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Cysteine desulphurase plays an important role in environmental adaptation of the hyperthermophilic archaeon T hermococcus kodakarensis
Author(s) -
Hidese Ryota,
Inoue Takahiro,
Imanaka Tadayuki,
Fujiwara Shinsuke
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/mmi.12662
Subject(s) - hyperthermophile , biology , archaea , thiamine pyrophosphate , biogenesis , biochemistry , cysteine , thermophile , cofactor , sulfur , gene , iron–sulfur cluster , biosynthesis , euryarchaeota , bacteria , genetics , chemistry , enzyme , organic chemistry
Summary The sulphur atoms of sulphur‐containing cofactors that are essential for numerous cellular functions in living organisms originate from L‐cysteine via cysteine desulphurase ( CSD ) activity. However, many (hyper)thermophilic archaea, which thrive in solfataric fields and are positioned near the root of the evolutionary tree of life, lack CSD orthologues. The existence of CSD orthologues in a subset of (hyper)thermophilic archaea is of interest with respect to the evolution of sulphur‐trafficking systems for the cofactors. This study demonstrates that the disruption of the csd gene of T hermococcus kodakarensis , a facultative elemental sulphur ( S 0 )‐reducing hyperthermophilic archaeon, encoding Tk ‐ CSD , conferred a growth defect evident only in the absence of S 0 , and that growth can be restored by the addition of S 0 , but not sulphide. We show that the csd gene is not required for biosynthesis of thiamine pyrophosphate or molybdopterin, irrespective of the presence or absence of S 0 , but is necessary for iron‐sulphur cluster biosynthesis in the absence of S 0 . Recombinant form of Tk ‐ CSD expressed in E scherichia coli was obtained and it was found to catalyse the desulphuration of L‐cysteine. The obtained data suggest that hyperthermophiles might benefit from a capacity for CSD ‐dependent iron‐sulphur cluster biogenesis, which allows them to thrive outside solfataric environments.