Activation and inhibition of ATP synthesis in cell envelope vesicles of Halobacterium halobium.

The characteristics of ATP synthesis in cell envelope vesicles of Halobacterium halobium were further studied. The results confirmed the previous conclusion (Mukohata et al. (1986) J. Biochem. 99, 1-8) that the ATP synthase in this extremely halophilic archaebacterium can not be an ordinary type of F0F1-ATPase, which has been thought to be ubiquitous among all the aerobic organisms on our biosphere. The ATP synthesis was activated most in 1 M NaCl and/or KCl, and at 40 degrees C, and at 80 mM MgCl2 where F0F1-ATPase loses its activity completely. The synthesis was negligible at 10 degrees C, and at 5 mM MgCl2. The Km for ADP was about 0.3 mM in the presence of 20 mM Pi, 1 M NaCl, 80 mM MgCl2, and 10 mM PIPES at pH 6.8 and 20 degrees C. The ATP synthesis was not inhibited by NaN3 and quercetin (specific inhibitors for F0F1-ATPase) or vanadate (for E1E2-ATPase) or ouabain (for Na+,K+-ATPase) or P1,P5-di(adenosine-5')pentaphosphate (AP5A, for adenylate kinase). The ATP synthesis was not inhibited by modification (pretreatment) with NaN3 or 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyladenosine (FSBA). On the contrary, the ATP synthesis was rather non-specifically inhibited by N-ethylmaleimide (NEM), trinitrobenzenesulfonate (TNBS), phenylglyoxal, and pyridoxal phosphate. 7-Chloro-4-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) as well as N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD) was found to be a specific inhibitor at least partly, because the NBD-Cl inhibition was partly prevented by ADP added to the modification mixture.