Brown, K, Nurizzo D, Besson S, Shepard W, Moura J, Moura I, Tegoni M, Cambillau C.
1999.
MAD structure of Pseudomonas nautica dimeric cytochrome c552 mimicks the c4 Dihemic cytochrome domain association, Jun 18. J Mol Biol. 289:1017-28., Number 4
AbstractThe monohemic cytochrome c552from Pseudomonas nautica (c552-Pn) is thought to be the electron donor to cytochrome cd1, the so-called nitrite reductase (NiR). It shows as high levels of activity and affinity for the P. nautica NiR (NiR-Pn), as the Pseudomonas aeruginosa enzyme (NiR-Pa). Since cytochrome c552is by far the most abundant electron carrier in the periplasm, it is probably involved in numerous other reactions. Its sequence is related to that of the c type cytochromes, but resembles that of the dihemic c4cytochromes even more closely. The three-dimensional structure of P. nautica cytochrome c552has been solved to 2.2 A resolution using the multiple wavelength anomalous dispersion (MAD) technique, taking advantage of the presence of the eight Fe heme ions in the asymmetric unit. Density modification procedures involving 4-fold non-crystallographic averaging yielded a model with an R -factor value of 17.8 % (Rfree=20.8 %). Cytochrome c552forms a tight dimer in the crystal, and the dimer interface area amounts to 19% of the total cytochrome surface area. Four tighly packed dimers form the eight molecules of the asymmetric unit. The c552dimer is superimposable on each domain of the monomeric cytochrome c4from Pseudomomas stutzeri (c4-Ps), a dihemic cytochrome, and on the dihemic c domain of flavocytochrome c of Chromatium vinosum (Fcd-Cv). The interacting residues which form the dimer are both similar in character and position, which is also true for the propionates. The dimer observed in the crystal also exists in solution. It has been hypothesised that the dihemic c4-Ps may have evolved via monohemic cytochrome c gene duplication followed by evolutionary divergence and the adjunction of a connecting linker. In this process, our dimeric c552structure might be said to constitute a "living fossile" occurring in the course of evolution between the formation of the dimer and the gene duplication and fusion. The availability of the structure of the cytochrome c552-Pn and that of NiR from P. aeruginosa made it possible to identify putative surface patches at which the docking of c552to NiR-Pn may occur.
Kuhlmann, S, Boekholt P, Georghiou L, Guy K, Heraud J-A, Laredo P, Lemola T, Loveridge D, Luukkonen T, Moniz A, Polt W, Ri.
1999.
Improving Distributed Intelligence in Complex Innovation Systems, Jun. , Number 6426: University Library of Munich, Germany
AbstractScience and technology (S&T) are considered to be a central source, or at least a basic medium, of societal and industrial innovation, while innovation is conceived to basically feed the regeneration of our welfare. The suppliers of S&T in Europe as well as the users of their „products“, are confronted with a number of challenges today. We want to stress here that it was not the primary goal of our Advanced Science & Technology Policy Planning (ASTPP) Network to come up with proposals how the strategic character of European S&T policies could be strengthened. The ASTPP-network instead focuses on one aspect: the provision of strategic intelligence necessary to identify and develop strategic choices. The underlying hypothesis is that the existing body of experiences with technology foresight, technology assessment and S/T policy evaluation provides a basis for the development of an advanced S&T policy „planning“ approach by trying to enhance, interlink or even integrate the growing, but still dispersed experience in these three areas of intelligence. By „intelligent“ we mean that the inter-relatedness of S&T, industrial efforts, societal needs and political interventions becomes more transparent so that interactive collaboration between them will be facilitated.
Kuhlmann, S, Boekholt P, Georghiou L, Guy K, Heraud J-A, Laredo P, Lemola T, Loveridge D, Luukkonen T, Moniz A, Polt W, Rip.
1999.
{Improving Distributed Intelligence in Complex Innovation Systems}, Jun. , Number 6426: University Library of Munich, Germany
AbstractScience and technology (S&T) are considered to be a central source, or at least a basic medium, of societal and industrial innovation, while innovation is conceived to basically feed the regeneration of our welfare. The suppliers of S&T in Europe as well as the users of their „products“, are confronted with a number of challenges today. We want to stress here that it was not the primary goal of our Advanced Science & Technology Policy Planning (ASTPP) Network to come up with proposals how the strategic character of European S&T policies could be strengthened. The ASTPP-network instead focuses on one aspect: the provision of strategic intelligence necessary to identify and develop strategic choices. The underlying hypothesis is that the existing body of experiences with technology foresight, technology assessment and S/T policy evaluation provides a basis for the development of an advanced S&T policy „planning“ approach by trying to enhance, interlink or even integrate the growing, but still dispersed experience in these three areas of intelligence. By „intelligent“ we mean that the inter-relatedness of S&T, industrial efforts, societal needs and political interventions becomes more transparent so that interactive collaboration between them will be facilitated.
Dias, JM, Than ME, Humm A, Huber R, Bourenkov GP, Bartunik HD, Bursakov S, Calvete J, Caldeira J, Carneiro C, Moura JJ, Moura I, Romao MJ.
1999.
Crystal structure of the first dissimilatory nitrate reductase at 1.9 A solved by MAD methods, Jan 15. Structure. 7:65-79., Number 1
AbstractBACKGROUND: The periplasmic nitrate reductase (NAP) from the sulphate reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ATCC 27774 is induced by growth on nitrate and catalyses the reduction of nitrate to nitrite for respiration. NAP is a molybdenum-containing enzyme with one bis-molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide (MGD) cofactor and one [4Fe-4S] cluster in a single polypeptide chain of 723 amino acid residues. To date, there is no crystal structure of a nitrate reductase. RESULTS: The first crystal structure of a dissimilatory (respiratory) nitrate reductase was determined at 1.9 A resolution by multiwavelength anomalous diffraction (MAD) methods. The structure is folded into four domains with an alpha/beta-type topology and all four domains are involved in cofactor binding. The [4Fe-4S] centre is located near the periphery of the molecule, whereas the MGD cofactor extends across the interior of the molecule interacting with residues from all four domains. The molybdenum atom is located at the bottom of a 15 A deep crevice, and is positioned 12 A from the [4Fe-4S] cluster. The structure of NAP reveals the details of the catalytic molybdenum site, which is coordinated to two MGD cofactors, Cys140, and a water/hydroxo ligand. A facile electron-transfer pathway through bonds connects the molybdenum and the [4Fe-4S] cluster. CONCLUSIONS: The polypeptide fold of NAP and the arrangement of the cofactors is related to that of Escherichia coli formate dehydrogenase (FDH) and distantly resembles dimethylsulphoxide reductase. The close structural homology of NAP and FDH shows how small changes in the vicinity of the molybdenum catalytic site are sufficient for the substrate specificity.
Almendra, MJ, Brondino CD, Gavel O, Pereira AS, Tavares P, Bursakov S, Duarte R, Caldeira J, Moura JJ, Moura I.
1999.
Purification and characterization of a tungsten-containing formate dehydrogenase from Desulfovibrio gigas, Dec 7. Biochemistry. 38:16366-72., Number 49
AbstractAn air-stable formate dehydrogenase (FDH), an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of formate to carbon dioxide, was purified from the sulfate reducing organism Desulfovibrio gigas (D. gigas) NCIB 9332. D. gigas FDH is a heterodimeric protein [alpha (92 kDa) and beta (29 kDa) subunits] and contains 7 +/- 1 Fe/protein and 0.9 +/- 0.1 W/protein. Selenium was not detected. The UV/visible absorption spectrum of D. gigas FDH is typical of an iron-sulfur protein. Analysis of pterin nucleotides yielded a content of 1.3 +/- 0.1 guanine monophosphate/mol of enzyme, which suggests a tungsten coordination with two molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide cofactors. Both Mossbauer spectroscopy performed on D. gigas FDH grown in a medium enriched with (57)Fe and EPR studies performed in the native and fully reduced state of the protein confirmed the presence of two [4Fe-4S] clusters. Variable-temperature EPR studies showed the presence of two signals compatible with an atom in a d(1) configuration albeit with an unusual relaxation behavior as compared to the one generally observed for W(V) ions.
Dias, JM, Bursakov S, Carneiro C, Moura JJ, Moura I, Romao MJ.
1999.
Crystallization and preliminary x-ray analysis of a nitrate reductase from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ATCC 27774, Apr. Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 55:877-9., Number Pt 4
AbstractPeriplasmic nitrate reductase from the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ATCC 27774 contains two molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide cofactors and one [4Fe-4S] cluster as prosthetic groups and catalyzes the conversion of nitrate to nitrite. Crystals of the oxidized form of this enzyme were obtained using PEG as precipitant and belong to space group P3121 or P3221, with unit-cell dimensions a = b = 106.3, c = 135.1 A. There is one monomer of 80 kDa in the asymmetric unit, which corresponds to a Matthews ratio of 2.75 A3 Da-1. Using cryo-cooling procedures and X-rays from a rotating-anode generator, diffraction was observed to beyond 3.0 A resolution.
Girotti, S, Ferri EN, Fini F, Ruffini F, Budini R, Moura I, Almeida G, Costa C, Moura JJG, Carrea G.
1999.
Enzymatic spectrophotometric determination of nitrites in beer, 1999. Analytical Letters. 32:2217-2227., Number 11
AbstractA colorimetric assay for nitrite determination in beer based on c-type multiheme enzyme Nitrite reductase (NiR) isolated from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ATCC 27774, was developed. Using the enzyme in solution, nitrite assay was linear in the 10(-8) - 10(-2) M range with a detection limit of 10(-8) M. and a recovery ranging from 90 to 107%. The imprecision ranged from 4 to 10% on the entire calibration curve. With NIR immobilised onto a nylon coil, a flow reactor was developed which showed a narrower linear range (10(-5) - 10(-2) M) and a higher detection limit (10(-5) M) than with the enzyme in solution, but made it possible to reuse the enzyme up to 100 times (50% residual activity). Sample preparation was simple and fast: only degassing and beer dilution by buffer was needed. This enzymatic assay was in good agreement with the results obtained using commercial nitrite determination kits.
Bursakov, SA, Brondino C, Dias JM, Carneiro C, Caldeira J, Duarte RO, Romao MJ, Moura I, Moura JJG.
1999.
Cross immunological reactions and spectroscopy study within nitrate reductase and other mononuclear Mo containing enzymes of the sulfate reducing bacteria. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. 74:86-86., Number 1-4
Abstractn/a
Dias, JM, Than ME, Humm A, Huber R, Bourenkov GP, Bartunik HD, Bursakov S, Calvete J, Caldeira J, Carneiro C, Moura JJG, Moura I, Romao MJ.
1999.
Crystal structure of the first dissimilatory nitrate reductase at 1.9 angstrom solved by MAD methods. Structure with Folding & Design. 7:65-79., Number 1
Abstractn/a
Dias, JM, Than ME, Huber R, Bourenkov GP, Bartunik HD, Bursakov S, Moura JJG, Moura I, Romao MJ.
1999.
Crystallographic studies of a dissimilatory nitrate reductase and mechanistic implications. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. 74:113-113., Number 1-4
Abstractn/a
Teixeira, S, Dias JM, Carvalho AL, Bourenkov G, Bartunik H, Almendra MJ, Moura I, Moura JJG, Romao MJ.
1999.
Crystallographic studies on a tungsten-containning formate dehydrogenase from Desulfovibrio gigas. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. 74:89-89., Number 1-4
Abstractn/a
Romao, MJ, Carvalho AL, Dias JM, Teixeira S, Bourenkov G, Bartunik H, Huber R, Maia L, Mira L.
1999.
Preliminary crystallographic studies of xanthine oxidase purified from rat liver. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. 74:281-281., Number 1-4
Abstractn/a
Almendra, MJ, Brondino CD, Gavel O, Pereira AS, Tavares P, Bursakov S, Duarte R, Caldeira J, Moura JJG, Moura I.
1999.
Purification and characterization of a tungsten-containing formate dehydrogenase from Desulfovibrio gigas. Biochemistry. {38}:{16366-16372}., Number {49}
AbstractAn air-stable formate dehydrogenase (FDH), an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of formate to carbon dioxide, was purified from the sulfate reducing organism Desulfovibrio gigas (D. gigas) NCIB 9332. D. gigas FDH is a heterodimeric protein [alpha (92 kDa) and beta (29 kDa) subunits] and contains 7 +/- 1 Fe/protein and 0.9 +/- 0.1 W/protein, Selenium was not detected. The UV/visible absorption spectrum of D, gigas FDH is typical of an iron-sulfur protein. Analysis of pterin nucleotides yielded a content of 1.3 +/- 0.1 guanine monophosphate/mol of enzyme, which suggests a tungsten coordination with two molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide cofactors. Both Mossbauer spectroscopy performed on D. gigas FDH grown in a medium enriched with Fe-57 and EPR studies performed in the native and fully reduced state of the protein confirmed the presence of two [4Fe-4S] clusters. Variable-temperature EPR studies showed the presence of two signals compatible with an atom in a d(1) configuration albeit with an unusual relaxation behavior as compared to the one generally observed for W(V) ions.
Schienstock, G, Bechmann G, Flecker J, Huws U, Van Hootegem G, Mirabile ML, Moniz A, Ò Siochru S.
1999.
Technical Systems, Organisation Forms and Social Implications: Statistical Analysis of the Firm Survey (Second Interim Report). , Number 5883: University Library of Munich, Germany
AbstractThis is the second interim report of the research project "Information Society, Work and the Generation of New Forms of Social Exclusion" (SOWING). It is based on a firm survey conducted in the eight regions participating in the research project — Flanders (Belgium), Lazio (Italy), Niederösterreich (Austria), Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, the Stuttgart area (Germany), the Tampere region (Finland) and the West London area (U.K.). The aim of this report is to present a broad overview of the collected data. In general, only simple statistical methods have been applied. The report focuses on a regional comparison; however, the data have also been analysed by firm size, measured by quantity of staff, and industrial sector. It should be seen as a first step in the data analysis; it may also give some hints for a more strategic analysis of the survey data.