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MBE Advance Access published online on April 2, 2003
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msg071
Molecular Biology and Evolution © Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution 2003; all rights reserved
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Accepted December 10, 2002
© 2003 Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution

Original Articles

Arsenite Oxidase, an Ancient Bioenergetic Enzyme?

Evelyne Lebrun 1, Myriam Brugna 1, Frauke Baymann 1, Daniel Muller 2, Didier Lièvremont 2, Marie-Claire Lett 2, Wolfgang Nitschke 1*

1 Laboratoire de Bioénergétique et Ingénierie des Protéines (CNRS UPR 9036), Institut de Biologie Structurale et Microbiologie, 31 chemin Joseph-Aiguier, 13402 Marseille Cedex 20, France
2 Laboratoire de Dynamique, Evolution et Expression des génomes de micro-organismes, FRE2326 Université Louis-Pasteur/CNRS; 28 rue Goethe, 67083 Strasbourg Cedex, France

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nitschke{at}ibsm.cnrs-mrs.fr.


  Abstract

Operons coding for the enzyme arsenite oxidase have been detected in the genomes from Archaea and Bacteria by Blast-searches using the amino acid sequences of the respective enzyme characterised in two different {beta}-proteobacteria as templates. Sequence analyses show that in all these species, arsenite oxidase is transported over the cytoplasmic membrane via the tat-system and most probably remains membrane attached by an N-terminal transmembrane helix of the Rieske subunit. The biochemical and biophysical data obtained for arsenite oxidase in the green filamentous bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus allow a structural model of the enzyme's membrane association to be proposed. Phylogenies for the two constituent subunits (i.e. the molybdopterin-containing and the Rieske subunit) of the heterodimeric enzyme and their respective homologs in DMSO-reductase, formate dehydrogenase, nitrate reductase and the Rieske/cytb complexe were calculated from multiple sequence alignments. The obtained phylogenetic trees indicate an early origin of arsenite oxidase prior to the divergence of Archaea and Bacteria. Evolutionary implications of these phylogenies are discussed.

Key Words: arsenite, bioenergetics, evolution, phylogeny, Rieske protein, molybdopterin protein


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