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The two-component anthranilate 1,2-dioxygenase of the bacterium Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1 was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. This enzyme converts anthranilate (2-aminobenzoate) to catechol with insertion of both atoms of O(2) and consumption of one NADH. The terminal oxygenase component formed an alpha(3)beta(3) hexamer of 54- and 19-kDa subunits. Biochemical analyses demonstrated one Rieske-type [2Fe-2S] center and one mononuclear nonheme iron center in each large oxygenase subunit. The reductase component, which transfers electrons from NADH to the oxygenase component, was found to contain approximately one flavin adenine dinucleotide and one ferredoxin-type [2Fe-2S] center per 39-kDa monomer. Activities of the combined components were measured as rates and quantities of NADH oxidation, substrate disappearance, product appearance, and O(2) consumption. Anthranilate conversion to catechol was stoichiometrically coupled to NADH oxidation and O(2) consumption. The substrate analog benzoate was converted to a nonaromatic benzoate 1,2-diol with similarly tight coupling. This latter activity is identical to that of the related benzoate 1, 2-dioxygenase. A variant anthranilate 1,2-dioxygenase, previously found to convey temperature sensitivity in vivo because of a methionine-to-lysine change in the large oxygenase subunit, was purified and characterized. The purified M43K variant, however, did not hydroxylate anthranilate or benzoate at either the permissive (23 degrees C) or nonpermissive (39 degrees C) growth temperatures. The wild-type anthranilate 1,2-dioxygenase did not efficiently hydroxylate methylated or halogenated benzoates, despite its sequence similarity to broad-substrate specific dioxygenases that do. Phylogenetic trees of the alpha and beta subunits of these terminal dioxygenases that act on natural and xenobiotic substrates indicated that the subunits of each terminal oxygenase evolved from a common ancestral two-subunit component.

E2 (dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase) and E3 (dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase) of the Clostridium magnum acetoin dehydrogenase enzyme system were copurified in a three-step procedure from acetoin-grown cells. The denatured E2-E3 preparation comprised two polypeptides with M(r)s of 49,000 and 67,000, respectively. Microsequencing of both proteins revealed identical amino acid sequences. By use of oligonucleotide probes based on the N-terminal sequences of the alpha and beta subunits of E1 (acetoin dehydrogenase, thymine PPi dependent), which were purified recently (H. Lorenzl, F.B. Oppermann, B. Schmidt, and A. Steinbüchel, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 63:219-225, 1993), and of E2-E3, structural genes acoA (encoding E1 alpha), acoB (encoding E1 beta), acoC (encoding E2), and acoL (encoding E3) were identified on a single ClaI restriction fragment and expressed in Escherichia coli. The nucleotide sequences of acoA (978 bp), acoB (999 bp), acoC (1,332 bp), and acoL (1,734 bp), as well as those of acoX (996 bp) and acoR (1,956 bp), were determined. The amino acid sequences deduced from acoA, acoB, acoC, and acoL for E1 alpha (M(r), 35,532), E1 beta (M(r), 35,541), E2 (M(r), 48,149), and E3 (M(r), 61,255) exhibited striking similarities to the amino acid sequences of the corresponding components of the Pelobacter carbinolicus acetoin dehydrogenase enzyme system and the Alcaligenes eutrophus acetoin-cleaving system, respectively. Significant homologies to the enzyme components of various 2-oxo acid dehydrogenase complexes were also found, indicating a close relationship between the two enzyme systems. As a result of the partial repetition of the 5' coding region of acoC into the corresponding part of acoL, the E3 component of the C. magnum acetoin dehydrogenase enzyme system contains an N-terminal lipoyl domain, which is unique among dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenases. We found strong similarities between the AcoR and AcoX sequences and the A. eutrophus acoR gene product, which is a regulatory protein required for expression of the A. eutrophus aco genes, and the A. eutrophus acoX gene product, which has an unknown function, respectively. The aco genes of C. magnum are probably organized in one single operon (acoABXCL); acoR maps upstream of this operon.

Cells of Pseudomonas sp. strain NCIB 9816, after growth with naphthalene or salicylate, contain a multicomponent enzyme system that oxidizes naphthalene to cis-(1R,2S)-dihydroxy-1,2-dihydronaphthalene. We purified one of these components to homogeneity and found it to be an iron-sulfur flavoprotein that loses the flavin cofactor during purification. Dialysis against flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) showed that the enzyme bound 1 mol of FAD per mol of enzyme protein. The enzyme consisted of a single polypeptide with an apparent molecular weight of 36,300. The purified protein contained 1.8 g-atoms of iron and 2.0 g-atoms of acid-labile sulfur and showed absorption maxima at 278, 340, 420, and 460 nm, with a broad shoulder at 540 nm. The purified enzyme catalyzed the reduction of cytochrome c, dichlorophenolindophenol, Nitro Blue Tetrazolium, and ferricyanide. These activities were enhanced in the presence of added FAD. The ability of the enzyme to catalyze the reduction of the ferredoxin involved in naphthalene reduction and other electron acceptors indicates that it functions as an NAD(P)H-oxidoreductase in the naphthalene dioxygenase system. The results suggest that naphthalene dioxygenase requires two proteins with three redox groups to transfer electrons from NADH to the terminal oxygenase.

A succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) complex has been purified from Triton X-100-solubilized membranes from Bacillus subtilis by precipitation with specific antibody. Radioactively labeled precipitated complex was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by autoradiography of the gels. The complex contained equimolar amounts of three polypeptides with approximate molecular weights of 65,000, 28,000, and 19,000. Five succinic dehydrogenase-negative mutants, belonging to the citF group, contained the 65,000-dalton polypeptide in a soluble form in the cytoplasm. Each 65,000-dalton polypeptide had about one molecule of flavin bound. Another citF mutant, citF11, which lacks the 65,000-dalton polypeptide, contained a membrane-bound 28,000-dalton polypeptide. The wild-type succinic dehydrogenase complex contained cytochrome, probably a cytochrome b. The 19,000-dalton polypeptide is suggested to represent the apoprotein of this cytochrome. The 65,000-dalton and the 28,000-dalton polypeptides are thought to constitute succinic dehydrogenase and to correspond to the flavoprotein and the ironprotein, respectively, as described for succinic dehydrogenase isolated from beef heart mitochondria or Rhodospirillum rubrum chromatophores. The results presented suggest that in B. subtilis succinic dehydrogenase is attached to a cytochrome b in the membrane via the 28,000-dalton (ironprotein) polypeptide.

Growth conditions for Azospirillum brasilense Sp6 were devised for maximal expression of glutamate synthase. The enzyme levels were largely affected by the type and concentration of the nitrogen source. A 10-fold increase in the synthesis of the enzyme was observed at a limiting concentration of ammonia. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity by a procedure which was fairly rapid and allowed a good recovery of enzyme (30%). Azospirillum glutamate synthase is a complex iron-sulfur flavoprotein with a stoichiometry of 1 flavin adenine dinucleotide:1 flavin mononucleotide:8 Fe:8 S per protomer with a molecular weight of 185,000. The protomer is composed of two dissimilar subunits with molecular weights of 135,000 and 50,000. Kinetic parameters were determined. Km values for NADPH, 2-oxoglutarate, and L-glutamine were 6.25, 29, and 450 microM, respectively. The optimum pH was about 7.5. Complete reduction of the enzyme under anaerobic conditions was obtained either by NADPH (in the presence of a regenerating system) or dithionite or by photochemical reduction (in the presence of EDTA and 5-deazariboflavin). No stable long-wavelength intermediates were observed.

Glutamate synthase was purified about 250-fold from Nocardia mediterranei U32 and characterized. The native enzyme has a molecular weight of 195,000 +/- 5,000 and is composed of two nonidentical subunits with molecular weights of 145,000 +/- 5,000 and 55,000 +/- 3,000. This enzyme is a complex of iron-sulfur flavoproteins with absorption maxima at 278, 375, 410, and 440 nm. It contains 1.1 mol of flavin adenine dinucleotide, 1.0 mol of flavin mononucleotide, 7.5 mol of nonheme iron, and 7.2 mol of acid-labile sulfur per 200,000 g of protein. Km values for L-glutamine, alpha-ketoglutarate, and NADPH were 77, 53, and 110 microM, respectively. The activity of this glutamate synthase is inhibited by its products (i.e., glutamate and NADP), several amino acids, and tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates.

Glucose oxidase, an important source of hydrogen peroxide in lignin-degrading cultures of Phanerochaete chrysosporium, was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity by a combination of ion-exchange and molecular sieve chromatography. The enzyme is a flavoprotein with an apparent native molecular weight of 180,000 and a denatured molecular weight of 80,000. This enzyme does not appear to be a glycoprotein. It gives optimal activity with D-glucose, which is stoichiometrically oxidized to D-gluconate. The enzyme has a relatively broad pH optimum of 4 to 5. It is inhibited by Ag+ (10 mM) and o-phthalate (100 mM), but not by Cu2+, NaF, or KCN (each 10 mM).

Membrane-bound antigens of the respiratory chain of Micrococcus luteus were analyzed by crossed immunoelectrophoresis after growth of the organism in the presence of 59Fe, the flavin adenine dinucleotide-flavin mononucleotide precursor D-[2-14C]riboflavin, or the heme precursor 5-amino-[4-(14)C]levulinic acid. Using zymograms and procedures of selective extraction in conjunction with autoradiography, it was possible to resolve and partially characterize a number of antigens. Succinate dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.99.1) was shown to possess covalently bound flavin and nonheme iron and was possibly present as a complex with cytochrome. Three other dehydrogenases, namely, NADH dehydrogenase, NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (EC 1.6.99.3), and malate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.37), contained flavin in noncovalent linkage, the NAD(P)H dehydrogenase also possessing nonheme iron. Four other discrete antigens (or antigen complexes) containing both iron and heme centers also resolved, as were two minor immunogens possessing iron as the sole detectable prosthetic group.

Glutamate synthase [L-glutamate:NADP+ oxidoreductase (transaminating); EC 1.4.1.13](GltS) was purified to homogeneity from Bacillus licheniformis A5. The native enzyme had a molecular weight of approximately 220,000 and was composed of two nonidentical subunits (molecular weights, approximately 158,000 and approximately 54,000). The enzyme was found to contain 8.1 +/- 1 iron atoms and 8.1 +/- 1 acid-labile sulfur atoms per 220,000-dalton dimer. Two flavin moieties were found per 220,000-dalton dimer, with a ratio of flavin adenine dinucleotide to flavin mononucleotide of 1.2. The UV-visible spectrum of the enzyme exhibited maxima at 263,380 and 450 nm. The GltS from B. licheniformis had a requirement for NADPH, alpha-ketoglutarate, and glutamine. Classical hyperbolic kinetics were seen for NADPH affinity, which resulted in an apparent Km value of 13 microM. Nonhyperbolic kinetics were obtained for alpha-ketoglutarate and glutamine affinities, and the reciprocal plots obtained for these substrates were biphasic. The apparent Km values obtained for glutamine were 8 and 100 microM, and the apparent Km values obtained for alpha-ketoglutarate were 6 and 50 microM. GltS activity was found to be relatively insensitive to inhibition by amino acids, keto acids, or various nucleotides. L-Methionine-DL-sulfoximine, L-methionine sulfone, and DL-methionine sulfoxide were found to be potent inhibitors of GltS activity, yielding I0.5 values of 150, 11, and 250 microM, respectively. GltSs were purified from cells grown in the presence of ammonia and nitrate as sole nitrogen sources and were compared. Both yielded identical final specific activities and identical physical (UV-visible spectra, flavin, and iron-sulfur composition) and kinetic characteristics.

The reaction with o-phenanthroline of nonheme iron found in cell envelope fractions from Escherichia coli has been investigated. About 20% of the total nonheme iron reacts directly with o-phenanthroline. This iron appears to be in the ferric state but is reducible by protein sulfhydryl groups in the presence of the chelating agent. A further 20% of the nonheme iron will react with o-phenanthroline only in the presence of dithionite. Succinate can replace dithionite but only produces about 35% of the reaction given by dithionite. The reduction of cytochrome b(1) of the respiratory chain by succinate shows similar behavior to the reaction of iron with o-phenanthroline in the presence of succinate. Both of these components react completely only in the presence of 2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide. The remaining 60% of the nonheme iron of the cell envelope will not react with o-phenanthroline even in the presence of dithionite or 6 m urea. Triton X-100 with dithionite will permit a small part (10%) of this iron to react with o-phenanthroline. The iron which does not react with o-phenanthroline is not associated with succinate, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or d-lactate dehydrogenases.

The enzymes of a Bacillus species that hydroxylate nicotinic acid to 6-hydroxynicotinic acid and 6-hydroxynicotinic acid to 2,6-dihydroxynicotinic acid were purified and characterized. The purified enzymes contained approximately two molecules of flavine and eight molecules of iron per molecule of enzyme. The enzymes were large (molecular weight, 400,000 to 450,000) and appeared to consist of subunits.

This paper describes the first detailed study on a dihydroorotate dehydrogenase involved in pyrimidine biosynthesis. In most organisms the enzyme is membrane-bound; however, a soluble dihydroorotate dehydrogenase was produced in relatively high levels when the anaerobe, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, was released from repression. The enzyme was purified 213-fold over derepressed levels with a 39% recovery of enzyme units. The enzyme showed only one minor protein contaminant when analyzed by polyacrylamide electrophoresis. It was characterized as a flavoprotein containing only flavine mononucleotide as the prosthetic group. Molecular weight estimations by gel filtration gave a value of approximately 55,000, which is one-half that of the degradative enzyme described by others. During aerobic oxidation of dihydroorotate, the rates of oxygen consumption, orotate formation, and hydrogen peroxide formation were equal, as would be expected in a flavoprotein-catalyzed reaction. The enzymatic activity with ferricyanide as acceptor was optimum around pH 7.7. The stimulation of enzymatic activity over a wide pH range by ammonium sulfate was attributed to an effect on the maximum velocity of the reaction. As analyzed by polyacrylamide electrophoresis, inactivation of the enzyme by visible light resulted in the appearance of a second protein band with lowered specific activity. The purified enzyme used redox dyes, oxygen, or cytochrome c as electron acceptors but was not active with pyridine nucleotides. Flavine adenine dinucleotide has been implicated at the active site for pyridine nucleotide reduction in the degradative enzyme. The biosynthetic enzyme lacks this flavine and the associated activity.

Protoheme is essential for the growth of some strains of Bacteroides melaninogenicus. At low concentrations in the growth medium, protoheme determines the doubling time, total cell yield, and amount of cytochrome per bacterium. At high protoheme concentrations, the doubling time, total cell yield, and amount of enzymatically reducible cytochrome appear to remain nearly constant, and protoheme is accumulated by the cell. The accumulated protoheme can support the growth of the bacterium for at least eight generations in a protoheme-free medium. When growth and cytochrome content are proportional during growth at low protoheme concentrations, the bacteria incorporate 10 to 20% of the total available protoheme into a membrane-bound respiratory system. This respiratory system includes cytochrome c, a carbon monoxide-binding pigment, and possibly flavoproteins. The pigments can be reversibly reduced by reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide or endogenous metabolism and can be oxidized anaerobically by fumarate or by shaking in air. Electron transport is inhibited by 2-n-nonyl-4-hydroxy-quinoline-N-oxide.

Adenylyl sulfate reductase was purified from Thiocapsa roseopersicina 60- to 80- fold, and the properties were studied. The molecular weight is 180,000. The enzyme contains, per molecule; one flavine group, two heme groups of cytochrome c character, four atoms of nonheme iron, and six labile sulfide groups. Cytochrome c and ferricyanide serve as electron acceptors. With ferricyanide as the electron acceptor, the pH optimum of the enzyme is at 8.0; with cytochrome c, the pH optimum is at 9.0. Of the nucleotides studied, adenosine 5'-monophosphate is most effective. The influence of substrate concentrations on the activity of the enzyme was studied, and the K(m) values for sulfite, adenosine 5'-monophosphate, ferricyanide, and cytochrome c were determined. The properties of the enzyme are compared with those of adenylyl sulfate reductases purified from sulfate-reducing bacteria and thiobacilli.