The methane monooxygenase gene cluster of Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath).
Methane is oxidised to methanol in methanotrophic bacteria by the enzyme methane monooxygenase (MMO). Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) produces a soluble MMO which oxidises a range of aliphatic and aromatic compounds with potential for commercial exploitation. This multicomponent enzyme has been extensively characterised and biochemical data have been used to identify a 12-kb fragment of Methylococcus DNA carrying the structural genes mmoY and mmoZ, coding for the beta- and gamma-subunits of MMO component A, the methane-binding protein. We now report the complete nucleotide (nt) sequence of mmoX, the gene encoding the alpha-subunit of component A which is found to be 5' to mmoY and mmoZ. We also report the complete nt sequence of mmoC which encodes component C, the iron-sulfur flavoprotein of MMO, the N terminus of which is significantly homologous with spinach ferredoxin. The mmo structural genes are clustered within a 7-kb region and are closely linked to two small open reading frames of unknown function.
Stainthorpe
A C
AC
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, U.K.
Lees
V
V
Salmond
G P
GP
Dalton
H
H
Murrell
J C
JC
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008772:Methylococcaceae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010105:Oxygenases / Q000235:genetics*; D010944:Plants / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D010957:Plasmids; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012264:Ribonucleotide Reductases / Q000235:genetics; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D010105:Oxygenases; C021555:methane monooxygenase; D012264:Ribonucleotide Reductases