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Analysis of cDNA clones encoding the entire precursor-polypeptide for ferredoxin:NADP+ oxidoreductase from spinach.

In this paper, we report the structural characterization of several spinach ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase (FNR) cDNAs ranging in size from 0.9 to 1.5 kilobases. A comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence with the known amino acid sequence determined for the spinach protein establishes that 1.4-1.5 kpb inserts span the full length of the mature protein (314 amino acid residues; Mr = 35,382). These also include an N-terminal 55 amino acid transit peptide as well as maximally 171 and 214 nucleotide 5' and 3' untranslated sequences, respectively. Evidence has been obtained that various forms of FNR arise from at least two similar genes. The FNR precursor (369 amino acid residues) has a calculated molecular mass of 41.2 kDa. Comparison of the transit peptide with transit peptides from two other stromal proteins shows little similarity at the level of primary sequence but some common features in secondary structure predictions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Probing magnetic properties of the reduced [2Fe-2S] cluster of the ferredoxin from Arthrospira platensis by 1H ENDOR spectroscopy.

The 1H electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectra in frozen solutions of the reduced [2Fe-2S] cluster in ferredoxin from Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis have been measured at low temperatures (5-20 K) and simulated using orientational selection methods. The analysis confirmed the existence of a single paramagnetic species with iron valence states II and III connected uniquely to the cluster irons. The experimental ENDOR spectra were fitted to a model including the spin distribution on the centre, the orientation of the g-matrix, and the isotropic and anisotropic hyperfine couplings of the nearest protons in the crystallographically determined structure. In order to partially simulate ENDOR line shapes, a statistical distribution of the corresponding torsion angles between the Fe(III) centre and one of the beta-CH2 protons was introduced. From the analysis, four of the larger hyperfine couplings found were assigned to the cysteine beta-protons near the Fe(III) ion of the cluster, with isotropic hyperfine couplings ranging from 1.6 to 4.1 MHz. The spin distribution on the two iron ions was estimated to be +1.85 for the Fe(III) ion and -0.9 for the Fe(II) ion. The Fe(III) ion was identified as being coordinated to the cysteine ligands Cys49 and Cys79, confirming previous NMR results. The direction of the g-tensor with respect to the cluster was deduced. The g1-g2 plane is parallel to the planes through each iron and its adjacent cysteine sulfurs; the g2-g3 plane is nearly perpendicular to the latter planes and deviates by 25 degrees from the FeSSFe plane. The g1 direction is dominated by the bonding geometry of Fe(II) and does not align with the Fe(II)-Fe(III) vector.

Cyanobacteria↗

Gene expression of ferredoxin reductase predicts outcome in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated by 5-fluorouracil plus leucovorin.

PURPOSE: Ferredoxin reductase (FDXR) is a putative contributor to p53-mediated apoptosis from 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) through the generation of oxidative stress in the mitochondria. However, the influence of FDXR gene expression levels on the outcome of 5-FU chemotherapy has been relatively little studied. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between FDXR gene expressions and the clinical outcome when treated by 5-FU chemotherapy, as well as the correlation of FDXR gene expressions and p53 mutation. METHODS: Pre-chemotherapeutic fresh frozen samples of 33 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, who received bolus 5-FU and leucovorin (LV) as first line chemotherapy, were studied. FDXR gene expression and p53 mutation were evaluated by real-time RT-PCR and direct sequencing, respectively. RESULTS: FDXR gene expression was significantly higher in responding tumors compared with non-responding ones (P=0.0379). Patients with FDXR values above the cutoff value of 13.52 had a statistically longer survival than those with FDXR gene expressions below the cutoff value (P=0.0148). The 9 tumors with wild-type p53 had statistically higher FDXR gene expressions than the 14 tumors with mutant-type p53 which had sequence alterations within the "hot spot" codons, the L2-L3 loops, or frameshift (P=0.0463). CONCLUSIONS: FDXR gene expression did not affect clinical outcome in patients with wild-type p53 tumors, whereas, among patients with p53 mutant-type tumors, patients with tumors with low FDXR gene expression had a worse outcome than those with a high FDXR gene expression (P=0.0200). FDXR gene expression, which is regulated at least in part by p53, is associated with both response and survival when metastatic colorectal cancer is treated with 5-FU plus LV. In addition, analysis of p53 mutation combined with FDXR gene expression might be useful in estimating the outcome in 5-FU-treated patients.

Adult↗

Production of soft rot resistant calla lily by expressing a ferredoxin-like protein gene (pflp) in transgenic plants.

An efficient protocol for the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of calla lily (Zantedeschia elliottiana (W. Wats.) Engl. cultivar 'Florex Gold') is described. Shoot basal discs were co-cultivated with A. tumefaciens C58C1 carrying a plasmid containing neomycin phosphotransferase (nptII) and plant ferredoxin-like protein (pflp) genes. After Agrobacterium co-cultivation, the shoot basal discs were exposed to 100 mg l(-1) kanamycin for selection. Twenty-eight out of 260 discs (10.8%) were found to have survived and produced shoot clusters. Twenty-six of these were confirmed to contain the pflp transgene by PCR, ending up in 10% transformation efficiency. The disease resistance investigation revealed that 18 transgenic plants exhibited resistance to soft rot disease caused by Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora. The presence of pflp gene was demonstrated by PCR, and its accumulation and activity was confirmed by Western blot and disease resistance assay. This was the first report to show the successful transformation and resistance to a bacterial pathogen in Zantedeschia. The protocol is useful for the quality improvement of calla lily through genetic transformation.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens↗

Sweet pepper ferredoxin-like protein ( pflp) gene as a novel selection marker for orchid transformation.

A novel method for selection of transgenic plants utilizing the sweet pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) ferredoxin-like protein ( pflp) gene as selection marker and Erwinia carotovora as the selection agent has been developed. An expression vector containing a pflp cDNA driven by a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter was successfully transformed into protocorm-like bodies of Oncidium orchid by Agrobacterium tumefaciens and particle bombardment, respectively. Erwinia carotovora was used as a selection agent to screen transformants, thereby obtaining transgenic plants without the use of an antibiotic selection agent. A total of 32 independent transgenic orchid lines were obtained, out of which 9 transgenic lines (beta-glucuronidase positive) were randomly selected and confirmed by Southern and northern blot analyses. The transgenic orchid plants showed enhanced resistance to E. carotovora, even when the entire plant was challenged with the pathogen. Our results suggest the novel use of the pflp gene as a resistance selection marker in plant genetic engineering strategies. In the future, the use of the pflp gene as a selection marker may facilitate the use of smaller gene constructs due to removal of bulky antibiotic selection and reporter genes. These constructs can then be used to incorporate additional genes of choice.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens↗

The chloroplast NifS-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana is required for iron-sulfur cluster formation in ferredoxin.

Plastids are known to be able to synthesize their own iron-sulfur clusters, but the biochemical machinery responsible for this process is not known. In this study it is investigated whether CpNifS, the chloroplastic NifS-like cysteine desulfurase of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. is responsible for the release of sulfur from cysteine for the biogenesis of iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters in chloroplasts. Using an in vitro reconstitution assay it was found that purified CpNifS was sufficient for Fe-S cluster formation in ferredoxin in the presence of cysteine and a ferrous iron salt. Antibody-depletion experiments using stromal extract showed that CpNifS is also essential for the Fe-S cluster formation activity of chloroplast stroma. The activity of CpNifS in the stroma was 50- to 80-fold higher than that of purified CpNifS on a per-protein basis, indicating that other stromal factors cooperate in Fe-S cluster formation. When stromal extract was separated on a gel-filtration column, most of the CpNifS eluted as a dimer of 86 kDa, but a minor fraction of the stromal CpNifS eluted at a molecular weight of approx. 600 kDa, suggesting the presence of a multi-protein complex. The possible nature of the interacting proteins is discussed.

Arabidopsis↗

Solution structure of T4moC, the Rieske ferredoxin component of the toluene 4-monooxygenase complex.

Toluene 4-monooxygenase, a four-protein complex from Pseudomonas mendocina KR1, catalyzes the NADH- and O(2)-dependent hydroxylation of toluene to form p-cresol. The solution structure of the 112-amino-acid Rieske ferredoxin component, T4moC, was determined from 2D and 3D (1)H, (13)C, and (15)N NMR data. The structural model was refined through simulated annealing by molecular dynamics in torsion angle space with input from 1650 experimental restraints, including 1264 inter-proton distance restraints obtained from NOEs, 247 non-redundant intra-residue NOEs, 26 hydrogen bond restraints, and 113 dihedral angle ( phi, psi) restraints. The 20 calculated conformers that best satisfied the input restraints were submitted to refinement in explicit solvent to improve the stereochemical quality. With exclusion of ill-defined N- and C-terminal segments (Ser2; His111-Ser112) and residues near to the [2Fe-2S] cluster, the atomic root mean square deviation for the 20 conformers with respect to the mean coordinates was 1.09 A for the backbone and 1.60 A for all non-hydrogen atoms. The T4moC structure consists of 10 beta-strands arranged in the three anti-parallel beta-sheet topology observed in all Rieske [2Fe-2S] domain proteins. The S(gamma) of Cys45 and Cys64 and the N(delta1) of His47 and His67 provide the ligands to the [2Fe-2S] cluster of T4moC. (1)H-(15)N HSQC measurements show that both His47-N(epsilon2) and His67-N(epsilon2) are protonated at the pH of the NMR experiments. Comparisons are made between the present NMR structure, previous paramagnetic NMR studies of T4moC, and the X-ray structures of other members of the Rieske protein family.

Catalysis↗

Desulfovibrio gigas ferredoxin II: redox structural modulation of the [3Fe-4S] cluster.

Desulfovibrio gigas ferredoxin II (DgFdII) is a small protein with a polypeptide chain composed of 58 amino acids, containing one Fe3S4 cluster per monomer. Upon studying the redox cycle of this protein, we detected a stable intermediate (FdIIint) with four 1H resonances at 24.1, 20.5, 20.8 and 13.7 ppm. The differences between FdIIox and FdIIint were attributed to conformational changes resulting from the breaking/formation of an internal disulfide bridge. The same 1H NMR methodology used to fully assign the three cysteinyl ligands of the [3Fe-4S] core in the oxidized state (DgFdIIox) was used here for the assignment of the same three ligands in the intermediate state (DgFdIIint). The spin-coupling model used for the oxidized form of DgFdII where magnetic exchange coupling constants of around 300 cm-1 and hyperfine coupling constants equal to 1 MHz for all the three iron centres were found, does not explain the isotropic shift temperature dependence for the three cysteinyl cluster ligands in DgFdIIint. This study, together with the spin delocalization mechanism proposed here for DgFdIIint, allows the detection of structural modifications at the [3Fe-4S] cluster in DgFdIIox and DgFdIIint.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

Homology predicted structure and functional interaction of ferredoxin from the eukaryotic alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii with nitrite reductase and glutamate synthase.

Ferredoxin (Fd) from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is composed of 94 amino-acid residues and a [2Fe-2S] cluster. The homology modelling technique has been used to predict the tertiary structure of C. reinhardtii Fd. The overall structure shows the typical fifth-stranded beta-grasp plus two additional beta-sheets and three alpha-helices. Site-directed mutagenesis of recombinant Fd has allowed us to obtain four point mutants and one double mutant--all mutations being located in the short alpha-helix at the carboxy-terminal segment as well as a triple mutant affected on helix alpha1. Crosslinking studies and measurement of enzymatic activities reveal that the residues changed are critical for the interaction of Fd with glutamate synthase (GOGAT) and nitrite reductase (NiR). Potentiometric analyses of the Fd mutants show that the replacement of glutamate in position 91 drastically changes the redox potential value (70 mV), thereby suggesting that such a glutamate can modulate the reactivity of Fd towards its reaction partners. According to results herein presented, the reported mutations modify the electrostatic interactions within the complex formed between Fd and GOGAT or NiR.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The discovery of the nature of ferredoxin in photosystems: a recollection.

I describe here my recollection of the story of the discovery of the nature of ferredoxin in photosystems that began in 1965: this story involved the EPR measurements by a young physicist J.H.M. Thornley, using samples provided by J.F. Gibson and D. Hall, and in collaboration with F.R. Whatley.

Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy↗

Rapid procedure for the preparation of ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase in molecularly pure form at 36 kDa.

Ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase (FNR, EC 1.18.1.2) was purified to molecular homogeneous form as judged by regular and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-electrophoresis using EDTA extraction of spinach thylakoids, followed by anion exchange on DEAE-cellulose, Procion Red HE 3B dye-ligand chromatography, and hydroxyapatite chromatography. By this procedure, within 1 week approx 7.5 mg of pure FNR, starting from 1 kg of spinach leaves, could be routinely obtained. By comparison with commercially available FNR and with aged preparations two different molecular forms of the enzyme were observed in SDS-electrophoresis. FNR prepared according to the described procedure revealed an apparent molecular mass of 36,000 Da, whereas all other tested preparations showed molecular masses of 3000 Da smaller. Migration in regular gel electrophoresis was the same for all preparations and zymogram stain indicated similar diaphorase activity of both the smaller and the larger forms.

Chromatography↗

The amino acid sequence of a high-redox-potential ferredoxin from the purple phototrophic bacterium, Rhodospirillum tenue strain 2761.

The 61-residue amino acid sequence of Rhodospirillum tenue, strain 2761, high-redox-potential ferredoxin (HiPIP) is GTNAAMRKAFNYQDTAKNGKCSGCAQFVPGASPTAAGGCKVIPGDNEIAPGGYCDAFIVKK. It differs from that of R. tenue strain 3761 by 16 amino acid substitutions plus two single-residue deletions. This 26% sequence difference is similar to that observed among separate species of chromatiaceae such as Chromatium vinosum, C. gracile, and Thiocapsa roseopersicina, and is suprising because there are no distinguishing microbiological characteristics separating these two R. tenue strains. The most interesting amino acid substitution in R. tenue 2761 HiPIP is Gly for Asn 45 (C. vinosum numbering). Besides the four cysteines required to bind the four iron-four sulfur cluster, only Tyr 19, Asn 45, and Gly 75 are absolutely conserved in the nine previously determined HiPIP sequences. If HiPIP is used as a measure of divergence of species, then R. tenue and C. vinosum are the most distant purple bacteria examined. Quite the opposite conclusion follows based on the sequences of the cytochromes c'. It is suggested that this anomaly is more likely owing to a change in function for HiPIP with subsequently rapid evolutionary change than to a relatively recent transfer of the cytochrome c' gene between species.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase is the respiratory NADPH dehydrogenase of the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis.

The NADPH dehydrogenase of the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis was solubilized, purified, and characterized. Activity staining after nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, kinetics, and immunological characterization led to the conclusion that only one thylakoid-associated NADPH dehydrogenase exists in Anabaena, identical with ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase (FNR). After sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis an intense band at 34 kDa and a weak band at 52 kDa were found by immunoblotting with an antibody against Anabaena FNR. Using a cell-free preparation competent of oxidative phosphorylation it was demonstrated that FNR operates as a respiratory NADPH dehydrogenase coupled to cyanide-sensitive oxidative ATP formation.

Cyanobacteria↗

Comparison of the kinetics of reduction and intramolecular electron transfer in electrostatic and covalent complexes of ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase and flavodoxin from Anabaena PCC 7119.

The kinetics of reduction and intracomplex electron transfer in electrostatically stabilized and covalently crosslinked complexes between ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase (FNR) and flavodoxin (Fld) from the cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC 7119 were compared using laser flash photolysis. The second-order rate constant for reduction by 5-deazariboflavin semiquinone (dRfH) of FNR within the electrostatically stabilized complex at 10 mM ionic strength (4.0 X 10(8) M-1 s-1) was identical to that for free FNR. This suggests that the FAD cofactor of FNR is not sterically hindered upon complex formation. A lower limit of approximately 7000 s-1 was estimated for the first-order rate constant for intracomplex electron transfer from FNRred to Fldox under these conditions. In contrast, for the covalently crosslinked complex, a smaller second-order rate constant (2.1 X 10(8) M-1 s-1) was obtained for the reduction of FNR by dRfH within the complex, suggesting that some steric hindrance of the FAD cofactor of FNR occurs due to crosslinking. A limiting rate constant of 1000 s-1 for the intracomplex electron transfer reaction was obtained for the covalent complex, which was unaffected by changes in ionic strength. The substantially diminished limiting rate constant, relative to that of the electrostatic complex, may reflect either a suboptimal orientation of the redox cofactors within the covalent complex or a required structural reorganization preceding electron transfer which is not allowed once the proteins have been covalently linked. Thus, although the covalent complex is biochemically competent, it is not a quantitatively precise model for the catalytically relevant intermediate along the reaction pathway.

Cyanobacteria↗

Proteolytic degradation of ferredoxin-NADP reductase during purification from spinach.

Ferredoxin-NADP reductase (FNR) was rapidly isolated from spinach leaves with special care to suppress proteolytic degradation. The molecular mass of this FNR preparation was estimated to be 35 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Limited proteolysis of 35-kDa FNR to 33-kDa FNR was effectively suppressed by high pH (at pH 9.3), concentrated salts, and low temperature. On the basis of these observations, a new isolation procedure was designed to obtain 35-kDa FNR in a preparative scale. The resulting final preparation still contained two FNR components. One appeared to correspond to the longest polypeptide so far reported for spinach FNR (Karplus et al., 1984, Biochemistry 23, 6576-6583) while the other lacked a gamma-pyroglutamyl residue from its amino terminus. Conventional preparation procedure without suppression of proteolytic action yielded an FNR preparation with a molecular mass of 33 kDa. This FNR preparation consisted of three components. They lacked 11 to 17 amino-terminal residues, while their carboxyl-terminal structure was retained intact. These results showed that proteolytic degradation of the spinach FNR molecule during purification took place exclusively at its amino-terminal moiety and further suggested that 35-kDa FNR with Karplus' structure should be the mature FNR molecule functional in the chloroplast thylakoids.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The reconstituted NADP photoreducing system by rebinding of the large form of ferredoxin-NADP reductase to depleted thylakoid membranes.

The large form of ferredoxin-NADP reductase (FNR-L) was prepared by reassociating the small form of the enzyme (FNR-S) and connectein isolated from spinach leaves. The re-formed FNR-L could be rebound to depleted thylakoids from which most of the "built-in" FNR-L had been extracted. This rebinding of FNR-L brought about good restoration of the diminished NADP photoreducing activity of depleted thylakoids. Although rebinding of FNR-S to the depleted thylakoids took place with or without connectein, restoration of the NADP photoreducing activity required involvement of connectein. It becomes clear that involvement of connectein in the binding of FNR to thylakoids is indispensable for giving the physiological function of NADP photoreducing activity to the flavin enzyme on the surface of thylakoid membranes. It is most likely that FNR-L is the functional entity at the final step of the photosynthetic electron transport system in chloroplasts.

Chloroplasts↗

Studies on the holoenzyme biogenesis of the spinach ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase.

An expression plasmid, pPreFNR, in which the DNA sequence coding for the spinach ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase precursor was under the control of prokaryotic transcription and translation initiation signals has been constructed. The plasmid directed the synthesis in Escherichia coli of a 43-kDa immunoreactive polypeptide which could be identified with the reductase preprotein. Analyses of bacterial extracts showed that the precursor was unstable and devoid of catalytic activities, suggesting that the presence of the transit peptide would not allow the assembly in E. coli of an active preholoenzyme. Furthermore, the reductase precursor was found to undergo a processing in E. coli. The proteolysed form, which retained 13 of the 55 residues of the transit peptide, was active, suggesting that removal of the first 42 residues of the presequence enabled the protein to properly fold and to bind the FAD prosthetic group in the bacterial host, as it was previously shown in the case of the mature form of the spinach reductase.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Purification, characterization and biological activity of three forms of ferredoxin from the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio gigas.

Three forms of ferredoxin FdI, FdI', and FdII have been isolated from Desulfovibrio gigas, a sulfate reducer. They are separated by a combination of DEAE-cellulose and gel filtration chromatographic procedures. FdI and FdI' present a slight difference in isoelectric point which enables the separation of the two forms over DEAE-cellulose, while FdII is easily separated from the two other forms by gel filtration. The three forms have the same amino acid composition and are isolated in different aggregation states. Molecular weight determinations by gel filtration gave values of 18 000 for FdI and FdI' and 24 000 for FdII, whereas a value of 6000 is determined when dissociation is accomplished with sodium dodecyl sulfate. The electronic spectra are different and their ultraviolet-visible absorbance rations are 0.77, 0.87 and 0.68 respectively for FdI, FdI' and FdII. Despite these differences, the physiological activities of the three forms are similar as far as the reduction of sulfite by molecular hydrogen is concerned.

Amino Acids↗