Abstract
An inorganic pyrophosphatase [E.C. 3.6.1.1] was isolated from Methanothrix soehngenii. In three steps the enzyme was purified 400-fold to apparent homogeneity. The molecular mass estimated by gelfiltration was 139±7 kDa. Sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that the enzyme is composed of subunits with molecular masses of 35 and 33 kDa in an α 2 β 2 oligomeric structure. The enzyme catalyzed the hydrolysis of inorganic pyrophosphate, tri-and tetrapolyphosphate, but no activity was observed with a variety of other phosphate esters. The cation Mg2+ was required for activity. The pH optimum was 8 at 1 mM PP i and 5 mM Mg2+. The enzyme was heat-stable, insensitive to molecular oxygen and not inhibited by fluoride. Analysis of the kinetic properties revealed an apparent K m for PP i of 0.1 mM in the presence of 5 mM Mg2+. The V max was 590 μmol of pyrophosphate hydrolyzed per min per mg protein, which corresponds to a K cat of 1400 per second.
The enzyme was found in the soluble enzyme fraction after ultracentrifugation, when cells were disrupted by French Press. Upto 5% of the pyrophosphatase was associated with the membrane fraction, when gentle lysis procedyre were applied.
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Abbreviations
- PMSF:
-
phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride
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Jetten, M.S.M., Fluit, T.J., Stams, A.J.M. et al. A fluoride-insensitive inorganic pyrophosphatase isolated from Methanothrix soehngenii . Arch. Microbiol. 157, 284–289 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00245163
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00245163