title: Regulation of expression of methane monooxygenases by copper ions.
abstract: Many methanotrophs contain both a soluble and a particulate methane monooxygenase. A unique metabolic switch, mediated by copper ions, regulates the expression of these enzymes. When the copper-to-biomass ratio of the cell is low, the soluble enzyme is expressed, and when the copper-to-biomass ratio is high, the particulate enzyme is expressed. A model for the mechanism of this switch is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. cm@dna.bio.warwick.ac.uk
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Murrell
authors.forename: I R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gilbert
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D003300:Copper / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010105:Oxygenases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D003300:Copper; D010105:Oxygenases; C021555:methane monooxygenase; D008697:Methane