Distinct structural features of the. cap alpha. and. beta. subunits of nitrogenase molybdenum-iron protein of Clostridium pasteurianum: an analysis of amino acid sequences
Nitrogenase is composed of two separately purified proteins, a molybdenum-iron (MoFe) protein and an iron (Fe) protein. Structural genes (nifD and nifK) encoding ..cap alpha.. and ..beta.. subunits of the MoFe protein of Clostridium pasteurianum (Cp) have been cloned and sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequences were analyzed for structures that could be related to the unique properties of the Cp protein, particularly its low capacity to form an active enzyme with a heterologous Fe protein. Cp nifK is located immediately downstream from Cp nifD, with the start codon of nifK overlapping by one base with the stop codon of nifD. An open reading frame following nifK was identified as nifE. The amino acid sequence deduced from nifK encompasses the partial amino acid sequences previously reported from the isolated ..beta.. subunit. Cp nifK encodes a polypeptide of 458 amino acid residues (M/sub r/ 50,115) whose amino-terminal region is about 50 resides shorter than the otherwise conserved corresponding polypeptides from four other organisms. In contrast, Cp ..cap alpha.. subunit (nifD product) contains an additional stretch of 50 amino acid residues in the 380-430 region, which is unique to the Cp protein. It therefore appears that the combined size of the ..cap alpha.. and ..beta.. subunits could be important to nitrogenase function. An analysis of the predicted secondary structure from the amino acid sequence of each subunit from three species (C. pasteurianum, Azotobacter vinelandii, and Rhizobium japonicum) further revealed structural features, including regions adjacent to some of the conserved cysteine resides, differentiating the Cp MoFe protein from others. These different regions may be further tested for correlation with distinct properties of Cp nitrogenase.
- Research Organization:
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., Blacksburg (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 7242350
- Journal Information:
- Biochemistry; (United States), Vol. 27:8
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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MOLECULAR WEIGHT
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STRUCTURAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
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550201* - Biochemistry- Tracer Techniques