Respiratory Mechanisms in the Flexibacteriaceae: Terminal Oxidase Systems of Saprospira grandis and Vitreoscilla Species

Particles from both Saprospira grandis and Vitreoscilla species, obtained by high-pressure extrusion and sonic treatment, respectively, actively catalyze the oxidation of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and succinate with O(2). These activities are inhibited by cyanide but not by antimycin; Saprospira is also amytal- and rotenone-insensitive. Vitreoscilla preparations were unable to oxidize mammalian ferrocytochrome c and reduced tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine, whereas the Saprospira preparations did so actively. Low-temperature (77 K) difference spectroscopy of Vitreoscilla cells and particles indicates the presence of three maxima in the cytochrome alpha-region at 554, 558, and 562 nm. All three cytochromes are active in NADH and succinate oxidation, but none is ascorbate reducible. Cytochrome o is the only CO-binding pigment present and is probably the terminal oxidase; it has properties similar to the cytochrome o isolated in solubilized form from this organism. Saprospira cells and membranes exhibit four cytochrome absorption bands whose maxima are at 550, 554, 558, and 603 nm at 77 K. The latter component has not been noted previously. NADH and succinate reduce all four cytochromes, but ascorbate reduces only the 550- and 603-nm pigments. CO spectra indicate the presence of cytochrome a,a(3) which is probably the oxidase. A second CO-binding pigment is present which is not a peroxidase but may be a cytochrome.     

A carbon monoxide-binding hemoprotein formed by heme accumulation in Escherichia coli.

A CO-binding hemochrome was accumulated in Escherichia coli cells, when intracellular heme concentration was increased by aerobic incubation of resting cell suspensions with ALA. Reduced minus oxidized difference spectrum of the hemochrome showed peaks at 560, 530, and 430 nm and a shoulder at 575 nm. The peaks of CO reduced minus reduced difference spectrum were located at 572, 540, and 422 nm. The CO spectrum was similar to but not identical with the spectrum of cytochrome o, a known terminal oxidase in E. coli. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the CO-binding hemochrome showed its molecular weight to be about 33,000. The hemochrome in crude cell-free extracts was oxidized by aeration and reduced by the addition of succinate or NADH. The reduction by succinate was inhibited by inhibitors of succinate dehydrogenase [EC 1.3.99.1], and the reduction by NADH was inhibited by 2-heptyl-4-hydroxy-quinolin-N-oxide, which is an inhibitor of electron transport in E. coli cells.     

The respiratory electron transport system of heterotrophically-grown Rhodopseudomonas palustris.

The enzymatic activities and the cytochrome components of the respiratory chain were investigated with membrane fractions from chemoheterotrophically growth Rhodopseudomonas palustris. Whereas the level of electron transfer carriers was not distinctly affected by a change of the culture conditions, the potential activities of the enzymes were clearly increased when the cells were grown aerobically. Reduced-minus oxidized difference spectra of the membrane fractions prepared from dark aerobically grown cells revealed the presence of three beta-types cytochromes b561, b560 and b558, and at least two c-type cytochromes c556 and c2 as electron carriers in the electron transfer chain. Cytochrome of a-type could not be detected in these membranes. Reduced plus CO minus reduced difference spectra of the membrane fractions were indicative of cytochrome o, which may be equivalent to cytochrome b560, appearing in substrate-reduced minus oxidized difference spectra. Cytochrome o was found to be the functional terminal oxidase. CO difference spectra of the high speed supernatant fraction indicated the presence of cytochrome c'. Succinate and NADH reduced the same types of cytochromes. However, a considerable amount of cytochrome b561 with associated beta and gamma bands at 531 and 429 nm, respectively, was reducible by succinate, but not by NADH. A substantial fraction of the membrane-bound b-type cytochrome was non-substrate reducible and was found in dithionite-reduced minus substrate-reduced spectra. Cytochrome c2 may be localized in a branch of the electron transport system, with the branch-point at the level of ubiquinone. The separate pathways rejoined at a common terminal oxidase. Two terminal oxidases with different KCN sensitivity were present in the respiratory chain, one of which was sensitive to low concentrations of KCN and was connected with the cytochrome chain. The other terminal oxidase which was inhibited only by high concentrations of cyanide was located in a branched pathway, through which the electrons could flow from ubiquinone to oxygen bypassing the cytochrome chain.     

Spectral and potentiometric analysis of cytochromes from Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis cytoplasmic membranes contain several cytochromes which are linked to the respiratory chain. At least six different cytochromes have been separated and identified by ammonium sulphate fractionation and ion-exchange chromatography. They include two terminal oxidases with CO-binding properties and cyanide sensitivity. One of these is an aa3-type cytochrome c oxidase which has characteristic absorption maxima in the reduced-oxidized difference spectrum at 601 nm in the alpha-band and at 443 nm in the Soret band regions. In the alpha-band two separate electron transitions with Em = +205 mV and Em = +335 mV can be discriminated by redox potentiometric titration. The other CO-binding cytochrome c oxidase contains two cytochrome b components with alpha-band maxima at 556 nm and 559 nm. Cytochrome b556 can be reduced by ascorbate and has an Em + +215 mV, whereas cytochrome b559 has an Em = +140 mV. Furthermore a complex consisting of a cytochrome b564 (Em = +140 mV) associated with a cytochrome c554 (Em = +250 mV) was found. This cytochrome c554, which can be reduced by ascorbate, appears to have an asymmetrical alpha-peak and stains for heme-catalyzed peroxidase activity on SDS-containing polyacrylamide gels. A protein with a molecular mass of about 30 kDa is responsible for this activity. A cytochrome b559 (Em = +65 mV) appears to be an essential part of succinate dehydrogenase. Finally a cytochrome c550 component with an apparent mid-point potential of Em = +195 mV has been detected.     

Oxidative phosphorylation and effects of aerobic conditions on Rhodopseudomonas viridis

Particles prepared from photosynthetically grown Rhodopseudomonas viridis, which has previously been described as an obligate photo-organotroph, catalyse oxidative phosphorylation. The P:O ratio is 0.3 with succinate as substrate and 0.45 with NADH. The reaction is inhibited by carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone and oligomycin. Antimycin A or 2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide inhibit succinate or NADH oxidation as well as oxidative phosphorylation.

After repeated transfers of cultures from agar plates, kept aerobic in the dark, cells of R. viridis were capable of limited exponential aerobic growth. In such cells no bacteriochlorophyll and very little carotenoid was detected; there was also a loss of the characteristic membrane structure found in photosynthetic cells. The K_m for oxygen of these cells was lowered from 0.35 (±0.09) to 0.007 (±0.002) mM and an additional cytochrome-like pigment was observed, with an absorption maximum at 560 nm at 77 °K. There was also an increased amount of a CO-binding pigment in aerobically grown cells.     

The electron transport chain ofStreptomyces erythreus: Possible functions of cytochromeaa 3 and a novel green pigment

The cytochromes of the bacteriumStreptomyces erythreus have been investigated. Membrane-bounda-, b-, andc-type cytochromes were found together with a green pigment, which was found in both a soluble and membrane-bound form. Cells containing the green pigment exhibited cyanide-insensitive oxygen uptake. The CO-binding pigments included cytochromea ₃, ab-type cytochrome, cytochrome P450, and the green pigment. Photodissociation spectra at various low temperatures, in the presence or absence of oxygen, revealed cytochromeaa ₃ to be the predominant cytochrome terminal oxidase. The green pigment was capable of electron transport; the relationship of the pigment to the remainder of the electron transport chain remains to be ascertained.     

The microbial metabolism of C1 compounds. The cytochromes of Pseudomaonas AM1.

Pseudomonas AM1 contains cytochromes a, b and c and more than one CO-binding pigment (cytochrome a3, cytochrome c and possibly a cytochrome o). The soluble cytochrome c has been purified; its isoelectric point is low and its molecular weight is 20000. This cytochrome is reduced in whole bacteria by all oxidizable substrates at rates determined by the primary dehydrogenases. A mutant lacking cytochrome c oxidizes all substrates except methanol, ethanol and methylamine; these no longer support growth. The role of cytochrome c in electron transport in Pseudomonas AM1 is discussed.     

Spectroscopic studies of flavoproteins and non-haem iron proteins of submitochondrial particles of Torulopsis utilis modified by iron- and sulphate-limited growth in continuous culture

1. A spectroscopic resolution has been made of the components contributing to the ;iron-flavoprotein' trough extending from 450 to 520nm in the reduced-minus-oxidized difference spectrum of submitochondrial particles of Torulopsis utilis. 2. Seven components were identified other than cytochrome b, ubiquinone and succinate dehydrogenase. On the basis of the effects of iron- and sulphate-limited growth of cells on their subsequently derived electron-transport particles, and also by consideration of analytical measurements of the concentration of FMN, FAD, non-haem iron and acid-labile sulphide in the electron-transport particles in relation to the magnitude of the spectroscopic changes, it was possible to identify five of these components as follows: species 1a, the flavin of NADH dehydrogenase ferroflavoprotein; species 1b, the iron-sulphur component of NADH dehydrogenase ferroflavoprotein; species 1', the flavin of an NADPH dehydrogenase; species 2, an iron-sulphur or ferroflavoprotein component; species 3, the flavin of l-3-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase. Two additional components were a fluorescent flavoprotein, probably lipoamide dehydrogenase, and a b-type cytochrome reducible by NADH or NADPH but not reoxidizable by the respiratory chain. 3. Species 1b and 2 were undetectable in electron-transport particles from iron- or sulphate-limited cells, but could be recovered in vivo under non-growing conditions. 4. The recovery in vivo of species 2 but not species 1b was inhibited by cycloheximide. 5. The recovery of species 1b correlates with the recovery of site 1 conservation. 6. The recovery of species 1b with species 2 correlates with the recovery of piericidin A sensitivity. 7. Evidence is presented for an NADPH dehydrogenase distinct from NADH dehydrogenase. The oxidation of NADH and NADPH by the respiratory chain is sensitive to piericidin A, and an iron-sulphur protein common to both pathways (species 2) is suggested as the piericidin A-sensitive component. 8. The approximate E'(0) (pH7.0) values of species 1 (a and b, low potential) and species 2 (high potential) indicate that site 1 energy conservation occurs between the levels of species 1 (a and b) and species 2.     

A CO-Binding Hemoprotein Derived from Tetrahymena pyriformis

A CO-binding hemoprotein was purified from Tetrahymena pyriformis and some of its properties were studied.

The hemoprotein possessed protoheme, its molecular weight was about 11,000, and its isoelectric point was at pH 8.2. The oxidized form of the hemoprotein showed the Soret band at 406 nm and had no distinct peaks in the region of α- and β-bands, while the reduced form showed the peaks at 426, 527 and 560 nm. The hemoprotein reacted with CO resulting in shift of the Soret band from 426 to 420 nm. The CO-compound showed a broad band from 537 to 573 nm. The hemoprotein was not autoxidizable or oxygenated either. It did not show either of the cytochrome oxidase, peroxidase and NADH oxidase activities.

It should be carefully determined whether or not cytochrome o is functioning as the terminal oxidase in T. pyriformis, as the CO-binding hemoprotein which does not react with molecular oxygen exists in the organism.     

Redox reactions of tonoplast and plasma membranes isolated from soybean hypocotyls by free-flow electrophoresis

Redox reactions were studied in more than 90% pure tonoplast and plasma membranes isolated by free-flow electrophoresis from soybean (Glycine max) hypocotyls. Both types of membrane contained a b-type cytochrome (alpha max = 561 nm) and a noncovalently bound flavin, two possible components of a transmembrane electron-transport chain. Isolated tonoplast and plasma membranes reduced ferricyanide, indophenol and various iron complexes with NADH or NADPH as electron donors. The redox activity was inhibited in tonoplast membranes by about 60% by 10 microM p-chloromercuribenzene sulfonate, 8% by 500 microM lanthanum nitrate and 10% by 100 microM nitrophenyl acetate. In contrast, the redox activity of isolated plasma membranes was inhibited by about 60% by 500 microM lanthanum nitrate or 100 microM nitrophenyl acetate, but only 25% by 10 microM p-chloromercuribenzene sulfonate. The results show that both tonoplast and plasma membranes of soybean contain active electron-transport systems, but that the two systems respond differently to inhibitors.     

Pyridine nucleotide complexes with Bacillus anthracis coenzyme A-disulfide reductase: a structural analysis of dual NAD(P)H specificity

We have recently reported that CoASH is the major low-molecular weight thiol in Bacillus anthracis [Nicely, N. I. , Parsonage, D., Paige, C., Newton, G. L., Fahey, R. C., Leonardi, R., Jackowski, S., Mallett, T. C., and Claiborne, A. (2007) Biochemistry 46, 3234-3245], and we have now characterized the kinetic and redox properties of the B. anthracis coenzyme A-disulfide reductase (CoADR, BACoADR) and determined the crystal structure at 2.30 A resolution. While the Staphylococcus aureus and Borrelia burgdorferi CoADRs exhibit strong preferences for NADPH and NADH, respectively, B. anthracis CoADR can use either pyridine nucleotide equally well. Sequence elements within the respective NAD(P)H-binding motifs correctly reflect the preferences for S. aureus and Bo. burgdorferi CoADRs, but leave questions as to how BACoADR can interact with both pyridine nucleotides. The structures of the NADH and NADPH complexes at ca. 2.3 A resolution reveal that a loop consisting of residues Glu180-Thr187 becomes ordered and changes conformation on NAD(P)H binding. NADH and NADPH interact with nearly identical conformations of this loop; the latter interaction, however, involves a novel binding mode in which the 2'-phosphate of NADPH points out toward solvent. In addition, the NAD(P)H-reduced BACoADR structures provide the first view of the reduced form (Cys42-SH/CoASH) of the Cys42-SSCoA redox center. The Cys42-SH side chain adopts a new conformation in which the conserved Tyr367'-OH and Tyr425'-OH interact with the nascent thiol(ate) on the flavin si-face. Kinetic data with Y367F, Y425F, and Y367,425F BACoADR mutants indicate that Tyr425' is the primary proton donor in catalysis, with Tyr367' functioning as a cryptic alternate donor in the absence of Tyr425'.     

Redox reactions of tonoplast and plasma membranes isolated from soybean hypocotyls by free-flow electrophoresis

Redox reactions were studied in more than 90% pure tonoplast and plasma membranes isolated by free-flow electrophoresis from soybean (Glycine max) hypocotyls. Both types of membrane contained a b-type cytochrome (_max = 561 nm) and a noncovalently bound flavin, two possible components of a transmembrane electron-transport chain. Isolated tonoplast and plasma membranes reduced ferricyanide, indophenol and various iron complexes with NADH or NADPH as electron donors. The redox activity was inhibited in tonoplast membranes by about 60% by 10 μM p-chloromercuribenzene sulfonate, 8% by 500 μM lanthanum nitrate and 10% by 100 μM nitrophenyl acetate. In contrast, the redox activity of isolated plasma membranes was inhibited by about 60% by 500 μM lanthanum nitrate or 100 μM nitrophenyl acetate, but only 25% by 10 μM p-chloromercuribenzene sulfonate. The results show that both tonoplast and plasma membranes of soybean contain active electron-transport systems, but that the two systems respond differently to inhibitors.     

Oxidation of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide by particles from Mycobacterium lepraemurium.

Particles from Mycobacterium lepraemurium catalysed the oxidation of NADH with oxygen as the terminal electron acceptor. The preparations contained cytochromes of the a + a3'b and c types, as well as CO-binding pigments. The NADH oxidase activity was sensitive to inhibitors of the flavoprotein system as well as to HQNO and antimycin A. In addition, a cytochrome oxidase sensitive to cyanide was also present. The system was inhibited by the thiol-binding agent, PCMB, and thus indicated the involvement of sulphydryl group in the enzymatic oxidation of NADH. The sensitivity of the NADH oxidase system to all the inhibitors of the respiratory chain and the effect of these inhibitors on the absorption spectra suggested that cytochromes of the b, c, a + a3 types are involved in the transfer of electrons in NADH oxidation.     

The microbial metabolism of C1 compounds. The electron-transport chain of Pseudomonas AM1

Pseudomonas AM1, Hyphomicrobium X and Pseudomonas MS all contain cytochrome a/a(3) and a b-type cytochrome able to react with CO. Pseudomonas AM1 and Hyphomicrobium X also have a CO-binding cytochrome c. The purified cytochrome c (redox potential 0.26V) of Pseudomonas AM1 was not susceptible to oxidation by molecular oxygen. CO reacted slowly with the reduced form giving a CO difference spectrum with a peak at 412nm and troughs at 420nm and 550nm. Similar results were obtained with the cytochrome c of Hyphomicrobium (aerobically grown or anaerobically grown with nitrate) and with that of Pseudomonas extorquens. The results given in the present paper are incompatible with an oxygenase or oxidase function for the soluble cytochrome c of methylotrophs. Studies with whole cells of Pseudomonas AM1 and a cytochrome c-deficient mutant have demonstrated that cytochrome b (redox potential 0.009V) is the first cytochrome in the electron-transport chain for oxidation of all substrates except methanol (and ethanol) whose oxidation does not involve this cytochrome. All substrates are usually oxidized by way of cytochrome c and cytochrome oxidase (cytochrome a/a(3)), but there is an alternative route for the reduction of cytochrome a/a(3) in the mutant lacking cytochrome c. Results of experiments on cyanide inhibition of respiration and cytochrome oxidation support the suggestion that the susceptibility of cytochrome b to oxidation by molecular oxygen (reflected in its ability to react with CO) is probably irrelevant to the normal physiology of Pseudomonas AM1.     

The respiratory chain of Helicobacter pylori: identification of cytochromes and the effects of oxygen on cytochrome and menaquinone levels

Abstract The quinone and cytochrome components of the respiratory chain of the microaerophilic bacterium Helicobacter pylori have been investigated. The major isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone-6, with traces of menaquinone-4; no methyl-substituted or unusual menaquinone species were found. Cell yield was highest after growth at 10% (v/v) oxygen and menaquinone levels (per dry cell mass) were maximal at 5–10% (v/v) oxygen. Helicobacter pylori cells and membranes contained b -and c -type cytochromes, but not terminal oxidases of the a -or d -types, as judged by reduced minus oxidised difference spectra. Spectra consistent with the presence of a CO-binding terminal oxidase of the cytochrome b -or o -type were obtained. The soluble fraction from disrupted cells also contained cytochrome c . There were no significant qualitative differences in the cytochrome complements of cells grown at oxygen concentrations in the range 2–15% (v/v) but putative oxidases were highest in cells grown at 5–10% (v/v) oxygen.     

Energy tranduction in photosynthetic bacteria. XI. Further resolution of cytochromes of b type and the nature of the co-sensitive oxidase present in the respiratory chain of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata.

1. In membranes prepared from dark grown cells of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata, five cytochromes of b type (E'0 at pH 7.0 +413+/-5, +270+/-5, +148+/-5, +56+/-5 and -32+/-5 mV) can be detected by redox titrations at different pH values. The midpoint potentials of only three of these cytochromes (b148, b56, and b-32) vary as a function of pH with a slope of 30 mV per pH unit. 2. In the presence of a CO/N2 mixture, the apparent E'0 of cytochrome b270 shifts markedly towards higher potentials (+355mV); a similar but less pronounced shift is apparent also for cytochrome b150. The effect of CO on the midpoint potential of cytochrome b270 is absent in the respiration deficient mutant M6 which possesses a specific lesion in the CO-sensitive segment of the branched respiratory chain present in the wild type strain. 3. Preparations of spheroplasts with lysozyme digestion lead to the release of a large amount of cytochrome c2 and of virtually all cytochrome cc'. These preparations show a respiratory chain impaired in the electron pathway sensitive to low KCN concentration, in agreement with the proposed role of cytochrome c2 in this branch; on the contrary, the activity of the CO-sensitive branch remains unaffected, indicating that neither cytochrome c2 nor the CO-binding cytochrome cc' are involved in this pathway. 4. Membranes prepared from spheroplasts still possess a CO-binding pigment characterized by maxima at 420.5, 543 and 574 nm and minima at 431, 560 nm in C0-difference spectra and with an alpha band at 562.5 nm in reduced minus oxidized difference spectra. This membrane-bound cytochrome, which is coincident with cytochrome b270, can be classified as a typical cytochrome "0" and considered the alternative CO-sensitive oxidase.     

Regulation of calbindin-D9k expression by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) and parathyroid hormone in mouse primary renal tubular cells

Membranes of the obligate methylotroph Methylobacillus flagellatus KT contained hemes B, O, and C and cytochromes b, o, and c both in batch and in continuous cultures. Neither heme A nor heme D was detected in the membranes. The cytochromes o and bb were the main components reversibly binding carbon monoxide (CO) in the terminal part of the respiratory chain. The alpha-region and especially the alpha-peaks at 568 and 573 nm and the alpha-troughs at 586 and 592 on the CO-difference spectra were diagnostic for the cytochromes o and bb, respectively. The cytochrome o content increased up to 1.8 times upon increasing the dilution rate of the culture from 0.15 to 0.55 h(-1) under methanol limitation. By contrast, the level of the CO-binding cytochrome bb was not affected by methanol concentration but its content increased up to 1.9 times when the level of oxygen decreased from 95 to 21 microM under the constant dilution rate (mu = 0.55 h(-1)). The maximum ratio between the cytochromes o and bb reached 2 during continuous cultivation under methanol-limited conditions (mu = 0.55 h(-1)), whereas the minimum ratio between them was about 0.7 during batch cultivation at stationary phase of growth. The synthesis of the CO-binding cytochrome bb but not of the cytochrome o in M. flagellatus KT was assumed to depend on the ambient redox potential of the medium. The cytochrome o synthesis was supposed to depend on the transmembrane gradient of protons (Delta(mu)H+).     

Sulfate-Reducing Bacterium with Unusual Morphology and Pigment Content

A dissimilatory sulfate-reducing bacterium was isolated which differed in morphology and pigment content from previously described species. The organism was mesophilic, obligately anaerobic, gram-negative, nonsporulating, long, and slender with one polar flagellum. Whole cells fluoresced red at neutral pH when excited with light at 365 nm owing to the presence of a pink pigment. Desulfoviridin was present. Reduced minus oxidized spectra of whole cells showed peaks in the position of a c-type cytochrome characteristic of Desulfovibrio species and peaks at about 629 and 603 nm. CO difference spectra showed the presence of a CO-binding pigment with a peak at 593 nm. Lactate and pyruvate supported growth in the presence of sulfate but not in its absence. Sulfate, sulfite, and thiosulfate served as electron acceptors for growth. Hydrogenase was present. The deoxyribonucleic acid had a buoyant density of 1.722 g/cm(3) and a guanosine plus cystosine molar percentage of total bases calculated by two different methods of 61.2 or 63.2.     

RESPIRATION AND PROTEIN SYNTHESIS IN ESCHERICHIA COLI MEMBRANE-ENVELOPE FRAGMENTS : III. Electron Microscopy and Analysis of the Cytochromes

The membranous nature of pellets obtained from broken Escherichia coli spheroplasts by successive centrifugation at 3500 g (P₁), 20,000 g (P₂), and 105,000 g (P₃), has been established by electron microscopy. Spectrophotometric analysis has shown that about 90% of the cytochromes are concentrated in the particulate fractions. The crude ribosomal pellet (P₃) contained as much of the total cytochromes as did the pellet obtained at 20,000 g (P₂). The high cytochrome content of P₃ is consistent with its high oxidative activity (1) and the presence of membrane vesicles in this fraction. Analysis at 77°K intensified the optical extinction of all the cytochrome absorption bands, but the degree of intensification was not uniform for each fraction nor for each band within a given fraction. Carbon monoxide had little or no inhibiting effect on NADH oxidation. Reduced plus carbon monoxide difference spectra yielded artifactual absorption bands in the wave length regions where reduced vs. oxidized absorption bands normally occur. Succinate and NADH, either together or separately, reduced nearly all of the cytochromes, indicating that the cytochrome portion of the electron-transport chain is shared by both substrates. A tentative formulation of the electron-transport chain is presented.     

The cytochrome system of Bacillus megaterium KM. The presence and some properties of two CO-binding cytochromes

1. Difference spectra of Bacillus megaterium KM membrane preparations indicate the presence of two pigments which bind CO and which exhibit the spectral characteristics of cytochromes a₃ and o. Relative amounts of the pigments vary with growth stage of the organism, but both are present at all stages which have been investigated. The pigments are believed to be metabolically active because they are completely reducible by substrate (NADH) and are reoxidizable in the presence of air. CO difference spectra of whole cell suspensions are in agreement with spectra of the isolated membrane fragments. In particulate preparations and in whole cells, CO difference spectra suggest that the a₃ component binds CO much more readily than the o component; this behavior offers a possible explanation for the fact that cytochrome o has been detected in only a few other microorganisms, since CO binding is by definition the property used to identify this cytochrome.

2. A separation of the two CO-binding pigments is obtained by incubation of membrane preparations with pancreatic lipase. This treatment selectively removes the o pigment from the membrane, leaving the a₃ component associated with an enzymatically active particulate fraction.