The structure of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) reductase in complex with the nitroaromatic substrate picric acid determined previously at 1.55 Å resolution indicated additional electron density between the indole ring of residue Trp-102 and the nitro group at C-6 of picrate. The data suggested the presence of an unusual bond between substrate and the tryptophan side chain. Herein, we have extended the resolution of the PETN reductase-picric acid complex to 0.9 Å. This high-resolution analysis indicates that the active site is partially occupied with picric acid and that the anomalous density seen in the original study is attributed to the population of multiple conformational states of Trp-102 and not a formal covalent bond between the indole ring of Trp-102 and picric acid. The significance of any interaction between Trp-102 and nitroaromatic substrates was probed further in solution and crystal complexes with wild-type and mutant (W102Y and W102F) enzymes. Unlike with wild-type enzyme, in the crystalline form picric acid was bound at full occupancy in the mutant enzymes, and there was no evidence for multiple conformations of active site residues. Solution studies indicate tighter binding of picric acid in the active sites of the W102Y and W102F enzymes. Mutation of Trp-102 does not impair significantly enzyme reduction by NADPH, but the kinetics of decay of the hydride-Meisenheimer complex are accelerated in the mutant enzymes. The data reveal that decay of the hydride-Meisenheimer complex is enzyme catalyzed and that the final distribution of reaction products for the mutant enzymes is substantially different from wild-type enzyme. Implications for the mechanism of high explosive degradation by PETN reductase are discussed.Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) 1 reductase is a member of the old yellow enzyme (OYE) family of flavoproteins and was purified from a strain of Enterobacter cloacae (strain PB2) originally isolated on the basis of its ability to utilize nitrate ester explosives such as PETN and glycerol trinitrate (GTN) as sole nitrogen source (1). The structure of PETN reductase (2) is similar to that of OYE (3) and morphinone reductase (4), confirming the close evolutionary relationship with OYE and other FMN-dependent flavoprotein oxidoreductases inferred from sequence analysis of the genes encoding these enzymes (5, 6). Consistent with this close relationship is the ability of the OYE family of enzymes to reduce a variety of cyclic enones, including 2-cyclohexenone and steroids. Some steroids act as substrates, whereas others are potent inhibitors of these enzymes. PETN reductase, and the related orthologues from strains of Pseudomonas (7) and Agrobacterium (8), show reactivity against explosive substrates. PETN reductase degrades major classes of explosive, including nitroaromatic compounds (e.g. trinitrotoluene TNT) and nitrate esters (GTN and PETN) (9 -11). Degradation of TNT involves reductive hydride addition to the aromatic nucleus (Fig. 1). In the case of members of the old yellow enz...