IPR000318
Nitrogenase component 1, conserved site
InterPro entry
Short name | Nase_comp1_CS |
Description
Nitrogenase (
1.18.6.1)
[1] is the enzyme system responsible for biological nitrogen fixation. Nitrogenase is an oligomeric complex which consists of two components: component 2 is an homodimer of an iron-sulphur protein, while component 1 which contains the active site for the reduction of nitrogen to ammonia exists in three different forms: the molybdenum-iron containing protein (MoFe) is a hetero-tetramer consisting of two pairs of alpha (nifD) and beta (nifK) subunits; the vanadium-iron containing protein (VFe) is a hexamer of two pairs each of alpha (vnfD), beta (vnfK), and delta (vnfG) subunits; the third form seems to only contain iron and is a hexamer composed of alpha (anfD), beta (anfK), and delta (anfG) subunits. The alpha and beta chains of the three types of component 1 are evolutionary related and they are also related to proteins nifE and nifN, which are most probably involved in the iron-molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis
[2].
References
1.Nitrogenases without molybdenum. Pau RN. Trends Biochem. Sci. 14, 183-6, (1989). View articlePMID: 2672439
2.The nifEN genes participating in FeMo cofactor biosynthesis and genes encoding dinitrogenase are part of the same operon in Bradyrhizobium species. Aguilar OM, Taormino J, Thony B, Ramseier T, Hennecke H, Szalay AA. Mol. Gen. Genet. 224, 413-20, (1990). View articlePMID: 2266945