Identification and characterization of a L-tyrosine decarboxylase in Methanocaldococcus jannaschii

Nicole D. Kezmarsky, Huimin Xu, David E. Graham, Robert H. White

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

Methanofuran is the first coenzyme in the methanogenic pathway used by the archaeon Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, as well as other methanogens, to reduce CO2 to methane. The details of the pathway for the biosynthesis of methanofuran and the responsible genes have yet to be established. A clear structural element in all known methanofurans is tyramine, likely produced by the decarboxylation of l-tyrosine. We show here that the mfnA gene at M. jannaschii locus MJ0050 encodes a thermostable pyridoxal phosphate-dependent l-tyrosine decarboxylase that specifically produces tyramine. Homologs of this gene are widely distributed among euryarchaea but are not specifically related to known bacterial or plant tyrosine decarboxylases.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)175-182
Number of pages8
JournalBiochimica et Biophysica Acta - General Subjects
Volume1722
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 11 2005
Externally publishedYes

Funding

This work was supported by U. S. National Science Foundation Grant MCB 0231319 to R. H. W. We thank Kim Harich for assistance with the GC–MS analyses.

Keywords

  • Coenzyme biosynthesis
  • L-Tyrosine decarboxylase
  • Methanocaldococcus jannaschii
  • Methanofuran

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