Enzyme, nitrogenase enzymes

Free-living bacteria are, however, used as the source of the enzyme nitrogenase, responsible for N2 fixation (1,4,26,80), for research purposes because these ate easier to culture. The enzyme is virtually identical to that from the agriculturally important thizobia. These free-living N2-fixets can be simply classified into aerobes, anaerobes, facultative anaerobes, photosynthetic bacteria, and cyanobacteria. 

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of the enzyme nitrogenase being composed of the molybdenum-iron (MoFe) protein, an oc2p2 tetramer with two unique iron-sulfur clusters (P-cluster) and two iron-molybdenum cofactors (FeMoco), and the iron protein with one [4Fe-4S]-cluster and two ATP binding sites.

In Nature, nitrogen fixation is mediated by the enzyme nitrogenase according to Eq. (1) (6)... 

T. roseopersicina is a phototrophic purple sulphur bacterium the strain marked BBS has been isolated from the cold water of the North Sea. Its anaerobic photosynthesis uses reduced sulphur compounds (sulphide, thiosulfide, or elementary sulphur), but it can also grow on organic compounds (sugar, acetate) in the dark. The bacterium contains a nitrogenase enzyme complex, thus it is capable of fixing atmospheric N2, a process accompanied by H2 production [Vignais et al., 1995],... 

X-ray crystallographic structures of the enzyme nitrogenase first became available in 1992 with refinements of the structures continuing to the present time. As of this... 

Table 3.4 lists values for A Eq and for some important oxidation and spin states found in bioinorganic molecules. Data are taken from reference 24 and from Table 1 of reference 25 for hemoglobin, myoglobin, and the picket-fence porphyrin model compound, FeTpivPP(l-Melm).25 The myoglobin and hemoglobin model compounds are discussed in Section 4.8.2. Reference 26 provides the Table 3.4 data on iron sulfur clusters found in many bioinorganic species.26 The unusual iron-sulfur and iron-molybdenum-sulfur clusters found in the enzyme nitrogenase are discussed more fully below and in Chapter 6. 

Figure 6.1 Cartoon illustrating the structure of the enzyme nitrogenase.

Seefeldt and Dean7 describe the nitrogenase enzyme s so-called Fe cycle in the following steps ... 

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