ROOPALI ROY Tungsten-Containing Aldehyde Oxidoreductases: a Novel Family of Enzymes from Hyperthermophilic Archaea (Under the Direction of MICHAEL W
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ROOPALI ROY Tungsten-Containing Aldehyde Oxidoreductases: A Novel family of Enzymes from Hyperthermophilic Archaea (Under the Direction of MICHAEL W. W. ADAMS) The main objective of this research was the molecular, biochemical and kinetic characterization of the members of the AOR family of enzymes and attempt to elucidate the role these enzymes play in the physiology of Pyrococcus furiosus. Three different types of tungsten-containing aldehyde oxidizing enzymes aldehyde ferredoxin oxidoreductase (AOR), formaldehyde ferredoxin oxidoreductase (FOR) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate ferredoxin oxidoreductase (GAPOR) have previously been isolated from this microorganism. Although P. furiosus AOR had been extensively characterized, relatively little was known about the related enzyme FOR. The molecular catalytic and structural properties of this enzyme are presented. Detailed kinetic analyses of FOR indicate that C4 – C6 dialdehyde or acid-substituted aldehyde may serve as the physiological substrate for this enzyme. Since such semialdehydes are involved in the metabolic pathways of certain amino acids, FOR is proposed to have a role in amino acid metabolism of P. furiosus. The oxygen-inactivated forms of FOR, AOR and GAPOR from P. furiosus could be reactivated to 100% of original specific activity by incubation with sodium sulfide under reducing conditions. Loss of sulfide from the W coordination sphere presumably accounts for the loss in specific activity of these enzymes on exposure to oxygen. However, the exact nature of this ‘restored’ sulfide is not clear at this point. Although, P. furiosus cells grown with S° have 3-5 fold higher intracellular concentrations of acid- labile sulfide and approximately 2-fold higher polysulfide than those grown without S°, these are associated with the high molecular weight fraction of the cell-free extract and not available in the free form. Based on these results, sulfide-activation does not appear to be a physiological reaction. A survey of the complete genome sequences of numerous microorganisms reveals that tungstoenzymes of the AOR family appear to be widespread among the hyperthermophilic archaea and some bacteria. Two hitherto unknown members have also been identified in the P. furiosus genome. Termed wor4 and wor5, these genes are proposed to encode putative tungstoenzymes. One of these tungstoproteins WOR 4 has been isolated from P. furiosus cell-free extract and characterized. INDEX WORDS: Hyperthermophilic Archaea, Pyrococcus furiosus, Aldehyde Ferredoxin Oxidoreductase, Formaldehyde Ferredoxin Oxidoreductase, Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate Ferredoxin Oxidoreductase, Aldehyde Oxidoreductase WOR 4, Tungsten, Tungstopterin, Thermal stability, Oxygen-inactivation, Sulfide- activation, Selenide-activation, Intracellular Sulfide. TUNGSTEN-CONTAINING ALDEHYDE OXIDOREDUCTASES: A NOVEL FAMILY OF ENZYMES FROM HYPERTHERMOPHILIC ARCHAEA by ROOPALI ROY B.S., Banaras Hindu University, India, 1988 M.S., Bombay University, India, 1991 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2001 Ó 2001 Roopali Roy All Rights Reserved TUNGSTEN-CONTAINING ALDEHYDE OXIDOREDUCTASES: A NOVEL FAMILY OF ENZYMES FROM HYPERTHERMOPHILIC ARCHAEA by ROOPALI ROY Approved: Major Professor: Michael W.W. Adams Committee: Harry Dailey Michael Johnson Lars Ljungdahl Robert Scott Electronic Version Approved: Gordhan L. Patel Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December 2001 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Michael Adams for his excellent guidance, continued encouragement, enthusiasm and support through my graduate studies. I have learnt a lot in the process and I appreciate the knowledge and experience gained during the years. I would like to thank my reading and examining committee members Dr. Harry Dailey, Dr. Michael Johnson, Dr. Lars Ljungdahl and Dr. Robert Scott for their effort and insightful suggestions in the completion of this work. This work would not have been possible without the excellent technical expertise of numerous people. I would like to thank Dr. Douglas Rees and Dr. Yonglin Hu for x-ray crystallography; Dr. Michael Johnson for EPR; Dr. Robert Weiss for sequencing and the Riverbend Chemical Analysis Laboratory for metal analysis. The support of colleagues both past and present at the Adams Lab especially Lucy Feingold, Angeli Menon, Gerti Schut, and Marc Verhagen has been invaluable. This work would not have been possible without the constant support and encouragement of my husband Nilay Roy and I am deeply grateful to him. Special thanks to my daughter for her love and sacrifices when I could not be there for her. I would like to thank my parents Deepali and Ranjit for teaching me that anything is possible and taking pride in my accomplishments. I acknowledge and appreciate my mother and father-in–law Smita and Pronab Roy for their tremendous support this past year. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................ iv LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................... viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS......................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 THREE ALDEHYDE OXIDOREDUCTASES FROM Pyrococcus furiosus .................52 CHAPTER 3 PURIFICATION AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF THE TUNGSTEN-CONTAINING FORMALDEHYDE FERREDOXIN OXIDOREDUCTASE FROM THE HYPERTHERMOPHILIC ARCHAEON Pyrococcus furiosus ......................................................................................................77 CHAPTER 4 EFFECTS ON FOR AND AOR ACTIVITY OF THE GROWTH CONDITIONS OF Pyrococcus furiosus.............................................................................................. 119 v vi CHAPTER 5 PHYSIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SULFIDE-ACTIVATION OF TUNGSTEN-CONTAINING ALDEHYDE OXIDOREDUCTASES FROM THE HYPERTHERMOPHILIC ARCHAEON Pyrococcus furiosus ........................... 144 CHAPTER 6 PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF KNOWN AND PUTATIVE TUNGSTOENZYMES OF THE AOR FAMILY ........................................................ 179 CHAPTER 7 A FOURTH TUNGSTEN-CONTAINING ENZYME FROM THE HYPERTHERMOPHILIC ARCHAEON Pyrococcus furiosus.................................... 194 CHAPTER 8 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS........................................................................... 217 REFERENCES............................................................................................................ 232 LIST OF TABLES Page 1.1 The hyperthermophilic genera: organisms that grow at 90 °C.................................4 1.2 Tungsten-containing enzymes .................................................................................23 1.3 Catalytic properties of tungstoenzymes ...................................................................30 1.4 Substrate specificity of AOR ...................................................................................39 2.1 Molecular properties of tungstoenzymes from P. furiosus........................................64 2.2 Substrate specificities of AOR and FOR ..................................................................69 3.1 Purification of FOR from P. furiosus .......................................................................85 3.2 Substrate specificity of P. furiosus FOR ..................................................................94 3.3 Kinetic constants for the purified and sulfide-activated forms of P. furiosus FOR.........................................................................................96 4.1 Various combinations of substrates used for P. furiosus cultures............................ 133 5.1 Kinetic constants for various forms of FOR ........................................................... 167 5.2 Acid-labile sulfide concentrations inside and outside cells of various types ..................................................................................................... 170 5.3 Acid-labile sulfide concentration in low (< 30 kDa) and high (> 30 kDa) molecular weight fractions of P. furiosus cell-free extract...................................... 172 6.1 List of putative relatives of tungsten-containing enzymes of P. furiosus in the genomic databases of various microorganisms ............................................ 189 7.1 Purification of WOR 4 from P. furiosus cell-free extract........................................ 204 vii LIST OF FIGURES Page 1.1 Universal phylogenetic tree in rooted form, showing the three domains.....................6 1.2 Electron micrograph of Pyrococcus furiosus............................................................10 1.3 Proposed glycolytic pathway in Pyrococcus furiosus ...............................................13 1.4 Proposed pathway for peptide fermentation from Pyrococcus furiosus.....................17 1.5 Structure of the pterin cofactor.................................................................................25 1.6 Proposed physiological role of AOR in the catabolism of glucose and amino acids ..........................................................................................40