Nitrogenase CrFe protein and MnFe protein were purified from a mutant strain UW3 of Azotobacter vinelandii Lipmann grown on a medium containing Cr and Mn, respectively. In order to meet the requirement for crystal growth Of O-2-susceptible proteins including nitrogenase in space, crystallization conditions were optimized for the proteins using a simple and suitable device, as a replacement for the cumbersome anaerobic box (dry box), for anaerobic addition of the protein samples. In all used precipitant and protein solutions added in the simplified plexi glass box, CrFe protein and MnFe protein could be crystallized on the spacecraft in one week by the liquid/liquid diffusion method and vapor diffusion by the sitting drop method, respectively. All formed crystals were single on the spacecraft, but under the same condition twin crystals appeared on the ground. The size of the largest crystal grown in space from CrFe protein was 2-fold larger than that on the ground. But the size of the largest crystal grown in space from MnFe protein was not larger than that on the ground. The difference in crystal growth in space between CrFe protein and MnFe protein could be resulted from the crystallization method, rather than the kind of protein.
Through the anaerobic chromatography on the columns of DEAE 52, Q-Sepharose and Sephacryl S-200, a nitrogenase MoFe protein (?nifZ Av1) was obtained from a nifZ deleted mutant of Azotobacter vinelandii (stain DJ194). The results of Western blotting after anoxic native electro-phoresis and SDS-PAGE showed that ?nifZ Av1 was similar to wild type MoFe protein (OP Av1) at the electrophoretic mobility, molecular weight and subunit composition. Fur-thermore, ?nifZ Av1 was also similar to OP Av1 at the mo-lybdenum content, EPR signal (g≈4.3, 3.65 and 2.01), and the molar extinction coefficient (?ε) of circular dichroism (CD) at 660 nm region. All of these indicated that, besides having the same α2β2 composition as OP Av1, the ?nifZ Av1 also contained equal amount of reductive FeMoco in the spin state of S=3/2 to OP Av1. However, the iron content and sub-strate (C2H2, H+ and N2)-reduction activity of ?nifZ Av1 were 74% and 46%―50% of those of OP Av1, respectively. Fur-thermore, the ?ε at around 450 nm, which reflects P-cluster in Av1, was obviously lower than that of OP Av1. It suggested that the difference between ?nifZ Av1 and OP Av1 resulted from P-cluster rather than FeMoco, and from the half num-ber of P-cluster in ?nifZ Av1, but the composition or redox state of P-cluster in ?nifZ Av1 were not changed. Thus it could propose that ?nifZ Av1 is composed of two different αβ subunit pairs. One is a FeMoco- and P-cluster-containing pair, and the other is a P-cluster-deficient but FeMoco-con- taining pair. Since the deletion of nifZ gene leads to the defi-ciency of only one of two P-clusters in a α2β2 tetramer, the assembly of P-cluster may not simply depend on one gene product, and so a possible mechanism of NifZ is supposed here.
By using the liquid/liquid diffusion method at a suitable crystallization conditions, large single and dark brown crystals (the sides of the largest crystals were 0.20 mm x 0.20 mm x 0.07 min and 0.18 mm x 0.18 mm x 0.05 mm, respectively) could be obtained from the solutions of nitrogenase CrFe protein and MnFe protein purified from a mutant UW3 of Azotobacter vinelandii Lipmarm grown in Cr- or Mn-containing but NH3-free medium. The time of crystal formation, as well as the number, size, shape and quality of crystals obviously depended on the concentrations of PEG, MgCl2 and NaCl. The liquid/liquid diffusion method seems to benefit CrFe protein and MnFe protein for the growth of large single crystals for X-ray diffraction analysis.
A MoFe protein (ΔnifE Av1) with a purity of ～80% was purified from a nifE-deleted mutant of Azotobacter vinelandii DJ35. Compared with MoFe protein purified from wild-type strain OP (OP Av1), ΔnifE Av1 had the same subunits composition, and had immune reaction with antibody to OP Av1, but its relative mobility in anaerobic native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) was a little larger than that of OP Av1. Metal analysis showed that Mo and Fe contents of ΔnifE Av1 both apparently decreased. When complemented with OP Fe protein, ΔnifE Av1 had no C2H2-reduction activity, but it could be in vitro activated by FeMoco extracted from OP Av1. The circular dichroism (CD) spectrum of ΔnifE Av1 at ~450 nm was similar to that of OP Av1, while the EPR signal at g≈3.7 was absolutely silent, and the signal intensities at g≈4.3 and 2.0 decreased by 75% and 50%, respectively. The results indicated that ΔnifE Av1 purified from DJ35 was a FeMoco-deficient but P-cluster-con- taining MoFe protein.
Under a suitable condition of crystallization, dark brown short rhombohedron crystals could be obtained from FeMoco-deficient MoFe protein (DeltanifE Avl) purified from a nifE deleted mutant DJ35 of Azotobacter vinelandii Lipmann grown in NH3-limited medium. The number, size and quality of crystals were significantly affected by either the concentration of precipitants and buffer or diffusion method. The longest sides of the largest crystal of DeltanifE Avl protein, which was obtained by vapor diffusion in the hanging drop method, were 0.12 and 0.13 mm, respectively.
