Ni-dependent Acetyl-CoA synthase (ACS) and CO dehydrogenase (CODH) constitute the central enzyme complex of the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway of acetyl-CoA formation. The crystal structure of a recombinant bacterial ACS lacking the N-terminal domain that interacts with CODH shows a large reorganization of the remaining two globular domains, producing a narrow cleft of suitable size, shape and nature to bind CoA. Sequence comparisons with homologous archaeal enzymes that naturally lack the N-terminal domain show that many amino acids lining this cleft are conserved. Besides the typical [4Fe-4S] center, the A-cluster contains only one proximal metal ion that, according to anomalous scattering data, is most likely Cu or Zn. Incorporation of a functional Ni 2 Fe 4 S 4 A-cluster would require only minor structural rearrangements. Using available structures, a plausible model of the interaction between CODH and the smaller ACS in archaeal multi-enzyme complexes is presented, along with a discussion of evolutionary relationships of the archaeal and bacterial enzymes.Ni-dependent acetyl coenzyme A synthase (ACS) is a NiFeS-cluster enzyme that requires strict anoxic conditions to function. In the acetogenic bacterium Moorella thermoacetica (Mot), the ACS α-subunit forms an α 2 β 2 heterotetramer with the Ni-containing carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH) β-subunit (1). This association constitutes the central enzyme complex of the anaerobic Wood-Ljungdahl pathway of acetyl-CoA synthesis from CO 2 (2,3). The structure of this complex is known in two crystal forms (4,5) and shows a long hydrophobic tunnel network that allows the CO produced at the CODH active site, the C-cluster, to be used at the ACS active site, the A-cluster, without being released to the medium. Our understanding of CO 2 reduction to CO by CODH has progressed significantly thanks to the recent crystal structures of key catalytic intermediates in the homodimeric β 2 enzyme from † This study was supported by institutional funding from the CEA and the CNRS and by the National Institute of Health (GM046441 PAL). ‡ The atomic coordinates and structure factors (accession number 3GIT) have been deposited in the Protein Data Bank, Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (http://www.pdb.org).*To whom correspondence should be addressed. AV: Tel. +33438789606, Fax +33438785122, E-mail anne.volbeda@ibs.fr; JCFC: Tel. +33438785920, Fax +33438785122, E-mail juan.fontecilla@ibs.fr.. # Current address: Department of Chemistry, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200043, P.R. China Supporting Information Available. Superposition statistics of bacterial CODH/ACS and archaeal CODH, sequence alignment of bacterial ACS with archaeal CODH and structure comparison of CODH and HCP. This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
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Author ManuscriptBiochemistry. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 August 25.
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