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D J Arp

Publications and source records attributed to D J Arp.

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Rhizobium japonicum hydrogenase: purification to homogeneity from soybean nodules, and molecular characterization.

Rhizobium japonicum hydrogenase was purified to homogeneity from soybean root nodules by four column chromatography steps after solubilization from membranes by treatment with a nonionic detergent. The specific activity was from 40 to 65 mumol H2 oxidized min-1 mg protein-1 and was increased 450-fold relative to that in bacteroids. The yield of activity was from 7 to 12%. The molecular weight of the native enzyme was 104,000 as determined by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate revealed two subunits with molecular weights of 64,000 and 35,000, indicating an alpha beta subunit structure. The amino acid content of the protein indicated 20 cysteine residues. Analysis of the metal content indicated 0.59 +/- 0.06 mol Ni/mol hydrogenase and 6.5 +/- 1.2 mol Fe/mol hydrogenase. Antisera prepared to the hydrogenase cross-reacted with the enzyme in bacteroid extracts at all stages of the purification but did not cross-react with extracts of Alcaligenes eutrophus grown under chemolithotrophic conditions. The similarity of rhizobial hydrogenase to the particulate hydrogenases of A. eutrophus and A. latus is discussed.

Amino Acids↗

Molecular and immunological comparison of membrane-bound, H2-oxidizing hydrogenases of Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Alcaligenes eutrophus, Alcaligenes latus, and Azotobacter vinelandii.

The membrane-bound hydrogenases of Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Alcaligenes eutrophus, Alcaligenes latus, and Azotobacter vinelandii were purified extensively and compared. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of each hydrogenase revealed two prominent protein bands, one near 60 kilodaltons and the other near 30 kilodaltons. The migration distances during nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were similar for all except A. vinelandii hydrogenase, which migrated further than the other three. The amino acid composition of each hydrogenase was determined, revealing substantial similarity among these enzymes. This was confirmed by calculation of S delta Q values, which ranged from 8.0 to 26.7 S delta Q units. S delta Q is defined as sigma j(Xi,j-Xk,j)2, where i and k identify the proteins compared and Xj is the content (residues per 100) of a given amino acid of type j. The hydrogenases of this study were also compared with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Antibody raised against B. japonicum hydrogenase cross-reacted with all four hydrogenases, but to various degrees and in the order B. japonicum greater than A. latus greater than A. eutrophus greater than A. vinelandii. Antibody raised against A. eutrophus hydrogenase also cross-reacted with all four hydrogenases, following the pattern of cross-reaction A. eutrophus greater than A. latus = B. japonicum greater than A. vinelandii. Antibody raised against B. japonicum hydrogenase inhibited B. japonicum hydrogenase activity to a greater extent than the A. eutrophus and A. latus activities; no inhibition of A. vinelandii hydrogenase activity was detected. The results of these experiments indicated remarkable homology of the hydrogenases from these four microorganisms.

Alcaligenes↗

L-methionine-SR-sulfoximine as a probe for the role of glutamine synthetase in nitrogenase switch-off by ammonia and glutamine in Rhodopseudomonas palustris.

Methionine sulfoximine (MSX), an irreversible inhibitor of glutamine synthetase of Rhodopseudomonas palustris restored nitrogenase activity to cells in which nitrogenase had been completely inhibited by ammonia switch-off. After addition of MSX, there was a lag period before nitrogenase activity was fully restored. During this lag, glutamine synthetase activity progressively decreased, and near the time of its complete inhibition, nitrogenase activity resumed. Nitrogenase switch-off by ammonia thus required active glutamine synthetase. Glutamine itself caused nitrogenase inhibition whose reversal by MSX depended on the relative ratio of MSX to glutamine. Unlike ammonia, glutamine inhibited nitrogenase under conditions where glutamine synthetase activity was absent. This indicates that glutamine is the effector molecule in nitrogenase switch-off, for instance by interacting with the enzymatic system for Fe protein inactivation. The effects of glutamine and MSX were also dependent on the culture age. Possible explanation for this and for the competitive effects are a common binding site within the regulatory apparatus for nitrogenase, or, in part, within a common transport system. Some observations with MSX were extended to Rhodopseudomonas capsulata and agreed with those in R. palustris.

Ammonia↗

Overproduction of nitrogenase by nitrogen-limited cultures of Rhodopseudomonas palustris.

Rhodopseudomonas palustris cells grown on limiting nitrogen produced four- to eightfold higher nitrogenase specific activity relative to cells sparged with N2. The high activity of N-limited cells was the result of overproduction of the nitrogenase proteins. This was shown by four independent techniques: (i) titration of the Mo-Fe protein in cell-free extracts with Fe protein from Azotobacter vinelandii; (ii) direct detection of the subunits of Mo-Fe protein by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; (iii) monitoring of the electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum of Mo-Fe protein in whole cells; and (iv) immunological assay of the Fe protein level with an antiserum against the homologous protein of Rhodospirillum rubrum. The derepressed level of nitrogenase found in N2-grown cells was not due to an increased turnover of nitrogenase. The apparent half-lives of nitrogenase in N2-grown and N-limited cells were 58 and 98 h, respectively, but were too long to account for the difference in enzyme level. Half-lives were determined by measuring nitrogenase after repression of de novo synthesis by ammonia and subsequent release of nitrogenase switch-off by methionine sulfoximine. Observations were extended to R. rubrum, Rhodopseudomonas capsulata, and Rhodomicrobium vannielii and indicated that overproduction of nitrogenase under nitrogen limitation is not an exceptional property of R. palustris, but rather a general property of phototrophic bacteria.

Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel↗

Kinetic mechanism of the hydrogen-oxidizing hydrogenase from soybean nodule bacteroids.

The kinetic mechanism of the unidirectional H2-oxidizing hydrogenase from soybean nodule bacteroids has been investigated with highly purified enzyme. Measurements of the Km for H2 vary from 0.97 to 2.6 microM, and the Km for methylene blue varies from 6 to 17 microM. With H2 and methylene blue as substrates, the initial velocity patterns are intersecting. High levels of methylene blue are inhibitory (KI =2.4 mM): the inhibition is competitive vs. H2. CO is a competitive inhibitor of H2 (KI = 157 microM) and noncompetitive vs. methylene blue. O2 inactivates the enzyme (t 1/2 approximately 1 h) but also is a reversible inhibitor of hydrogenase activity upon short exposure to low concentrations. Inhibition by O2 is uncompetitive vs. H2 and noncompetitive vs. methylene blue. Hydrogenase was not inhibited by C2H2; preincubation under C2H2 inactivates the enzyme. Reduced methyl and benzyl viologens support low rates of H2 evolution by the hydrogenase. The Km for reduced methyl viologen is 11 microM. H2 is a potent inhibitor of H2 evolution: the inhibition is noncompetitive vs. reduced methyl viologen. The hydrogenase will catalyze a low rate of exchange in the reaction between D2 and H2O to form both HD and H2. We propose a two-site ping-pong mechanism for the enzyme in which H2 is reversibly activated at one site and e- carriers interact at the second site.

Binding, Competitive↗

Hydrogenase in actinorhizal root nodules and root nodule homogenates.

Hydrogenases were measured in intact actinorhizal root nodules and from disrupted nodules of Alnus glutinosa, Alnus rhombifolia, Alnus rubra, and Myrica pensylvanica. Whole nodules took up H2 in an O2-dependent reaction. Endophyte preparations oxidized H2 through the oxyhydrogen reaction, but rates were enhanced when hydrogen uptake was coupled to artificial electron acceptors. Oxygen inhibited artifical acceptor-dependent H2 uptake. The hydrogenase system from M. pensylvanica had a different pattern of coupling to various electron acceptors than the hydrogenase systems from the alders; only the bayberry system evolved H2 from reduced viologen dyes.

Actinomycetales↗

Purification and properties of the particulate hydrogenase from the bacteroids of soybean root nodules.

The uptake hydrogenase (hydrogen:ferricytochrome c3 oxidoreductase, EC 1.12.2.1) from the bacteroids of soybean root nodules infected with Rhizobium japonicum 110 has been purified and characterized. Bacteroids were prepared, then broken by sonication. The particulate enzyme was solubilized by treatment with Triton X-100 and further purified by polyethylene glycol fractionation, DEAE-cellulose and Sephadex G-100 chromatography. The specific activity has been increased 196-fold to 19.6 units/mg protein. The molecular weight is 63 300 as determined by gel filtration and 65 300 as determined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, indicating that the enzyme is a monomer. The enzyme is O2 sensitive, with a half-life of 70 min when exposed to air. The pH optimum of the solubilized enzyme is near 5.5; the Km for H2 is 1.4 microM. Suitable electron acceptors are methylene blue, ferricyanide, 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol, and cytochrome c. Benzyl viologen is reduced slowly; methyl viologen, NAD(P)+, FAD, FMN, and O2 are not reduced. The optimum temperature for activity is 65-70 degrees C with an activation energy of 9.2 kcal. H2 evolution by the enzyme has been demonstrated. The hydrogenase is well-suited to function in an environment where all the available H2 is generated in situ.

Cytochrome c Group↗