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The iron-containing superoxide dismutase (FeSOD) from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus has been isolated. The protein crystallizes readily and we have determined the structure to 1.6 A resolution. This is the first structural characterization of an FeSOD isolated from a cyanobacterium and one of the highest resolution FeSOD structures determined to date. The activity of the T. elongatus FeSOD has been measured both at 25 degrees C and 50 degrees C and it has been spectroscopically characterized. The T. elongatus FeSOD EPR spectra at pH 5.1, 7.5 and 10.0 are similar. This indicates that no change in the geometry of the Fe(III) site occurs over a wide range of pH. This is in contrast to the other FeSODs described in the literature.

First, the crystal structure of cytochrome c-550 (the psbV1 gene product) from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus has been determined to a resolution of 1.8 A. A comparison of the T. elongatus cytochrome c-550 structure to its counterparts from mesophilic organisms, Synechocystis 6803 and Arthrospira maxima, suggests that increased numbers of hydrogen bonds may play a role in the structural basis of thermostability. The cytochrome c-550 in T. elongatus also differs from that in Synechocystis 6803 and Arthrospira maxima in its lack of dimerization and the presence of a trigonal planar molecule, possibly bicarbonate, tightly bound to the heme propionate oxygen atoms. Cytochromes c-550 from T. elongatus, Synechocystis 6803 and Arthrospira maxima exhibit different EPR spectra. A correlation has been done between the heme-axial ligands geometries and the rhombicity calculated from the EPR spectra. This correlation indicates that binding of cytochrome c-550 to Photosystem II is accompanied by structural changes in the heme vicinity. Second, the psbV2 gene product has been found and purified. The UV-visible, EPR and Raman spectra are reported. From the spectroscopic data and from a theoretical structural model based on the cytochrome c-550 structure it is proposed that the 6th ligand of the heme-iron is the Tyr86.

Cytochrome c(6) from the cyanobacterium Arthrospira maxima is present in isoforms that can be resolved by size-exclusion chromatography. One isoform crystallized in space group I4(1)32 with eight protein molecules in the asymmetric unit and a total of 384 molecules in the unit cell. Within the crystal, the molecules are arranged as clusters of 24 cytochrome c(6) molecules. Each cluster is a hollow shell with approximate octahedral (432) symmetry. Structural and biochemical studies of cytochrome c(6) isolated from other cyanobacteria and algae have led to the suggestion that cytochrome c(6) forms oligomers. The cytochrome c(6) complex described here is the largest assembly of cytochrome c(6) molecules observed thus far.