Functional conversion of nickel-containing metalloproteins via molecular design: from a truncated acetyl-coenzyme A synthase to a nickel superoxide dismutase.

Nickel uptake and utilization by microorganisms.

Nickel is an essential nutrient for selected microorganisms where it participates in a variety of cellular processes. Many microbes are capable of sensing cellular nickel ion concentrations and taking up this nutrient via nickel-specific permeases or ATP-binding cassette-type transport systems. The metal ion is specifically incorporated into nickel-dependent enzymes, often via complex assembly ...

Nur, a nickel-responsive regulator of the Fur family, regulates superoxide dismutases and nickel transport in Streptomyces coelicolor.

Nickel serves as a cofactor for various microbial enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD) found in Streptomyces spp. In Streptomyces coelicolor, nickel represses and induces production of Fe-containing and Ni-containing SODs, respectively, primarily at the transcriptional level. We identified the nickel-responsive regulator (Nur), a Fur (ferric-uptake regulator) homologue, which binds to t...

A novel nickel-containing superoxide dismutase from Streptomyces spp.

A novel type of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was purified to apparent homogeneity from the cytosolic fractions of Streptomyces sp. IMSNU-1 and Strep. coelicolor ATCC 10147 respectively. Both enzymes were composed of four identical subunits of 13.4 kDa, were stable at pH 4.0-8.0 and up to 70 degrees C, and were inhibited by cyanide and H2O2 but little inhibited by azide. The atomic absorption anal...

Structure, Function, and Mechanism of the Nickel Metalloenzymes, CO Dehydrogenase, and Acetyl-CoA Synthase

A functional Ni-Ni-[4Fe-4S] cluster in the monomeric acetyl-CoA synthase from Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans.

In anaerobic microorganisms employing the acetyl-CoA pathway, acetyl-CoA synthase (ACS) and CO dehydrogenase (CODH) form a complex (ACS/CODH) that catalyzes the synthesis of acetyl-CoA from CO, a methyl group, and CoA. Previously, a [4Fe-4S] cubane bridged to a copper-nickel binuclear site (active site cluster A of the ACS component) was identified in the ACS(Mt)/CODH(Mt) from Moorella thermoac...