Quinoprotein D-glucose dehydrogenase of the Acinetobacter calcoaceticus respiratory chain: membrane-bound and soluble forms are different molecular species.

Acinetobacter calcoaceticus is known to contain soluble and membrane-bound quinoprotein D-glucose dehydrogenases, while other oxidative bacteria contain the membrane-bound enzyme exclusively. The two forms of glucose dehydrogenase were believed to be the same enzyme or interconvertible forms. Previously, Matsushita et al. [(1988) FEMS Microbiol. Lett 55, 53-58] showed that the two enzymes are different with respect to enzymatic and immunological properties, as well as molecular weight. In the present study, we purified both enzymes and compared their kinetics, reactivity with ubiquinone homologues, and immunological properties in detail. The purified membrane-bound enzyme had a molecular weight of 83,000, while the soluble form was 55,000. The purified enzymes exhibited totally different enzymatic properties, particularly with respect to reactivity toward ubiquinone homologues. The soluble enzyme reacted with short-chain homologues only, whereas the membrane-bound enzyme reacted with long-chain homologues including ubiquinone 9, the native ubiquinone of the A. calcoaceticus. Furthermore, the two enzymes were distinguished immunochemically; the membrane-bound enzyme did not cross-react with antibody raised against the soluble enzyme, nor did the soluble enzyme cross-react with antibody against the membrane-bound enzyme. Thus, each glucose dehydrogenase is a molecularly distinct entity, and the membrane-bound enzyme only is coupled to the respiratory chain via ubiquinone.