Amino acid sequences of alpha-helical segments from S-carboxymethylkerateine-A. Complete sequence of a type-II segment.

E.p.r. spectrometry was used to investigate the quantitative relationships between the oxidized chlorophyll free-radical signal I and the reduced iron-sulphur centre-A signal generated on illuminating Photosystem-I particles at cryogenic temperatures. In Photosystem-I particles prepared by using the French press or Triton X-100, at pH8.0 in the presence and absence of ascorbate and at pH 10.0 in the presence of ascorbate, the size of the light-induced signal I and iron-sulphur centre-A signals, corresponded to equal numbers of unpaired electron spins in each component. At 77K the spin-lattice relaxation time, T1, of the free radical signal I in samples of Photosystem-I particles prepared with Triton X-100 in the absence of ascorbate was 0.68 times the T1 value in the presence of ascorbate. Such changes in relaxation time can account for the different quantitative conclusions incorrectly arrived at from measurements made at saturating microwave powers [Bearden & Malkin (1976) Biochem. Biophys. Acta 430, 538-547; Malkin & Bearden (1976) FEBS Lett. 69, 216-220]. In the presence of benzoquinone and ferricyanide the ratio of free radical to centre A was 2.96:1, and at 77K the T1 was 0.50 times the T1 for ascorbate-treated samples. Here free radicals from bulk chlorophyll are generated in addition to those from the reaction-centre chlorophyll.     

Amino acid sequences of alpha-helical segments from S-carboxymethylkerateine-A. Tryptic and chymotryptic peptides from a type-II segment.

1. Amino acid-sequence studies were done on a peptide of mol.wt. approx. 12500 that was isolated from the highly helical fragments obtained by partial chymotryptic digestion of the low-sulphur proteins (S-carboxymethylkerateine-A) from wool. 2. The peptides obtained by tryptic and chymotryptic digestion of this large peptide were separated by ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose at pH8.5 with an (NH4)(2)CO(3) concentration gradient and, where necessary, purified further by paper electrophoresis. 3. Determination of the sequences of many of these peptides showed that a high proportion of the cationic residues occurs in pairs. 4. Although two of the four S-carboxymethylcysteine residues are located in what appears to be a non-helical region near the N-terminus the other two S-carboxymethylcysteine residues occur in or near sequences suggesting a helical conformation. 5. Some peptides were obtained, in low yields, that appeared to be homologues of more major ones. These suggest either homologies in the helical portions of the low-sulphur proteins or the presence of closely related amino acid sequences in helical regions of completely different origins. 6. A partial sequence of the complete peptide is proposed.     

Amino acid sequences of alpha-helical segments from S-carboxymethylkerateine-A. Statistical analysis.

The distribution of the different types of amino acid residue within two helical segments isolated from the low-sulphur fraction of wool keratin was examined for periodicity and larger sequence repeats. Both were detected, the former corresponding to the geometry of the proposed coiled=coil structure and the latter suggesting a distant gene duplication, though the existence of the repeat might equally well be related to interactions within the microfibril.     

Amino acid sequence of endothiapepsin. Complete primary structure of the aspartic protease from Endothia parasitica

The amino acid sequence of endothiapepsin, the aspartic protease from Endothia parasitica has been determined. The enzyme consists of 330 residues. The sequence determination was performed exclusively at the protein level. The homology of this fungal milk-clotting enzyme with aspartic proteases is demonstrated by alignment with pepsin, chymosin, gastricsin, renin, and cathepsin D from various vertebrates and proteinase A from Saccharomyces cerevisiae showing 25-30% identity. The identity with mucor rennin from Mucor pucillus was 21% and with penicillopepsin from Penicillium janthinellum 53%, the fungal enzymes thus representing the lowest as well as the highest degree of homology.     

Amino acid sequence of beta-galactosidase. V. Isolation and sequences of chymotryptic peptides.

The amino acid sequence of 72 chymotryptic peptides isolated from 14C-, 3H-labeled carboxymethyl-beta-galactosidase has been determined. A variety of techniques were used in the isolation procedures including separation by solubility, size, and ion exchange and paper chromatography. These peptides contain approximatley 500 amino acids, range in size from 2 to 26 residues, and give overlaps with tryptic peptides of 16 to 55 residues. Peptides from this digest and those reported earlier from tryptic digests account together for the sequence of about 600 of the 1021 residues in the subunit.     

Amino acid sequence of calmodulin from Euglena gracilis.

The complete amino acid sequence of calmodulin from Euglena gracilis was determined by isolation and sequence analyses of peptides derived from calmodulin by digestion with trypsin and Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease. Euglena calmodulin consists of 148 amino acid residues; it lacks tryptophan and cysteine and contains one tyrosine, three histidine and two NE-trimethyllysine residues/molecule of the protein. Its N-terminus was blocked with an acetyl group and C-terminal lysine was trimethylated. Euglena calmodulin is the first calmodulin so far examined in which the C-terminal lysine is trimethylated. The comparison of amino acid sequences between Euglena and human brain calmodulins indicated 17 amino acid substitutions in Euglena calmodulin.     

Amino acid sequence of a four-iron-four-sulphur ferredoxin isolated from Bacillus stearothermophilus.

1. The primary structure of a 4Fe-4S ferredoxin from Bacillus stearothermophilus was determined and shown to consist of a single polypeptide chain of 81 amino acid residues. The molecular weight of the holoprotein is about 9120. 2. There are only four cysteine residues in the molecule; three of these are located near the N-terminus as a Cys-X-X-Cys-X-X-Cys segment, and the fourth cysteine residue is followed by a proline and located in the C-terminal half. 3. The Fe-S chromophore in B. stearothermophilus ferredoxin was previously well characterized and was shown to consist of a single 4Fe-4S cluster. This ferredoxin sequence establishes for the first time the relative location of the four cysteine residues necessary to bind the 4Fe-4S cluster of a 4Fe ferredoxin, and is in agreement with the criteria for the relative positions of the cysteines proposed from X-ray-crystallographic studies on an 8Fe (two 4Fe-4S clusters) ferredoxin. 4. The sequence of B. stearothermophilus ferredoxin is homologous in many segments to that of other bacterial ferredoxins, the degree of homology being greater towards ferredoxins from Desulfovibrio gigas and photosynthetic bacteria than to Clostridial ferredoxins. 5. The presence of a relatively higher number of glutamic acid and lower number of cysteine residues in the molecule may explain the greater thermal stability and oxygen-insenstivity of this ferredoxin.     

Amino acid sequence of the N-terminal non-collagenous segment of dermatosparactic sheep procollagen type I.

The non-collagenous N-terminal segment of type I procollagen from dermatosparactic sheep skin was isolated in the form of the peptide Col 1 from a collagenase digest of the protein. The peptide has a blocked N-terminus, which was identified as pyrrolid-2-one-5-carboxylic acid. Appropriate overlapping fragments were prepared from reduced and alkylated peptide Col 1 by cleavage with trypsin at lysine, arginine and S-aminoethyl-cysteine residues and by cleavage with staphylococcal proteinase at glutamate residues. Amino acid sequence analysis of these fragments by Edman degradation and mass spectrometry established the whole sequence of peptide Col 1 except for a peptide junction (7--8) and a single Asx residue (44), and demonstrated that peptide Col 1 consists of 98 amino acid residues. The N-terminal portion of peptide Col 1 (86 residues) shows an irregular distribution of glycine, whereas the C-terminal portion (12 residues) possesses the triplet structure Gly-Xy and is apparently derived from the precursor-specific collagenous domain of procollagen. The central region of the peptide contains ten cysteine residues located between positions 18 and 73 and shows alternating polar and hydrophobic sequence elements. The regions adjacent to the cysteine-rich portion have a hydrophilic nature and are abundant in glutamic acid. The data are consistent with previous physicochemical and immunological evidence that distinct regions at the N- and C-termini of the non-collagenous domain possess a less rigid conformation than does the central portion of the molecule.     

Amino acid sequence of acyl-CoA-binding protein from cow liver.

Acyl-CoA-binding protein from bovine liver was purified with the use of reverse-phase h.p.l.c. in the final step. The complete amino acid sequence was determined by using a combination of gas-phase Edman degradation and electron-impact and fast-atom-bombardment mass spectrometry. The sequence was confirmed by determination of the Mr by plasma-desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry.     

Amino acid sequence of toxin III from Anemonia sulcata.

Toxin III, the smallest toxin component of the poison of the sea anemone Anemonia sulcata, is a polypeptide with 27 amino acids. Its structure is stabilized by three disulfide bridges. The amino acid sequence was determined by solid-phase Edman degradation of the aminoethylated derivative. The peptide was coupled to the carrier, porous glass, by thiourea bridges between the alpha-amino group of arginine-1 and the epsilon-amino group of lysine-26 and the isothiocyanate groups of the carrier. Another fraction of the polypeptide was bound by an acid-amide condensation of the C-terminal valine-27 with the aminopropyl group of the carrier. The sequence of toxin III has no regions homologous to the 47-residue toxin II. Comparison with the known partial sequence of toxin I, which contains 46 amino acids (Wunderer, G. & Eulitz, M., in preparation) also fails to reveal homologies.     

Amino acid sequence of the biotinyl subunit from transcarboxylase.

The complete amino acid sequence of the biotinyl subunit from the enzyme transcarboxylase of Propionibacterium shermanii has been determined from the structures of overlapping tryptic and cyanogen bromide peptides together with sequenator analysis on the whole subunit. The subunit contains 123 amino acid residues. Eleven of nineteen residues in the region of biotin attachment, when compared to pyruvate carboxylase from avian liver (Rylatt, D. B., Keech, D. B., and Wallace, J. C. (1977) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 183, 113-122), were found to be in identical positions relative to biocytin. There was less homology with acetyl-CoA carboxylase from Escherichia coli (Sutton, M. R., Fall, R. R., Nervi, A. M., Alberts, A. W., Vagelos, P. R., and Bradshaw, R. A. (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 3934-3940), but in all of these biotin enzymes there was an alanylmethionyl-biocytinyl-methionine sequence. The secondary structure of the biotinyl subunit has been estimated using the method of Chou and Fasman (Chou, P. Y., and Fasman, G. D. (1978) Adv. Enzymol. 47, 45-148) and considered in relationship to the role of the biotinyl subunit in the structure and function in transcarboxylase.     

Amino acid sequence studies on the alpha chain of human fibrinogen. Overlapping sequences providing the complete sequence

The complete amino acid sequence of the alpha chain of human fibrinogen has been determined. It contains 610 amino acid residues and has a calculated molecular weight of 66,124. The chain has 10 methionines, and fragmentation with cyanogen bromide yields 11 peptides [Doolittle, R.F., Cassman, K.G., Cottrell, B.A., Friezner, S.J., Hucko, J.T., & Takagi, T. (1977) Biochemistry 16, 1703]. The arrangement of the 11 fragments was determined by the isolation of peptide overlaps from plasmic and staphylococcal protease digests of fibrinogen and/or alpha chains. In addition, certain of the cyanogen bromide fragments, preliminary reports of whose sequences have appeared previously, have been reexamined in order to resolve several discrepancies. The alpha chain is homologous with the beta and gamma chains of fibrinogen, although a large repetitive segment of unusual composition is absent from the latter two chains. The existence of this unusual segment divides the sequence of the alpha chain into three zones of about 200 residues each that are readily distinguishable on the basis of amino acid composition alone.     

Amino acid sequence of bovine neurophysin-II: a reinvestigation.

The entire amino acid sequence of bovine neurophysin-II has been redetermined by manual Edman degradation of tryptic peptides obtained from performic acid-oxidized neurophysin. Electrophoretically homogeneous bovine neurophysin-II was found to be a mixture of two species of protein molecules both containing 95 amino acid residues. The only difference between the two species of the neurophysin molecules is a single amino acid substitution at residue 89. Of the bovine neurophysin-II used in this work 70% of the protein material contained valine and 30% contained isoleucine at residue 89 in their sequences. The redetermined sequences of bovine neurophysin-II shown in Fig. 2 differ substantially from the reported sequence of bovine neurophysin-II but resemble closely that of porcine neurophysin-I and ovine neurophysin-III (Fig. 3).     

Amino acid sequence of the unique protamine from yellow perch.

By the criteria of gel electrophoresis, ion-exchange chromatography, and reverse-phase HPLC, yellow perch protamine behaves as a single component. This observation was confirmed by automated Edman degradation which gave a single unambiguous amino acid sequence PRRRRHAARPVRRRRRTRRSSRVHRRRRAVRRRR. Yellow perch protamine has 34 amino acids, including 21 arginines. It has two histidines, neither of which interrupts an arginine tract. It is unusual among fish protamines in not having a serine or threonine N-terminal to the second arginine tract, and is unique in not being a mixture of components.