1
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Saghaï A, Hallin S. Diversity and ecology of NrfA-dependent ammonifying microorganisms. Trends Microbiol 2024; 32:602-613. [PMID: 38462391 DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2024.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Revised: 02/11/2024] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 03/12/2024]
Abstract
Nitrate ammonifiers are a taxonomically diverse group of microorganisms that reduce nitrate to ammonium, which is released, and thereby contribute to the retention of nitrogen in ecosystems. Despite their importance for understanding the fate of nitrate, they remain a largely overlooked group in the nitrogen cycle. Here, we present the latest advances on free-living microorganisms using NrfA to reduce nitrite during ammonification. We describe their diversity and ecology in terrestrial and aquatic environments, as well as the environmental factors influencing the competition for nitrate with denitrifiers that reduce nitrate to gaseous nitrogen species, including the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). We further review the capacity of ammonifiers for other redox reactions, showing that they likely play multiple roles in the cycling of elements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aurélien Saghaï
- Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sara Hallin
- Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
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2
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Sorokin DY, Tikhonova TV, Koch H, van den Berg EM, Hinderks RS, Pabst M, Dergousova NI, Soloveva AY, Kuenen GJ, Popov VO, van Loosdrecht MCM, Lücker S. Trichlorobacter ammonificans, a dedicated acetate-dependent ammonifier with a novel module for dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia. THE ISME JOURNAL 2023; 17:1639-1648. [PMID: 37443340 PMCID: PMC10504241 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-023-01473-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023]
Abstract
Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonia (DNRA) is a common biochemical process in the nitrogen cycle in natural and man-made habitats, but its significance in wastewater treatment plants is not well understood. Several ammonifying Trichlorobacter strains (former Geobacter) were previously enriched from activated sludge in nitrate-limited chemostats with acetate as electron (e) donor, demonstrating their presence in these systems. Here, we isolated and characterized the new species Trichlorobacter ammonificans strain G1 using a combination of low redox potential and copper-depleted conditions. This allowed purification of this DNRA organism from competing denitrifiers. T. ammonificans is an extremely specialized ammonifier, actively growing only with acetate as e-donor and carbon source and nitrate as e-acceptor, but H2 can be used as an additional e-donor. The genome of G1 does not encode the classical ammonifying modules NrfAH/NrfABCD. Instead, we identified a locus encoding a periplasmic nitrate reductase immediately followed by an octaheme cytochrome c that is conserved in many Geobacteraceae species. We purified this octaheme cytochrome c protein (TaNiR), which is a highly active dissimilatory ammonifying nitrite reductase loosely associated with the cytoplasmic membrane. It presumably interacts with two ferredoxin subunits (NapGH) that donate electrons from the menaquinol pool to the periplasmic nitrate reductase (NapAB) and TaNiR. Thus, the Nap-TaNiR complex represents a novel type of highly functional DNRA module. Our results indicate that DNRA catalyzed by octaheme nitrite reductases is a metabolic feature of many Geobacteraceae, representing important community members in various anaerobic systems, such as rice paddy soil and wastewater treatment facilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitry Y Sorokin
- Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
- Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Research Centre of Biotechnology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
| | - Tamara V Tikhonova
- Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Research Centre of Biotechnology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Hanna Koch
- Department of Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Renske S Hinderks
- Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Martin Pabst
- Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Natalia I Dergousova
- Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Research Centre of Biotechnology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Anastasia Y Soloveva
- Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Research Centre of Biotechnology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Gijs J Kuenen
- Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Vladimir O Popov
- Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Research Centre of Biotechnology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Sebastian Lücker
- Department of Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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3
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Soares R, Costa NL, Paquete CM, Andreini C, Louro RO. A new paradigm of multiheme cytochrome evolution by grafting and pruning protein modules. Mol Biol Evol 2022; 39:6609985. [PMID: 35714268 PMCID: PMC9250108 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msac139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiheme cytochromes play key roles in diverse biogeochemical cycles, but understanding the origin and evolution of these proteins is a challenge due to their ancient origin and complex structure. Up until now, the evolution of multiheme cytochromes composed by multiple redox modules in a single polypeptide chain was proposed to occur by gene fusion events. In this context, the pentaheme nitrite reductase NrfA and the tetraheme cytochrome c554 were previously proposed to be at the origin of the extant octa- and nonaheme cytochrome c involved in metabolic pathways that contribute to the nitrogen, sulfur, and iron biogeochemical cycles by a gene fusion event. Here, we combine structural and character-based phylogenetic analysis with an unbiased root placement method to refine the evolutionary relationships between these multiheme cytochromes. The evidence show that NrfA and cytochrome c554 belong to different clades, which suggests that these two multiheme cytochromes are products of truncation of ancestral octaheme cytochromes related to extant octaheme nitrite reductase and MccA, respectively. From our phylogenetic analysis, the last common ancestor is predicted to be an octaheme cytochrome with nitrite reduction ability. Evolution from this octaheme framework led to the great diversity of extant multiheme cytochromes analyzed here by pruning and grafting of protein modules and hemes. By shedding light into the evolution of multiheme cytochromes that intervene in different biogeochemical cycles, this work contributes to our understanding about the interplay between biology and geochemistry across large time scales in the history of Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo Soares
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal.,Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, Portugal
| | - Nazua L Costa
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Catarina M Paquete
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Claudia Andreini
- Magnetic Resonance Center and Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Ricardo O Louro
- Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
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4
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Kroneck PMH. Nature's nitrite-to-ammonia expressway, with no stop at dinitrogen. J Biol Inorg Chem 2021; 27:1-21. [PMID: 34865208 PMCID: PMC8840924 DOI: 10.1007/s00775-021-01921-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Since the characterization of cytochrome c552 as a multiheme nitrite reductase, research on this enzyme has gained major interest. Today, it is known as pentaheme cytochrome c nitrite reductase (NrfA). Part of the NH4+ produced from NO2- is released as NH3 leading to nitrogen loss, similar to denitrification which generates NO, N2O, and N2. NH4+ can also be used for assimilatory purposes, thus NrfA contributes to nitrogen retention. It catalyses the six-electron reduction of NO2- to NH4+, hosting four His/His ligated c-type hemes for electron transfer and one structurally differentiated active site heme. Catalysis occurs at the distal side of a Fe(III) heme c proximally coordinated by lysine of a unique CXXCK motif (Sulfurospirillum deleyianum, Wolinella succinogenes) or, presumably, by the canonical histidine in Campylobacter jejeuni. Replacement of Lys by His in NrfA of W. succinogenes led to a significant loss of enzyme activity. NrfA forms homodimers as shown by high resolution X-ray crystallography, and there exist at least two distinct electron transfer systems to the enzyme. In γ-proteobacteria (Escherichia coli) NrfA is linked to the menaquinol pool in the cytoplasmic membrane through a pentaheme electron carrier (NrfB), in δ- and ε-proteobacteria (S. deleyianum, W. succinogenes), the NrfA dimer interacts with a tetraheme cytochrome c (NrfH). Both form a membrane-associated respiratory complex on the extracellular side of the cytoplasmic membrane to optimize electron transfer efficiency. This minireview traces important steps in understanding the nature of pentaheme cytochrome c nitrite reductases, and discusses their structural and functional features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter M H Kroneck
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany.
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5
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Kobus S, Perez-Garcia P, Hoeppner A, Holzscheck N, Kovacic F, Streit WR, Jaeger KE, Chow J, Smits SHJ. Igni18, a novel metallo-hydrolase from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Ignicoccus hospitalis KIN4/I: cloning, expression, purification and X-ray analysis. ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION F-STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY COMMUNICATIONS 2019; 75:307-311. [PMID: 30950832 DOI: 10.1107/s2053230x19002851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2018] [Accepted: 02/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The hyperthermophilic crenarchaeon Ignicoccus hospitalis KIN4/I possesses at least 35 putative genes encoding enzymes that belong to the α/β-hydrolase superfamily. One of those genes, the metallo-hydrolase-encoding igni18, was cloned and heterologously expressed in Pichia pastoris. The enzyme produced was purified in its catalytically active form. The recombinant enzyme was successfully crystallized and the crystal diffracted to a resolution of 2.3 Å. The crystal belonged to space group R32, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 67.42, c = 253.77 Å, α = β = 90.0, γ = 120.0°. It is suggested that it contains one monomer of Igni18 within the asymmetric unit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Kobus
- Center for Structural Studies (CSS), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstrasse 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Pablo Perez-Garcia
- Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Hamburg, Ohnhorststrasse 18, 22609 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Astrid Hoeppner
- Center for Structural Studies (CSS), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstrasse 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Nicholas Holzscheck
- Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Hamburg, Ohnhorststrasse 18, 22609 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Filip Kovacic
- Institute of Molecular Enzyme Technology (IMET), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 52426 Jülich, Germany
| | - Wolfgang R Streit
- Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Hamburg, Ohnhorststrasse 18, 22609 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Karl Erich Jaeger
- Institute of Molecular Enzyme Technology (IMET), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 52426 Jülich, Germany
| | - Jennifer Chow
- Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Hamburg, Ohnhorststrasse 18, 22609 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Sander H J Smits
- Center for Structural Studies (CSS), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstrasse 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
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Dietl A, Maalcke WJ, Ferousi C, Jetten MSM, Kartal B, Barends TRM. A 60-heme reductase complex from an anammox bacterium shows an extended electron transfer pathway. ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D-STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY 2019; 75:333-341. [DOI: 10.1107/s2059798318017473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2018] [Accepted: 12/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The hydroxylamine oxidoreductase/hydrazine dehydrogenase (HAO/HDH) protein family constitutes an important group of octaheme cytochromes c (OCCs). The majority of these proteins form homotrimers, with their subunits being covalently attached to each other via a rare cross-link between the catalytic heme moiety and a conserved tyrosine residue in an adjacent subunit. This covalent cross-link has been proposed to modulate the active-site heme towards oxidative catalysis by distorting the heme plane. In this study, the crystal structure of a stable complex of an HAO homologue (KsHAOr) with its diheme cytochrome c redox partner (KsDH) from the anammox bacterium Kuenenia stuttgartiensis was determined. KsHAOr lacks the tyrosine cross-link and is therefore tuned to reductive catalysis. The molecular model of the KsHAOr–KsDH complex at 2.6 Å resolution shows a heterododecameric (α6β6) assembly, which was also shown to be the oligomeric state in solution by analytical ultracentrifugation and multi-angle static light scattering. The 60-heme-containing protein complex reveals a unique extended electron transfer pathway and provides deeper insights into catalysis and electron transfer in reductive OCCs.
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Paquete CM, Rusconi G, Silva AV, Soares R, Louro RO. A brief survey of the "cytochromome". Adv Microb Physiol 2019; 75:69-135. [PMID: 31655743 DOI: 10.1016/bs.ampbs.2019.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Multihaem cytochromes c are widespread in nature where they perform numerous roles in diverse anaerobic metabolic pathways. This is achieved in two ways: multihaem cytochromes c display a remarkable diversity of ways to organize multiple hemes within the protein frame; and the hemes possess an intrinsic reactive versatility derived from diverse spin, redox and coordination states. Here we provide a brief survey of multihaem cytochromes c that have been characterized in the context of their metabolic role. The contribution of multihaem cytochromes c to dissimilatory pathways handling metallic minerals, nitrogen compounds, sulfur compounds, organic compounds and phototrophism are described. This aims to set the stage for the further exploration of the vast unknown "cytochromome" that can be anticipated from genomic databases.
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8
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Haase D, Hermann B, Einsle O, Simon J. Epsilonproteobacterial hydroxylamine oxidoreductase (
ε
Hao): characterization of a ‘missing link’ in the multihaem cytochrome
c
family. Mol Microbiol 2017; 105:127-138. [DOI: 10.1111/mmi.13690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Doreen Haase
- Microbial Energy Conversion and Biotechnology, Department of BiologyTechnische Universität DarmstadtSchnittspahnstraße 1064287Darmstadt Germany
| | - Bianca Hermann
- Lehrstuhl Biochemie, Institut für BiochemieAlbert‐Ludwigs‐Universität FreiburgAlbertstrasse 2179104Freiburg Germany
| | - Oliver Einsle
- Lehrstuhl Biochemie, Institut für BiochemieAlbert‐Ludwigs‐Universität FreiburgAlbertstrasse 2179104Freiburg Germany
| | - Jörg Simon
- Microbial Energy Conversion and Biotechnology, Department of BiologyTechnische Universität DarmstadtSchnittspahnstraße 1064287Darmstadt Germany
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