51. Characterization of THB1, a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii truncated hemoglobin: linkage to nitrogen metabolism and identification of lysine as the distal heme ligand.
- Author
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Johnson EA, Rice SL, Preimesberger MR, Nye DB, Gilevicius L, Wenke BB, Brown JM, Witman GB, and Lecomte JT
- Subjects
- Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chemistry, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii genetics, Chloroplast Proteins chemistry, Heme chemistry, Heme metabolism, Hemoglobins chemistry, Hemoglobins genetics, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Lysine chemistry, Nitric Oxide chemistry, Nitric Oxide metabolism, Nitrogen chemistry, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii metabolism, Chloroplast Proteins biosynthesis, Gene Expression Regulation, Plant physiology, Hemoglobins biosynthesis, Lysine metabolism, Nitrogen metabolism
- Abstract
The nuclear genome of the model organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii contains genes for a dozen hemoglobins of the truncated lineage. Of those, THB1 is known to be expressed, but the product and its function have not yet been characterized. We present mutagenesis, optical, and nuclear magnetic resonance data for the recombinant protein and show that at pH near neutral in the absence of added ligand, THB1 coordinates the heme iron with the canonical proximal histidine and a distal lysine. In the cyanomet state, THB1 is structurally similar to other known truncated hemoglobins, particularly the heme domain of Chlamydomonas eugametos LI637, a light-induced chloroplastic hemoglobin. Recombinant THB1 is capable of binding nitric oxide (NO(•)) in either the ferric or ferrous state and has efficient NO(•) dioxygenase activity. By using different C. reinhardtii strains and growth conditions, we demonstrate that the expression of THB1 is under the control of the NIT2 regulatory gene and that the hemoglobin is linked to the nitrogen assimilation pathway.
- Published
- 2014
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