Amino acid sequence of a four-iron-four-sulphur ferredoxin isolated from Bacillus stearothermophilus.

1. The primary structure of a 4Fe-4S ferredoxin from Bacillus stearothermophilus was determined and shown to consist of a single polypeptide chain of 81 amino acid residues. The molecular weight of the holoprotein is about 9120. 2. There are only four cysteine residues in the molecule; three of these are located near the N-terminus as a Cys-X-X-Cys-X-X-Cys segment, and the fourth cysteine residue is followed by a proline and located in the C-terminal half. 3. The Fe-S chromophore in B. stearothermophilus ferredoxin was previously well characterized and was shown to consist of a single 4Fe-4S cluster. This ferredoxin sequence establishes for the first time the relative location of the four cysteine residues necessary to bind the 4Fe-4S cluster of a 4Fe ferredoxin, and is in agreement with the criteria for the relative positions of the cysteines proposed from X-ray-crystallographic studies on an 8Fe (two 4Fe-4S clusters) ferredoxin. 4. The sequence of B. stearothermophilus ferredoxin is homologous in many segments to that of other bacterial ferredoxins, the degree of homology being greater towards ferredoxins from Desulfovibrio gigas and photosynthetic bacteria than to Clostridial ferredoxins. 5. The presence of a relatively higher number of glutamic acid and lower number of cysteine residues in the molecule may explain the greater thermal stability and oxygen-insenstivity of this ferredoxin.