Acetyl-CoA synthetase (ADP forming) in archaea, a novel enzyme involved in acetate formation and ATP synthesis

Abstract

The anaerobic hyperthermophilic archaea Desulfurococcus amylolyticus, Hyperthermus butylicus, Thermococcus celer, Pyrococcus woesei, the hyperthermophilic bacteria Thermotoga maritima and Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum and the aerobic mesophilic archaeon Halobacterium saccharovorum were grown either on complex media, on sugars or on pyruvate as carbon and energy sources. During growth acetate was formed as fermentation product by all organisms. The enzymes involved in acetyl-CoA formation from pyruvate and in acetate formation from acetyl-CoA were investigated: These data indicate that acetyl-CoA synthetase (ADP forming) represents a typical archaeal property rather than an enzyme specific for hyperthermophiles. It is proposed that in all acetate forming archaea the formation of acetate and of ATP from acetyl-CoA, ADP and Pi are catalyzed by acetyl-CoA synthetase (ADP forming), whereas in all acetate forming (eu)bacteria these reactions are catalyzed by two enzymes, phosphate acetyltransferase and acetate kinase.