Carbide insertion plays a pivotal role in the biosynthesis of M-cluster, the cofactor of nitrogenase. Previously, we proposed a carbide insertion pathway involving methyltransfer from SAM to a FeS precursor and hydrogen abstraction from this methyl group that initiates the radical-based precursor maturation. Here we demonstrate that the methyl group is transferred to a precursor-associated sulfur before hydrogen abstraction, thereby refining the initial steps of the carbide insertion pathway.

Nitrogenase biosynthesis protein NifB catalyzes the radical S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM)-dependent insertion of carbide into the M cluster, the cofactor of the molybdenum nitrogenase from Azotobacter vinelandii. Here, we report the identification and characterization of two naturally "truncated" homologs of NifB from Methanosarcina acetivorans (NifB(Ma)) and Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum (NifB(Mt)), which contain a SAM-binding domain at the N terminus but lack a domain toward the C terminus that shares homology with NifX, an accessory protein in M cluster biosynthesis. NifB(Ma) and NifB(Mt) are monomeric proteins containing a SAM-binding [Fe4S4] cluster (designated the SAM cluster) and a [Fe4S4]-like cluster pair (designated the K cluster) that can be processed into an [Fe8S9] precursor to the M cluster (designated the L cluster). Further, the K clusters in NifB(Ma) and NifB(Mt) can be converted to L clusters upon addition of SAM, which corresponds to their ability to heterologously donate L clusters to the biosynthetic machinery of A. vinelandii for further maturation into the M clusters. Perhaps even more excitingly, NifB(Ma) and NifB(Mt) can catalyze the removal of methyl group from SAM and the abstraction of hydrogen from this methyl group by 5'-deoxyadenosyl radical that initiates the radical-based incorporation of methyl-derived carbide into the M cluster. The successful identification of NifB(Ma) and NifB(Mt) as functional homologs of NifB not only enabled classification of a new subset of radical SAM methyltransferases that specialize in complex metallocluster assembly, but also provided a new tool for further characterization of the distinctive, NifB-catalyzed methyl transfer and conversion to an iron-bound carbide.

The P-cluster in the nitrogenase MoFe protein is a [Fe8S7] cluster and represents the most complex FeS cluster found in Nature. To date, the exact mechanism of the in vivo synthesis of the P-cluster remains unclear. What is known is that the precursor to the P-cluster is a pair of neighboring [Fe4S4]-like clusters found on the ΔnifH MoFe protein, a protein expressed in the absence of the nitrogenase Fe protein (NifH). Moreover, incubation of the ΔnifH MoFe protein with NifH and MgATP results in the synthesis of the MoFe protein P-clusters. To improve our understanding of the mechanism of this reaction, we conducted a magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopic study of the [Fe4S4]-like clusters on the ΔnifH MoFe protein. Reducing the ΔnifH MoFe protein with Ti(III) citrate results in the quenching of the S = (1)/2 electron paramagnetic resonance signal associated with the [Fe4S4](+) state of the clusters. MCD spectroscopy reveals this reduction results in all four 4Fe clusters being converted into the unusual, all-ferrous [Fe4S4](0) state. Subsequent increases of the redox potential generate new clusters. Most significantly, one of these newly formed clusters is the P-cluster, which represents approximately 20-25% of the converted Fe concentration. The other two clusters are an X cluster, of unknown structure, and a classic [Fe4S4] cluster, which represents approximately 30-35% of the Fe concentration. Diamagnetic FeS clusters may also have been generated but, because of their low spectral intensity, would not have been identified. These results demonstrate that the nitrogenase P-cluster can be generated in the absence of NifH and MgATP.

Although most sequenced members of the industrially important ketol-acid reductoisomerase (KARI) family are class I enzymes, structural studies to date have focused primarily on the class II KARIs, which arose through domain duplication. In the present study, we present five new crystal structures of class I KARIs. These include the first structure of a KARI with a six-residue β2αB (cofactor specificity determining) loop and an NADPH phosphate-binding geometry distinct from that of the seven- and 12-residue loops. We also present the first structures of naturally occurring KARIs that utilize NADH as cofactor. These results show insertions in the specificity loops that confounded previous attempts to classify them according to loop length. Lastly, we explore the conformational changes that occur in class I KARIs upon binding of cofactor and metal ions. The class I KARI structures indicate that the active sites close upon binding NAD(P)H, similar to what is observed in the class II KARIs of rice and spinach and different from the opening of the active site observed in the class II KARI of Escherichia coli. This conformational change involves a decrease in the bending of the helix that runs between the domains and a rearrangement of the nicotinamide-binding site.