Selenocysteine, Pyrrolysine, and the Unique Energy Metabolism of Methanogenic Archaea
- Institut für Molekulare Biowissenschaften, Molekulare Mikrobiologie & Bioenergetik, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University, 376 Biological Sciences Building 484 West 12th Avenue Columbus, OH 43210-1292, USA
Methanogenic archaea are a group of strictly anaerobic microorganisms characterized by their strict dependence on the process of methanogenesis for energy conservation. Among the archaea, they are also the only known group synthesizing proteins containing selenocysteine or pyrrolysine. All but one of the known archaeal pyrrolysine-containing and all but two of the confirmed archaeal selenocysteine-containing protein are involved in methanogenesis. Synthesis of these proteins proceeds through suppression of translational stop codons but otherwise the two systems are fundamentally different. This paper highlights these differences and summarizes the recent developments in selenocysteine- and pyrrolysine-related research on archaea and aims to put this knowledge into the context of their unique energy metabolism.
- Research Organization:
- The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Biological Systems Science Division; National Institutes of Health (NIH); German Research Foundation (DFG)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- FG0202-91ER200042; FG02-91ER200042; GM070663; SFB 579
- OSTI ID:
- 1198387
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1626199
- Journal Information:
- Archaea, Journal Name: Archaea Vol. 2010; ISSN 1472-3646
- Publisher:
- Hindawi Publishing CorporationCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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