ABSTRACT
We describe here purification and biochemical characterization of the F1Fo-ATP synthase from the thermoalkaliphilic organism Bacillus sp. strain TA2.A1. The purified enzyme produced the typical subunit pattern of an F1Fo-ATP synthase on a sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel, with F1 subunits α, β, γ, δ, and ε and Fo subunits a, b, and c. The subunits were identified by N-terminal protein sequencing and mass spectroscopy. A notable feature of the ATP synthase from strain TA2.A1 was its specific blockage in ATP hydrolysis activity. ATPase activity was unmasked by using the detergent lauryldimethylamine oxide (LDAO), which activated ATP hydrolysis >15-fold. This activation was the same for either the F1Fo holoenzyme or the isolated F1 moiety, and therefore latent ATP hydrolysis activity is an intrinsic property of F1. After reconstitution into proteoliposomes, the enzyme catalyzed ATP synthesis driven by an artificially induced transmembrane electrical potential (Δψ). A transmembrane proton gradient or sodium ion gradient in the absence of Δψ was not sufficient to drive ATP synthesis. ATP synthesis was eliminated by the electrogenic protonophore carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, while the electroneutral Na+/H+ antiporter monensin had no effect. Neither ATP synthesis nor ATP hydrolysis was stimulated by Na+ ions, suggesting that protons are the coupling ions of the ATP synthase from strain TA2.A1, as documented previously for mesophilic alkaliphilic Bacillus species. The ATP synthase was specifically modified at its c subunits by N,N′-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, and this modification inhibited ATP synthesis.
Kinetic Equivalence of pH Difference (ΔPh) and Electrical Potential (Δψ) across Membrane in ATP Synthesis by Bacillus PS3 FOF1-ATP Synthase
