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Appl Environ Microbiol, April 1998, p. 1308-1312, Vol. 64, No. 4
Unité de Bioénergétique et
Ingéniérie des Protéines, IFRC1, Centre National
de la Recherche Scientifique, 13402 Marseilles Cedex 20, France
Received 13 October 1997/Accepted 5 February 1998
Multiheme cytochrome c proteins that belong to class
III have been recently shown to exhibit a metal reductase
activity, which could be of great environmental interest, especially in
metal bioremediation. To get a better understanding of these
activities, the gene encoding cytochrome c7
from the sulfur-reducing bacterium Desulfuromonas
acetoxidans was cloned from genomic DNA by PCR and expressed in
Desulfovibrio desulfuricans G201. The expression system was
based on the cyc transcription unit from
Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough and led to the
synthesis of holocytochrome c7 when transferred
by electrotransformation into the sulfate reducer
Desulfovibrio desulfuricans G201. The produced cytochrome was indistinguishable from the protein purified from
Desulfuromonas acetoxidans cells with respect to several
biochemical and biophysical criteria and exhibited the same metal
reductase activities as determined from electrochemical experiments.
This suggests that the molecule was correctly folded in the host
organism. Desulfovibrio desulfuricans produces functional
multiheme c-type cytochromes from bacteria belonging to
a different genus and may be considered a suitable host for the
heterologous biogenesis of multiheme c-type cytochromes for
either structural or engineering studies. This report, which
presents the first example of the transformation of a
Desulfovibrio desulfuricans strain by
electrotransformation, describes work that is the first necessary step
of a protein engineering program that aims to specify the structural
features that are responsible for the metal reductase activities of
multiheme cytochrome c7.
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
The Desulfuromonas acetoxidans Triheme
Cytochrome c7 Produced in Desulfovibrio
desulfuricans Retains Its Metal Reductase Activity
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: BIP-IFR1, CNRS,
31 ch. J. Aiguier, 13402 Marseilles Cedex 20, France. Phone: 33 4 91 16 41 44. Fax: 33 4 91 77 95 17. E-mail:
bruschi{at}ibsm.cnrs-mrs.fr.
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