Open AccessUroporphyrinogen III, an intermediate in the biosynthesis of the nickel‐containing factor F 430 in Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum
Author(s) -
GILLES Harald,
THAUER Rudolf K.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
european journal of biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1432-1033
pISSN - 0014-2956
DOI - 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1983.tb07624.x
Subject(s) - methanobacterium , levulinic acid , nickel , chemistry , tetrapyrrole , biosynthesis , stereochemistry , enzyme , biochemistry , bacteria , uroporphyrinogen iii decarboxylase , heme , biology , organic chemistry , catalysis , genetics , archaea , gene
Factor F 430 is a nickel‐containing porphinoid present in methanogenic bacteria. The synthesis of this nickel tetrapyrrole from 5‐aminolevulinic acid was studied in Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum. This anaerobic archaebacterium was found to accumulate [ 14 C]uroporphyrinogen III (1.8 μmol/g) when growing on nickel‐free medium (< 50 nmol/l) supplemented with 2 mM 5‐amino‐[ 14 C]levulinic acid. The accumulated urophorphyrinogen III was quantitatively converted to factor F 430 when the cells were incubated in aminolevulinate‐free medium with 5 μM NiCl 2 . The newly synthesized factor had the same specific radioactivity as the precursor uroporphyrinogen III. These findings indicate that the nickelporphinoid is biosynthetically derived from uroporphyrinogen III. The presence and some properties of the enzymes catalyzing the synthesis of uroporphyrinogen III from 5‐aminolevulinic acid in M. thermoautotrophicum are also described.