI)-reducing conditions, pointing to membrane damage by the solid-phase reduced U(IV) and Cr(III) and/or the direct effect of the oxidized forms of the metals. This study sheds light on the multifaceted response of MR-1 to U(VI) and Cr(VI) under anaerobic conditions and suggests that the same electron transport pathway can be used for more than one electron acceptor.

Regulation and function of cytochrome c' in Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.3

Cytochrome c' (Cyt c') is a c-type cytochrome with a pentacoordinate heme iron. The gene encoding this protein in Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.3, designated cycP, was isolated and sequenced. Northern blot analysis and beta-galactosidase assays demonstrated that cycP transcription increased as oxygen levels decreased and was not repressed under denitrifying conditions as observed in another Rhodobacter species. CO difference spectra performed with extracts of cells grown under different conditions revealed that Cyt c' levels were highest during photosynthetic denitrifying growth conditions. The increase in Cyt c' under this condition was higher than would be predicted from transcriptional studies. Electron paramagnetic resonance analysis of whole cells demonstrated that Cyt c' binds NO during denitrification. Mass spectrometric analysis of nitrogen oxides produced by cells and purified protein did not indicate that Cyt c' has NO reductase activity. Taken together, these results suggest a model where Cyt c' in R. sphaeroides 2.4.3 may shuttle NO to the membrane, where it can be reduced.

Solution structure of Methylophilus methylotrophus cytochrome c": insights into the structural basis of haem-ligand detachment

Cytochrome c" from Methylophilus methylotrophus is a monohaem protein with 124 amino acid residues. The iron has two histidine ligands in the oxidised form, one of which detaches and picks up a proton when the protein is reduced. Thus, both forms are paramagnetic. The structure of the oxidised form in solution, determined from NMR data is presented. The family of structures has an average backbone rmsd value of 0.53 A, and a heavy atom rmsd value of 0.95 A, within a target function range of 32 %. This structure is related to class I cytochromes with an additional helix at the N terminus. The haem-binding site occurs in a domain essentially lacking secondary structure motifs and the axial histidinyl residues were found in an unusual near perpendicular orientation. Moreover, a disulfide bridge is present, an uncommon structural feature among c-type cytochromes. The disulfide bridge, linking cysteine residues 96 and 104, forms a loop that confers rigidity and is essential to the detachment of the axial histidine (His95) as demonstrated by chemical disruption of the S-S bond. A route for protonation of the distal histidine involving haem propionate 17 is proposed and discussed in the light of available models for complex membrane proton pumps.

Iron-coproporphyrin III is a natural cofactor in bacterioferritin from the anaerobic bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans

A bacterioferritin was recently isolated from the anaerobic sulphate-reducing bacterium Desulfivibrio desulfuricans ATCC 27774 [Romão et al. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 6841-6849]. Although its properties are in general similar to those of the other bacterioferritins, it contains a haem quite distinct from the haem B, found in bacterioferritins from aerobic organisms. Using visible and NMR spectroscopies, as well as mass spectrometry analysis, the haem is now unambiguously identified as iron-coproporphyrin III, the first example of such a prosthetic group in a biological system. This unexpected finding is discussed in the framework of haem biosynthetic pathways in anaerobes and particularly in sulphate-reducing bacteria.

Crystal structures of an oxygen-binding cytochrome c from Rhodobacter sphaeroides

The photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides produces a heme protein (SHP), which is an unusual c-type cytochrome capable of transiently binding oxygen during autooxidation. Similar proteins have not only been observed in other photosynthetic bacteria but also in the obligate methylotroph Methylophilus methylotrophus and the metal reducing bacterium Shewanella putrefaciens. A three-dimensional structure of SHP was derived using the multiple isomorphous replacement phasing method. Besides a model for the oxidized state (to 1.82 A resolution), models for the reduced state (2.1 A resolution), the oxidized molecule liganded with cyanide (1. 90 A resolution), and the reduced molecule liganded with nitric oxide (2.20 A resolution) could be derived. The SHP structure represents a new variation of the class I cytochrome c fold. The oxidized state reveals a novel sixth heme ligand, Asn(88), which moves away from the iron upon reduction or when small molecules bind. The distal side of the heme has a striking resemblance to other heme proteins that bind gaseous compounds. In SHP the liberated amide group of Asn(88) stabilizes solvent-shielded ligands through a hydrogen bond.

Definition of the interaction domain for cytochrome c on cytochrome c oxidase. I. Biochemical, spectral, and kinetic characterization of surface mutants in subunit ii of Rhodobacter sphaeroides cytochrome aa(3)

To determine the interaction site for cytochrome c (Cc) on cytochrome c oxidase (CcO), a number of conserved carboxyl residues in subunit II of Rhodobacter sphaeroides CcO were mutated to neutral forms. A highly conserved tryptophan, Trp(143), was also mutated to phenylalanine and alanine. Spectroscopic and metal analyses of the surface carboxyl mutants revealed no overall structural changes. The double mutants D188Q/E189N and D151Q/E152N exhibit similar steady-state kinetic behavior as wild-type oxidase with horse Cc and R. sphaeroides Cc(2), showing that these residues are not involved in Cc binding. The single mutants E148Q, E157Q, D195N, and D214N have decreased activities and increased K(m) values, indicating they contribute to the Cc:CcO interface. However, their reactions with horse and R. sphaeroides Cc are different, as expected from the different distribution of surface lysines on these cytochromes c. Mutations at Trp(143) severely inhibit activity without changing the K(m) for Cc or disturbing the adjacent Cu(A) center. From these data, we identify a Cc binding area on CcO with Trp(143) and Asp(214) close to the site of electron transfer and Glu(148), Glu(157), and Asp(195) providing electrostatic guidance. The results are completely consistent with time-resolved kinetic measurements (Wang, K., Zhen, Y., Sadoski, R., Grinnell, S., Geren, L., Ferguson-Miller, S., Durham, B., and Millett, F. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 38042-38050) and computational docking analysis (Roberts, V. A., and Pique, M. E. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 38051-38060).

Protein dynamics: imidazole binding to class I C-type cytochromes

The oxidized cytochrome c(2) from the purple phototrophic bacteria, Rhodobacter sphaeroides and Rhodobacter capsulatus, bind the neutral species of imidazole (K(a) = 1440 +/- 40 M(-1)) 50 times more strongly than does horse mitochondrial cytochrome c (K(a) = 30 +/- 1 M(-1)). The kinetics of imidazole binding are consistent with a change in rate-limiting step at high ligand concentrations for all three proteins. This is attributed to a conformational change leading to breakage of the iron-methionine bond which precedes imidazole binding. The three-dimensional structure of the Rb. sphaeroides cytochrome c(2) imidazole complex (Axelrod et al., Acta Crystalogr. D50, 596-602) supports the view that the conformational changes are essentially localized to approximately seven residues on either side of the ligated methionine and there is a hydrogen bond between the Phe 102 carbonyl, an internal water, and the bound imidazole. Insertions and deletions in this region of cytochrome c(2), the presence of a proline near the methionine, and the smaller size of the dynamic region of horse cytochrome c suggest that the stabilizing hydrogen bond is not present in horse cytochrome c, hence, the dramatic difference in affinity for imidazole. The kinetics of ligand binding do not correlate with either the strength of the iron-methionine bond as measured by the pK of the 695-nm absorption band or the overall stability of the cytochromes studied. However, the very similar imidazole binding properties of the two cytochromes c(2) indicate that the Rb. sphaeroides cytochrome c(2)-imidazole complex structure is an excellent model for the corresponding Rb. capsulatus cytochrome c(2) complex. It is notable that the movement of the peptide chain in the vicinity of the ligated methionine has been preserved throughout evolution and suggests a role in the function of c-type cytochromes.

Cytochrome c" from the obligate methylotroph Methylophilus methylotrophus, an unexpected homolog of sphaeroides heme protein from the phototroph Rhodobacter sphaeroides

The complete primary structure of an unusual soluble cytochrome c isolated from the obligate methylotrophic bacterium Methylophilus methylotrophus has been determined to contain 124 amino acids and to have an average molecular mass of 14293.0 Da. The sequence has two unusual features: firstly, the location of the heme-binding cysteines is far downstream from the N-terminus, namely at positions 49 and 52; secondly, an extra pair of cysteine residues is present near the C-terminus. In both respects, cytochrome c" is similar to the oxygen-binding heme protein SHP from the purple phototrophic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. In contrast to SHP, cytochrome c" changes from low-spin to high-spin upon reduction, due to dissociation of a sixth heme ligand histidine which is identified as His-95 by analogy to the class I cytochromes c. The distance of His-95 from the heme (41 residues) and the presence of certain consensus residues suggests that cytochrome c" is the second example of a variant class I cytochrome c.

Iron storage in bacteria

Iron is an essential nutrient for nearly all organisms but presents problems of toxicity, poor solubility and low availability. These problems are alleviated through the use of iron-storage proteins. Bacteria possess two types of iron-storage protein, the haem-containing bacterioferritins and the haem-free ferritins. These proteins are widespread in bacteria, with at least 39 examples known so far in eubacteria and archaebacteria. The bacterioferritins and ferritins are distantly related but retain similar structural and functional properties. Both are composed of 24 identical or similar subunits (approximately 19 kDa) that form a roughly spherical protein (approximately 450 kDa, approximately 120 A diameter) containing a large hollow centre (approximately 80 A diameter). The hollow centre acts as an iron-storage cavity with the capacity to accommodate at least 2000 iron atoms in the form of a ferric-hydroxyphosphate core. Each subunit contains a four-helix bundle which carries the active site or ferroxidase centre of the protein. The ferroxidase centres endow ferrous-iron-oxidizing activity and are able to form a di-iron species that is an intermediate in the iron uptake, oxidation and core formation process. Bacterioferritins contain up to 12 protoporphyrin IX haem groups located at the two-fold interfaces between pairs of two-fold related subunits. The role of the haem is unknown, although it may be involved in mediating iron-core reduction and iron release. Some bacterioferritins are composed of two subunit types, one conferring haem-binding ability (alpha) and the other (beta) bestowing ferroxidase activity. Bacterioferritin genes are often adjacent to genes encoding a small [2Fe-2S]-ferredoxin (bacterioferritin-associated ferredoxin or Bfd). Bfd may directly interact with bacterioferritin and could be involved in releasing iron from (or delivering iron to) bacterioferritin or other iron complexes. Some bacteria contain two bacterioferritin subunits, or two ferritin subunits, that in most cases co-assemble. Others possess both a bacterioferritin and a ferritin, while some appear to lack any type of iron-storage protein. The reason for these differences is not understood. Studies on ferritin mutants have shown that ferritin enhances growth during iron starvation and is also involved in iron accumulation in the stationary phase of growth. The ferritin of Campylobacter jejuni is involved in redox stress resistance, although this does not appear to be the case for Escherichia coli ferritin (FtnA). No phenotype has been determined for E. coli bacterioferritin mutants and the precise role of bacterioferritin in E. coli remains uncertain.

Physiology and genetics of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria

Reduced inorganic sulfur compounds are oxidized by members of the domains Archaea and Bacteria. These compounds are used as electron donors for anaerobic phototrophic and aerobic chemotrophic growth, and are mostly oxidized to sulfate. Different enzymes mediate the conversion of various reduced sulfur compounds. Their physiological function in sulfur oxidation is considered (i) mostly from the biochemical characterization of the enzymatic reaction, (ii) rarely from the regulation of their formation, and (iii) only in a few cases from the mutational gene inactivation and characterization of the resulting mutant phenotype. In this review the sulfur-metabolizing reactions of selected phototrophic and of chemotrophic prokaryotes are discussed. These comprise an archaeon, a cyanobacterium, green sulfur bacteria, and selected phototrophic and chemotrophic proteobacteria. The genetic systems are summarized which are presently available for these organisms, and which can be used to study the molecular basis of their dissimilatory sulfur metabolism. Two groups of thiobacteria can be distinguished: those able to grow with tetrathionate and other reduced sulfur compounds, and those unable to do so. This distinction can be made irrespective of their phototrophic or chemotrophic metabolism, neutrophilic or acidophilic nature, and may indicate a mechanism different from that of thiosulfate oxidation. However, the core enzyme for tetrathionate oxidation has not been identified so far. Several phototrophic bacteria utilize hydrogen sulfide, which is considered to be oxidized by flavocytochrome c owing to its in vitro activity. However, the function of flavocytochrome c in vivo may be different, because it is missing in other hydrogen sulfide-oxidizing bacteria, but is present in most thiosulfate-oxidizing bacteria. A possible function of flavocytochrome c is discussed based on biophysical studies, and the identification of a flavocytochrome in the operon encoding enzymes involved in thiosulfate oxidation of Paracoccus denitrificans. Adenosine-5'-phosphosulfate reductase thought to function in the 'reverse' direction in different phototrophic and chemotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria was analysed in Chromatium vinosum. Inactivation of the corresponding gene does not affect the sulfite-oxidizing ability of the mutant. This result questions the concept of its 'reverse' function, generally accepted for over three decades.

Organization and expression of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides cycFG operon

The Rhodobacter sphaeroides cycFG operon has been cloned, sequenced, and mapped to approximately coordinate 2500 of chromosome I. The cycF gene encodes cytochrome c554, a member of the class II family of soluble cytochrome c proteins. The cycF open reading frame includes a 20-amino acid extension at its N terminus which has not been detected in cytochrome c554. Antiserum against cytochrome c554 shows that this protein is localized to the periplasm of wild-type cells, which suggests that this N-terminal extension functions as a signal peptide. The predicted cycG gene product is a diheme cytochrome c with a subunit molecular mass of approximately 32 kDa. While a cytochrome with the properties predicted for CycG has not been reported for R. sphaeroides, we have tentatively identified this protein as a heme-staining polypeptide that is associated with membranes. CycG could have an overall structure similar to that of several other electron carriers, since the similarity between the predicted amino acid sequence of CycG and other multiheme cytochrome c proteins extends throughout the polypeptide. The cycFG transcript is approximately 1,500 nucleotides long and has a single 5' end 26 nucleotides upstream of the start of cycF translation. Expression of cycFG is regulated at the level of mRNA accumulation, since approximately fivefold-higher levels of both cycF-specific transcript and cytochrome c554 protein are detected in cell extracts from aerobic cultures in comparison with those from anaerobically grown cells. Although cytochrome c554 was detected under all growth conditions tested, the highest levels of this protein were found when cells generate energy via aerobic respiration.

Structural heterogeneity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterioferritin

The subunit composition, amino acid sequence and haem-binding characteristics of bacterioferritin (BFR) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been studied. Unlike other BFRs, P. aeruginosa BFR was found to contain two subunit types, designated alpha and beta, which differed considerably in their amino acid sequences. The N-terminal 69 and 55 amino acids of the alpha and beta subunits respectively were determined. The alpha subunit differed most from other BFRs. The two subunits were present in variable proportions in different preparations. The maximum stoichiometry of haem binding was found to be sample-dependent and to be different from the previously reported one per subunit [Kadir and Moore (1990) FEBS Lett. 271, 141-143]. This previous haem-binding study was shown to have been carried out with damaged protein, which contained both normal alpha and beta subunits and shorter versions of these that appeared to have been produced by cleavage of the normal subunits. The possibility that aging processes degrade ferritins and affect their haem-binding characteristics is discussed.

Role of subunit IV in the cytochrome b-c1 complex from Rhodobacter sphaeroides

Rhodobacter sphaeroides mutants lacking subunit IV (M(r) = 14,384) of the cytochrome b-c1 complex (representative mutant strain, RS delta IV-2) have been constructed by site-specific recombination between the wild-type genomic subunit IV structural gene (fbcQ) and a suicide plasmid containing a defective fbcQ sequence. RS delta IV-2 gives rise to a photosynthetically competent phenotype after a period of adaptation. The chemical compositions, spectral properties, and cytochrome b-c1 complex activities in subunit IV-deficient chromatophores from adapted RS delta IV-2 are similar to those in wild-type chromatophores. However, the apparent Km for Q2H2 for the b-c1 complex in subunit IV-deficient chromatophores from adapted RS delta IV-2 cells is about four times higher than that in chromatophores from wild-type cells. The cytochrome b-c1 complex activity in subunit IV-deficient chromatophores of adapted RS delta IV-2 cells is more labile to detergent treatment than that from wild-type cells. The specific activities of dodecylmaltoside-solubilized fractions of RS delta IV-2, based on cytochrome b, are only one-fourth that of the untreated chromatophores. Introducing a wild-type fbcQ operon on a stable low copy number plasmid, pRK415, into RS delta IV-2 restores photosynthetic growth behavior, the apparent Km value for Q2H2, and tolerance to detergent treatment to that of wild-type cells. Cytochrome b-c1 complex purified from adapted RS delta IV-2 contains only three subunits. It has only 25% of the activity of the four-subunit enzyme. This low activity is accompanied by an increase of the apparent Km for Q2H2 from 3 to 13 microM, suggesting that subunit IV may be involved in quinone binding in addition to its structural role.

Iron metabolism in Rhodobacter capsulatus. Characterisation of bacterioferritin and formation of non-haem iron particles in intact cells

The water-soluble cytochrome b557 from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus was purified and shown to have the properties of the iron-storage protein bacterioferritin. The molecular mass of R. capsulatus bacterioferritin is 428 kDa and it is composed of a single type of 18-kDa subunit. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the bacterioferritin subunit shows 70% identity to the sequence of bacterioferritin subunits from Escherichia coli, Nitrobacter winogradskyi, Azotobacter vinelandii and Synechocystis PCC 6803. The absorbance spectrum of reduced bacterioferritin shows absorbance maxima at 557 nm (alpha band), 526 nm (beta band) and 417 nm (Soret band) from the six haem groups/molecule. Antibody assays reveal that bacterioferritin is located in the cytoplasm of R. capsulatus, and its levels stay relatively constant during batch growth under aerobic conditions when the iron concentration in the medium is kept constant. Iron deficiency leads to a decrease in bacterioferritin and iron overload leads to an increase. Bacterioferritin from R. capsulatus has an amorphous iron-oxide core with a high phosphate content (900-1000 Fe atoms and approximately 600 phosphates/bacterioferritin molecule). Mössbauer spectroscopy indicates that in both aerobically and anaerobically (phototrophically) grown cells bacterioferritin with an Fe3+ core is formed, suggesting that iron-core formation in vivo may not always require molecular oxygen.

Overproduction, purification and characterization of the bacterioferritin of Escherichia coli and a C-terminally extended variant

The bacterioferritin (BFR) of Escherichia coli is an iron-sequestering haemoprotein composed of 24 identical polypeptide chains forming an approximately spherical protein shell with a central iron-storage cavity. BFR and BFR-lambda, a variant with a 14-residue C-terminal extension, have been amplified (120-fold and 50-fold, respectively), purified by a new procedure and characterized. The overproduced BFR exhibited properties similar to those of natural BFR, but the iron content (25-75 non-haem Fe atoms/molecule) was 13-39-fold lower. Two major assembly states of BFR were detected, a 24-subunit protein (tetracosamer) and a novel haem-containing subunit dimer. BFR-lambda subunits assembled into tetracosamers having the same external-surface properties as BFR, presumably because their C-terminal extensions project into and occupy about 60% of the central cavity. As a result, BFR-lambda failed totake up iron under conditions that allowed incorporation into BFR in vitro. The haem content of BFR-lambda (1-2 haems/tetracosamer) was lower than that of BFR (3.5-10.5 haems/tetracosamer) and this, together with a difference in the visible spectra of the two haemoproteins, suggested that the C-terminal extensions in BFR-lambda perturb the haem-binding pockets. A subunit dimer form of BFR-lambda was not detected. A combination of Mössbauer spectroscopy and electron diffraction showed that the BFR loaded with iron in vitro has a ferrihydrite-like iron core, whereas the in-vivo loaded protein has an amorphous core.

Storage reservoirs of hemin and inorganic iron in Yersinia pestis

It is established that a high-frequency chromosomal deletion of ca. 100 kb accounts for the loss of properties making up the pigmented phenotype (Pgm+) of wild-type Yersinia pestis. These determinants are known to include virulence by peripheral routes of injection, sensitivity to the bacteriocin pesticin, adsorption of exogenous hemin or Congo red at 26 degrees C, and growth in iron-sequestered medium at 37 degrees C. We have now identified the outer membrane as the primary site of exogenous hemin storage in Pgm+ cells grown at 26 degrees C. Significant outer membrane storage of hemin did not occur in Pgm- mutants or in Pgm+ cells cultivated at 37 degrees C. However, both Pgm+ and Pgm- organisms grown at 37 degrees C contained a periplasmic reservoir of hemin, which may be associated with a temperature-dependent ca. 70-kDa peptide recently equated with antigen 5. At 37 degrees C, Pgm+ and Pgm- yersiniae also utilized a cytoplasmic ca. 19-kDa bacterioferritin-like peptide for deposition of inorganic iron. Incorporation of [55Fe]hemin into pools at 37 degrees C was not significantly inhibited by competition with excess unlabeled Fe3+. However, excess unlabeled hemin modestly competed with incorporation of label from 55FeCl3. This relative independence of storage pools observed at 37 degrees C is consistent with physiological linkage to in vivo acquisition and transport of Fe3+ from ferritin and of hemin from hemoglobin, myoglobin, or hemopexin.

Regulation of a cytochrome c2 isoform in wild-type and cytochrome c2 mutant strains of Rhodobacter sphaeroides

In Rhodobacter sphaeroides, mutations that suppress the photosynthetic deficiency (spd mutations) of strains lacking cytochrome c2 (cyt c2) cause accumulation of a periplasmic cyt c2 isoform that has been designated isocytochrome c2 (isocyt c2). In this study, a new method for purification of both cyt c2 and isocyt c2 is described that uses periplasmic fluid as a starting material. In addition, antiserum to isocyt c2 has been used to demonstrate that all suppressor mutants contain an isocyt c2 of approximately 15 kDa. Western blot analysis indicates that isocyt c2 was present at lower levels in both wild-type and cyt c2 mutants than in spd-containing mutants. Although isocyt c2 is detectable under all growth conditions in wild-type cells, the highest level of isocyt c2 is present under aerobic conditions. Our results demonstrate that spd mutations increase the steady state level of isocyt c2 under photosynthetic conditions. Although the physiological function of isocyt c2 in wild-type cells is not known, we show that a nitrate-regulated protein in Rhodobacter sphaeroides f. sp. denitrificans also reacts with the isocyt c2 antiserum.

Regions of Rhodobacter sphaeroides cytochrome c2 required for export, heme attachment, and function

Cytochrome c2 is a periplasmic redox protein involved in both the aerobic and photosynthetic electron transport chains of Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The process of cytochrome c2 maturation has been analyzed in order to understand the protein sequences involved in attachment of the essential heme moiety to the cytochrome c2 polypeptide and localization of the protein to the periplasm. To accomplish this, five different translational fusions which differ only in the cytochrome c2 fusion junction were constructed between cytochrome c2 and the Escherichia coli periplasmic alkaline phosphatase. All five of the fusion proteins are exported to the periplasmic space. The four fusion proteins that contain the NH2-terminal site of covalent heme attachment to cytochrome c2 are substrates for heme binding, suggesting that the COOH-terminal region of the protein is not required for heme attachment. Three of these hybrids possess heme peroxidase activity, which indicates that they are functional as electron carriers. Biological activity is possessed by one hybrid protein constructed five amino acids before the cytochrome c2 COOH terminus, since synthesis of this protein restores photosynthetic growth to a photosynthetically incompetent cytochrome c2-deficient derivative of R. sphaeroides. Biochemical analysis of these hybrids has confirmed CycA polypeptide sequences sufficient for export of the protein (A. R. Varga and S. Kaplan, J. Bacteriol. 171:5830-5839, 1989), and it has allowed us to identify regions of the protein sufficient for covalent heme attachment, heme peroxidase activity, docking to membrane-bound redox partners, or the capability to function as an electron carrier.

Bacterial 4-alpha-helical bundle cytochromes

The biological functions of cytochrome c' and bacterioferritin, both haemoproteins with a common 4-alpha-helical bundle structure, are discussed and an example given of one of Kamen's laws, namely: comparative studies of prokaryotic cytochromes and their eukaryotic counterparts are useful. In the present case, the comparison is between bacterioferritin and its animal counterpart, haemoferritin.

The distribution of soluble metallo-redox proteins in purple phototrophic bacteria

A comparison is made of types and distribution of cytochromes and certain ferredoxins (HiPIP) among photosynthetic bacteria. These are subdivided as to the type of reaction center each species is believed to contain. The proteins listed are assumed to be of periplasmic origin. Interrelationships suggested by the comparison are discussed.

Expression of the gene encoding cytochrome c3 from the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris in the purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides

The gene encoding cytochrome c3 (cyc-gene) from Desulfovibrio vulgaris (Hildenborough) was cloned by G. Voordouw and S. Brenner (1986, Eur. J. Biochem. 159, 347-351). The gene was expressed in Escherichia coli but only the apoprotein was observed (W. Pollock, P. Chemerika, M. Forrest, J. Beatty, and G. Voordouw, 1989, J. Gen. Microbiol. 135, 2319-2328). In this study, the cyc-gene was cloned into the broad host range vector pRK404 and then introduced into the purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Cells grown anaerobically produced a significant amount of recombinant cytochrome c3. The purified protein contains four hemes and the N-terminal protein sequence is identical to the published sequence of the native cytochrome c3. Thus, R. sphaeroides was able to produce the mature cytochrome c3 by combining the four steps of protein synthesis, exporting the protein across the membrane, cleaving the signal peptide, and inserting four hemes. It appears that the D. vulgaris promoter is not very efficiently used by R. sphaeroides. However, replacement of the promoter with a R. sphaeroides promoter should result in cytochrome c3 overproduction.

Soluble cytochromes and ferredoxins from the marine purple phototrophic bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas marina

Four soluble c-type cytochromes, the high redox potential 4-Fe-S ferredoxin known as HiPIP, a large molecular weight 2-Fe-S ferredoxin and a 4-Fe-S 'bacterial' ferredoxin, were isolated from extracts of two strains of Rps. marina. Cytochrome c-550, cytochrome c' and cytochrome c-549 were previously described, and we have extended their characterization. Cytochrome c-558, which has not previously been observed in Rps. marina, appears to be a low-spin isozyme of the more commonly observed high-spin cytochrome c'. HiPIP, which was not observed in previous work, was found to be abundant in Rps. marina. The 2-Fe-S ferredoxin, which has previously been observed only in Rps. palustris, has a native size greater than 100 kDa and a subunit size of 17 kDa. The 'bacterial' ferredoxin appears to have only a single four-iron-sulfur cluster. We examined photosynthetic membranes by difference spectroscopy and found abundant c-type cytochromes. Approximately one-quarter of the heme can be reduced by ascorbate and the remainder by dithionite. There is 2 nm difference between the high-potential heme (554 nm) and the low (552 nm). These characteristics resemble those of the tetraheme reaction center cytochrome of Rps. viridis. In addition to the electron transfer components, we found small amounts of a fluorescent yellow protein which has spectral resemblance to a photoactive yellow protein from Ec. halophila.

Soluble cytochromes and a photoactive yellow protein isolated from the moderately halophilic purple phototrophic bacterium, Rhodospirillum salexigens

Three soluble cytochromes were found in two strains of the halophilic non-sulfur purple bacterium Rhodospirillum salexigens. These are cytochromes C2, C and c-551. Cytochrome C2 was recognized by the presence of positive charge at the site of electron transfer (measured by laser flash photolysis), although the protein has an overall negative charge (pI = 4.7). Cytochrome C2 has a high redox potential (300 mV) and is monomeric (13 kDa). Cytochrome c was recognized from its characteristic absorption spectrum. It has a redox potential of 95 mV, an isoelectric point of 4.3, and is isolated as a dimer (33 kDa) of identical subunits (14 kDa), a property which is typical of this family of proteins. R. salexigens cytochrome c-551 has an absorption spectrum similar to the low redox potential Rb. sphaeroides cytochrome c-551.5. It also has a low redox potential (-170 mV), is very acidic (pI = 4.5), and is monomeric (9 kDa), apparently containing 1 heme per protein. The existence of abundant membrane-bound cytochromes c-558 and c-551 which are approximately half reduced by ascorbate and completely reduced by dithionite suggests the presence of a tetraheme reaction center cytochrome in R. salexigens, although reaction centers purified in a previous study (Wacker et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta (1988) 933, 299-305) did not contain a cytochrome. The most interesting observation is that R. salexigens contains a photoactive yellow protein (PYP), previously observed only in the extremely halophilic purple sulfur bacterium Ectothiorhodospira halophila. The R. salexigens PYP appears to be slightly larger than that of Ec. halophila (16 kDa vs. 14 kDa). Otherwise, these two yellow proteins have similar absorption spectra, chromatographic properties and kinetics of photobleaching and recovery.

Rhodobacter sphaeroides spd mutations allow cytochrome c2-independent photosynthetic growth

In Rhodobacter sphaeroides, cytochrome c2 (cyt c2) is a periplasmic redox protein required for photosynthetic electron transfer. cyt c2-deficient mutants created by replacing the gene encoding the apoprotein for cyt c2 (cycA) with a kanamycin resistance cartridge are photosynthetically incompetent. Spontaneous mutations that suppress this photosynthesis deficiency (spd mutants) arise at a frequency of 1 to 10 in 10(7). We analyzed the cytochrome content of several spd mutants spectroscopically and by heme peroxidase assays. These suppressors lacked detectable cyt c2, but they contained a new soluble cytochrome which was designated isocytochrome c2 (isocyt c2) that was not detectable in either cycA+ or cycA mutant cells. When spd mutants were grown photosynthetically, isocyt c2 was present at approximately 20 to 40% of the level of cyt c2 found in photosynthetically grown wild type cells, and it was found in the periplasm with cytochromes c' and c554. These spd mutants also had several other pleiotropic phenotypes. Although photosynthetic growth rates of the spd mutants were comparable to those of wild-type strains at all light intensities tested, they contained elevated levels of B800-850 pigment-protein complexes. Several spd mutants contained detectable amounts of isocyt c2 under aerobic conditions. Finally, heme peroxidase assays indicated that, under anaerobic conditions, the spd mutants may contain another new cytochrome in addition to isocyt c2. These pleiotropic phenotypes, the frequency at which the spd mutants arise, and the fact that a frameshift mutagen is very effective in generating the spd phenotype suggest that some spd mutants contain a mutation in loci which regulate cytochrome synthesis.

Isolation of a Rhodobacter capsulatus mutant that lacks c-type cytochromes and excretes porphyrins

A Rhodobacter capsulatus mutant lacking cytochrome oxidase activity was isolated by Tn5 mutagenesis. Difference spectroscopy of crude extracts and extracted c-type cytochromes demonstrated that this mutant completely lacked all c-type cytochromes. The strain did, however, synthesize normal amounts of b-type cytochromes and nonheme iron. This mutant also excreted large amounts of coproporphyrin and protoporphyrin and synthesized reduced amounts of bacteriochlorophyll, suggesting a link between the synthesis of c-type cytochromes and the expression of the tetrapyrrole biosynthetic pathway.

Cloning, sequencing, and mapping of the bacterioferritin gene (bfr) of Escherichia coli K-12

The bacterioferritin (BFR) of Escherichia coli K-12 is an iron-storage hemoprotein, previously identified as cytochrome b1. The bacterioferritin gene (bfr) has been cloned, sequenced, and located in the E. coli linkage map. Initially a gene fusion encoding a BFR-lambda hybrid protein (Mr 21,000) was detected by immunoscreening a lambda gene bank containing Sau3A restriction fragments of E. coli DNA. The bfr gene was mapped to 73 min (the str-spc region) in the physical map of the E. coli chromosome by probing Southern blots of restriction digests of E. coli DNA with a fragment of the bfr gene. The intact bfr gene was then subcloned from the corresponding lambda phage from the gene library of Kohara et al. (Y. Kohara, K. Akiyama, and K. Isono, Cell 50:495-508, 1987). The bfr gene comprises 474 base pairs and 158 amino acid codons (including the start codon), and it encodes a polypeptide having essentially the same size (Mr 18,495) and N-terminal sequence as the purified protein. A potential promoter sequence was detected in the 5' noncoding region, but it was not associated with an "iron box" sequence (i.e., a binding site for the iron-dependent Fur repressor protein). BFR was amplified to 14% of the total protein in a bfr plasmid-containing strain. An additional unidentified gene (gen-64), encoding a relatively basic 64-residue polypeptide and having the same polarity as bfr, was detected upstream of the bfr gene.

Expression of a cytochrome c2 isozyme restores photosynthetic growth of Rhodobacter sphaeroides mutants lacking the wild-type cytochrome c2 gene

Deletion of the cytochrome c2 gene in the purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides renders it incapable of phototrophic growth (strain cycA65). However, suppressor mutants which restore the ability to grow phototrophically are obtained at relatively high frequency (1-10 in 10(7)). We examined two such suppressors (strains cycA65R5 and cycA65R7) and found the expected complement of electron transfer proteins minus cytochrome c2: SHP, c', c551.5, and c554. Instead of cytochrome c2 which elutes from DEAE-cellulose between SHP and cytochrome c', at about 50 mM ionic strength in wild-type extracts, we found a new high redox potential cytochrome c in the mutants which elutes with cytochrome c551.5 at about 150 mM ionic strength. The new cytochrome is more acidic than cytochrome c2, but is about the same size or slightly smaller (13,500 Da). The redox potential of the new cytochrome from strain cycA65R7 (294 mV) is about 70 mV lower than that of cytochrome c2. The 280 nm absorbance of the new cytochrome is smaller than that of cytochrome c2, which suggests that there is less tryptophan (the latter has two residues). In vitro kinetics of reduction by lumiflavin and FMN semiquinones show that the reactivity of the new cytochrome is similar to that of cytochrome c2, and that there is a relatively large positive charge (+2.6) at the site of reduction, despite the overall negative charge of the protein. This behavior is characteristic of cytochromes c2 and unlike the majority of bacterial cytochromes examined. Fourteen out of twenty-four of the N-terminal amino acids of the new cytochrome are identical to the sequence of cytochrome c2. The N-termini of the cycA65R5 and cycA65R7 cytochromes were the same. The kinetics and sequence data indicate that the new protein may be a cytochrome c2 isozyme, which is not detectable in wild-type cells under photosynthetic growth conditions. We propose the name iso-2 cytochrome c2 for the new cytochrome produced in the suppressor strains.

Effect of aerobic growth conditions on the soluble cytochrome content of the purple phototrophic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides: induction of cytochrome c554

When grown anaerobically in the light, Rhodobacter sphaeroides contains appreciable quantities of cytochromes c2 and c', but smaller amounts of other soluble cytochromes such as cytochrome c551.5, cytochrome c554, and an oxygen-binding heme protein. When R. sphaeroides is mass cultured aerobically in the dark to stationary phase, the content of cytochrome c2 does not change appreciably, whereas cytochrome c554 is approximately 8-fold more abundant, cytochrome c' is at least 10-fold less abundant, and cytochrome c551.5 is fivefold lower than in the phototrophically grown cells. These observations confirm previous literature reports that in this organism a cytochrome c553 (or c554 in our experience) is more abundant when cells are grown aerobically. Furthermore, the aerobic cytochrome c554 is positively identified with the previously characterized minor cytochrome c554 component of anaerobic photosynthetic cells. Preliminary sequence results show that cytochrome c554 is a member of the cytochrome c' structural family, but differs from normal cytochromes c' in having a methionine sixth ligand to the heme. The levels of electron carrier proteins of low redox potential had previously been reported to be less in aerobic than in photoheterotrophic cells and we have verified that observation for the specific examples of cytochromes c' and c551.5. The oxygen binding heme protein, SHP, is not induced by aerobic growth.

Expression of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides cytochrome c2 structural gene

A Rhodobacter sphaeroides mutant (CYCA1) lacking cytochrome c2 (cyt c2) was previously constructed (T. J. Donohue, A. G. McEwan, S. Van Doren, A. R. Crofts, and S. Kaplan, Biochemistry, 27: 1918-1924, 1988) by a combination of in vivo and in vitro molecular genetic techniques. CYCA1 was incapable of photosynthetic growth (PS-); in this presentation, we show that chemoheterotrophically grown CYCA1 contained significant quantities of a high potential soluble c-type cytochrome(s) with an alpha band of approximately 554 nm which had previously gone undetected under these physiological conditions in wild-type cells. In addition, the PS- phenotype of CYCA1 can be complemented in trans with stable low-copy-number (approximately 5 to 9 per R. sphaeroides genome) broad-host-range plasmids containing the wild-type cyt c2 structural gene (cycA) and upstream regulatory sequences. cyt c2 and cycA-specific mRNA levels were elevated in both the wild type and CYCA1 derivatives harboring intact cycA genes in trans, presumably as a result of increased gene dosage. Although photosynthetically grown wild-type cells contained approximately twofold more cycA-specific transcripts than chemoheterotrophically grown cells, there was an approximately four- to sevenfold increase in cyt c2 levels under photosynthetic conditions. Similarly, complemented CYCA1 strains contained between 1.3- and 2.3-fold more cycA mRNA under photosynthetic conditions than under chemoheterotrophic conditions and had 6- to 12-fold higher steady-state levels of cyt c2 under the same physiological conditions. These data are discussed in terms of possible posttranscriptional control over cyt c2.

Phenotypic and genetic characterization of cytochrome c2 deficient mutants of Rhodobacter sphaeroides

Rhodobacter sphaeroides mutants lacking cytochrome c2 (cyt c2) have been constructed by site-specific recombination between the wild-type genomic cyt c2 structural gene (cycA) and a suicide plasmid containing a defective cyc operon where deletion of cycA sequences was accompanied by insertion of a KnR gene. Southern blot analysis confirmed that the wild-type cyc operon was exchanged for the inactivated cycA gene, presumably by double-reciprocal recombination. Spectroscopic and immunochemical measurements, together with genetic complementation, established that the inability of these mutants to grow under photosynthetic conditions was due to the lack of cyt c2. The cyt c2 deficient strains reduced photooxidized reaction center complexes approximately 4 orders of magnitude more slowly than the parent strain. The phenotype and characteristics of these mutants were restored when a wild-type cyc operon was introduced on a stable low copy number plasmid. These experiments provide the first genetic evidence for the obligatory role of cyt c2 in wild-type cyclic photosynthetic electron transport in R. sphaeroides. We have also observed that the R. sphaeroides cyt c2 deficient strains spontaneously gave rise to photosynthetically competent pseudorevertants at a frequency which suggests that the cyt c2 independent photosynthetic electron transport which suppresses the phenotype of the cyt c2 deficient strains was the result of a single mutation elsewhere in the genome.

Physiological electron donors to the photochemical reaction center of Rhodobacter capsulatus

The nature and number of physiological electron donors to the photochemical reaction center of Rhodobacter capsulatus have been probed by deleting the genes for cytochromes c1 and b of the cytochrome bc1 complex, alone or in combination with deletion of the gene for cytochrome c2. Deletion of cytochrome c1 renders the organism incapable of photosynthetic growth, regardless of the presence or absence of cytochrome c2, because in the absence of the bc1 complex there is no cyclic electron transfer, nor any alternative source of electrons to rereduce the photochemically oxidized reaction center. While cytochrome c2 is capable of reducing the reaction center, there appears no alternative route for its rereduction other than the bc1 complex. The deletion of cytochromes c1 and c2 reveals previously unrecognized membrane-bound and soluble high potential c-type cytochromes, with Em7 = +312 mV and Em6.5 = +316 mV, respectively. These cytochromes do not donate electrons to the reaction center, and their roles are unknown.

Cloning, DNA sequence, and expression of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides cytochrome c2 gene

The Rhodobacter sphaeroides cytochrome c2 functions as a mobile electron carrier in both aerobic and photosynthetic electron transport chains. Synthetic deoxyoligonucleotide probes, based on the known amino acid sequence of this protein (Mr 14,000), were used to identify and clone the cytochrome c2 structural gene (cycA). DNA sequence analysis of the cycA gene indicated the presence of a typical procaryotic 21-residue signal sequence, suggesting that this periplasmic protein is synthesized in vivo as a precursor. Synthesis of an immunoreactive cytochrome c2 precursor protein (Mr 15,500) was observed in vitro when plasmids containing the cycA gene were used as templates in an R. sphaeroides coupled transcription-translation system. Approximately 500 base pairs of DNA upstream of the cycA gene was sufficient to allow expression of this gene product in vitro. Northern blot analysis with an internal cycA-specific probe identified at least two possibly monocistronic transcripts present in both different cellular levels and relative stoichiometries in steady-state cells grown under different physiological conditions. The ratio of the small (740-nucleotide) and large (920-nucleotide) cycA-specific mRNA species was dependent on cultural conditions but was not affected by light intensity under photosynthetic conditions. Our results suggest that the increase in the cellular level of the cytochrome c2 protein found in photosynthetic cells was due, in part, to increased transcription of the single-copy cyc operon.

Isolation and properties of the complex nonheme-iron-containing cytochrome b557 (bacterioferritin) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

A nonheme-iron-containing cytochrome b557, also known as bacterioferritin, was isolated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Gel electrophoresis showed that the protein subunits had a molecular weight of 18 kD and it is suggested that the intact molecule contained 24 subunits. The isolated protein contained 8.7% by weight Fe and 8% by weight phosphate. Most of the Fe was contained in the nonheme-iron core and could be readily removed by dialysis against 0.12 M thioglycollic acid. The resulting apobacterioferritin contained approximately one protoporphyrin IX group for every five subunits and, in addition, an unidentified fluorophor. The nonheme-iron core was found to be amorphous with a mean core size of 60-65 A.