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A multisubunit membrane-bound [NiFe] hydrogenase and an NADH-dependent Fe-only hydrogenase in the fermenting bacterium Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für terrestrische Mikrobiologie, Karl-von-Frisch-Straße, D-35043 Marburg, Germany
² Biochemisches Institut, Fachbereich Humanmedizin, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Germany

Correspondence
Reiner Hedderich
hedderic{at}staff.uni-marburg.de

Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis is a thermophilic Gram-positive bacterium able to dispose of the reducing equivalents generated during the fermentation of glucose to acetate and CO₂ by reducing H⁺ to H₂. A unique combination of hydrogenases, a ferredoxin-dependent [NiFe] hydrogenase and an NADH-dependent Fe-only hydrogenase, were found to be responsible for H₂ formation in this organism. Both enzymes were purified and characterized. The tightly membrane-bound [NiFe] hydrogenase belongs to a small group of complex-I-related [NiFe] hydrogenases and has highest sequence similarity to energy-converting [NiFe] hydrogenase (Ech) from Methanosarcina barkeri. A ferredoxin isolated from Ta. tengcongensis was identified as the physiological substrate of this enzyme. The heterotetrameric Fe-only hydrogenase was isolated from the soluble fraction. It contained FMN and multiple iron–sulfur clusters, and exhibited a typical H-cluster EPR signal after autooxidation. Sequence analysis predicted and kinetic studies confirmed that the enzyme is an NAD(H)-dependent Fe-only hydrogenase. When H₂ was allowed to accumulate in the culture, the fermentation was partially shifted to ethanol production. In cells grown at high hydrogen partial pressure [p(H₂)] the NADH-dependent hydrogenase activity was fourfold lower than in cells grown at low p(H₂), whereas aldehyde dehydrogenase and alcohol dehydrogenase activities were higher in cells grown at elevated p(H₂). These results indicate a regulation in response to the p(H₂).

This work is dedicated to Professor Dr Rudolf K. Thauer on the occasion of his 65th birthday.

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