Purification and characterization of a membrane‐bound enzyme complex from the sulfate‐reducing archaeon Archaeoglobus fulgidus related to heterodisulfide reductase from methanogenic archaea

Abstract

Heterodisulfide reductase (Hdr) is a unique disulfide reductase that plays a key role in the energy metabolism of methanogenic archaea. The genome of the sulfate‐reducing archaeon Archaeoglobus fulgidus encodes several proteins of unknown function with high sequence similarity to the catalytic subunit of Hdr. Here we report on the purification of a multisubunit membrane‐bound enzyme complex from A. fulgidus that contains a subunit related to the catalytic subunit of Hdr. The purified enzyme is a heme/iron‐sulfur protein, as deduced by UV/Vis spectroscopy, EPR spectroscopy, and the primary structure. It is composed of four different subunits encoded by a putative transcription unit (AF499, AF501–AF503). A fifth protein (AF500) encoded by this transcription unit could not be detected in the purified enzyme preparation. Subunit AF502 is closely related to the catalytic subunit HdrD of Hdr from Methanosarcina barkeri. AF501 encodes a membrane‐integral cytochrome, and AF500 encodes a second integral membrane protein. AF499 encodes an extracytoplasmic iron‐sulfur protein, and AF503 encodes an extracytoplasmic c‐type cytochrome with three heme c‐binding motifs. All of the subunits show high sequence similarity to proteins encoded by the dsr locus of Allochromatium vinosum and to subunits of the Hmc complex from Desulfovibrio vulgaris. The heme groups of the enzyme are rapidly reduced by reduced 2,3‐dimethyl‐1,4‐naphthoquinone (DMNH 2), which indicates that the enzyme functions as a menaquinol–acceptor oxidoreductase. The physiological electron acceptor has not yet been identified. Redox titrations monitored by EPR spectroscopy were carried out to characterize the iron‐sulfur clusters of the enzyme. In addition to EPR signals due to [4Fe‐4S]+ clusters, signals of an unusual paramagnetic species with g values of 2.031, 1.994, and 1.951 were obtained. The paramagnetic species could be reduced in a one‐electron transfer reaction, but could not be further oxidized, and shows EPR properties similar to those of a paramagnetic species recently identified in Hdr. In Hdr this paramagnetic species is specifically induced by the substrates of the enzyme and is thought to be an intermediate of the catalytic cycle. Hence, Hdr and the A. fulgidus enzyme not only share sequence similarity, but may also have a similar active site and a similar catalytic function.