A potential anti-oxidant protein in a ferrous iron-oxidizing Sulfolobus species.

The production of a 25 kDa protein was greatly increased when a sulfur- and ferrous iron-oxidizing species of Sulfolobus was switched from growth on tetrathionate to growth on ferrous iron. The gene encoding the protein was cloned and sequenced. The predicted amino sequence showed significant similarity to those of the alkyl hydroperoxide reductase/thiol specific anti-oxidant family of proteins that appear to be involved in responses to certain types of oxidative stress.