title: Thermoplasma acidophilum TAA43 is an archaeal member of the eukaryotic meiotic branch of AAA ATPases.
abstract: Sequencing of the Thermoplasma acidophilum genome revealed a new gene, taa43 , which codes for a 43-kDa protein containing one AAA domain; we therefore termed it Thermoplasma AAA ATPase of 43 kDa (TAA43). Close homologs of TAA43 are found only in related Thermoplasmales, e.g. T. volcanium and Ferroplasma acidarmanus , but not in other Archaea. A detailed phylogenetic analysis showed that TAA43 and its homologs belong to the 'meiotic' branch of the AAA family. Although AAA proteins usually assemble into high-molecular-weight complexes, native TAA43 is predominantly dimeric except for a minor fraction eluting in the void volume of a sizing column. Wild-type and mutant TAA43 proteins were overexpressed in Escherichia coli , purified as dimers and characterized functionally. Since the canonical proteasome activating nucleotidase is not present in Thermoplasmales, TAA43 was tested for stimulation of proteasome activity, which was, however, not detected. Interestingly, immunoprecipitation analysis with TAA43 specific antibodies found a fraction of native TAA43 associated with Thermoplasma ribosomal proteins.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry, Department of Molecular Structural Biology, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany.
authors.forename: Leticia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Tancred
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Frickey
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Baumeister
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lupas
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zwickl
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D007700:Kinetics; D008540:Meiosis; D008970:Molecular Weight; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D010802:Phylogeny; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D013822:Thermoplasma / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases