Purification and structural characterization of the Na-translocating ferredoxin: NAD reductase (Rnf) complex of Clostridium tetanomorphum.

Various microbial metabolisms use H/Na-translocating ferredoxin:NAD reductase (Rnf) either to exergonically oxidize reduced ferredoxin by NAD for generating a transmembrane electrochemical potential or reversely to exploit the latter for producing reduced ferredoxin. For cryo-EM structural analysis, we elaborated a quick four-step purification protocol for the Rnf complex from Clostridium tetanomorphum and integrated the homogeneous and active enzyme into a nanodisc. The obtained 4.

Flavins in the electron bifurcation process.

The discovery of a new energy-coupling mechanism termed flavin-based electron bifurcation (FBEB) in 2008 revealed a novel field of application for flavins in biology. The key component is the bifurcating flavin endowed with strongly inverted one-electron reduction potentials (FAD/FAD• ≪ FAD•/FADH) that cooperatively transfers in its reduced state one low and one high-energy electron into different directions and thereby drives an endergonic with an exergonic reduction reaction. As energy splitting at the bifurcating flavin apparently implicates one-electron chemistry, the FBEB machinery has to incorporate prior to and behind the central bifurcating flavin 2e-to-1e and 1e-to-2e switches, frequently also flavins, for oxidizing variable medium-potential two-electron donating substrates and for reducing high-potential two-electron accepting substrates.

Molecular and Low-Resolution Structural Characterization of the Na-Translocating Glutaconyl-CoA Decarboxylase From .

Some anaerobic bacteria use biotin-dependent Na-translocating decarboxylases (Bdc) of β-keto acids or their thioester analogs as key enzymes in their energy metabolism. Glutaconyl-CoA decarboxylase (Gcd), a member of this protein family, drives the endergonic translocation of Na across the membrane with the exergonic decarboxylation of glutaconyl-CoA (Δ ' ≈-30 kJ/mol) to crotonyl-CoA. Here, we report on the molecular characterization of Gcd from based on native PAGE, size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and laser-induced liquid bead ion desorption mass spectrometry (LILBID-MS).

The F₄₂₀-reducing [NiFe]-hydrogenase complex from Methanothermobacter marburgensis, the first X-ray structure of a group 3 family member.

The reversible redox reaction between coenzyme F420 and H2 to F420H2 is catalyzed by an F420-reducing [NiFe]-hydrogenase (FrhABG), which is an enzyme of the energy metabolism of methanogenic archaea. FrhABG is a group 3 [NiFe]-hydrogenase with a dodecameric quaternary structure of 1.25MDa as recently revealed by high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy.

De novo modeling of the F(420)-reducing [NiFe]-hydrogenase from a methanogenic archaeon by cryo-electron microscopy.

Methanogenic archaea use a [NiFe]-hydrogenase, Frh, for oxidation/reduction of F420, an important hydride carrier in the methanogenesis pathway from H2 and CO2. Frh accounts for about 1% of the cytoplasmic protein and forms a huge complex consisting of FrhABG heterotrimers with each a [NiFe] center, four Fe-S clusters and an FAD. Here, we report the structure determined by near-atomic resolution cryo-EM of Frh with and without bound substrate F420.

A caffeyl-coenzyme A synthetase initiates caffeate activation prior to caffeate reduction in the acetogenic bacterium Acetobacterium woodii.

The anaerobic acetogenic bacterium Acetobacterium woodii couples the reduction of caffeate with electrons derived from hydrogen to the synthesis of ATP by a chemiosmotic mechanism using sodium ions as coupling ions, but the enzymes involved remain to be established. Previously, the electron transfer flavoproteins EtfA and EtfB were found to be involved in caffeate respiration. By inverse PCR, we identified three genes upstream of etfA and etfB: carA, carB, and carC.