Preference for particular lanthanide species and thermal stability of XoxFs in Methylorubrum extorquens strain AM1

In this study, we found that (i) strain AM1 cells preferentially utilize La3+ rather than Nd3+ for growth, (ii) XoxF purified from cells grown with a La3+ and Nd3+ mixture contained a larger proportion of La3+, and (iii) La3+-metallated XoxF has higher activity and thermal stability than Nd3+-metallated XoxF, although (iv) both enzymes showed unchanged surface charges. Thermal shift assay in particular revealed that metallation affects the temperature for subunit denaturation but not for subunit dissociation. We concluded that, although La3+ and Nd3+ have similar distributions in nature, XoxF could chose La3+ preferentially, likely because of its higher Lewis acidity, which is important for the catalytic activity of the enzyme.

Source: Enzyme and Microbial Technology - February 1, 2020 Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research