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Equilibrium and ultrafast kinetic studies manipulating electron transfer: A short-lived flavin semiquinone is not sufficient for electron bifurcation.

ABSTRACT: Flavin-based electron transfer bifurcation is emerging as a fundamental and powerful mechanism for conservation and deployment of electrochemical energy in enzymatic systems. In this process, a pair of electrons is acquired at intermediate reduction potential (i.e. intermediate reducing power), and each electron is passed to a different acceptor, one with lower and the other with higher reducing power, leading to "bifurcation." It is believed that a strongly reducing semiquinone species is essential for this process, and it is expected that this species should be kinetically short-lived. We now demonstrate that the presence of a short-lived anionic flavin semiquinone (ASQ) is not sufficient to infer the existence of bifurcating activity, although such a species may be necessary for the process. We have used transient absorption spectroscopy to compare the rates and mechanisms of decay of ASQ generated photochemically in bifurcating NADH-dependent ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase and the non-bifurcating flavoproteins nitroreductase, NADH oxidase, and flavodoxin. We found that different mechanisms dominate ASQ decay in the different protein environments, producing lifetimes ranging over 2 orders of magnitude. Capacity for electron transfer among redox cofactors versus charge recombination with nearby donors can explain the range of ASQ lifetimes that we observe. Our results support a model wherein efficient electron propagation can explain the short lifetime of the ASQ of bifurcating NADH-dependent ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase I and can be an indication of capacity for electron bifurcation.

SUBMITTER: Hoben JP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5572931 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Equilibrium and ultrafast kinetic studies manipulating electron transfer: A short-lived flavin semiquinone is not sufficient for electron bifurcation.

Hoben John P JP Lubner Carolyn E CE Ratzloff Michael W MW Schut Gerrit J GJ Nguyen Diep M N DMN Hempel Karl W KW Adams Michael W W MWW King Paul W PW Miller Anne-Frances AF

The Journal of biological chemistry 20170614 34

Flavin-based electron transfer bifurcation is emerging as a fundamental and powerful mechanism for conservation and deployment of electrochemical energy in enzymatic systems. In this process, a pair of electrons is acquired at intermediate reduction potential (<i>i.e.</i> intermediate reducing power), and each electron is passed to a different acceptor, one with lower and the other with higher reducing power, leading to "bifurcation." It is believed that a strongly reducing semiquinone species i ...[more]

PMID: 28615449

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Project description:Electron bifurcation is the coupling of exergonic and endergonic redox reactions to simultaneously generate (or utilize) low- and high-potential electrons. It is the third recognized form of energy conservation in biology and was recently described for select electron-transferring flavoproteins (Etfs). Etfs are flavin-containing heterodimers best known for donating electrons derived from fatty acid and amino acid oxidation to an electron transfer respiratory chain via Etf-quinone oxidoreductase. Canonical examples contain a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) that is involved in electron transfer, as well as a non-redox-active AMP. However, Etfs demonstrated to bifurcate electrons contain a second FAD in place of the AMP. To expand our understanding of the functional variety and metabolic significance of Etfs and to identify amino acid sequence motifs that potentially enable electron bifurcation, we compiled 1,314 Etf protein sequences from genome sequence databases and subjected them to informatic and structural analyses. Etfs were identified in diverse archaea and bacteria, and they clustered into five distinct well-supported groups, based on their amino acid sequences. Gene neighborhood analyses indicated that these Etf group designations largely correspond to putative differences in functionality. Etfs with the demonstrated ability to bifurcate were found to form one group, suggesting that distinct conserved amino acid sequence motifs enable this capability. Indeed, structural modeling and sequence alignments revealed that identifying residues occur in the NADH- and FAD-binding regions of bifurcating Etfs. Collectively, a new classification scheme for Etf proteins that delineates putative bifurcating versus nonbifurcating members is presented and suggests that Etf-mediated bifurcation is associated with surprisingly diverse enzymes.IMPORTANCE Electron bifurcation has recently been recognized as an electron transfer mechanism used by microorganisms to maximize energy conservation. Bifurcating enzymes couple thermodynamically unfavorable reactions with thermodynamically favorable reactions in an overall spontaneous process. Here we show that the electron-transferring flavoprotein (Etf) enzyme family exhibits far greater diversity than previously recognized, and we provide a phylogenetic analysis that clearly delineates bifurcating versus nonbifurcating members of this family. Structural modeling of proteins within these groups reveals key differences between the bifurcating and nonbifurcating Etfs.

Dataset Information

Equilibrium and ultrafast kinetic studies manipulating electron transfer: A short-lived flavin semiquinone is not sufficient for electron bifurcation.

Publications

Equilibrium and ultrafast kinetic studies manipulating electron transfer: A short-lived flavin semiquinone is not sufficient for electron bifurcation.

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