Gene structure and quinol oxidase activity of a cytochrome bd-type oxidase from Bacillus stearothermophilus.
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Gram-positive thermophilic Bacillus species contain cytochrome caa3-type cytochrome c oxidase as their main terminal oxidase in the respiratory chain. We previously identified and purified an alternative oxidase, cytochrome bd-type quinol oxidase, from a mutant of Bacillus stearothermophilus defective in the caa3-type oxidase activity (J. Sakamoto et al., FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 143 (1996) 151-158). Compared with proteobacterial counterparts, B. stearothermophilus cytochrome bd showed lower molecular weights of the two subunits, shorter wavelength of alpha-band absorption maximum due to heme D, and lower quinol oxidase activity. Preincubation with menaquinone-2 enhanced the enzyme activity up to 40 times, suggesting that, besides the catalytic site, there is another quinone-binding site which largely affects the enzyme activity. In order to clarify the molecular basis of the differences of cytochromes bd between B. stearothermophilus and proteobacteria, the genes encoding for the B. stearothermophilus bd was cloned based on its partial peptide sequences. The gene for subunit I (cbdA) encodes 448 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 50195 Da, which is 14 and 17% shorter than those of Escherichia coli and Azotobacter vinelandii, respectively, and CbdA lacks the C-terminal half of the long hydrophilic loop between the putative transmembrane segments V and VI (Q loop), which has been suggested to include the substrate quinone-binding site for the E. coli enzyme. The gene for subunit II (cbdB) encodes 342 residues with a molecular weight of 38992 Da. Homology search indicated that the B. stearothermophilus cbdAB has the highest sequence similarity to ythAB in B. subtilis genome rather than to cydAB, the first set of cytochrome bd genes identified in the genome. Sequence comparison of cytochromes bd and their homologs from various organisms demonstrates that the proteins can be classified into two subfamilies, a proteobacterial type including E. coli bd and a more widely distributed type including the B. stearothermophilus enzyme, suggesting that the latter type is evolutionarily older. (+info)
Fourier-transform infrared studies on conformation changes in bd-type ubiquinol oxidase from Escherichia coli upon photoreduction of the redox metal centers.
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Cytochrome bd is a two-subunit ubiquinol oxidase in the aerobic respiratory chain of Escherichia coli that does not belong to the heme-copper terminal oxidase superfamily. To explore unique protein structural changes associated with the reduction of the redox metal centers, we carried out Fourier-transform infrared and visible spectroscopic studies on cytochrome bd. For infrared measurements of a partially dehydrated thin sample solution, the air-oxidized enzyme was fully reduced by the intermolecular electron transfer of photo-excited riboflavin in the absence and presence of KCN, and redox difference spectra were calculated. Upon reduction, the bound cyanide was released from the heme b595-heme d binuclear center but remained in a protein pocket as a deprotonated form. Reduction of heme b558, heme b595, and heme d resulted in large changes in amide-I and protonated carboxylic CO-stretching vibrations and also a small change in the cysteine SH-stretching vibration. The location of the redox metal centers and the effects of cyanide suggest that these protein structural changes occur at the heme-binding pockets near the protein surface. Systematic site-directed mutagenesis and time-resolved FTIR studies on cytochrome bd will facilitate an understanding of the unique molecular mechanisms for dioxygen reduction and delivery of chemical protons to the active center at the atomic level. (+info)
Fluoride-binding to the Escherichia coli bd-type ubiquinol oxidase studied by visible absorption and EPR spectroscopies.
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Cytochrome bd-type ubiquinol oxidase in the aerobic respiratory chain of Escherichia coli contains two hemes b (b558 and b595) and one heme d as redox metal centers. To clarify the structure of the reaction center, we analyzed the fully oxidized enzyme by visible and EPR spectroscopies using fluoride ion as a monitoring probe. The visible spectral changes upon fluoride-binding were typical of ferric iron-chlorine species, indicating heme d as a primary binding site. The negative peak at 645 nm in the difference spectrum indicates that heme b595 also provides the low-affinity fluoride-binding site. Fluoride-binding caused a complete disappearance from the EPR spectra of the low-spin signals ascribable to heme d and spectral changes in both rhombic and axial high-spin signals. After fluoride-binding, each component of the rhombic high-spin signal showed superhyperfine splitting arising from the interaction of the unpaired spin of the heme d iron with the nuclear magnetic moment of 19F. The axial high-spin species was converted to a new rhombic high-spin species assignable to heme b595-fluoride. The g = 2 component of this new species also gave 19F-superhyperfine splitting. These results indicate that both heme d and heme b595 can coordinate with a fluoride ion with different affinities in the fully oxidized state. (+info)
Oxidative protein folding is driven by the electron transport system.
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Disulfide bond formation is catalyzed in vivo by DsbA and DsbB. Here we reconstitute this oxidative folding system using purified components. We have found the sources of oxidative power for protein folding and show how disulfide bond formation is linked to cellular metabolism. We find that disulfide bond formation and the electron transport chain are directly coupled. DsbB uses quinones as electron acceptors, allowing various choices for electron transport to support disulfide bond formation. Electrons flow via cytochrome bo oxidase to oxygen under aerobic conditions or via cytochrome bd oxidase under partially anaerobic conditions. Under truly anaerobic conditions, menaquinone shuttles electrons to alternate final electron acceptors such as fumarate. This flexibility reflects the vital nature of the disulfide catalytic system. (+info)
Azide- and cyanide-binding to the Escherichia coli bd-type ubiquinol oxidase studied by visible absorption, EPR and FTIR spectroscopies.
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Cytochrome bd-type ubiquinol oxidase contains two hemes b (b(558) and b(595)) and one heme d as the redox metal centers. To clarify the structure of the reaction center, we analyzed Escherichia coli cytochrome bd by visible absorption, EPR and FTIR spectroscopies using azide and cyanide as monitoring probes for the exogenous ligand binding site. Azide-binding caused the appearance of a new EPR low-spin signal characteristic of ferric iron-chlorin-azide species and a new visible absorption band at 647 nm. However, the bound azide ((14)N(3)) anti-symmetric stretching infrared band (2, 010.5 cm(-1)) showed anomalies upon (15)N-substitutions, indicating interactions with surrounding protein residues or heme b(595) in close proximity. The spectral changes upon cyanide-binding in the visible region were typical of those observed for ferric iron-chlorin species with diol substituents in macrocycles. However, we found no indication of a low-spin EPR signal corresponding to the ferric iron-chlorin-cyanide complexes. Instead, derivative-shaped signals at g = 3.19 and g = 7.15, which could arise from the heme d(Fe(3+))-CN-heme b(595)(Fe(3+)) moiety, were observed. Further, after the addition of cyanide, a part of ferric heme d showed the rhombic high-spin signal that coexisted with the g(z) = 2.85 signal ascribed to the minor heme b(595)-CN species. This indicates strong steric hindrance of cyanide-binding to ferric heme d with the bound cyanide at ferric heme b(595). (+info)
A cytochrome bb'-type quinol oxidase in Bacillus subtilis strain 168.
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The aerobic respiratory system of Bacillus subtilis 168 is known to contain three terminal oxidases: cytochrome caa(3), which is a cytochrome c oxidase, and cytochrome aa(3) and bd, which are quinol oxidases. The presence of a possible fourth oxidase in the bacterium was investigated using a constructed mutant, LUH27, that lacks the aa(3) and caa(3) terminal oxidases and is also deficient in succinate:menaquinone oxidoreductase. The cytochrome bd content of LUH27 can be varied by using different growth conditions. LUH27 membranes virtually devoid of cytochrome bd respired with NADH or exogenous quinol as actively as preparations containing 0.4 nmol of cytochrome bd/mg of protein but were more sensitive to cyanide and aurachin D. The reduced minus oxidized difference spectra of the bd-deficient membranes as well as absorption changes induced by CO and cyanide indicated the presence of a "cytochrome o"-like component; however, the membranes did not contain heme O. The results provide strong evidence for the presence of a terminal oxidase of the bb' type in B. subtilis. The enzyme does not pump protons and combines with CO much faster than typical heme-copper oxidases; in these respects, it resembles a cytochrome bd rather than members of the heme-copper oxidase superfamily. The genome sequence of B. subtilis 168 contains gene clusters for four respiratory oxidases. Two of these clusters, cta and qox, are deleted in LUH27. The remaining two, cydAB and ythAB, encode the identified cytochrome bd and a putative second cytochrome bd, respectively. Deletion of ythAB in strain LUH27 or the presence of the yth genes on plasmid did not affect the expression of the bb' oxidase. It is concluded that the novel bb'-type oxidase probably is cytochrome bd encoded by the cyd locus but with heme D being substituted by high spin heme B at the oxygen reactive site, i.e. cytochrome b(558)b(595)b'. (+info)
Femtosecond resolution of ligand-heme interactions in the high-affinity quinol oxidase bd: A di-heme active site?
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Interaction of the two high-spin hemes in the oxygen reduction site of the bd-type quinol oxidase from Escherichia coli has been studied by femtosecond multicolor transient absorption spectroscopy. The previously unidentified Soret band of ferrous heme b(595) was determined to be centered around 440 nm by selective excitation of the fully reduced unliganded or CO-bound cytochrome bd in the alpha-band of heme b(595). The redox state of the b-type hemes strongly affects both the line shape and the kinetics of the absorption changes induced by photodissociation of CO from heme d. In the reduced enzyme, CO photodissociation from heme d perturbs the spectrum of ferrous cytochrome b(595) within a few ps, pointing to a direct interaction between hemes b(595) and d. Whereas in the reduced enzyme no heme d-CO geminate recombination is observed, in the mixed-valence CO-liganded complex with heme b(595) initially oxidized, a significant part of photodissociated CO does not leave the protein and recombines with heme d within a few hundred ps. This caging effect may indicate that ferrous heme b(595) provides a transient binding site for carbon monoxide within one of the routes by which the dissociated ligand leaves the protein. Taken together, the data indicate physical proximity of the hemes d and b(595) and corroborate the possibility of a functional cooperation between the two hemes in the dioxygen-reducing center of cytochrome bd. (+info)
Regulation of cytochrome bd expression in the obligate aerobe Azotobacter vinelandii by CydR (Fnr). Sensitivity to oxygen, reactive oxygen species, and nitric oxide.
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Azotobacter vinelandii is an obligately aerobic bacterium in which aerotolerant nitrogen fixation requires cytochrome bd. Regulation of cytochrome bd expression is achieved by CydR (an Fnr homologue), which represses transcription of the oxidase genes cydAB. cydAB mRNA was mapped by primer extension; the transcriptional start site was determined, and putative -10 and -35 regions were deduced. Two "CydR boxes," one at the +1 site and one upstream of the -35 region, were identified. Transcriptionally inactive, purified CydR was converted, by adding NifS, cysteine, and Fe(2+), into an active form possessing acid-labile sulfide and spectra suggesting a [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster. Reconstituted CydR specifically bound both CydR boxes cooperatively, with higher affinity for the nearer consensus +1 site. Low concentrations of O(2) or NO ([O(2)]/[[CydR] or [NO]/[CydR] = 0.1-0. 6) elicited loss of the 420 nm absorbance attributed to the [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster, formation of a 315 nm species, and loss of ability to retard DNA migration. Retardation by reconstituted CydR was enhanced by superoxide dismutase and/or catalase, suggesting a role for reactive oxygen species in CydR inactivation. The role of CydR in regulating cydAB expression in the supposedly anoxic cytoplasm of A. vinelandii and similarities to cydAB regulation by Fnr in Escherichia coli are discussed. (+info)