The human LINE-1 reverse transcriptase:effect of deletions outside the common reverse transcriptase domain.

Heterologous expression of human LINE-1 ORF2 in yeast yielded a single polypeptide (Mr145 000) which reacted with specific antibodies and co-purified with a reverse transcriptase activity not present in the host cells. Various deletion derivatives of the ORF2 polypeptide were also synthesized. Reverse transcriptase assays using synthetic polynucleotides as template and primer revealed that ORF2 protein missing a significant portion of the N-terminal endonuclease domain still retains some activity. Deletion of the C-terminal cysteine-rich motif reduces activity only a small amount. Three non-overlapping deletions spanning 144 amino acids just N-terminal to the common polymerase domain of the ORF2 protein were analyzed for their effect on reverse transcriptase activity; this region contains the previously-noted conserved Z motif. The two deletions most proximal to the polymerase domain eliminate activity while the third, most-distal deletion had no effect. An inactive enzyme was also produced by substitution of two different amino acids in a highly-conserved octapeptide sequence, Z8, located within the region removed to make the deletion most proximal to the polymerase domain; substitution of a third had no effect. We conclude that the octapeptide sequence and neighboring amino acids in the Z region are essential for reverse transcriptase activity, while the endonuclease and cysteine-rich domains are not absolutely required.

Characterization of the iron-sulfur clusters in ferredoxin from acetate-grown Methanosarcina thermophila.

Ferredoxin from Methanosarcina thermophila is an electron acceptor for the CO dehydrogenase complex which decarbonylates acetyl-coenzyme A and oxidizes the carbonyl group to carbon dioxide in the pathway for conversion of the methyl group of acetate to methane (K. C. Terlesky and J. G. Ferry, J. Biol. Chem. 263:4080-4082, 1988). Resonance Raman spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroelectrochemistry indicated that the ferredoxin contained two [4Fe-4S] clusters per monomer of 6,790 Da, each with a midpoint potential of -407 mV. A [3Fe-4S] species, with a midpoint potential of +103 mV, was also detected in the protein at high redox potentials. Quantitation of the [3Fe-4S] and [4Fe-4S] centers revealed 0.4 and 2.1 spins per monomer, respectively. The iron-sulfur clusters were unstable in the presence of air, and the rate of cluster loss increased with increasing temperature. A ferredoxin preparation, with a low spin quantitation of [4Fe-4S] centers, was treated with Fe2+ and S2-, which resulted in an increase in [4Fe-4S] and a decrease in [3Fe-4S] clusters. The results of these studies suggest the [3Fe-4S] species may be an artifact formed from degradation of [4Fe-4S] clusters.

Cloning, nucleotide sequence, and transcriptional analyses of the gene encoding a ferredoxin from Methanosarcina thermophila.

A mixed 17-mer oligonucleotide deduced from the N terminus of a ferredoxin isolated from Methanosarcina thermophila was used to probe a lambda gt11 library prepared from M. thermophila genomic DNA; positive clones contained either a 5.7- or 2.1-kbp EcoRI insert. An open reading frame (fdxA) located within the 5.7-kbp insert had a deduced amino acid sequence that was identical to the first 26 N-terminal residues reported for the ferredoxin isolated from M. thermophila, with the exception of the initiator methionine. fdxA had the coding capacity for a 6,230-Da protein which contained eight cysteines with spacings typical of 2[4Fe-4S] ferredoxins. An open reading frame (ORF1) located within the 2.1-kbp EcoRI fragment also had the potential to encode a 2[4Fe-4S] bacterial-type ferredoxin (5,850 Da). fdxA and ORF1 were present as single copies in the genome, and each was transcribed on a monocistronic mRNA. While the fdxA- and ORF1-specific mRNAs were detected in cells grown on methanol and trimethylamine, only the fdxA-specific transcript was present in acetate-grown cells. The apparent transcriptional start sites of fdxA and ORF1, as determined by primer extension analyses, lay 21 to 28 bases downstream of sequences with high identity to the consensus methanogen promoter.