Cytochrome bd-type quinol oxidase in a mutant of Bacillus stearothermophilus deficient in caa3-type cytochrome c oxidase.

Gram-positive thermophilic Bacillus species contain cytochrome caa3-type cytochrome c oxidase as a terminal oxidase in the respiratory chain. To identify alternative oxidases, we isolated B. stearothermophilus mutants defective in the caa3-type oxidase activity. One mutant contained little cytochrome a and had low cytochrome c oxidase activity. However, growth and the respiratory activity of membranes in the presence of NADH were close to normal, suggesting that the mutant contains an alternative electron transfer pathway. A novel oxidase was isolated from the membrane fraction of the mutant. The enzyme is a cytochrome bd-type quinol oxidase composed of two subunits of 52 and 40 kDa, whose N-terminal regions show sequence similarity to polypeptides of the bd-type oxidase from Escherichia coli and Azotobacter vinelandii. This is the first report of a bd-type terminal oxidase purified from a Gram-positive bacterium.