ABSTRACT
Clostridium acetobutylicum, an obligate anaerobe, grows normally under continuous-O2-flow culture conditions, where the cells consume O2 proficiently. An O2-responsive NADH:rubredoxin oxidoreductase operon composed of three genes (nror, fprA2, and dsr), encoding NROR, functionally uncharacterized flavoprotein A2 (FprA2), and the predicted superoxide reductase desulfoferrodoxin (Dsr), has been proposed to participate in defense against O2 stress. To functionally characterize these proteins, native NROR from C. acetobutylicum, recombinant NROR (rNROR), FprA2, Dsr, and rubredoxin (Rd) expressed in Escherichia coli were purified. Purified native NROR and rNROR both exhibited weak H2O2-forming NADH oxidase activity that was slightly activated by Rd. A mixture of NROR, Rd, and FprA2 functions as an efficient H2O-forming NADH oxidase with a high affinity for O2 (the Km
for O2 is 2.9 � 0.4 μM). A mixture of NROR, Rd, and Dsr functions as an NADH-dependent O2
− reductase. A mixture of NROR, Rd, and rubperoxin (Rpr, a rubrerythrin homologue) functions as an inefficient H2O-forming NADH oxidase but an efficient NADH peroxidase with a low affinity for O2 and a high affinity for H2O2 (the Km
s for O2 and H2O2 are 303 � 39 μM and ≤1 μM, respectively). A gene encoding Rd is dicistronically transcribed with a gene encoding a glutaredoxin (Gd) homologue, and the expression levels of the genes encoding Gd and Rd were highly upregulated upon exposure to O2. Therefore, nror operon enzymes, together with Rpr, efficiently function to scavenge O2, O2
−, and H2O2 by using an O2-responsive rubredoxin as a common electron carrier protein.
Superoxide Reductase as a Unique Defense System against Superoxide Stress in the Microaerophile Treponema pallidum
