NO Reductase Activity Research Articles

The Amino Acids Motif -32GSSYN36- in the Catalytic Domain of E. coli Flavorubredoxin NO Reductase Is Essential for Its Activity

Flavodiiron proteins (FDPs) are a family of modular and soluble enzymes endowed with nitric oxide and/or oxygen reductase activities, producing N2O or H2O, respectively. The FDP from Escherichia coli, which, apart from the two core domains, possesses a rubredoxin-like domain at the C-terminus (therefore named flavorubredoxin (FlRd)), is a bona fide NO reductase, exhibiting O2 reducing activity that is approximately ten times lower than that for NO. Among the flavorubredoxins, there is a strictly conserved amino acids motif, -G[S,T]SYN-, close to the catalytic diiron center. To assess its role in FlRd’s activity, we designed several site-directed mutants, replacing the conserved residues with hydrophobic or anionic ones. The mutants, which maintained the general characteristics of the wild type enzyme, including cofactor content and integrity of the diiron center, revealed a decrease of their oxygen reductase activity, while the NO reductase activity—specifically, its physiological function—was almost completely abolished in some of the mutants. Molecular modeling of the mutant proteins pointed to subtle changes in the predicted structures that resulted in the reduction of the hydration of the regions around the conserved residues, as well as in the elimination of hydrogen bonds, which may affect proton transfer and/or product release.

EPR spectroscopy of putative enzyme intermediates in the NO reductase and the auto-nitrosylation reaction of Desulfovibrio vulgaris hybrid cluster protein.

The hybrid cluster protein (Hcp) contains a unique 4Fe cluster that is a hybrid of μ-S and μ-O bridges. Escherichiacoli Hcp has recently been found to carry NO reductase activity as well as S-nitrosylation activity in NO-based signaling. In other species, the physiological activity has not been established. No reaction mechanism of any Hcp has been proposed. Here, we show that Desulfovibriovulgaris (Hildenborough) Hcp has nitric oxide reductase activity with benzyl viologen as electron donor. With EPR spectroscopy, we identify three unexpected putative reaction intermediates: both in reduced and oxidized Hcp, dinitrosyl iron complexes are formed. Also, the hybrid cluster in reduced Hcp, but not in oxidized Hcp, binds the product N2 O. Possible implications for a reaction mechanism are discussed.

The multidomain flavodiiron protein from Clostridium difficile 630 is an NADH:oxygen oxidoreductase

Flavodiiron proteins (FDPs) are enzymes with a minimal core of two domains: a metallo-β-lactamase-like, harbouring a diiron center, and a flavodoxin, FMN containing, domains. FDPs are O2 or NO reducing enzymes; for many pathogens, they help mitigate the NO produced by the immune system of the host, and aid survival during fluctuating concentrations concentrations of oxygen. FDPs have a mosaic structure, being predicted to contain multiple extra domains. Clostridium difficile, a threatening human pathogen, encodes two FDPs: one with the two canonical domains, and another with a larger polypeptide chain of 843 amino acids, CD1623, with two extra domains, predicted to be a short-rubredoxin-like and an NAD(P)H:rubredoxin oxidoreductase. This multi-domain protein is the most complex FDP characterized thus far. Each of the predicted domains was characterized and the presence of the predicted cofactors confirmed by biochemical and spectroscopic analysis. Results show that this protein operates as a standalone FDP, receiving electrons directly from NADH, and reducing oxygen to water, precluding the need for extra partners. CD1623 displayed negligible NO reductase activity, and is thus considered an oxygen selective FDP, that may contribute to the survival of C. difficile in the human gut and in the environment.

Upon further analysis, neither cytochrome c554 from Nitrosomonas europaea nor its F156A variant display NO reductase activity, though both proteins bind nitric oxide reversibly.

A re-investigation of the interaction with NO of the small tetraheme protein cytochrome c554 (C554) from Nitrosomonas europaea has shown that the 5-coordinate heme II of the two- or four-electron-reduced protein will nitrosylate reversibly. The process is first order in C554, first order in NO, and second-order overall. The rate constant for NO binding to the heme is 3000 ± 140M-1s-1, while that for dissociation is 0.034 ± 0.009s-1; the degree of protein reduction does not appear to significantly influence the nitrosylation rate. In contrast to a previous report (Upadhyay AK, et al. J Am Chem Soc 128:4330, 2006), this study found no evidence of C554-catalyzed NO reduction, either with [Formula: see text] or with [Formula: see text] Some sub-stoichiometric oxidation of the lowest potential heme IV was detected when [Formula: see text] was exposed to an excess of NO, but this is believed to arise from partial intramolecular electron transfer that generates {Fe(NO)}8 at heme II. The vacant heme II coordination site of C554 is crowded by three non-bonding hydrophobic amino acids. After replacing one of these (Phe156) with the smaller alanine, the nitrosylation rate for F156A2- and F156A4- was about 400× faster than for the wild type, though the rate of the reverse denitrosylation process was almost unchanged. Unlike in the wild-type C554, the 6-coordinate low-spin hemes of F156A4- oxidized over the course of several minutes after exposure to NO. Concomitant formation of N2O could explain this heme oxidation, though alternative explanations are equally plausible given the available data.

Release of nitric oxide by the Escherichia coli YtfE (RIC) protein and its reduction by the hybrid cluster protein in an integrated pathway to minimize cytoplasmic nitrosative stress

Synthesis of the Escherichia coli YtfE protein, also known as RIC, for the repair of damaged iron centres, is highly induced during anaerobic growth under conditions of nitrosative stress. How YtfE repairs nitrosative damage remains unclear. Contrary to previous reports, we show that strains defective in YtfE that lack the high-affinity NO reductase activity of the hybrid cluster protein (Hcp) are less sensitive to nitrosative stress than isogenic ytfE+ strains, which are extremely sensitive. Evidence that this sensitivity is due to YtfE-dependent release of NO into the cytoplasm includes: relief of growth inhibition by PTIO (2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl 3-oxide), which degrades NO; relief of nitrosative stress by deletion of narG encoding the nitrate reductase that is the major source of NO from nitrite; partial suppression of nitrosative stress due to loss of Hcp function by a further mutation in ytfE; YtfE-dependent loss of aconitase and fumarase activities in the absence of Hcp; and YtfE-dependent relief of NsrR repression of the hcp promoter in response to cytoplasmic NO. We suggest that a major role for YtfE is to reverse nitrosative damage by releasing, directly or indirectly, NO from nitrosylated proteins into the cytoplasm where the high-affinity NO reductase activity of Hcp ensures its reduction to N2O. If so, the concerted action of YtfE and Hcp would not only maintain the cytoplasmic concentration of NO in the low nM range, but also provide a rationalization for the coordinate regulation of Hcp and YtfE synthesis by NsrR.

Flavodiiron Oxygen Reductase from Entamoeba histolytica

Flavodiiron proteins (FDPs) are a family of enzymes endowed with bona fide oxygen- and/or nitric-oxide reductase activity, although their substrate specificity determinants remain elusive. After a comprehensive comparison of available three-dimensional structures, particularly of FDPs with a clear preference toward either O2 or NO, two main differences were identified near the diiron active site, which led to the construction of site-directed mutants of Tyr(271) and Lys(53) in the oxygen reducing Entamoeba histolytica EhFdp1. The biochemical and biophysical properties of these mutants were studied by UV-visible and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies coupled to potentiometry. Their reactivity with O2 and NO was analyzed by stopped-flow absorption spectroscopy and amperometric methods. These mutations, whereas keeping the overall properties of the redox cofactors, resulted in increased NO reductase activity and faster inactivation of the enzyme in the reaction with O2, pointing to a role of the mutated residues in substrate selectivity.

Accommodation of Two Diatomic Molecules in Cytochrome bo3: Insights into NO Reductase Activity in Terminal Oxidases

Bacterial heme-copper terminal oxidases react quickly with NO to form a heme-nitrosyl complex, which, in some of these enzymes, can further react with a second NO molecule to produce N(2)O. Previously, we characterized the heme a(3)-NO complex formed in cytochrome ba(3) from Thermus thermophilus and the product of its low-temperature illumination. We showed that the photolyzed NO group binds to Cu(B)(I) to form an end-on NO-Cu(B) or a side-on copper-nitrosyl complex, which is likely to represent the binding characteristics of the second NO molecule at the heme-copper active site. Here we present a comparative study with cytochrome bo(3) from Escherichia coli. Both terminal oxidases are shown to catalyze the same two-electron reduction of NO to N(2)O. The EPR and resonance Raman signatures of the heme o(3)-NO complex are comparable to those of the a(3)-NO complex. However, low-temperature FTIR experiments reveal that photolysis of the heme o(3)-NO complex does not produce a Cu(B)-nitrosyl complex, but that instead, the NO remains unbound in the active-site cavity. Additional FTIR photolysis experiments on the heme-nitrosyl complexes of these terminal oxidases, in the presence of CO, demonstrate that an [o(3)-NO.OC-Cu(B)] tertiary complex can form in bo(3) but not in ba(3). We assign these differences to a greater iron-copper distance in the reduced form of bo(3) compared to that of ba(3). Because this difference in metal-metal distance does not appear to affect the NO reductase activity, our results suggest that the coordination of the second NO to Cu(B) is not an essential step of the reaction mechanism.

The O2-scavenging Flavodiiron Protein in the Human Parasite Giardia intestinalis

The flavodiiron proteins (FDP) are widespread among strict or facultative anaerobic prokaryotes, where they are involved in the response to nitrosative and/or oxidative stress. Unexpectedly, FDPs were fairly recently identified in a restricted group of microaerobic protozoa, including Giardia intestinalis, the causative agent of the human infectious disease giardiasis. The FDP from Giardia was expressed, purified, and extensively characterized by x-ray crystallography, stopped-flow spectroscopy, respirometry, and NO amperometry. Contrary to flavorubredoxin, the FDP from Escherichia coli, the enzyme from Giardia has high O(2)-reductase activity (>40 s(-1)), but very low NO-reductase activity (approximately 0.2 s(-1)); O(2) reacts with the reduced protein quite rapidly (milliseconds) and with high affinity (K(m) < or = 2 microM), producing H(2)O. The three-dimensional structure of the oxidized protein determined at 1.9A resolution shows remarkable similarities with prokaryotic FDPs. Consistent with HPLC analysis, the enzyme is a dimer of dimers with FMN and the non-heme di-iron site topologically close at the monomer-monomer interface. Unlike the FDP from Desulfovibrio gigas, the residue His-90 is a ligand of the di-iron site, in contrast with the proposal that ligation of this histidine is crucial for a preferential specificity for NO. We propose that in G. intestinalis the primary function of FDP is to efficiently scavenge O(2), allowing this microaerobic parasite to survive in the human small intestine, thus promoting its pathogenicity.

Flavohemoglobin: Structure and reactivity

Flavohemoglobins (flavoHbs) are made of a globin domain fused with a ferredoxin reductaselike FAD- and NAD-binding modules. These proteins are widely represented among bacteria and yeasts and represent a most challenging research subject in view of their high reactivity both as reductases and as oxidases. The functional annotations of flavoHbs are still controversial, and different physiological roles that are linked to cell responses to oxidative and/or nitrosative stress have been proposed. The flavoHb from Escherichia coli (HMP) has been the object of a large number of investigations to unveil its physiological role in the framework of bacterial resistance to nitrosative stress. HMP expression has been demonstrated to respond to the presence of NO in the culture medium, and an explicit mechanism has been proposed that involves NO scavenging and its reduction to N(2)O under anaerobic conditions. In contrast to (or together with) the anaerobic NO-reductase activity, HMP has also been shown to be able to catalyze the oxidation of NO to NO(3) (-) (NO-dioxygenase activity) both in vivo and in vitro in the presence of O(2) and NADH. HMP has also been shown to be capable of catalyzing the reduction of several alkylhydroperoxide substrates into their corresponding alcohols using NADH as an electron donor. The alkylhydroperoxide reductase activity taken together with the unique lipid-binding properties of HMP suggests that this flavoHb may be involved in the repair of the lipid membrane oxidative damage generated during oxidative/nitrosative stress.

Spectroscopic characterization of heme iron-nitrosyl species and their role in NO reductase mechanisms in diiron proteins.

Covering: up to November 2006Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in cell signalling and in the mammalian immune response to infection. On its own, NO is a relatively inert radical, and when it is used as a signalling molecule, its concentration remains within the picomolar range. However, at infection sites, the NO concentration can reach the micromolar range, and reactions with other radical species and transition metals lead to a broad toxicity. Under aerobic conditions, microorganisms cope with this nitrosative stress by oxidizing NO to nitrate (NO3−). Microbial hemoglobins play an essential role in this NO-detoxifying process. Under anaerobic conditions, detoxification occurs via a 2-electron reduction of two NO molecules to N2O. In many bacteria and archaea, this NO-reductase reaction is catalyzed by diiron proteins. Despite the importance of this reaction in providing microorganisms with a resistance to the mammalian immune response, its mechanism remains ill-defined. Because NO is an obligatory intermediate of the denitrification pathway, respiratory NO reductases also provide resistance to toxic concentrations of NO. This family of enzymes is the focus of this review. Respiratory NO reductases are integral membrane protein complexes that contain a norB subunit evolutionarily related to subunit I of cytochrome c oxidase (CcO). NorB anchors one high-spin heme b3 and one non-heme iron known as FeB, i.e., analogous to CuB in CcO. A second group of diiron proteins with NO-reductase activity is comprised of the large family of soluble flavoprotein A found in strict and facultative anaerobic bacteria and archaea. These soluble detoxifying NO reductases contain a non-heme diiron cluster with a Fe–Fe distance of 3.4 A and are only briefly mentioned here as a promising field of research. This article describes possible mechanisms of NO reduction to N2O in denitrifying NO-reductase (NOR) proteins and critically reviews recent experimental results. Relevant theoretical model calculations and spectroscopic studies of the NO-reductase reaction in heme/copper terminal oxidases are also overviewed.

NO Reductase Activity of the Tetraheme Cytochromec554ofNitrosomonas europaea

The tetraheme cytochrome c(554) (cyt c(554)) from Nitrosomonas europaea is believed to function as an electron-transfer protein from hydroxylamine oxidoreductase (HAO). We show here that cyt c(554) also has significant NO reductase activity. The protein contains one high-spin and three low-spin c-type hemes. HAO catalyzed reduction of the cyt c(554), ligand binding, intermolecular electron transfer, and kinetics of NO reduction by cyt c(554) have been investigated. We detect the formation of a NO-bound ferrous heme species in cyt c(554) by EPR and Mössbauer spectroscopies during the HAO catalyzed oxidation of hydroxylamine, indicating that N-oxide intermediates produced from HAO readily bind to cyt c(554). In the half-reduced state of cyt c(554), we detect a spin interaction between the [FeNO](7) state of heme 2 and the low-spin ferric state of heme 4. We find that ferrous cyt c(554) will reduce NO at a rate greater than 16 s(-1), which is comparable to rates of other known NO reductases. Carbon monoxide or nitrite are shown not to bind to the reduced protein, and previous results indicate the reactions with O(2) are slow and that a variety of ligands will not bind in the oxidized state. Thus, the enzymatic site is highly selective for NO. The NO reductase activity of cyt c(554) may be important during ammonia oxidation in N. europaea at low oxygen concentrations to detoxify NO produced by reduction of nitrite or incomplete oxidation of hydroxylamine.

Detection of the His-Heme Fe2+−NO Species in the Reduction of NO to N2O byba3-Oxidase fromThermusthermophilus

Reaction pathways in the enzymatic formation and cleavage of the N-N and N-O bonds, respectively, are difficult to verify without the structure of the intermediates, but we now have such information on the heme a(3)(2+)-NO species formed in the reaction of ba(3)-oxidase with NO from resonance Raman spectroscopy. We have identified the His-heme a(3)(2+)-NO/Cu(B)(1+) species by its characteristic Fe-NO and N-O stretching frequencies at 539 and 1620 cm(-)(1), respectively. The Fe-NO and N-O frequencies in ba(3)-oxidase are 21 and 7 cm(-)(1) lower and higher, respectively, than those observed in Mb-NO. From these results and earlier Raman and FTIR measurements, we demonstrate that the protein environment of the proximal His384 that is part of the Q-proton pathway controls the strength of the Fe-His384 bond upon ligand (CO vs NO) binding. We also show by time-resolved FTIR spectroscopy that Cu(B)(1+) has a much lower affinity for NO than for CO. We suggest that the reduction of NO to N(2)O by ba(3)-oxidase proceeds by the fast binding of the first NO molecule to heme a(3) with high-affinity, and the second NO molecule binds to Cu(B) with low-affinity, producing the temporal co-presence of two NO molecules in the heme-copper center. The low-affinity of Cu(B) for NO binding also explains the NO reductase activity of the ba(3)-oxidase as opposed to other heme-copper oxidases. With the identification of the His-heme a(3)(2+)-NO/Cu(B)(1+) species, the structure of the binuclear heme a(3)-Cu(B)(1+) center in the initial step of the NO reduction mechanism is known.

Regulation and Function of Cytochrome c ′ in Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.3

Cytochrome c' (Cyt c') is a c-type cytochrome with a pentacoordinate heme iron. The gene encoding this protein in Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.3, designated cycP, was isolated and sequenced. Northern blot analysis and beta-galactosidase assays demonstrated that cycP transcription increased as oxygen levels decreased and was not repressed under denitrifying conditions as observed in another Rhodobacter species. CO difference spectra performed with extracts of cells grown under different conditions revealed that Cyt c' levels were highest during photosynthetic denitrifying growth conditions. The increase in Cyt c' under this condition was higher than would be predicted from transcriptional studies. Electron paramagnetic resonance analysis of whole cells demonstrated that Cyt c' binds NO during denitrification. Mass spectrometric analysis of nitrogen oxides produced by cells and purified protein did not indicate that Cyt c' has NO reductase activity. Taken together, these results suggest a model where Cyt c' in R. sphaeroides 2.4.3 may shuttle NO to the membrane, where it can be reduced.

NO Reductase from Bacillus azotoformans Is a Bifunctional Enzyme Accepting Electrons from Menaquinol and a Specific Endogenous Membrane-Bound Cytochrome c551

Bacillus azotoformans is a Gram-positive denitrifying soil bacterium, which is capable of respiring nitrate, nitrite, nitric oxide, and nitrous oxide under anaerobic conditions. It contains a unique menaquinol-dependent nitric oxide reductase (qCu(A)NOR) with a Cu(A) center in its small subunit. The qCu(A)NOR exhibits menaquinol-dependent NO reductase activity, whereas reduced horse heart cytochrome c was inactive. Here we describe the purification of three membrane-bound c cytochromes from B. azotoformans. Their apparent molecular masses on SDS-PAGE are approximately 11 kDa. At neutral pH, these c cytochromes are negatively charged and the E(m) for all is close to 150 mV. Only one of these c cytochromes, which exhibits an alpha-band maximum at 551 nm, acts as a direct electron donor to qCu(A)NOR. Further investigation demonstrated that this cytochrome c(551) possesses two lipoyl moieties, which presumably function to anchor it to the membrane. Steady-state kinetic studies reveal that cytochrome c(551) is a noncompetitive inhibitor of NO reduction when menaquinol is used as an electron donor. This finding points to the presence of two different electron donation pathways in qCu(A)NOR. The ability of qCu(A)NOR to accept electrons from both menaquinol and cytochrome c(551) might be related to the regulation of the rate of NO reduction especially as a defense mechanism of B. azotoformans against the toxicity of NO. Growth experiments in batch culture indeed show that B. azotoformans is highly NO tolerant, in contrast to, for example, Paracoccus denitrificans that has a monofunctional cytochrome c-dependent NOR. We propose that the menaquinol pathway, which has a 4-fold greater maximal activity than the pathway via cytochrome c(551), is used for NO detoxification, whereas electron donation via the endogenous cytochrome c involves the cytochrome b(6)f complex serving the bioenergetic needs of the organism.

Interaction of the bacterial terminal oxidase cytochrome bd with nitric oxide

Cytochrome bd is a prokaryotic terminal oxidase catalyzing O 2 reduction to H 2O. The oxygen-reducing site has been proposed to contain two hemes, d and b 595, the latter presumably replacing functionally Cu B of heme-copper oxidases. We show that NO, in competition with O 2, rapidly and potently ( K i=100±34 nM at ∼70 μM O 2) inhibits cytochrome bd isolated from Escherichia coli and Azotobacter vinelandii in turnover, inhibition being quickly and fully reverted upon NO depletion. Under anaerobic reducing conditions, neither of the two enzymes reveals NO reductase activity, which is proposed to be associated with Cu B in heme-copper oxidases.

A flavodiiron protein and high molecular weight rubredoxin from Moorella thermoacetica with nitric oxide reductase activity.

A five-gene "oxidative stress protection" cluster has recently been described from the strictly anaerobic, acetogenic bacterium, Moorella thermoacetica [Das, A., et al. (2001) J. Bacteriol. 183, 1560-1567]. Within this cluster are two cotranscribed genes, fprA (for A-type flavoprotein) and hrb (for high molecular weight rubredoxin) whose encoded proteins have no known functions. Here we show that FprA and Hrb are expressed in M. thermoacetica under normal anaerobic growth conditions and report characterizations of the recombinant FprA and Hrb. FprA contains flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and a non-heme diiron site. Mössbauer spectroscopy shows that the irons of the diferric site are antiferromagnetically coupled, implying a single-atom, presumably solvent, bridge between the irons. Hrb contains FMN and a rubredoxin-like [Fe(SCys)4] site. NADH does not directly reduce either the FMN or the diiron site in FprA, whereas Hrb functions as an efficient NADH:FprA oxidoreductase. Substitution of zinc for iron in Hrb completely abolished this activity. The observation that homologues of FprA from other organisms show O2 and/or anaerobic NO consumption activity prompted an examination of these activities for M. thermoacetica FprA. The Hrb/FprA combination does indeed have both NADH:O2 and NADH:NO oxidoreductase activities. The NO reductase activity, however, was significantly more efficient due to a lower Km for NO (4 M) and to progressive and irreversible inactivation of FprA during O2 reductase turnover but retention of activity during NO reductase turnover. Substitution of zinc for iron in FprA completely abolished these reductase activities. The stoichiometry of 1 mol of NADH oxidized:2 mol of NO consumed implies reduction to N2O. Fits of an appropriate rate law to the kinetics data are consistent with a mechanism in which 2NO's react at each FprA active site in the committed step. Expression of FprA in an Escherichia coli strain deficient in NO reductase restored the anaerobic growth phenotype of cultures exposed to otherwise toxic levels of exogenous NO. The accumulated results indicate that Hrb/FprA is fully capable of functioning in nitrosative stress protection in M. thermoacetica.

The cytochrome cbb3 from Pseudomonas stutzeri displays nitric oxide reductase activity.

The cytochrome cbb3 is an isoenzyme in the family of cytochrome c oxidases. This protein purified from Pseudomonas stutzeri displays a cyanide-sensitive nitric oxide reductase activity (Vmax=100+/-9 mol NO x mol cbb3(-1) x min(-1) and Km=12+/-2.5 microm), which is lost upon denaturation. This enzyme is only partially reduced by ascorbate, and readily re-oxidized by NO under anaerobic conditions at a rate consistent with the turnover number for NO consumption. As shown by transient spectroscopy experiments and singular value decomposition (SVD) analysis, these results suggest that the cbb3-type cytochromes, sharing structural features with bacterial nitric oxide reductases, are the enzymes retaining the highest NO reductase activity within the heme-copper oxidase superfamily.

Role for the Salmonella Flavohemoglobin in Protection from Nitric Oxide

Hemoglobin homologs are being identified in an expanding number of unicellular prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Many of these hemoglobins are twodomain proteins that possess a flavin-containing reductase in their C terminus. Determination of a function for these flavohemoglobins has been elusive. A Salmonella typhimurium strain harboring a deletion in the flavohemoglobin gene shows no difference in growth under oxidative stress conditions but displays an increased sensitivity to acidified nitrite and S-nitrosothiols, both of which produce nitric oxide. The effect is seen aerobically or anaerobically, indicating that oxygen is not required for flavohemoglobin function. These results suggest a role for the bacterial flavohemoglobins that is independent of oxygen metabolism and provide evidence for a bacterial route of protection from nitric oxide that is distinct from oxidative stress responses.

Purification and initial kinetic and spectroscopic characterization of NO reductase from Paracoccus denitrificans

A new and relatively simple procedure to purify NO reductase from Paracoccus denitrificans by using the detergent lauryl maltoside has been developed. The purified enzyme consists of two subunits according to SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Analysis of the content of prosthetic groups indicates the presence of non-haem iron in addition to the presence b and c cytochromes yielding a stoichiometry of haem b/haem c/non-haem iron=2:1:1. The optical spectrum of reduced NO reductase shows bands of low-spin haem c and haem b with α-band absorbance maxima at 551 nm and 558 nm, respectively. The optical spectrum of oxidized NO reductase shows a broad absorbance band around 590 nm which disappears upon reduction. This latter absorbance is ascribed to a high-spin haem b (charge-transfer) transition. The presence of high-spin haem b is also indicated by the shifts observed in the optical spectrum of oxidized NO reductase in the presence of NO or in the spectrum of reduced enzyme after addition of CO. The main features of the EPR spectrum of the oxidized enzyme are resonances from a highly anisotropic low-spin haem b ( g z =3.53) and from an anisotropic low-spin haem c with g z,y,x =2.99, 2.28, 1.46, the two haems being present in an approximate 1:1 stoichiometry. Minor signals representing about 1% of the enzyme concentration due to high-spin haem b ( g=5.8–6.2) and a novel type of signal with g=2.009 ascribed to high-spin non-haem ferric iron were also observed. The analysis of steady-state kinetic measurements of the NO reductase activity shows a sigmoidal relation between rate of NO reduction and NO concentration, consistent with a model describing sequential binding of two molecules of NO to the reduced enzyme. At high NO concentrations substrate inhibition occurs ( K i(apparent)=13.5 μM) suggested to be due to binding of NO to oxidized enzyme. The absence from the EPR spectrum of signals originating from ferric non-haem iron and ferric high-spin haem b in stoichiometric amounts with respect to the enzyme concentration is suggested to be due to an antiferromagnetic coupling between these two centers. The steady-state kinetic behaviour and the optical and EPR spectroscopic properties of the NO reductase are incorporated into a tentative structural and mechanistic model.

Metabolism of nitric oxide byPseudomonas stutzeriin culture and in soil

Denitrification of nitrate with glucose as electron donor was measured in Pseudomonas stutzeri in batch culture and after inoculation into sterile soil. In closed culture, denitrification of 4 mM nitrate, NO and N2O with maximum concentrations of 2.2 mM, 126 nM and 169 nM, respectively. Denitrification experiments in soil were done in a flow-through system in which the soil was continuously flushed with N2. Denitrification of about 80 μg nitrate-N g−1dw soil (= 67mM) resulted in the intermediate accumulation of about 3–6 μg nitrate-N g−1dw soil (= 2.5–5.0 mM. The produced NO and N2O whcih were flushed out of the system amounted to 37–61% and 2–6% of the reduced nitrate, respectively. Both glucose and nitrate were required for denitrificatiom and for release of NO and N2O. NO consumption wasm studied in nitrate-exhausted soil using the flow-through system. NO consumption followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The apparent Vmax was about 15–42 amol NO h−1 cell−1, and the apparent Km was about 0.92 ppmv NO equivalent to 1.5 nM NO in the soil aqueous phase. At high soil water content (60–75% WHC), O2 mixing ratios between 0 and 20% in the gas phase had no short-term effect on the Vmax of NO consumption. At low soil water contents (10–30% WHC) however, the aerobic Vmax reached only about 20% of the aneorobic control. At high soil water contents only prolonged incubation (up to 96 h) under 20% O2 resulted also in decreased Vmax being about 30% of the anaerobic control The Km of NO consumption was unaffected by all these treatments. The NO reductase activity of P. stutzeri appeared to be relatively resistant towards O2 when the bacteria had been inoculated into soil, and was sufficient to explain NO uptake in oxic soils.