Generation mechanism and purification of an inactive form convertible in vivo to the active form of quinoprotein alcohol dehydrogenase in Gluconobacter suboxydans.

Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) of acetic acid bacteria is a membrane-bound quinohemoprotein-cytochrome c complex involved in vinegar production. In Gluconobacter suboxydans grown under acidic growth conditions, it was found that ADH content in the membranes was largely increased but the activity was not much changed, suggesting that such a condition produces an inactive form of ADH (inactive ADH). A similar phenomenon could be also observed in Acetobacter aceti, another genus of acetic acid bacteria. Furthermore, aeration conditions were also shown to affect ADH production; the ADH level was increased and was present as an active form under low-aeration conditions, while the ADH level was decreased and was present mainly as an inactive form under high-aeration conditions. Inactive ADH was solubilized from the membranes of G. suboxydans grown in acidic and high-aeration conditions and was purified separately from the normal, active form of ADH (active ADH). In spite of having 10 times less enzyme activity than active ADH, inactive ADH could not be distinguished from active ADH with respect to their subunit compositions, molecular sizes, and prosthetic groups. Inactive ADH, however, had a relatively loose conformation with a partially oxidized state, while active ADH had a tight conformation with a completely reduced state, suggesting that inactive ADH may lack a right subunit's interaction and that one of the heme c components may be inactivated. Reactivation from such an inactive ADH occurred either by shifting of the pH of the culture medium up during the cultivation or by incubation of the resting cells at the neutral pH region in the presence of an energy source such as D-sorbitol. Such an activation of ADH was repressed by the addition of a proton uncoupler and could not occur in the spheroplasts. Thus, the results suggest that inactive ADH could be generated abundantly under acidic growth conditions and converted to the active form at a neutral culture pH. The data also suggest that some periplasmic component may be involved in the conversion of inactive ADH into the active form by consuming some forms of energy.