Expression, purification, physicochemical characterization and structural analysis of cytochrome c554 from Vibrio parahaemolyticus strain RIMD2210633.

The function of cytochrome c(554) of Vibrio parahaemolyticus has not yet been determined. We have determined the physicochemical properties and crystal structure of cytochrome c(554) at 1.8 A in order to help elucidate its function. The physicochemical properties and the tertiary structure of cytochrome c(554) resemble those of dimeric cytochrome c(552) from Pseudomonas nautica, but the Vibrio genus contains no gene for nitrite reductase, cytochrome cd(1), in its genome DNA. These results raise the possibility that both cytochromes denote an electron to an electron carrier and accept an electron from same electron carrier.