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The ferredoxin reductase FdR9 from Thermobifida fusca, a member of the oxygenase-coupled NADH-dependent ferredoxin reductase (FNR) family, catalyses electron transfer from NADH to its physiological electron acceptor ferredoxin. It forms part of a putative three-component cytochrome P450 monooxygenase system in T. fusca comprising CYP222A1 and the [3Fe-4S]-cluster ferredoxin Fdx8 as well as FdR9. Here, FdR9 was overexpressed and purified and its crystal structure was determined at 1.9 Å resolution. The overall structure of FdR9 is similar to those of other members of the FNR family and is composed of an FAD-binding domain, an NAD-binding domain and a C-terminal domain. Activity measurements with FdR9 confirmed a strong preference for NADH as the cofactor. Comparison of the FAD- and NAD-binding domains of FdR9 with those of other ferredoxin reductases revealed the presence of conserved sequence motifs in the FAD-binding domain as well as several highly conserved residues involved in FAD and NAD cofactor binding. Moreover, the NAD-binding site of FdR9 contains a modified Rossmann-fold motif, GxSxxS, instead of the classical GxGxxG motif., (open access.)

Molybdenum insertases (Mo-insertases) catalyze the final step of molybdenum cofactor (Moco) biosynthesis, an evolutionary old and highly conserved multi-step pathway. In the first step of the pathway, GTP serves as substrate for the formation of cyclic pyranopterin monophosphate, which is subsequently converted into molybdopterin (MPT) in the second pathway step. In the following synthesis steps, MPT is adenylated yielding MPT-AMP that is subsequently used as substrate for enzyme catalyzed molybdate insertion. Molybdate insertion and MPT-AMP hydrolysis are catalyzed by the Mo-insertase E-domain. Earlier work reported a highly conserved aspartate residue to be essential for Mo-insertase functionality. In this work, we confirmed the mechanistic relevance of this residue for the Arabidopsis thaliana Mo-insertase Cnx1E. We found that the conservative substitution of Cnx1E residue Asp274 by Glu (D274E) leads to an arrest of MPT-AMP hydrolysis and hence to the accumulation of MPT-AMP. We further showed that the MPT-AMP accumulation goes in hand with the accumulation of molybdate. By crystallization and structure determination of the Cnx1E variant D274E, we identified the potential reason for the missing hydrolysis activity in the disorder of the region spanning amino acids 269 to 274. We reasoned that this is caused by the inability of a glutamate in position 274 to coordinate the octahedral Mg2+-water complex in the Cnx1E active site., (© 2020 The Author(s).)

The molybdenum cofactor (Moco) is a redox-active prosthetic group found in the active site of Moco-dependent enzymes, which are vitally important for life. Moco biosynthesis involves several enzymes that catalyze the subsequent conversion of GTP into cyclic pyranopterin monophosphate (cPMP), molybdopterin (MPT), adenylated MPT (MPT-AMP), and finally Moco. While the underlying principles of cPMP, MPT, and MPT-AMP formation are well understood, the molybdenum insertase (Mo-insertase)-catalyzed final Moco maturation step is not. In the present study, we analyzed high-resolution X-ray datasets of the plant Mo-insertase Cnx1E that revealed two molybdate-binding sites within the active site, hence improving the current view on Cnx1E functionality. The presence of molybdate anions in either of these sites is tied to a distinctive backbone conformation, which we suggest to be essential for Mo-insertase molybdate selectivity and insertion efficiency., (© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.)

Isovaleryl coenzyme A (IV-CoA) is an important precursor for iso-fatty acids and lipids. It acts in the development of myxobacteria, which can produce this compound from acetyl-CoA through alternative IV-CoA biosynthesis (aib). A central reaction of aib is catalyzed by AibA/AibB, which acts as a cofactor-free decarboxylase despite belonging to the family of CoA-transferases. We developed an efficient expression system for AibA/AibB that allowed the determination of high-resolution crystal structures in complex with different ligands. Through mutational studies, we show that an active-site cysteine previously proposed to be involved in decarboxylation is not required for activity. Instead, AibA/AibB seems to induce an intramolecular decarboxylation by binding its substrate in a hydrophobic cavity and forcing it into a bent conformation. Our study opens opportunities for synthetic biology studies, since AibA/AibB may be suitable for the production of isobutene, a precursor of biofuels and chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The zinc-containing corrinoid:coenzyme M methyltransferase MtaA is part of the methanol-coenzyme M-methyltransferase complex of Methanosarcina mazei. The whole complex consists of three subunits: MtaA, MtaB and MtaC. The MtaB-MtaC complex catalyses the cleavage of methanol (bound to MtaB) and the transfer of the methyl group onto the cobalt of cob(I)alamin (bound to MtaC). The MtaA-MtaC complex catalyses methyl transfer from methyl-cob(III)alamin (bound to MtaC) to coenzyme M (bound to MtaA). The crystal structure of the MtaB-MtaC complex from M. barkeri has previously been determined. Here, the crystal structures of MtaA from M. mazei in a substrate-free but Zn2+-bound state and in complex with Zn2+ and coenzyme M (HS-CoM) are reported at resolutions of 1.8 and 2.1 Å, respectively. A search for homologous proteins revealed that MtaA exhibits 23% sequence identity to human uroporphyrinogen III decarboxylase, which has also the highest structural similarity (r.m.s.d. of 2.03 Å for 306 aligned amino acids). The main structural feature of MtaA is a TIM-barrel-like fold, which is also found in all other zinc enzymes that catalyse thiol-group alkylation. The active site of MtaA is situated at the narrow bottom of a funnel such that the thiolate group of HS-CoM points towards the Zn2+ ion. The Zn2+ ion in the active site of MtaA is coordinated tetrahedrally via His240, Cys242 and Cys319. In the substrate-free form the fourth ligand is Glu263. Binding of HS-CoM leads to exchange of the O-ligand of Glu263 for the S-ligand of HS-CoM with inversion of the zinc geometry. The interface between MtaA and MtaC for transfer of the methyl group from MtaC-bound methylcobalamin is most likely to be formed by the core complex of MtaB-MtaC and the N-terminal segment (a long loop containing three α-helices and a β-hairpin) of MtaA, which is not part of the TIM-barrel core structure of MtaA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]