Thiosulfate Oxidation and Tetrathionate Reduction by Intact Cells of Marine Pseudomonad Strain 16B

Levels of thiosulfate-oxidizing enzyme (TSO) and tetrathionate reductase (TTR) were measured in washed cell suspensions of a heterotrophic marine thiosulfate-oxidizing bacterium, strain 16B. TSO activity remained virtually constant in aerobically and anaerobically grown cells and was unaffected by the presence or absence of thiosulfate and tetrathionate in the growth medium. TTR was also present in cells grown aerobically and anaerobically, but its activity was threefold greater in cells cultured in media containing tetrathionate or thiosulfate. Tetrathionate appears to be the inducer of increased TTR activity in both aerobically and anaerobically grown cells. TTR (constitutive or induced) and TSO have different pH and temperature optima. Both TTR activities were unaffected by 10 mM KCN, which reversed oxygen inhibition of tetrathionate reduction. TSO was partially inhibited by 5 μM KCN and completely inhibited by 90 μM KCN. These findings and results of experiments to determine the influence of several inorganic electron donors and acceptors on TSO and TTR activities suggest that constitutive TSO and TTR represent reverse activities of the same enzyme, whereas inducible TTR is a separate enzyme used by strain 16B only for anaerobic respiration of tetrathionate. The bacterium appears well adapted to growth in environments characterized by low oxygen tension, dilute organic carbon concentrations, and the presence of a variety of reduced, inorganic sulfur compounds.     

Evidence for thiosulfate sulfur transferase (rhodanese) trithionate reductase and tetrathionate reductase activities in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Abstract Neisseria gonorrhoeae is unable to grow with sulfate but can use thiosulfate as sole source of sulfur.
Thiosulfate sulfur transferase (TST) (rhodanese) activity was present in the cytoplasmic soluble fraction. In the same extract, thiosulfate reductase (TSR), trithionate reductase and tetrathionate reductase activities were also detected using hydrogen as electron donor in the presence of viologen dyes and hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio gigas .
The significance of and the possible relationship between these different activities are discussed.     

Regulation of reductase formation in Proteus mirabilis

Summary Prteus mirabilis can form four reductases after anaerobic growth: nitrate reductase A, chlorate reductase C, thiosulfate reductase and tetrathionate reductase. The last three enzymes are formed constitutively. Nitrate reductase is formed only after growth in the presence of nitrate, which causes repression of the formation of thiosulfate reductase, chlorate reductase C, tetrathionate reductase and hydrogenase. Formic dehydrogenase assayed with methylene blue as hydrogen acceptor is formed under all conditions.Two groups of chlorate resistant mutants were obtained. One group does not form the reductases and formic dehydrogenase. The second group does not form nitrate reductase, chlorate reductase and hydrogenase, but forms formic dehydrogenase and small amounts of formic hydrogenlyase after growth without hydrogen acceptor or after growth in the presence of thiosulfate or tetrathionate. Nitrate prevents the formation of formic dehydrogenase, thiosulfate reductase and tetrathionate reductase in this group of mutants. Only after growth with thiosulfate or tetrathionate the reductases for these compounds are formed. Anaerobic growth of the wild type in complex medium without a fermentable carbon source is strongly stimulated by the presence of nitrate. Tetrathionate and thiosulfate have no effect at all or only a small effect. The results show that in the presence of tetrathionate or thiosulfate the bacterial metabolism is fully anaerobic, as these cells also contain formic hydrogenlyase.     

Regulation of reductase formation in Proteus mirabilis

Summary The levels of several redox enzymes in a chlorate-resistant mutant of Proteus mirabilis, which is partially affected in the formation of formate hydrogenlyase, thiosulfate reductase and tetrathionate reductase, were compared with those of the wild type. The composition of the electron transport system of both strains was almost the same in cells grown aerobically, but very different in cells grown anaerobically. In the mutant, the cytochrome content increased twofold, whereas the level of the anaerobic enzymes is strongly diminished. The anaerobic formation of electron transport components in the mutant was, in contrast to that of the wild type, not influenced significantly by azide. During anaerobic growth with nitrate low levels of a functional nitrate reductase system were formed in the mutant. Under these conditions the formation of formate dehydrogenase, formate hydrogenlyase, formate oxidase, thiosulfate reductase, tetrathionate reductase, cytochrome b_563,5 and partly that of cytochrome a₂, was repressed. The repressive effect of nitrate, however, was completely abolished by azide. Therefore, it seems likely that a functional nitrate reductase system, rather than nitrate, controls the formation of the enzymes repressible by nitrate.     

Purification and properties of thiosulfate reductase from Desulfovibrio gigas.

Thiosulfate reductase of the dissimilatory sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio gigas has been purified 415-fold and its properties investigated. The enzyme was unstable during the different steps of purification as well as during storage at - 15 degrees C. The molecular weight of thiosulfate reductase estimated from the chromatographic behaviour of the enzyme on Sephadex G-200 was close to 220000. The absorption spectrum of the purified enzyme exhibited a protein peak at 278 nm without characteristic features in the visible region. Thiosulfate reductase catalyzed the stoichiometric production of hydrogen sulfide and sulfite from thiosulfate, and exhibited tetrathionate reductase activity. It did not show sulfite reductase activity. The optimum pH of thiosulfate reduction occurred between pH 7.4 and 8.0 and its Km value for thiosulfate was calculated to be 5 - 10(-4)M. The sensitivity of thiosulfate reductase to sulfhydryl reagent and the reversal of the inhibition by cysteine indicated that one or more sulfhydryl groups were involved in the catalytic activity. The study of electron transport between hydrogenase and thiosulfate reductase showed that the most efficient coupling was obtained with a system containing cytochromes c3 (Mr = 13000) and c3 (Mr = 26000).     

The inducible trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase of Escherichia coli K12: biochemical and immunological studies

The inducible trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase which migrates on non-denaturing polyacrylamide gels with an RF of 0.22, has been purified from the soluble fraction of wild-type E. coli K12. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme estimated by molecular-sieve chromatography is about 230,000. It is composed of two subunits of molecular weight 110,000. Antiserum specific for the enzyme has been produced. Gel filtration on Sephadex G-200 of the soluble fraction gave two peaks of trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase, one with an Mr of 230,000 and an RF of 0.22, and another with an Mr of 120,000 and an RF of 0.36. Since the anti-trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase serum recognises the two forms and shows a single subunit with an Mr of 110,000, we conclude that in E. coli there is a single inducible trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase which can exist as a dimer or a monomer. Other immunological studies with anti-trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase serum on crude extracts prepared from cells grown in the absence of inducer showed that the constitutive trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase was not recognised by the antiserum. The same analyses carried out on a tor mutant (defective in the structural gene of the inducible enzyme) confirmed without ambiguity that the constitutive enzyme is immunologically distinct from the inducible enzyme. In the same way, using the anti-trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase serum, rocket immunoelectrophoresis analyses were able to show that the inducible apoenzyme is not regulated by the fnr gene product and that molybdate does not seem necessary for the synthesis or stabilisation of this enzyme.     

Metabolism of thiosulfate and tetrathionate by heterotrophic bacteria from soil

Two heterotrophic bacteria that oxidized thiosulfate to tetrathionate were isolated from soil. The enzyme system in one of the isolates (C-3) was constitutive, but in the other isolate (A-50) it was induced by thiosulfate or tetrathionate. The apparent K(m) for oxygen for thiosulfate oxidation by A-50 was about 223 mum, but, for lactate oxidation by A-50 or thiosulfate oxidation by C-3, the apparent K(m) for oxygen was below 2 mm. The oxidation of thiosulfate by A-50 was first order with respect to oxygen from 230 mum. The rate of oxidation was greatest at pH 6.3 to 6.8 and at about 10 mm thiosulfate, and it was strongly inhibited by several metal-binding reagents. Extracts of induced A-50 reduced ferricyanide, endogenous cytochrome c, and mammalian cytochrome c in the presence of thiosulfate. A-50, once induced to oxidize thiosulfate, also reduced tetrathionate to thiosulfate in the presence of an electron donor such as lactate. The optimal pH for this reaction was at 8.5 to 9.5, and the reaction was first order with respect to tetrathionate. There was no correlation between the formation of the thiosulfate-oxidizing enzyme of A-50 and the incorporation of thiosulfate-sulfur into cell sulfur. Thiosulfate did not affect the growth rate or yield of A-50.     

Nutritional studies with Pseudomonas aeruginosa grown on inorganic sulfur sources.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa was grown on a succinate-basal salts medium supplemented with various inorganic sulfur compounds as its sole source of sulfur. The organism was able to grow on the sodium salts of sulfide, thiosulfate, tetrathionate, dithionite, metabisulfite, sulfite, or sulfate, but not on those of dithionate. Analyses of the culture media after 24 h of growth indicated accumulation of sulfate from each inorganic sulfur source except sulfate. Manometric studies with resting cells obtained by growth on each of these sulfur sources yielded net oxygen uptake for all substrates except sulfite and dithionate. Similar results were obtained with extracts from these cells by spectrophotometric techniques. Thiosulfate oxidase activity appeared to be induced by growth on sulfide, thiosulfate, or tetrathionate, with little or no activity observed when cells were grown on inorganic sulfur sources of higher oxidative states. Metabisulfite oxidase appeared to be associated with growth on all inorganic sulfur compounds. Rhodanese activity appeared to be constitutively present, and its activity, observed only in soluble fraction, seemed independent of the growth medium employed. Thiosulfate and tetrathionate oxidase activities were studied in greater detail than some of the other sulfur oxidases, and both were found to be distributed between particulate and soluble fractions.     

Dissimilatory reduction of bisulfite by Desulfovibrio vulgaris.

The reduction of bisulfite by Desulfovibrio vulgaris was investigated. Crude extracts reduced bisulfite to sulfide without the formation (detection) of any intermediates such as trithionate or thiosulfate. When the particulate fractions was removed from crude extracts by high-speed centrifugation, the soluble supernatant fraction reduced bisulfite sequentially to trithionate, thiosulfate, and sulfide. Addition of particles or purified membranes to the soluble fraction restored the original activity demonstrated by crude extracts, i.e., reduction of bisulfite to sulfide without the formation of trithionate and/or thiosulfate. By using antiserum directed against bisulfite reductase, the reduction of bisulfite by crude extracts was inhibited. This finding, in addition to several recycling studies of thiosulfate reduction, provided evidence that bisulfite reduction by D. vulgaris operated through the pathway involving trithionate and thiosulfate as intermediates. The role of membranes in this process is discussed.     

Isolation and characterization of thiosulfate reductases from the green alga Chlorella fusca

Thiosulfate-reductase activity (TSR) measured as sulfide release from thiosulfate was detected in crude extracts of Chlorella using dithioerythritol (DTE) as electron donor. Purification of this activity by ammonium-sulfate precipitation between 35% and 80% followed by Sephadex G-50 gel filtration, diethylaminoethyl-cellulose chromatography, and gel filtration on Biogel A 1.5 M led to four distinct proteins having molecular weights of: TSR I, 28000; TSR II, 26500; TSR III_a, 55000; TSR III_b, 24000 daltons. These thiosulfate reductases were most active with DTE; the monothiols glutathione, l-cysteine, and -mercaptoethanol had little activity towards this system. The following pH optima were obtained: for TSR I and TSR II, 9.0; for TSR III_a, 8.5; and for TSR III_b, 9.5. The apparent-K_m data for DTE and thiosulfate were determined to: TSR I, 0.164 mmol·l^-1 and TSR II, 0.156 mmol·l^-1; K_mDTE TSR I, 1.54 mmol·l^-1 and TSR II 1.54 mmol·l^-1. The thiosulfate reductases III_a and III_b were further stimulated by addition of thioredoxin. All TSR fractions catalyzed SCN formation from thiosulfate and cyanate and thus had rhodanese activity; this activity, however, could only be detected in the presence of thiols.Abbreviations DTE dithioerythritol - TSR thiosulfate reductase Dedicated to Professor Dr. Hubert Ziegler on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Some Properties of Thiosulfate-Oxidizing Enzyme from Marine Heterotroph 16B

Thiosulfate-oxidizing enzyme has been demonstrated in cell-free extracts of the marine, thiosulfate-oxidizing pseudomonad strain 16B. The enzyme, partially purified by ion-exchange chromatography and calcium phosphate gel treatment, catalyzed the oxidation of thiosulfate to tetrathionate with the concomitant reduction of ferricyanide. Native but not mammalian cytochrome c was also reduced by the enzyme in the presence of thiosulfate. The enzyme was located exclusively in the supernatant of ultracentrifuged cell extracts. The most purified enzyme preparation, like intact cells, exhibited a temperature optimum of 30 to 31°C. However, it exhibited no definite pH optimum. At pH 6.1 to 6.3 and 30°C, the K_m for thiosulfate was 1.57 mM. At lower temperatures, the apparent K_m for thiosulfate increased, but the apparent maximum velocity remained virtually unchanged. Thiosulfate oxidation in intact cells exhibited an increase in the pH optimum at lower temperatures. The thiosulfate-oxidizing enzyme of marine heterotroph 16B is compared with thiosulfate-oxidizing enzymes from other bacteria, and the effect of temperature on the relationship between pH and thiosulfate oxidation is discussed with reference to the natural habitat of the bacterium.     

Purification and properties of thiosulfate reductase from Desulfovibrio gigas

Thiosulfate reductase of the dissimilatory sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio gigas has been purified 415-fold and its properties investigated. The enzyme was unstable during the different steps of purification as well as during storage at-15°C. The molecular weight of thiosulfate reductase estimated from the chromatographic behaviour of the enzyme on Sephadex G-200 was close to 220 000. The absorption spectrum of the purified enzyme exhibited a protein peak at 278 nm without characteristic features in the visible region. Thiosulfate reductase catalyzed the stoichiometric production of hydrogen sulfide and sulfite from thiosulfate, and exhibited tetrathionate reductase activity. It did not show sulfite reductase activity. The optimum pH of thiosulfate reduction occurred between pH 7.4 and 8.0 and its K _m value for thiosulfate was calculated to be 5·10^-4 M. The sensitivity of thiosulfate reductase to sulfhydryl reagent and the reversal of the inhibition by cysteine indicated that one or more sulfhydryl groups were involved in the catalytic activity. The study of electron transport between hydrogenase and thiosulfate reductase showed that the most efficient coupling was obtained with a system containing cytochromes c ₃ (M _r =13000) and c ₃ (M _r =26000).     

Reduction of inorganic sulphur compounds by facultatively aerobic bacteria

Summary Amongst the family of the Enterobacteriaceae the ability to reduce tetrathionate to thiosulfate and thiosulfate to sulfite and sulfide occurs in the genera Proteus, Citrobacter and Salmonella. These reductions are coupled to a respiratory chain which functions under anaerobic conditions. Only during transport of electrons to tetrathionate oxidative phosphorylation has been demonstrated. Isolation and purification of the cytoplasmic membrane bound tetrathionate and thiosulfate reductase fromProteus mirabilis makes clear that this bacterium forms only one enzyme for both reductions. This enzyme has a molecular weight of 133,000 daltons and can be divided into two subunits with molecular weights of 43,000 and 90,000 daltons by treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate and 2-mercaptoethanol. The reduction of tetrathionate is activated by its primary product thiosulfate. Nitrate or oxygen represses and inactivates the tetrathionate and thiosulfate reductase. Nevertheless the smaller subunit of this enzyme appears to be formed and assembled into the cytoplasmic membranes after anaerobic growth in the presence of nitrate. Paper read at the Symposium on the Sulphur Cycle, Wageningen, May 1974.     

Oxidation of dimethylsulfide to tetrathionate by Methylophaga thiooxidans sp. nov.: a new link in the sulfur cycle

A new pathway of dimethylsulfide (DMS) metabolism was identified in a novel species of Gammaproteobacteria, Methylophaga thiooxidans sp. nov., in which tetrathionate (S₄O₆^2?) was the end‐product of DMS oxidation. Inhibitor evidence indicated that DMS degradation was initiated by demethylation, catalysed by a corrinoid demethylase. Thiosulfate was an intermediate, which was oxidized to tetrathionate by a cytochrome‐linked thiosulfate dehydrogenase. Thiosulfate oxidation was coupled to ATP synthesis, and M. thiooxidans could also use exogenous thiosulfate as an energy source during chemolithoheterotrophic growth on DMS or methanol. Cultures grown on a variety of substrates oxidized thiosulfate, indicating that thiosulfate oxidation was constitutive. The observations have relevance to interactions among sulfur‐metabolizing bacteria in the marine environment. The production of tetrathionate from an organosulfur precursor is previously undocumented and represents a potential step in the biogeochemical sulfur cycle, providing a ‘shunt’ across the cycle.     

Studies on Biochemistry of the Thiobacilli

In the oxidation of thiosulfate at pH 4.5 tetrathionate was formed as an intermediate, and the thiosulfate-oxidizing enzyme was active in acidic pH range in contrast to the enzyme of T. thioparus and Thiobacillus X.

Phosphate did not seem to affect the oxidation of thiosulfate but rather affect the conversion of tetrathionate. In the absence of phosphate, tetrathionate, which was produced from thiosulfate oxidation, seemed to accumulate without undergoing further conversion.

Quantitative oxidation of tetrathionate to sulfate was achieved with freshly harvested cells of T. thiooxidans; pH optimum for the oxidation of tetrathionate by the washed cells was 2~3, and the activity fell markedly at pH above 3.5.

Tetrathionate might be enzymatically dismuted to pentathionate and trithionate under anaerobic conditions with crude extracts of T. thiooxidans; pH optimum for the reaction was about 2.7 and the activity fell strikingly at pH 4.7. The formed trithionate might be further hydrolyzed to thiosulfate and sulfate.     

Coupled enzymatic production of sulfite, thiosulfate, and hydrogen sulfide from sulfur: purification and properties of a sulfur oxygenase reductase from the facultatively anaerobic archaebacterium Desulfurolobus ambivalens.

From aerobically grown cells of the extremely thermophilic, facultatively anaerobic chemolithoautotrophic archaebacterium Desulfurolobus ambivalens (DSM 3772), a soluble oxygenase reductase (SOR) was purified which was not detectable in anaerobically grown cells. In the presence of oxygen but not under a hydrogen atmosphere, the enzyme simultaneously produced sulfite, thiosulfate, and hydrogen sulfide from sulfur. Nonenzymatic control experiments showed that thiosulfate was produced mainly in a chemical reaction between sulfite and sulfur. The maximum specific activity of the purified SOR in sulfite production was 10.6 mumol/mg of protein at pH 7.4 and 85 degrees C. The ratio of sulfite to hydrogen sulfide production was 5:4 in the presence of zinc ions. The temperature range of enzyme activity was 50 to 108 degrees C, with a maximum at 85 degrees C. The molecular mass of the native SOR was 550 kilodaltons, determined by gel filtration. It consisted of identical subunits with an apparent molecular mass of 40 kilodaltons in sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. The particle diameter in electron micrographs was 15 /+- 1.5 nm. The enzyme activity was inhibited by the thiol-binding reagents p-chloromercuribenzoic acid, N-ethyl maleimide, and 2-iodoacetic acid and by flavin adenine dinucleotide, Fe3+, and Fe2+. It was not affected by CN-, N3-, or reduced glutathione.     

Biochemical characterization of nitrate and nitrite reduction in the wild-type and a nitrate reductase mutant of soybean

Enzyme activities involved in nitrate assimilation were analyzed from crude leaf extracts of wild-type (cv. Williams) and mutant ( nr₁ ) soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] plants lacking constitutive nitrate reductase (NR) activity. The nr₁ soybean mutant (formerly LNR-2), had decreased NADH-NR, FMNH₂-NR and cytochrome c reductase activities, all of which were associated with the loss of constitutive NR activity. Measurement of FMNH₂-NR activity, by nitrite determination, was accurate since nitrite reductase could not use FMNH₂ as a reductant source. Nitrite reductase activity was normal in the nr₁ plant type in the presence of reduced methyl viologen. Assuming that constitutive NR is similar in structure to nitrate reductases from other plants, presence of xanthine dehydrogenase activity and loss of cytochrome c reductase activity indicated that the apoprotein and not the molybdenum cofactor had been affected in the constitutive enzyme of the mutant. Constitutive NR from urea-grown wild-type plants had 1) greater ability to use FMNH₂ as an electron donor, 2) a lower pH optimum, and 3) decreased ability to distinguish between NO₃⁻ and HCO₃⁻, compared with inducible NR from NO₃⁻-grown nr₁ plants. The presence in soybean leaves of a nitrate reductase with a pH optimum of 7.5 is contrary to previous reports and indicates that soybean is not an exception among higher plants for this activity.     

Homologs from sulfur oxidation (Sox) and methanol dehydrogenation (Xox) enzyme systems collaborate to give rise to a novel pathway of chemolithotrophic tetrathionate oxidation

The SoxXAYZB(CD)₂‐mediated pathway of bacterial sulfur‐chemolithotrophy explains the oxidation of thiosulfate, sulfide, sulfur and sulfite but not tetrathionate. Advenella kashmirensis, which oxidizes tetrathionate to sulfate, besides forming it as an intermediate during thiosulfate oxidation, possesses a soxCDYZAXOB operon. Knock‐out mutations proved that only SoxBCD is involved in A. kashmirensis tetrathionate oxidation, whereas thiosulfate‐to‐tetrathionate conversion is Sox independent. Expression of two glutathione metabolism‐related proteins increased under chemolithotrophic conditions, as compared to the chemoorganotrophic one. Substrate‐dependent oxygen consumption pattern of whole cells, and sulfur‐oxidizing enzyme activities of cell‐free extracts, measured in the presence/absence of thiol inhibitors/glutathione, corroborated glutathione involvement in tetrathionate oxidation. Furthermore, proteome analyses detected a sulfite:acceptor oxidoreductase (SorAB) exclusively under chemolithotrophic conditions, while expression of a methanol dehydrogenase (XoxF) homolog, subsequently named thiol dehydrotransferase (ThdT), was found to increase 3‐ and 10‐fold during thiosulfate‐to‐tetrathionate conversion and tetrathionate oxidation respectively. A thdT knock‐out mutant did not oxidize tetrathionate but converted half of the supplied 40 mM S‐thiosulfate to tetrathionate. Knock‐out of another thiosulfate dehydrogenase (tsdA) gene proved that both ThdT and TsdA individually converted ～ 20 mM S‐thiosulfate to tetrathionate. The overexpressed and isolated ThdT protein exhibited PQQ‐dependent thiosulfate dehydrogenation, whereas its PQQ‐independent thiol transfer activity involving tetrathionate and glutathione potentially produced a glutathione:sulfodisulfane adduct and sulfite. SoxBCD and SorAB were hypothesized to oxidize the aforesaid adduct and sulfite respectively.     

In Vitro Formation of Nitrate Reductase Using Extracts of the Nitrate Reductase Mutant of Neurospora crassa, nit-1, and Rhodospirillum rubrum

In vitro formation of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-nitrate reductase (NADPH: nitrate oxido-reductase, EC 1.6.6.2) has been attained by using extracts of the nitrate reductase mutant of Neurospora crassa, nit-1, and extracts of either photosynthetically or heterotrophically grown Rhodospirillum rubrum, which contribute the constitutive component. The in vitro formation of NADPH-nitrate reductase is characterized by the conversion of the flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) stimulated NADPH-cytochrome c reductase, contributed by the N. crassa nit-1 extract from a slower sedimenting form (4.5S) to a faster sedimenting form (7.8S). The 7.8S NADPH-cytochrome c reductase peak coincides in sucrose density gradient profiles with the NADPH-nitrate reductase, FADH(2)-nitrate reductase and reduced methyl viologen (MVH)-nitrate reductase activities which are also formed in vitro. The constitutive component from R. rubrum is soluble (both in heterotrophically and photosynthetically grown cells), is stimulated by the addition of 10(-4) M Na(2)MoO(4) and 10(-2) M NaNO(3) to cell-free preparations, and has variable activity over the pH range from 3.0 to 9.5. The activity of the constitutive component in some extracts showed a threefold stimulation when the pH was lowered from 6.5 to 4.0. The constitutive activity appears to be associated with a large molecular weight component which sediments as a single peak in sucrose density gradients. However, the constitutive component from R. rubrum is dialyzable and is insensitive to trypsin and protease. These results demonstrate that R. rubrum contains the constitutive component and suggests that it is a low molecular weight, trypsin- and protease-insensitive factor which participates in the in vitro formation of NADPH nitrate reductase.     

Differential cytochrome content and reductase activity in Geospirillum barnesii strain SeS3

The protein composition, cytochrome content, and reductase activity in the dissimilatory selenate-reducing bacterium Geospirillum barnesii strain SeS3, grown with thiosulfate, nitrate, selenate, or fumarate as the terminal electron acceptor, was investigated. Comparison of seven high-molecular-mass membrane proteins (105.3, 90.3, 82.6, 70.2, 67.4, 61.1, and 57.3 kDa) by SDS-PAGE showed that their detection was dependent on the terminal electron acceptor used. Membrane fractions from cells grown on thiosulfate contained a 70.2-kDa c-type cytochrome with absorbance maxima at 552, 522, and 421 nm. A 61.1-kDa c-type cytochrome with absorption maxima at 552, 523, and 423 nm was seen in membrane fractions from cells grown on nitrate. No c-type cytochromes were detected in membrane fractions of either selenate- or fumarate-grown cells. Difference spectra, however, revealed the presence of a cytochrome b ₅₅₄ (absorption maxima at 554, 523, and 422 nm) in membrane fractions from selenate-grown cells and a cytochrome b ₅₅₆ (absorption maxima at 556, 520, and 416 nm) in membrane fractions from fumarate-grown cells. Analysis of reductase activity in the different membrane fractions showed variability in substrate specificity. However, enzyme activity was greatest for the substrate on which the cells had been grown (e.g., membranes from nitrate-grown cells exhibited the greatest activity with nitrate). These results show that protein composition, cytochrome content, and reductase activity are dependent on the terminal electron acceptor used for growth. Received: 21 August 1996 / Accepted: 24 October 1996