Function of the cytochrome bc1-aa3 branch of the respiratory network in mycobacteria and network adaptation occurring in response to its disruption

The aerobic electron transport chain in Mycobacterium smegmatis can terminate in one of three possible terminal oxidase complexes. The structure and function of the electron transport pathway leading from the menaquinol-menaquinone pool to the cytochrome bc1 complex and terminating in the aa3-type cytochrome c oxidase was characterized. M. smegmatis strains with mutations in the bc1 complex and in subunit II of cyctochome c oxidase were found to be profoundly growth impaired, confirming the importance of this respiratory pathway for mycobacterial growth under aerobic conditions. Disruption of this pathway resulted in an adaptation of the respiratory network that is characterized by a marked up-regulation of cydAB, which encodes the bioenergetically less efficient and microaerobically induced cytochrome bd-type menaquinol oxidase that is required for the growth of M. smegmatis under O2-limiting conditions. Further insights into the adaptation of this organism to rerouting of the electron flux through the branch terminating in the bd-type oxidase were revealed by expression profiling of the bc1-deficient mutant strain using a partial-genome microarray of M. smegmatis that is enriched in essential genes. Although the expression profile was indicative of an increase in the reduced state of the respiratory chain, blockage of the bc1-aa3 pathway did not induce the sentinel genes of M. smegmatis that are induced by oxygen starvation and are regulated by the DosR two-component regulator.     

Characterization of the cydAB-Encoded Cytochrome bd Oxidase from Mycobacterium smegmatis

The cydAB genes from Mycobacterium smegmatis have been cloned and characterized. The cydA and cydB genes encode the two subunits of a cytochrome bd oxidase belonging to the widely distributed family of quinol oxidases found in prokaryotes. The cydD and cydC genes located immediately downstream of cydB encode a putative ATP-binding cassette-type transporter. At room temperature, reduced minus oxidized difference spectra of membranes purified from wild-type M. smegmatis displayed spectral features that are characteristic of the gamma-proteobacterial type cytochrome bd oxidase. Inactivation of cydA or cydB by insertion of a kanamycin resistance marker resulted in loss of d-heme absorbance at 631 nm. The d-heme could be restored by transformation of the M. smegmatis cyd mutants with a replicating plasmid carrying the highly homologous cydABDC gene cluster from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Inactivation of cydA had no effect on the ability of M. smegmatis to exit from stationary phase at 37 or 42 degrees C. The growth rate of the cydA mutant was tested under oxystatic conditions. Although no discernible growth defect was observed under moderately aerobic conditions (9.2 to 37.5 x 10(2) Pa of pO(2) or 5 to 21% air saturation), the mutant displayed a significant growth disadvantage when cocultured with the wild type under extreme microaerophilia (0.8 to 1.7 x 10(2) Pa of pO(2) or 0.5 to 1% air saturation). These observations were in accordance with the two- to threefold increase in cydAB gene expression observed upon reduction of the pO(2) of the growth medium from 21 to 0.5% air saturation and with the concomitant increase in d-heme absorbance in spectra of membranes isolated from wild-type M. smegmatis cultured at 1% air saturation. Finally, the cydA mutant displayed a competitive growth disadvantage in the presence of the terminal oxidase inhibitor, cyanide, when cocultured with wild type at 21% air saturation in an oxystat. In conjunction with these findings, our results suggest that cytochrome bd is an important terminal oxidase in M. smegmatis.     

Isolation of a Rhizobium phaseoli cytochrome mutant with enhanced respiration and symbiotic nitrogen fixation.

Cultured cells of a Rhizobium phaseoli wild-type strain (CE2) possess b-type and c-type cytochromes and two terminal oxidases: cytochromes o and aa3. Cytochrome aa3 was partially expressed when CE2 cells were grown on minimal medium, during symbiosis, and in well-aerated liquid cultures in a complex medium (PY2). Two cytochrome mutants of R. phaseoli were obtained and characterized. A Tn5-mob-induced mutant, CFN4201, expressed diminished amounts of b-type and c-type cytochromes, showed an enhanced expression of cytochrome oxidases, and had reduced levels of N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine, succinate, and NADH oxidase activities. Nodules formed by this strain had no N2 fixation activity. The other mutant, CFN4205, which was isolated by nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis, had reduced levels of cytochrome o and higher succinate oxidase activity but similar NADH and N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine oxidase activities when compared with the wild-type strain. Strain CFN4205 expressed a fourfold-higher cytochrome aa3 content when cultured on minimal and complex media and had twofold-higher cytochrome aa3 levels during symbiosis when compared with the wild-type strain. Nodules formed by strain CFN4205 fixed 33% more N2 than did nodules formed by the wild-type strain, as judged by the total nitrogen content found in plants nodulated by these strains. Finally, low-temperature photodissociation spectra of whole cells from strains CE2 and CFN4205 reveal cytochromes o and aa3. Both cytochromes react with O2 at -180 degrees C to give a light-insensitive compound. These experiments identify cytochromes o and aa3 as functional terminal oxidases in R. phaseoli.     

Terminal oxidases of Bacillus subtilis strain 168: one quinol oxidase, cytochrome aa(3) or cytochrome bd, is required for aerobic growth

The gram-positive endospore-forming bacterium Bacillus subtilis has, under aerobic conditions, a branched respiratory system comprising one quinol oxidase branch and one cytochrome oxidase branch. The system terminates in one of four alternative terminal oxidases. Cytochrome caa(3) is a cytochrome c oxidase, whereas cytochrome bd and cytochrome aa(3) are quinol oxidases. A fourth terminal oxidase, YthAB, is a putative quinol oxidase predicted from DNA sequence analysis. None of the terminal oxidases are, by themselves, essential for growth. However, one quinol oxidase (cytochrome aa(3) or cytochrome bd) is required for aerobic growth of B. subtilis strain 168. Data indicating that cytochrome aa(3) is the major oxidase used by exponentially growing cells in minimal and rich medium are presented. We show that one of the two heme-copper oxidases, cytochrome caa(3) or cytochrome aa(3), is required for efficient sporulation of B. subtilis strain 168 and that deletion of YthAB in a strain lacking cytochrome aa(3) makes the strain sporulation deficient.     

Terminal oxidases in different genera of the family Microbacteriaceae

The nature of terminal oxidases in representatives of four different genera of the family Microbacteriaceae was studied. It was found that the late-logarithmic and early-stationary cells of all of the investigated strains of the genera Plantibacter and Okibacterium contain the aa3-type cytochrome oxidase. Bacteria of the genera Rathayibacter and Agreia synthesize three oxidases, the bb3- and aa3-type cytochrome oxidases and nonheme cyanide-resistant oxidase, in proportions dependent on the cultivation conditions and the growth phase. Oxygen deficiency in the cultivation medium induces the synthesis of the bd-type oxidase in all of the microorganisms studied. The data obtained provide evidence that the type of terminal oxidases, along with the known chemotaxonomic characteristics, may serve to differentiate the genera of the family Microbacteriaceae at the phenotypic level.     

A cytochrome bb'-type quinol oxidase in Bacillus subtilis strain 168.

The aerobic respiratory system of Bacillus subtilis 168 is known to contain three terminal oxidases: cytochrome caa(3), which is a cytochrome c oxidase, and cytochrome aa(3) and bd, which are quinol oxidases. The presence of a possible fourth oxidase in the bacterium was investigated using a constructed mutant, LUH27, that lacks the aa(3) and caa(3) terminal oxidases and is also deficient in succinate:menaquinone oxidoreductase. The cytochrome bd content of LUH27 can be varied by using different growth conditions. LUH27 membranes virtually devoid of cytochrome bd respired with NADH or exogenous quinol as actively as preparations containing 0.4 nmol of cytochrome bd/mg of protein but were more sensitive to cyanide and aurachin D. The reduced minus oxidized difference spectra of the bd-deficient membranes as well as absorption changes induced by CO and cyanide indicated the presence of a "cytochrome o"-like component; however, the membranes did not contain heme O. The results provide strong evidence for the presence of a terminal oxidase of the bb' type in B. subtilis. The enzyme does not pump protons and combines with CO much faster than typical heme-copper oxidases; in these respects, it resembles a cytochrome bd rather than members of the heme-copper oxidase superfamily. The genome sequence of B. subtilis 168 contains gene clusters for four respiratory oxidases. Two of these clusters, cta and qox, are deleted in LUH27. The remaining two, cydAB and ythAB, encode the identified cytochrome bd and a putative second cytochrome bd, respectively. Deletion of ythAB in strain LUH27 or the presence of the yth genes on plasmid did not affect the expression of the bb' oxidase. It is concluded that the novel bb'-type oxidase probably is cytochrome bd encoded by the cyd locus but with heme D being substituted by high spin heme B at the oxygen reactive site, i.e. cytochrome b(558)b(595)b'.     

Role of cytochrome bd oxidase from Corynebacterium glutamicum in growth and lysine production

Corynebacterium glutamicum possesses two terminal oxidases, cytochrome aa3 and cytochrome bd. Cytochrome aa3 forms a supercomplex with the cytochrome bc1 complex, which contains an unusual diheme cytochrome c1. Both the bc1 -aa3 supercomplex and cytochrome bd transfer reducing equivalents from menaquinol to oxygen; however, they differ in their proton translocation efficiency by a factor of three. Here, we analyzed the role of cytochrome bd for growth and lysine production. When cultivated in glucose minimal medium, a cydAB deletion mutant of C. glutamicum ATCC 13032 grew like the wild type in the exponential phase, but growth thereafter was inhibited, leading to a biomass formation 40% less than that of the wild type. Constitutive overproduction of functional cytochrome bd oxidase in ATCC 13032 led to a reduction of the growth rate by approximately 45% and of the maximal biomass by approximately 35%, presumably as a consequence of increased electron flow through the inefficient cytochrome bd oxidase. In the L-lysine-producing C. glutamicum strain MH20-22B, deletion of the cydAB genes had only minor effects on growth rate and biomass formation, but lysine production was increased by approximately 12%. Thus, the respiratory chain was shown to be a target for improving amino acid production by C. glutamicum.     

Tn5-induced cytochrome mutants of Bradyrhizobium japonicum: effects of the mutations on cells grown symbiotically and in culture.

Two Bradyrhizobium japonicum cytochrome mutants were obtained by Tn5 mutagenesis of strain LO and were characterized in free-living cultures and in symbiosis in soybean root nodules. One mutant strain, LO501, expressed no cytochrome aa3 in culture; it had wild-type levels of succinate oxidase activity but could not oxidize NADH or N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD). The cytochrome content of LO501 root nodule bacteroids was nearly identical to that of the wild type, but the mutant expressed over fourfold more bacteroid cytochrome c oxidase activity than was found in strain LO. The Tn5 insertion of the second mutant, LO505, had a pleiotropic effect; this strain was missing cytochromes c and aa3 in culture and had a diminished amount of cytochrome b as well. The oxidations of TMPD, NADH, and succinate by cultured LO505 cells were very similar to those by the cytochrome aa3 mutant LO501, supporting the conclusion that cytochromes c and aa3 are part of the same branch of the electron transport system. Nodules formed from the symbiosis of strain LO505 with soybean contained no detectable amount of leghemoglobin and had no N2 fixation activity. LO505 bacteroids were cytochrome deficient but contained nearly wild-type levels of bacteroid cytochrome c oxidase activity. The absence of leghemoglobin and the diminished bacterial cytochrome content in nodules from strain LO505 suggest that this mutant may be deficient in some aspect of heme biosynthesis.     

Involvement of the respiratory chain of gram-negative bacteria in the reduction of tellurite

The terminal oxidases of the respiratory chain of seven strains of gram-negative bacteria were shown to be involved in the reduction of tellurite. The rate of tellurite reduction correlated with the intensity of respiration. The inhibitors of terminal oxidases, carbon monoxide and cyanide, inhibited the reduction of tellurite. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO ML4262 and P. aeruginosa PAO ML4262 (pBS 10), the respiratory chain was found to contain three types of cytochrome c, one of which (the carbon monoxide-binding cytochrome c) was involved in the reduction of tellurite. Agrobacterium tumefaciens VKM B-1219, P. aeruginosa IBPM B-13, and Escherichia coli G0-102bd++ cells contained oxidases aa3, bb3, and bd, respectively. The respiratory chain of other strains contained two oxidases: E. coli DH5alpha of bb3- and bd-type, and Erwinia carotovora VKM B-567 of bo3- and bd-type. All the strains under study reduced tellurite with the formation of tellurium crystallites. Depending on the position of the active center of terminal oxidases in the plasma membrane, the crystallites appeared either in the periplasmic space [P. aeruginosa PAO ML4262 and P. aeruginosa PAO ML4262 (pBS10)], or on the outer surface of the membrane (A. tumefaciens VKM B-1219 and P. aeruginosa IBPM B-13), its inner surface (E. coli G0-102bd++), or on both surfaces (E. coli DHaalpha and E. carotovora VKM B-567).     

Construction and characterization of a mutant of alkaliphilic Bacillus firmus OF4 with a disrupted cta operon and purification of a novel cytochrome bd.

The caa3-type terminal oxidase of Bacillus firmus OF4 has been proposed to play an important role in the growth and bioenergetics of this alkaliphile (A. A. Guffanti and T. A. Krulwich, J. Biol. Chem. 267:9580-9588, 1992). A mutant strain was generated in which the cta operon encoding the oxidase was disrupted by insertion of a spectinomycin resistance cassette. The mutant was unable to oxidize ascorbate in the presence of N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD). Absorption spectra of membranes confirmed the loss of the enzyme and indicated the presence of a cytochrome bd-type terminal oxidase. The mutant could grow on glucose but was unable to grow on malate or other nonfermentative carbon sources, despite the presence of the cytochrome bd. The cytochrome bd was purified from the mutant. The enzyme consisted of two subunits and, with menadiol as substrate, consumed oxygen with a specific activity of 12 micromol of O2 x min(-1) x mg(-1). In contrast to both cytochromes bd of Escherichia coli, the enzyme did not utilize TMPD as an electron source. A number of additional features, including subunit size and spectral properties, distinguish this cytochrome bd from its counterparts in E. coli and Azotobacter vinelandii.     

Electron transport reactions in a cytochrome c-deficient mutant of Paracoccus denitrificans

A mutant of Paracoccus denitrificans which is deficient in c-type cytochromes grows aerobically with generation times similar to those obtained with a wild-type strain. The aa3-type oxidase is functional in the mutant as judged by spectrophotometric assays of cytochrome c oxidation using the membrane particles and cytochrome aa3 reduction in whole cells. The cytochrome c oxidase (aa3-type) of the c-less mutant oxidizes soluble cytochrome c at rates equivalent to those obtained with the wild-type. NADH and succinate oxidase activities of the membrane preparations of the mutant and wild-type are also comparable in the absence of detergent treatment. Exogenous soluble cytochrome c can be both reduced by NADH- and succinate-linked systems and oxidized by cytochrome aa3 present in membranes of the mutant strain. Rapid overall electron transport can occur in the c-less mutant, suggesting that reactions result from collision of diffusing complexes.     

Arginine 391 in subunit I of the cytochrome bd quinol oxidase from Escherichia coli stabilizes the reduced form of the hemes and is essential for quinol oxidase activity

The cytochrome bd quinol oxidase is one of two respiratory oxidases in Escherichia coli. It oxidizes dihydroubiquinol or dihydromenaquinol while reducing dioxygen to water. The bd-type oxidases have only been found in prokaryotes and have been implicated in the survival of some bacteria, including pathogens, under conditions of low aeration. With a high affinity for dioxygen, cytochrome bd not only couples respiration to the generation of a proton motive force but also scavenges O(2). In the current work, the role of a highly conserved arginine residue is explored by site-directed mutagenesis. Four mutations were made: R391A, R391K, R391M, and R391Q. All of the mutations except R391K result in enzyme lacking ubiquinol oxidase activity. Oxidase activity using the artificial reductant N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine in place of ubiquinol was, however, unimpaired by the mutations, indicating that the catalytic center where O(2) is reduced is intact. UV-visible spectra of each of the mutant oxidases show no perturbations to any of the three heme components (heme b(558), heme b(595), and heme d). However, spectroelectrochemical titrations of the R391A mutant reveal that the midpoint potentials of all of the heme components are substantially lower compared with the wild type enzyme. Since Arg(391) is close to Met(393), one of the axial ligands to heme b(558), it is to be expected that the R391A mutation might destabilize the reduced form of heme b(558). The fact that the midpoint potentials of heme d and heme b(595) are also significantly lowered in the R391A mutant is consistent with these hemes being physically close together on the periplasmic side of the membrane.     

Identification of 27-oxo-octacosanoic acid and heptacosane-1,27-dioic acid in Legionella pneumophila

A strain of Escherichia coli having elevated levels of cytochrome bo and lacking the cytochrome bd quinol oxidase was grown in chemostat culture at low copper levels. Such cells had lowered levels of copper and of total cytochrome b. Cytochrome o concentration was unchanged when assayed by conventional CO difference spectroscopy, but apparently diminished by 80% in copper-deficient cells as determined by photodissociation of bound CO at 193 K. This is attributed to depletion of copper in the oxidase of copper-deficient cells, causing rapid recombination of photodissociated CO to haem O. CO recombination was also more sensitive to low intensities of actinic light in copper-depleted oxidase. The results illustrate a further similarity between the active sites of o- and aa3-type terminal oxidases.     

Molecular cloning, sequencing, and physiological characterization of the qox operon from Bacillus subtilis encoding the aa3-600 quinol oxidase.

Bacillus subtilis contains two aa3-type terminal oxidases (caa3-605 and aa3-600) catalyzing cytochrome c and quinol oxidation, respectively, with the concomitant reduction of O2 to H2O (Lauraeus, M., Haltia, T., Saraste, M., and Wikstr?m, M. (1991) Eur. J. Biochem. 197, 699-705). Previous studies characterized only the structural genes of caa3-605 oxidase. We isolated the genes coding for the four subunits of a B. subtilis terminal oxidase from a genomic DNA library. These genes, named qoxA to qoxD, are organized in an operon. Examination of the deduced amino acid sequence of Qox subunits showed that this oxidase is structurally related to the large family of mitochondrial-type aa3 terminal oxidases. In particular, the amino acid sequences are very similar to those of subunits of Escherichia coli bo quinol oxidase and B. subtilis caa3-605 cytochrome c oxidase. We produced, by in vitro mutagenesis, a mutation in the qox operon. From the phenotype of the mutant strain devoid of Qox protein, the study of expression of the qox operon in different growth conditions, and the analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence of the subunits, we concluded that Qox protein and aa3-600 quinol oxidase are the same protein. Although several terminal oxidases are found in B. subtilis, Qox oxidase (aa3-600) is predominant during the vegetative growth and its absence leads to important alterations of the phenotype of B. subtilis.     

Bacillus subtilis YdiH is a direct negative regulator of the cydABCD operon

During aerobic respiration, Bacillus subtilis utilizes three terminal oxidases, cytochromes aa3, caa3, and bd. Cytochrome bd is encoded by the cydABCD operon. We report here the first identification of a regulator for the cydABCD operon, YdiH. While working with DeltaresDE mutant strains, we identified colonies which contained suppressor mutations (cmp) which bypassed the requirement for ResD for all phenotypes not associated with cytochrome aa3 or caa3. Mapping identified a class of Tn10 insertions which were close to the cmp locus (Tn10-2) and a second class (Tn10-1) which was inserted in cydD, a gene which appears to be essential to the cmp phenotype. Sequencing of the cmp loci from four independent DeltaresDE cmp isolates yielded four loss-of-function alleles of ydiH, a gene encoding a protein with homology to AT-rich DNA-binding proteins. Additionally, we determined that cytochrome bd was aberrantly expressed in the DeltaresDE cmp background. Together these data led to the hypothesis that YdiH serves as a negative regulator of cydABCD expression, a hypothesis supported by both gel-shift and DNase I footprinting analyses. YdiH protected the cydA promoter region at three 22-bp repeats located in the long 5' untranslated region (193 bp). Induction of the cydABCD operon in a DeltaresDE background showed that expression of the terminal oxidase bd was responsible for the bypass phenotype observed in a DeltaresDE cmp strain, indicating that cytochrome bd expression complemented the loss of cytochromes aa3 and caa3 in the DeltaresDE strain.     

Role of a putative third subunit YhcB on the assembly and function of cytochrome bd-type ubiquinol oxidase from Escherichia coli

Recent proteome studies on the Escherichia coli membrane proteins suggested that YhcB is a putative third subunit of cytochrome bd-type ubiquinol oxidase (CydAB) (F. Stenberg, P. Chovanec, S.L. Maslen, C.V. Robinson, L.L. Ilag, G. von Heijne, D.O. Daley, Protein complexes of the Escherichia coli cell envelope. J. Biol. Chem. 280 (2005) 34409-34419). We isolated and characterized cytochrome bd from the DeltayhcB strain, and found that the formation of the CydAB heterodimer, the spectroscopic properties of bound hemes, and kinetic parameters for the ubiquinol-1 oxidation were identical to those of cytochrome bd from the wild-type strain. Anion-exchange chromatography and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that YhcB was not associated with the cytochrome bd complex. We concluded that YhcB is dispensable for the assembly and function of cytochrome bd. YhcB, which is distributed only in gamma-proteobacteria, may be a part of another membrane protein complex or may form a homo multimeric complex.     

Regulation of mitochondrial membrane assembly in Neurospora crassa. Transient expression of a respiratory mutant phenotype.

Cultures of mutant cni-1, a chromosomal mutant of Neurospora crassa, undergo a marked change in respiratory properties as the age of the culture increases. Early log phase cultures have a high level of respiration that is insensitive to inhibition by cyanide or antimycin A. Late log and stationary phase cultures have reduced rates of respiration. A high percentage of this respiration is inhibited by cyanide. Mitochondria from early log phase cni-1 have an excess of cytochrome c and little or no detectable cytochrome aa3. Mitochondria from late log and stationary phase cultures have levels of c-, b-, and a-type cytochromes that are not significantly different in concentration from those found in wild type cells. The cytochrome aa3 content and the cytochrome oxidase activity of cni-1 mitochondria increase 5- to 10-fold as the age of the culture increases. Mitochondria from early log phase cells of cni-1 synthesize only polypeptides of apparent molecular weights 7,000 to 10,000 and donot synthesize any of the mitochondrial components of cytochrome oxidase. Mitochondria from late log and stationary phase cells synthesize the normal complement of mitochondrial translation products including the mitochondrial components of cytochrome oxidase. The assembly of cytochrome oxidase is likely due to the availability of the mitochondrially synthesized components of the enzyme. The regulation of mitochondrial translation in the cni-1 mutant is independent of the nutrient content of the growth medium and is due to the accumulation or depletion of some component within the cell.     

Azorhizobium caulinodans respires with at least four terminal oxidases.

In culture, Azorhizobium caulinodans used at least four terminal oxidases, cytochrome aa3 (cytaa3), cytd, cyto, and a second a-type cytochrome, which together mediated general, respiratory electron (e-) transport to O2. To genetically dissect physiological roles for these various terminal oxidases, corresponding Azorhizobium apocytochrome genes were cloned, and three cytaa3 mutants, a cytd mutant, and a cytaa3, cytd double mutant were constructed by reverse genetics. These cytochrome oxidase mutants were tested for growth, oxidase activities, and N2 fixation properties both in culture and in symbiosis with the host plant Sesbania rostrata. The cytaa3 mutants grew normally, fixed N2 normally, and remained fully able to oxidize general respiratory e- donors (NADH, succinate) which utilize a cytc-dependent oxidase. By difference spectroscopy, a second, a-type cytochrome was detected in the cytaa3 mutants. This alternative a-type cytochrome (Amax = 610 nm) was also present in the wild type but was masked by bona fide cytaa3 (Amax = 605 nm). In late exponential-phase cultures, the cytaa3 mutants induced a new, membrane-bound, CO-binding cytc550, which also might serve as a cytc oxidase (a fifth terminal oxidase). The cloned Azorhizobium cytaa3 genes were strongly expressed during exponential growth but were deactivated prior to onset of stationary phase. Azorhizobium cytd mutants showed 40% lower N2 fixation rates in culture and in planta, but aerobic growth rates were wild type. The cytaa3, cytd double mutant showed 70% lower N2 fixation rates in planta. Pleiotropic cytc mutants were isolated by screening for strains unable to use N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine as a respiratory e- donor. These mutants synthesized no detectable cytc, excreted coproporphyrin, grew normally in aerobic minimal medium, grew poorly in rich medium, and fixed N2 poorly both in culture and in planta. Therefore, while aerobic growth was sustained by quinol oxidases alone, N2 fixation required cytc oxidase activities. Assuming that the terminal oxidases function as do their homologs in other bacteria, Azorhizobium respiration simultaneously employs both quinol and cytc oxidases. Because Azorhizobium terminal oxidase mutants were able to reformulate their terminal oxidase mix and grow more or less normally in aerobic culture, these terminal oxidases are somewhat degenerate. Its extensive terminal oxidase repertoire might allow Azorhizobium spp. to flourish in wide-ranging O2 environments.     

Mutagenesis of a gene encoding a cytochrome o-like terminal oxidase of Azotobacter vinelandii: A cytochrome o mutant is aero-tolerant during nitrogen fixation

Abstract The amino acid sequence obtained by translating the nucleotide sequence of a 0.55 kb fragment, amplified from Azotobacter vinelandii chromosomal DNA by PCR, was 57% identical to part of the Escherichia coli cyoB gene, encoding subunit I of the cytochrome bo -type quinol oxidase. This fragment was mutated in vitro by insertion of a kanamycin-resistance cassette and introduced into the chromosome of A. vinelandii by homologous recombination. The mutant contained no spectrally detectable cytochrome o . However, in the stationary phase of growth, the level of the alternative oxidase (cytochrome bd ) was 11-fold higher than in the wild-type strain. Respiration of the mutant was insensitive to chlorpromazine, an inhibitor thought to act specifically on cytochrome o . Cytochrome o -deficient mutants fixed nitrogen in air, clearly distinguishing the role of this oxidase from that of cytochrome bd , which is required for respiratory protection of oxygen-labile nitrogenase.