Unusual ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase of anoxic Archaea.

ABSTRACT: The predominant pool of organic matter on earth is derived from the biological reduction and assimilation of carbon dioxide gas, catalyzed primarily by the enzyme ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO). By virtue of its capacity to use molecular oxygen as an alternative and competing gaseous substrate, the catalytic efficiency of RubisCO and the enzyme's ability to assimilate CO2 may be severely limited, with consequent environmental and agricultural effects. Recent genomic sequencing projects, however, have identified putative RubisCO genes from anoxic Archaea. In the present study, these potential RubisCO sequences, from Methanococcus jannaschii and Archaeoglobus fulgidus, were analyzed in order to ascertain whether such sequences might encode functional proteins. We a

SUBMITTER: Watson GM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC93548 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature