RumA, an S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent methyltransferase specifically catalyzes the methylation of U1939 of 23 S ribosomal RNA to yield 5-methyluridine (m 5 U) 1 or ribothymidine (1). This enzyme was found to contain a [4Fe-4S] cluster, a prosthetic group usually not associated with methyltransferase enzymes. The x-ray structure of RumA revealed that the cluster is located in the RNA binding domain of the threedomain protein (2). It is held by four Cys-iron bonds provided by Cys 81 , Cys 87 , Cys 90 , and Cys 162 and is buried in a largely hydrophobic region, but one of its sulfur atoms is quite exposed to solvent. The closest distance between the cluster and the sulfur of the catalytic nucleophile, Cys 389 , is ϳ19 Å. RumA is a member of a growing list of nucleic acid modifying enzymes where the function of the iron-sulfur (FeS) cluster remains enigmatic.The reaction mechanism of m 5 U methyltransferases is similar to that of thymidylate synthase, and has been studied mainly employing the tRNA m 5 U54 methyltransferase, TrmA (3-5). It involves Michael addition of the catalytic Cys to carbon 6 (C-6) of pyrimidine, which activates C-5 for a nucleophilic attack on the methyl group of S-adenosyl-L-methionine. Following the methyl transfer, the enzyme is resolved by abstraction of a proton from C-5 and -elimination. TrmA, as well as DNA and RNA 5-methylcytidine methyltransferases, which employ a similar catalytic mechanism (6), do not posses an FeS cluster or any other prosthetic group. Lack of a redox step in the catalytic mechanism, and absence of the cluster in enzymes that employ a similar mechanism preclude a direct role for [4Fe-4S] cluster in the RumA-catalyzed reaction.Two features distinguish the FeS cluster in RumA from the clusters in a different class of S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent enzymes that proceed by free radical mechanisms. The RumA cluster is ligated by 4 cysteines and the iron-binding sequence motif is CX 5 CX 2 CX n C. In contrast, the radical Sadenosyl-L-methionine enzymes, of which MiaB (7) and biotin synthase (8) are examples, have a [4Fe-4S] cluster built of a CX 3 CX 2 C sequence that leaves one iron of the cluster free to participate in catalysis. MiaB is a member of a family of enzymes catalyzing addition of sulfur to tRNA bases (9). The FeS sequence motifs in the DNA repair enzymes, endonuclease III (10) and MutY (11), are CX 6 CX 2 CX 5 C, somewhat similar to the RumA sequence. Although the FeS clusters in these enzymes are usually regarded as structural, recently it was shown that the redox potential of MutY is altered by DNA binding and that a change in charge of the [4Fe-4S] 3ϩ/2ϩ cluster might alter its affinity for DNA (12).The redox potentials of [4Fe-4S] clusters vary widely (13-16). Of particular interest in many contemporary studies of FeS proteins is understanding the factors that influence the potentials, and thus functions, of these clusters (17,18). Proteins with four Cys-iron bonds to the [4Fe-4S] cluster fall into two general redox groups, ones with an accessib...