Direct electrochemistry and enzymatic activity of bacterial polyhemic cytochrome c3 incorporated in clay films

International audienceuartz crystal microbalance and voltammetric measurements are used to study the electroenzymatic activity of incorporated bacterial polyhemic cytochrome c3 in clay minerals. Two different natural clays have been chosen, i.e., kaolinite and montmorillonite, which differ in structure, swelling property and cation exchange capacity. Comparative voltammetric studies of various electroactive species at clay-modified pyrolytic graphite electrodes are first undertaken, which allow the complete characterization of the clay deposit. Then, the incorporation process of bacterial polyhemic cytochrome c3 in the two clays is studied coupling quartz crystal microbalance and voltammetric measurements. Based on their respective characteristics, each clay yields a different behavior of the incorporated cytochrome c3, with significantly different electroactive fractions of the immobilized protein. The consequences of the interactions between the protein and the clays on the enzymatic activity of cytochrome c3 is then further examined. Firstly, the influence of the incorporation of cytochromes in clays on the metal reductase activity developed by bacterial polyheme c-type cytochromes is discussed. Secondly, hydrogenase enzymatic reactions are studied inside the clay films. An electrode is constructed by immobilizing hydrogenase in the clay and progressively incorporating either artificial (methyl viologen) or physiological (cytochrome c3) hydrogenase partner. It is shown that this modified electrode yields an efficient and stable response for either H2 consumption or evolution over a large range of pH

Stability and resilience of a biofilm reactor for hydrogen production under stressful operating condition

International audienceno abstrac

How sulfate respiration controls physical interactions in synthetic consortium

International audienceno abstrac

A proton-NMR investigation of the fully reduced cytochrome c7 from Desulfuromonas acetoxidans. Comparison between the reduced and the oxidized forms.

The solution structure via 1H NMR of the fully reduced form of cytochrome c7 has been obtained. The protein sample was kept reduced by addition of catalytic amounts of Desulfovibrio gigas iron hydrogenase in H2 atmosphere after it had been checked that the presence of the hydrogenase did not affect the NMR spectrum. A final family of 35 conformers with rmsd values with respect to the mean structure of 8.7 +/- 1.5 nm and 12.4 +/- 1.3 nm for the backbone and heavy atoms, respectively, was obtained. A highly disordered loop involving residues 54-61 is present. If this loop is ignored, the rmsd values are 6.2 +/- 1.1 nm and 10.2 +/- 1.0 nm for the backbone and heavy atoms, respectively, which represent a reasonable resolution. The structure was analyzed and compared with the already available structure of the fully oxidized protein. Within the indetermination of the two solution structures, the result for the two redox forms is quite similar, confirming the special structural features of the three-heme cluster. A useful comparison can be made with the available crystal structures of cytochromes c3, which appear to be highly homologous except for the presence of a further heme. Finally, an analysis of the factors affecting the reduction potentials of the heme irons was performed, revealing the importance of net charges in differentiating the reduction potential when the other parameters are kept constant

A quick solution structure determination of the fully oxidized double mutant K9-10A cytochrome c7 from Desulfuromonas acetoxidans and mechanistic implications.

Lysines 9 and 10 in Desulfuromonas acetoxidans cytochrome c7, which could be involved in the interaction mechanism with the redox partners, have been replaced by alanine residues using site-directed mutagenesis. The solution structure of the fully oxidized form of K9-10A cytochrome c7, which is paramagnetic with three paramagnetic centers, has been determined via 1H NMR. The assignment of the spectra has been performed through an automatic program whose algorithm and strategy are here described. The assignment of the NOESY spectra has been further extended by back calculating the NOESY maps. The final number of meaningful NOE-based upper distance limits was 1186. In the Restrained Energy Minimization calculations, 147 pseudocontact shift constraints were also included, which showed consistency with NOE-based constraints and therefore further contribute to validate the structure quality. A final family of 35 conformers was calculated with RMSD values with respect to the mean structure of 0.69 +/- 0.17 A and 1.05 +/- 0.14 A for the backbone and heavy atoms, respectively. The overall fold of the molecule is maintained with respect to the native protein. The loop present between heme III and heme IV results to be highly disordered also in the present structure although its overall shape mainly resembles that of the oxidized native protein, and the two strands which give rise to the short beta-sheet present at the N-terminus and connected by a turn containing the mutated residues, are less clearly defined. If this loop is neglected, the RMSD values are 0.52 +/- 0.07 A and 0.92 +/- 0.06 A for the backbone and heavy atoms, respectively, which represent a reasonable resolution. The relative distances and orientations of the three hemes are maintained, as well as the orientation of the imidazole rings of the axial histidine ligands, with the only exception of heme IV. Such difference probably reflects minor conformational changes due to the substitution of the vicinal Lys 10 with an Ala. The replacement of the two lysines does not affect the reduction potentials of the three hemes, consistently with the expectations on the basis of the structure and electrostatic calculations. However, the replacement of the two lysines affects the reactivity of the mutant cytochrome c7 with [Fe] hydrogenase, inducing a change in Km. This finding is in agreement with the identification of the protein area around heme IV as the interacting site

Mechanism of Chloride Inhibition of Bilirubin Oxidases and Its Dependence on Potential and pH

Bilirubin oxidases (BODs) belong to the multicopper oxidase (MCO) family and efficiently reduce O2 at neutral pH and under physiological conditions where chloride concentrations are >100 mM. BODs were consequently considered to be Cl– resistant, as opposed to laccases. However, there has not been a detailed study of the related effect of chloride and pH on the redox state of immobilized BODs. Here, we investigate by electrochemistry the catalytic mechanism of O2 reduction by the thermostable Bacillus pumilus BOD immobilized on carbon nanofibers in the presence of NaCl. The addition of chloride results in the formation of a redox state of the enzyme, previously observed for different BODs and laccases, which is active only after a reductive step. This behavior has not been previously investigated. We show that the kinetics of formation of this state is strongly dependent on pH, temperature, Cl– concentration, and applied redox potential. Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy allows us to correlate the inhibition by chloride with the formation of the alternative resting form of the enzyme. We demonstrate that O2 is not required for its formation and show that the application of an oxidative potential is sufficient. In addition, our results suggest that reactivation may proceed through T3β