• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제11권4호
• /
• pp.709-711
• /
• 2001

To elucidate the putative role of the amido group in the metal binding of the fuculose-1-phosphate aldolase from Methanococcus jannaschii, we have examined a potential targen using site-directed mutagenesis. The replacement of asparagine 25 with leucine or threonine was shown to have a negative effect, not only on catlytic efficiency, but also on substrage recognition as well. The Hill coefficient values yeilded a value of =1. All metals used with the wild-type aldolases exhibited higher activity than that of the mutants. The spectra of the mutants were quite different from the wild-type aldolase. A highly conserved amino acid of asparagine 25 in a related family of aldolase odes not appear to provide sufficient evidence for evolution.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제40권5호
• /
• pp.801-804
• /
• 2007

The products of reactions catalyzed by Methanococcus. jannaschii (Mj) aldolase using various substrates were identified by gas chromatography (GC). Although Mj aldolase is considered a fuculose-1-phosphate aldolase based on homology searching after gene sequencing, it has not been proven to be a fuculose-1-phosphate aldolase based on its reaction products. Mj aldolase was found to catalyze reactions between glycoaldehyde or D, L-glyceraldehyde and DHAP (dihydroxyacetone phosphate). Before performing GC the ketoses produced were converted into peracetylated alditol derivatives by sequential reactions, i.e., dephosphorylation, $NaBH_4$ reduction, and acetylation. By comparing the GC data of final products with those of standard alditol samples, it was found that the enzymatic reactions with glycoaldehyde, D-glyceraldehyde, and D, L-glyceraldehyde produced D-ribulose-1-phosphate, D-psicose-1-phosphate, and a mixture of D-psicose and L-tagatose-1-phosphate, respectively. These results provide direct evidence that Mj aldolase is a fuculose-1-phosphate aldolase.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제31권2호
• /
• pp.130-134
• /
• 1998

An aldolase gene has been cloned from Methanococcus jannaschii. The coding region of the gene has been expressed in E. coli using a pET system to a level of 30% of total cellular proteins. The protein was purified to more than 95 % homogeneity by heat treatment and ion exchange chromatography. The protein performed an aldol condensation reaction with glyceraldehyde as substrate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate as a carboxyl donor. The protein was determined to be a type II aldolase which requires the $Zn^{2+}$ ion as a metal cofactor. This enzyme has a broad range of optimum pH (7-9) and temperature ($50-80^{\circ}C$). It shows strong stability against heat, chemical denaturants, as well as a high percentage' of organic solvents. The half-life of this enzyme at $85^{\circ}C$ is more than 24 h and it maintains more than 90% of aldolase activity in the presence of 6 M urea, 50% acetonitrile, or 15% isopropyl alcohol.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제11권5호
• /
• pp.838-844
• /
• 2001

The enzyme Fuc aldolase from Methanococcus jannaschii that catalyzes the aldol condensation of DHAP and L-lactaldehyde to give fuculose-1-phosphate was inactivated by DEP. The inactivation was pseudo first-order in the enzyme and DEP, which was biphasic. A pseudo second-order rate constant of 120$M^{-1}min^{-1}$ was obtained at pH 6.0 and $25{\circ}C$. Quantifying the increase in absorbance at 240nm showed that four histidine residues per subunit were modified during the nearly complete inactivation. The statistical analysis and the time course of the modification suggested that two or three histidine residues were essential for activity. The rate of inactivation was dependent on the pH, and the pH inactivation data implied the involvement of the amino acid residue with a $pK_a$ value of 5.7. Fuc aldolase was protected against DEP inactivation by DHAP, indicating that the histidine residues were located at the active site of Fuc aldolase. DL-Glyceraldehyde, as an alternative substrate to L-lactaldehyde, showed no specific protection for the Fuc aldolase.

• 한국생물물리학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국생물물리학회 1999년도 학술발표회 진행표 및 논문초록
• /
• pp.17-17
• /
• 1999

Almost half of the entire set of predicted genomic products from M ethanococcus jannaschii are classified as functionally unknown hypothetical proteins. We present a structure-based identification of the biochemical function of a protein with hitherto-unknown function from a M. jannaschii gene, Mj0226.(omitted)

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• 제29권1호
• /
• pp.173-176
• /
• 2008

MJ0684 from Methanococcus jannaschii is a hypothetical protein belonging to the subfamily Ig of amino acid aminotransferases. In the present study, the crystal structure of MJ0684 has been determined at 2.2 resolution. It reveals that MJ0684 has an overall structure similar to subfamily Ig aminotransferases and its active site architecture is most similar to that of kynurenine aminotransferases among several kinds of aminotransferases in the subfamily Ig?. It has two hydrophobic active site residues conserved in the kynurenine aminotransferases for recognizing hydrophobic substrates. In addition, the absence of any basic residue for recognizing the side chain carboxylic group of the aspartate in the active site rules out the possibility that MJ0684 would act as an aspartate aminotransferase. These structural observations collectively imply that MJ0684 is a novel archaeal homolog of the subfamily Ig kynurenine aminotransferase.

• 한국자기공명학회논문지
• /
• 제8권1호
• /
• pp.1-18
• /
• 2004

A thioredoxin from hyperthermophile, Methanococcus jannashii (MjTRX) was characterized by use of the differential scanning calorimetry to understand the mechanisms of thermodynamic stability. MjTRX has an unfolding transition temperature of 116.5$^{\circ}C$, although the maximum free energy of the unfolding (9.9 Kcal/mol) is similar to that of E. coli thioredoxin (ETRX, 9.0 Kcal/mol). However, the temperature of maximum stability is higher than ETRX by 20$^{\circ}C$, indicating that the unfolding transition temperature increased by shifting the temperature of maximum stability. MjTRX has lower enthalpy and entropy of the unfolding compared to ETRX maintaining a similar free energy of the unfolding. From the structure and the thermodynamic parameters of MjTRX, we showed that the unfolding transition temperature of MjTRX is increased due to the decreased entropy of the unfolding. Decreasing the unfolded state entropy and increasing the folded state entropy can decrease the entropy of the unfolding. In the case of MjTRX, the increased number of proline residues decreased the unfolded state entropy and the increased enthalpy in the folded state increased the folded state entropy.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• 제35권4호
• /
• pp.1087-1090
• /
• 2014

A simple and general method that selectively introduces metal binding sites into a protein can greatly increase the ability to design and biosynthesize artificial metalloproteins. Here, we report the incorporation of a phenanthroline-containing amino acid (Phen-Ala) into proteins in Escherichia coli by using the $tRNA{^{Tyr}}_{CUA}$ and tyrosyl aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase pair (BpyRS) from Methanococcus jannaschii, which was originally developed for a bipyridine-containing amino acid (Bpy-Ala). The incorporation efficiency of BpyRS for Phen-Ala was comparable to that for Bpy-Ala. Because of its high metal-binding ability and characteristic spectral properties, Phen-Ala can be a useful alternative to the existing metal-chelating amino acids for the design and synthesis of artificial metalloproteins.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제35권4호
• /
• pp.403-408
• /
• 2002

A hypothetical 21.0 kDa protein (ORF O197) from Escherichia coli K-12 was cloned, purified, and characterized. The protein sequence of ORF O197(termed EcO197) shares a 33.5% identity with that of a novel NTPase from Methanococcus jannaschii. The EcO197 protein was purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography, protease digestion, and gel filtration column. It hydrolyzed nucleoside triphosphates with an O6 atom-containing purine base to nucleoside monophosphate and pyrophosphate. The EcO197 protein had a strong preference for deoxyinosine triphosphate (dITP) and xanthosine triphosphate (XTP), while it had little activity in the standard nucleoside triphosphates (dATP, dCTP, dGTP, and dTTP). These aberrant nucleotides can be produced by oxidative deamination from purine nucleotides in cells; they are potentially mutagenic. The mutation protection mechanisms are caused by the incorporation into DNA of unwelcome nucleotides that are formed spontaneously. The EcO197 protein may function to eliminate specifically damaged purine nucleotide that contains the 6-keto group. This protein appears to be the first eubacterial dITP-and XTP-hydrolyzing enzyme that has been identified.