The genome of the thermoacidophilic archaebacterium Sulfolobus acidocaldarius does not contain repetitive sequences

Characteristics of genome organization in the sulfur-dependent thermoacidophilic archaebacterium Sulfolobus acidocaldarius have been studied. By means of hybridization analysis it is shown that the genome of S. acidocaldarius, unlike the genome of the extremely halophilic archaebacterium Halobacterium halobium, does not contain repetitive sequences.     

The amino acid sequence of glutamate dehydrogenase fromPyrococcus furiosus, a hyperthermophilic archaebacterium

The complete amino acid sequence of glutamate dehydrogenase from the archaebacteriumPyrococcus furiosus has been determined. The sequence was reconstructed by automated sequence analysis of peptides obtained after cleavage with cyanogen bromide, Asp-N endoproteinase, trypsin, or pepsin. The enzyme subunit is composed of 420 amino acid residues yielding a molecular mass of 47,122 D. In the recently determined primary structure of glutamate dehydrogenase from another thermophilic archaebacterium,Sulfolobus solfataricus, the presence of some methylated lysines was detected and the possible role of this posttranslational modification in enhancing the thermostability of the enzyme was discussed (Maras, B., Consalvi, V., Chiaraluce, R., Politi, L., De Rosa, M., Bossa, F., Scandurra, R., and Barra, D. (1992),Eur. J. Biochem. 203, 81–87). In the primary structure reported here, such posttranslational modification has not been found, indicating that the role of lysine methylation should be revisited. Comparison of the sequence of glutamate dehydrogenase fromPyrococcus furiosus with that ofS. solfataricus shows a 43.7% similarity, thus indicating a common evolutionary pathway.     

Characterization of pyrolysin, a hyperthermoactive serine protease from the archaebacterium Pyrococcus furiosus

Abstract From the hyperthermophilic archaebacterium Pyrococcus furiosus an oxygen-stable, extremely thermostable protease activity, which we designate pyrolysin, has been identified and characterized. Pyrolysin is a cell-envelope associated protease activity high thermo-activity and stability. The temperature optimum is 115°C and half-life values in the absence of substrate are: at least 96 h at 80°C, 9 h at 95°C, 4h at 100°C, 20 min at 105°C and 3 min at 110°C. Pyrolysin is active at a broad pH range between 6.5 and 10.5, and was classified as a serine-type protease activity. Zymogram staining showed the presence of multiple protease bands of about 140, 130, 115, 100 and 65 kDa.     

Complete Sequence and Gene Organization of the Genome of a Hyper-thermophilic Archaebacterium, Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3

The complete sequence of the genome of a hyper-thermophilicarchaebacterium, Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3, has been determinedby assembling the sequences of the physical map-based contigsof fosmid clones and of long polymerase chain reaction (PCR)products which were used for gap-filling. The entire lengthof the genome was 1,738,505 bp. The authenticity of the entiregenome sequence was supported by restriction analysis of longPCR products, which were directly amplified from the genomicDNA. As the potential protein-coding regions, a total of 2061open reading frames (ORFs) were assigned, and by similaritysearch against public databases, 406 (19.7%) were related togenes with putative function and 453 (22.0%) to the sequencesregistered but with unknown function. The remaining 1202 ORFs(58.3%) did not show any significant similarity to the sequencesin the databases. Sequence comparison among the assigned ORFsin the genome provided evidence that a considerable number ofORFs were generated by sequence duplication. By similarity search,11 ORFs were assumed to contain the intein elements. The RNAgenes identified were a single 16S-23S rRNA operon, two 5S rRNAgenes and 46 tRNA genes including two with the intron structure.All the assigned ORFs and RNA coding regions occupied 91.25%of the whole genome. The data presented in this paper are availableon the internet at http://www.nite.go.jp.     

一种嗜热耐酸古细菌JP2菌株编码的热稳定DNA连接酶的生物化学及酶学特性研究

对分离自巴布亚新几内亚地热活跃区的一种嗜热耐酸古细菌——JP2菌株中的DNA连接酶基因进行了克隆、表达、纯化,并对其生物化学及酶学特性进行了研究.对其核酸及氨基酸序列的分析表明:JP2菌株的DNA连接酶与古细菌种Sulfolobussolfataricus和Sulfolobusshibatae的DNA连接酶具有很高的同源性,尤其在与功能紧密相关的6个保守结构基序的一致性更高.JP2连接酶表现出高的DNA缺口连接活性,在二价金属辅因子的选择方面,JP2连接酶更倾向于Mn2 离子而不是Mg2 、Ca2 及其他离子.不同温度时的热稳定性测试显示:JP2连接酶在50～80℃时为较适连接温度,当温度不超过85℃时,连接酶的活性在5h内保持相对稳定,但在90℃以上活性则很快降低.还分离纯化了JP2的分子伴侣——TF55,并将其应用于增加JP2连接酶的热稳定性研究.结果表明:在体外85℃时,分子伴侣未增加连接酶的热稳定性,可能的原因是在85℃体外状态下TF55本身就表现出不稳定性.