Extending the carbon chain: hydrocarbon formation catalyzed by vanadium/molybdenum nitrogenases |
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Authors: | Hu Yilin Lee Chi Chung Ribbe Markus W |
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Affiliation: | Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-3900, USA. yilinh@uci.edu |
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Abstract: | In a small-scale reaction, vanadium-dependent nitrogenase has previously been shown to catalyze reductive catenation of carbon monoxide (CO) to ethylene, ethane, propylene, and propane. Here, we report the identification of additional hydrocarbon products [α-butylene, n-butane, and methane (CH(4))] in a scaled-up reaction featuring 20 milligrams of vanadium-iron protein, the catalytic component of vanadium nitrogenase. Additionally, we show that the more common molybdenum-dependent nitrogenase can generate the same hydrocarbons from CO, although CH(4) was not detected. The identification of CO as a substrate for both molybdenum- and vanadium-nitrogenases strengthens the hypothesis that CO reduction is an evolutionary relic of the function of the nitrogenase family. Moreover, the comparison between the CO-reducing capacities of the two nitrogenases suggests that the identity of heterometal at the active cofactor site affects the efficiency and product distribution of this reaction. |
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