Dataset Information

A cell-free microtiter plate screen for improved [FeFe] hydrogenases.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:[FeFe] hydrogenase enzymes catalyze the production and dissociation of H(2), a potential renewable fuel. Attempts to exploit these catalysts in engineered systems have been hindered by the biotechnologically inconvenient properties of the natural enzymes, including their extreme oxygen sensitivity. Directed evolution has been used to improve the characteristics of a range of natural catalysts, but has been largely unsuccessful for [FeFe] hydrogenases because of a lack of convenient screening platforms. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Here we describe an in vitro screening technology for oxygen-tolerant and highly active [FeFe] hydrogenases. Despite the complexity of the protocol, we demonstrate a level of reproducibility that allows moderately improved mutants to be isolated. We have used the platform to identify a mutant of the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii [FeFe] hydrogenase HydA1 with a specific activity approximately 4 times that of the wild-type enzyme. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using the screen presented here for large-scale efforts to identify improved biocatalysts for energy applications. The system is based on our ability to activate these complex enzymes in E. coli cell extracts, which allows unhindered access to the protein maturation and assay environment.

SUBMITTER: Stapleton JA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2866662 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

A cell-free microtiter plate screen for improved [FeFe] hydrogenases.

Stapleton James A JA Swartz James R JR

PloS one 20100510 5

<h4>Background</h4>[FeFe] hydrogenase enzymes catalyze the production and dissociation of H(2), a potential renewable fuel. Attempts to exploit these catalysts in engineered systems have been hindered by the biotechnologically inconvenient properties of the natural enzymes, including their extreme oxygen sensitivity. Directed evolution has been used to improve the characteristics of a range of natural catalysts, but has been largely unsuccessful for [FeFe] hydrogenases because of a lack of conve ...[more]

PMID: 20479937

Similar Datasets

Project description:A non-bifurcating NADH-dependent, dimeric [FeFe]-hydrogenase (HydAB) from Syntrophus aciditrophicus was heterologously produced in Escherichia coli, purified and characterized. Purified recombinant HydAB catalyzed NAD+ reduction coupled to hydrogen oxidation and produced hydrogen from NADH without the involvement of ferredoxin. Hydrogen partial pressures (2.2-40.2 Pa) produced by the purified recombinant HydAB at NADH to NAD+ ratios of 1-5 were similar to the hydrogen partial pressures generated by pure and cocultures of S. aciditrophicus (5.9-36.6 Pa). Thus, the hydrogen partial pressures observed in metabolizing cultures and cocultures of S. aciditrophicus can be generated by HydAB if S. aciditrophicus maintains NADH to NAD+ ratios greater than one. The flavin-containing beta subunits from S. aciditrophicus HydAB and the non-bifurcating NADH-dependent S. wolfei Hyd1ABC share a number of conserved residues with the flavin-containing beta subunits from non-bifurcating NADH-dependent enzymes such as NADH:quinone oxidoreductases and formate dehydrogenases. A number of differences were observed between sequences of these non-bifurcating NADH-dependent enzymes and [FeFe]-hydrogenases and formate dehydrogenases known to catalyze electron bifurcation including differences in the number of [Fe-S] centers and in conserved residues near predicted cofactor binding sites. These differences can be used to distinguish members of these two groups of enzymes and may be relevant to the differences in ferredoxin-dependence and ability to mediate electron-bifurcation. These results show that two phylogenetically distinct syntrophic fatty acid-oxidizing bacteria, Syntrophomonas wolfei a member of the phylum Firmicutes, and S. aciditrophicus, a member of the class Deltaproteobacteria, possess functionally similar [FeFe]-hydrogenases that produce hydrogen from NADH during syntrophic fatty acid oxidation without the involvement of reduced ferredoxin. The reliance on a non-bifurcating NADH-dependent [FeFe]-hydrogenases may explain the obligate requirement that many syntrophic metabolizers have for a hydrogen-using partner microorganism when grown on fatty, aromatic and alicyclic acids.

Dataset Information

A cell-free microtiter plate screen for improved [FeFe] hydrogenases.

Publications

A cell-free microtiter plate screen for improved [FeFe] hydrogenases.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure