ABSTRACT
Three additional ATPase genes, clustered in the orderahaH, ahaI, and ahaK, were found upstream of the previously characterized genes ahaECFABDGcoding for the archaeal A1Ao ATPase fromMethanosarcina mazei. ahaH, the first gene in the cluster, is preceded by a conserved promoter sequence. Northern blot analysis revealed that the clusters ahaHIK andahaECFABDG are transcribed as one message. AhaH is a hydrophilic polypeptide and is similar to peptides of previously unassigned function encoded by genes preceding postulated ATPase genes in Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum andMethanococcus jannaschii. AhaI has a two-domain structure with a hydrophilic domain of 39 kDa and a hydrophobic domain with seven predicted transmembrane α helices. It is similar to the 100-kDa polypeptide of V1Vo ATPases and is therefore suggested to participate in proton transport. AhaK is a hydrophobic polypeptide with two predicted transmembrane α helices and, on the basis of sequence comparisons and immunological studies, is identified as the proteolipid, a polypeptide which is essential for proton translocation. However, it is only one-half and one-third the size of the proteolipids from M. thermoautotrophicum and M. jannaschii, respectively. ahaK is expressed inEscherichia coli, and it is incorporated into the cytoplasmic membrane despite the different chemical natures of lipids from archaea and bacteria. This is the first report on the expression and incorporation into E. coli lipids of a membrane integral enzyme from a methanogens, which will facilitate analysis of the structure and function of the membrane domain of the methanoarchaeal ATPase.
Cross-talk in the A1-ATPase from Methanosarcina mazei Gö1 Due to Nucleotide Binding