Summary
Flavodoxins are low molecular weight, FMN containing, proteins which function as electron transfer agents in a variety of microbial metabolic processes, including nitrogen fixation. Utilizing structural information obtained from x-ray crystal analysis, it has been possible to derive some new and important insights into the relationships which exist between flavin properties and protein environment by comparing the spectroscopic, thermodynamic and kinetic behavior of the flavodoxins with that of free flavin. Thus, for example, a qualitative understanding of the contribution of the protein to flavin redox potentials, semiquinone reactivity and mechanism of electron transfer is beginning to emerge. The highly negative redox potential required for the biochemical activity of the flavodoxins is accomplished by stabilizing the semiquinone via a hydrogen bond to the N-5 position of the flavin and destabilizing the fully-reduced form by constraining it to assume an unfavorable planar conformation. The reactivity of the semiquinone form is lowered by the aforementioned hydrogen bond, as well as by an interaction with a tryptophan residue in the binding site. Electron transfer is accomplished through the exposed dimethylbenzene ring of the bound coenzyme. Although it is not possible at present to determine the extent to which this understanding can be generalized to other flavoproteins, it is clear that a study of the flavodoxins will provide us with at least some of the principles which biological systems have used to modify flavin properties to fulfill a biochemical need.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Knight, E. Jr. & Hardy, R. W. F., 1966. J. Biol. Chem. 241, 2752–2756.
Hinkson, J. W. & Bulen, W. A., 1967. J. Biol. Chem. 242, 3345–3351.
Mayhew, S. G. & Ludwig, M. L. 1975. Enzymes 12B, 57–118.
Yoch, D. C. & Valentine, R. C. 1972. Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 26, 139–162.
Uyeda, K. & Rabinowitz, J. C. 1971. J. Biol. Chem. 246, 3111–3119.
Valentine, R. C., Jackson, R. C., & Wolfe, R. S. 1962. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 7, 453–456.
Fredericks, W. W. & Stadtman, E. R. 1965. J. Biol. Chem. 240, 4065–4071.
Jungermann, K., Rupprecht, E., Ohrloff, C., Thauer, R. K. and Decker, K. 1971. J. Biol. Chem. 246, 960–963.
Thauer, R. K., Rupprecht, E., Ohrloff, C., Jungermann, K. and Decker, K. 1971. J. Biol. Chem. 246, 954–959.
Hatchikian, E. C., LeGall, J., Bruschi, M. and Dubourdieu, M. 1972. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 258, 701–708.
Orme-Johnson, W. H., Davis, L. C., Henzl, M. T., Averill, B. A., Orme-Johnson, N. R., Munck, E. & Zimmerman, R. 1977. In: Recent Developments in Nitrogen Fixation (Newton, W., Postgate, J. R. and Rodriguez-Barrueco, C. eds.) pp. 271–285, Academic Press, New York.
D'Eustachio, A. J. & Hardy, R. W. F. 1964. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Common. 15, 319–323.
Mortenson, L. E. 1964. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 81, 473–478.
Benemann, J. R., Yoch, D. C., Valentine, R. C. & Arnon, D. I. 1969. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA. 64, 1079–1086.
Yoch, D. C., Benemann, J. R., Valentine, R. C., & Arnon, D. I. 1969. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA. 64, 1404–1410.
Scherings, G., Haaker, H. & Veeger, C. 1977. Eur. J. Biochem. 77, 621–630.
Haaker, H. & Veeger, C. 1977. Eur. J. Biochem. 77, 1–10.
Smillie, R. M. 1965. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 20, 621–629.
Tollin, G. & Edmondson, D. E. 1980. Meth. Enzymol. 69, 392–405.
Cusanovich, M. A. & Edmondson, D. E. 1971. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Common. 45, 327–336.
Mayhew, S. G. 1971. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 235, 276–288.
Yoch, D. C. 1975. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 170, 326–333.
Tanaka, M., Haniu, M., Yasunobu, K. T., & Mayhew, S. G. 1974. J. Biol. Chem. 249, 4393–4396.
Dubourdieu, M. and Fox, J. L. 1977. J. Biol. Chem., 252, 1453–1463.
Tanaka, M., Haniu, M., Yasunobu, K. T., Mayhew, S. G., and Massey, V. 1974. J. Biol. Chem., 249, 4397.
Tanaka, M., Haniu, M., Yasunobu, K. T., and Yoch, D. C. 1977. Biochemistry, 16, 3525–3537.
MacKnight, M. L., Gray, W. R., and Tollin, G. 1974. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 59, 630–637.
Fox, J. L., 1976. In: Protein Structure and Evolution (Fox, J. L., Deyl, Z., & Blazej, A., editors). pp. 261–272, Marcel Dekker Inc., New York.
Edmondson, D. E. & Tollin, G. 1971. Biochemistry, 10, 113–124.
D'Anna, J. A. & Tollin, G. 1972. Biochemistry, 11, 1073–1080.
Edmondson, D. E. & Tollin, G. 1971. Biochemistry 10, 124–132.
Barman, B. G. & Tollin, G. 1972. Biochemistry 11, 4746–4754.
Mayhew, S. G. 1971. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 235, 289–302.
Ghisla, S., Massey, V., Lhoste, J. M. & Mayhew, S. G. 1974. Biochemistry 13, 589–597.
Hyde, J. S., Eriksson, L. E. G. & Ehrenberg, A. 1970. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 222, 688–692.
Palmer, G., Muller, F. & Massey, V. 1971. In: Flavins and Flavoproteins (Kamin, H., ed). pp. 123–140, University Park Press, Maryland.
MacDonald, C. C. & Phillips, W. D. 1971. In: Fine Structure of Proteins and Nuclei Acids (Fasman, G. D. & Timasheff, S. N., eds.) pp. 1–48. Dekker, New York.
Crespi, H. L., Norris, J. R., Bays, J. P. & Katz, J. J. 1973. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 222, 800–815.
Fritz, J., Müller, F. & Mayhew, S. G. 1973. Helv. Chim. Acta. 56, 2250–2254.
Crespi, H. L., Norris, J. R. & Katz, J. J. 1972. Nature New Biol. 236, 178–180.
James, T. L., Ludwig, M. L. & Cohn, M. 1973. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA. 70, 3292–3295.
Eriksson, L. E. G., & Ehrenberg, A. 1973. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 293, 57–66.
Burnett, R. M., Darling, G. D., Kendall, D. S., LeQuesne, M. E., Mayhew, S. G., Smith, W. W., & Ludwig, M. L. 1974. J. Biol. Chem. 249, 4383–4392.
Smith, W. W., Burnett, R. M., Darling, G. D., & Ludwig, M. L. 1977. J. Mol. Biol. 117, 195–225.
Ludwig, M. L., Burnett, R, M., Darling, G. D., Jordan, S. R., Kendall, D. S., & Smith, W. W. 1975. In: Structure and Conformation of Nucleic Acids and Protein-Nucleic Acid Interactions. (Sundaralingam, M. and Rao, S. T., editors) pp. 407–429, University Park Press, Baltimore.
Ludwig, M. L., Burnett, R. M., Darling, G. D., Jordan, S. R., Kendall, D. S., & Smith, W. W., 1976. Flavins and Flavoproteins (Singer, T. P, editor). pp. 393–403, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., Amsterdam.
Rao, S. T., and Rossmann, M. G., 1973. J. Mol. Biol., 76, 241–256.
Shiga, K., and Tollin G., 1976. In: Flavins and Flavoproteins, (Singer, T. P., editor). pp. 422–433, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., Amsterdam.
Draper, D. and Ingraham, L. L. 1968. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 125, 802–808.
Gillard, J. M., and Tollin G., 1974. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 58, 328–336.
Kierkegaard, P., Norrestam, R., Werner, P., Csöregh, I. Von Glehn, M., Karlsson, R., Leyonmarck, M., Rönnquist, O., Stensland, B., Tillberg, O., & Torbjörnsson, 1971, Flavins and Flavoproteins, (Kamin, H. editor). pp. 1–22, University Park Press, Baltimore.
Faraggi, M., and Klapper, M. H., 1979. J. Biol. Chem., 254, 8139–8142.
Dubourdieu, M., MacKnight, M. L., and Tollin, G., 1974. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 60, 649–655.
Watenpaugh, K. D., Sieker, L. C., Jensen, L. H., LeGall, J. and Dubourdieu, M. 1972, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA. 69, 3185–3188.
Watenpaugh, K. D., Sieker, L. C., and Jensen, L. H., 1973. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA. 70, 3857–3860.
Watenpaugh, K. D., Sieker, L. C., and Jensen, L. H. 1976. In Flavins and Flavoproteins, (Singer, T. P. editor) pp. 405–410, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., Amsterdam.
Dubourdieu, M., LeGall, J., & Favaudon, V. 1975. Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 376, 519–532.
D'Anna, J. A. & Tollin, G. 1971. Biochemistry 10, 57–64.
Ryan, J. & Tollin, G. 1973 Biochemistry 12, 4550–4554.
Andrews, L. J., MacKnight, M. L., Ryan, J. & Tollin, G. 1973. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 55, 1165–1172.
MacKnight, M. L., Gillard, J. M. & Tollin, G. 1973. Biochemistry 12, 4200–4206.
Edmondson, D. E. & James, T. C. 1979. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA. 76, 3786–3789.
Jung, J. and Tollin, G., submitted for publication.
Edmondson, D. E., and Tollin, G. 1971. Biochemistry 10, 133–145.
Mayhew, S. G., Foust, G. P. and Massey, V., 1969. J. Biol. Chem. 244, 803–810.
Mayhew, S. G., 1978. Eur. J. Biochem. 85, 535–547.
Mayhew, S. G. & Massey, V., 1973. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 315, 181–190.
Vaish, S. P. & Tollin, G. 1971. J. Bioenergetics 2, 61–72.
Massey, V., Stanhovich, M., and Hemmerich, P., 1978. Biochemistry, 17, 1–8.
Massey, V. and Hemmerich, P. 1978. Biochemistry 17, 9–17.
Barman, B. G., & Tollin, G. 1972. Biochemistry 11, 4760–4765.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Simondsen, R.P., Tollin, G. Structure-function relations in flavodoxins. Mol Cell Biochem 33, 13–24 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00224568
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00224568