Ancient nitrogenases are ATP dependent.

ABSTRACT: Life depends on a conserved set of chemical energy currencies that are relics of early biochemistry. One of these is ATP, a molecule that, when paired with a divalent metal ion such as Mg²⁺, can be hydrolyzed to support numerous cellular and molecular processes. Despite its centrality to extant biochemistry, it is unclear whether ATP supported the function of ancient enzymes. We investigate the evolutionary necessity of ATP by experimentally reconstructing an ancestral variant of the N₂-reducing enzyme nitrogenase. The Proterozoic ancestor is predicted to be ~540-2,300 million years old, post-dating the Great Oxidation Event. Growth rates under nitrogen-fixing conditions are ~80% of those of wild type in Azotobacter vinelandii. In the extant enzyme, the hydroly

SUBMITTER: Harris DF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11253609 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature