Biochemical and Molecular Genetic Basis of Hydrogenases

Cloning and characterization of hoxH genes from Arthrospira and Spirulina and application in phylogenetic study

Partial hoxH genes of 2 cyanobacterial genera, including 5 strains of Arthrospira and 2 strains of Spirulina, were cloned and characterized. This gene encodes the large subunit of nickel-iron hydrogenase. The results showed that these genes comprised 1349 nucleotides in Arthrospira and 1343 nucleotides in Spirulina, respectively. The GC contents of hoxH were 45.7% to 47.3% in Arthrospira and up to 50.4% to 50.9% in Spirulina. The hoxH gene was demonstrated to be single copy by Southern analysis, and its transcription was verified by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in Arthrospira platensis FACHB341. The similarities of nucleotide sequences among the 5 strains of Arthrospira ranged from 95.7% to 99.8%, which are higher than those between Arthrospira and Spirulina (72.9-77.0%). However, similarity between the 2 Spirulina strains was only 72.5%, slightly lower than that between the 2 genera. A phylogenetic tree based on hoxH was constructed. All 5 strains of Arthrospira formed a monophyletic clade, which was highly supported by bootstrap value, while the 2 strains of Spirulina were separated into 2 different clades.

Hydrogenases in green algae: do they save the algae's life and solve our energy problems?

Green algae are the only known eukaryotes with both oxygenic photosynthesis and a hydrogen metabolism. Recent physiological and genetic discoveries indicate a close connection between these metabolic pathways. The anaerobically inducible hydA genes of algae encode a special type of highly active [Fe]-hydrogenase. Electrons from reducing equivalents generated during fermentation enter the photosynthetic electron transport chain via the plastoquinone pool. They are transferred to the hydrogenase by photosystem I and ferredoxin. Thus, the [Fe]-hydrogenase is an electron 'valve' that enables the algae to survive under anaerobic conditions. During sulfur deprivation, illuminated algal cultures evolve large quantities of hydrogen gas, and this promises to be an alternative future energy source.

Crystallographic and FTIR spectroscopic evidence of changes in Fe coordination upon reduction of the active site of the Fe-only hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans

Fe-only hydrogenases, as well as their NiFe counterparts, display unusual intrinsic high-frequency IR bands that have been assigned to CO and CN(-) ligation to iron in their active sites. FTIR experiments performed on the Fe-only hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans indicate that upon reduction of the active oxidized form, there is a major shift of one of these bands that is provoked, most likely, by the change of a CO ligand from a bridging position to a terminal one. Indeed, the crystal structure of the reduced active site of this enzyme shows that the previously bridging CO is now terminally bound to the iron ion that most likely corresponds to the primary hydrogen binding site (Fe2). The CO binding change may result from changes in the coordination sphere of Fe2 or its reduction. Superposition of this reduced active site with the equivalent region of a NiFe hydrogenase shows a remarkable coincidence between the coordination of Fe2 and that of the Fe ion in the NiFe cluster. Both stereochemical and mechanistic considerations suggest that the small organic molecule found at the Fe-only hydrogenase active site and previously modeled as 1,3-propanedithiolate may, in fact, be di-(thiomethyl)-amine.

Transcriptional and mutational analysis of the uptake hydrogenase of the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413

A 10-kb DNA region of the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413 containing the structural genes of the uptake hydrogenase (hupSL) was cloned and sequenced. In contrast to the hupL gene of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120, which is interrupted by a 10.5-kb DNA fragment in vegetative cells, there is no programmed rearrangement within the hupL gene during the heterocyst differentiation of A. variabilis. The hupSL genes were transcribed as a 2.7-kb operon and were induced only under nitrogen-fixing conditions, as shown by Northern blot experiments and reverse transcriptase PCR. Primer extension experiments with a fluorescence-labeled oligonucleotide primer confirmed these results and identified the 5' start of the mRNA transcript 103 bp upstream of the ATG initiation codon. A consensus sequence in the promoter that is recognized by the fumarate nitrate reductase regulator (Fnr) could be detected. The hupSL operon in A. variabilis was interrupted by an interposon deletion (mutant strain AVM13). Under N(2)-fixing conditions, the mutant strain exhibited significantly increased rates in H(2) accumulation and produced three times more hydrogen than the wild type. These results indicate that the uptake hydrogenase is catalytically active in the wild type and that the enzyme reoxidizes the H(2) developed by the nitrogenase. The Nif phenotype of the mutant strain showed a slight decrease of acetylene reduction compared to that of the wild type.