Structural and Phylogenetic Analysis of Rhodobacter capsulatus NifF: Uncovering General Features of Nitrogen-fixation (nif)-Flavodoxins

作者：Perez Dorado Inmaculada; Bortolotti Ana; Cortez Nestor; Hermoso Juan A^*

来源：International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2013, 14(1): 1152-1163.

DOI：10.3390/ijms14011152

• flavodoxin
• nitrogen fixation
• crystal structure
• phylogenetic analysis

Analysis of the crystal structure of NifF from Rhodobacter capsulatus and its homologues reported so far reflects the existence of unique structural features in nif flavodoxins: a leucine at the re face of the isoalloxazine, an eight-residue insertion at the C-terminus of the 50's loop and a remarkable difference in the electrostatic potential surface with respect to non-nif flavodoxins. A phylogenetic study on 64 sequences from 52 bacterial species revealed four clusters, including different functional prototypes, correlating the previously defined as "short-chain" with the firmicutes flavodoxins and the "long-chain" with gram-negative species. The comparison of Rhodobacter NifF structure with other bacterial flavodoxin prototypes discloses the concurrence of specific features of these functional electron donors to nitrogenase.

• 出版日期2013-1