Siroheme synthase orients substrates for dehydrogenase and chelatase activities in a common active site

Nat Commun. 2020 Feb 13;11(1):864. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-14722-1.

Abstract

Siroheme is the central cofactor in a conserved class of sulfite and nitrite reductases that catalyze the six-electron reduction of sulfite to sulfide and nitrite to ammonia. In Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, siroheme is produced by a trifunctional enzyme, siroheme synthase (CysG). A bifunctional active site that is distinct from its methyltransferase activity catalyzes the final two steps, NAD+-dependent dehydrogenation and iron chelation. How this active site performs such different chemistries is unknown. Here, we report the structures of CysG bound to precorrin-2, the initial substrate; sirohydrochlorin, the dehydrogenation product/chelation substrate; and a cobalt-sirohydrochlorin product. We identified binding poses for all three tetrapyrroles and tested the roles of specific amino acids in both activities to give insights into how a bifunctional active site catalyzes two different chemistries and acts as an iron-specific chelatase in the final step of siroheme synthesis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Substitution
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Catalytic Domain / genetics
  • Electrochemistry
  • Ferrochelatase / chemistry
  • Ferrochelatase / genetics
  • Ferrochelatase / metabolism
  • Heme / analogs & derivatives*
  • Heme / biosynthesis
  • Heme / chemistry
  • Methyltransferases / chemistry*
  • Methyltransferases / genetics
  • Methyltransferases / metabolism*
  • Models, Molecular
  • Mutagenesis, Site-Directed
  • Oxidoreductases / chemistry
  • Oxidoreductases / genetics
  • Oxidoreductases / metabolism
  • Salmonella typhimurium / genetics
  • Salmonella typhimurium / metabolism
  • Substrate Specificity
  • Tetrapyrroles / chemistry
  • Tetrapyrroles / metabolism
  • Uroporphyrins / chemistry
  • Uroporphyrins / metabolism

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Tetrapyrroles
  • Uroporphyrins
  • Heme
  • siroheme
  • 15,23-dihydrosirohydrochlorin
  • Oxidoreductases
  • Methyltransferases
  • uroporphyrin-III C-methyltransferase
  • Ferrochelatase