Sequence of the gene coding for the beta-subunit of dinitrogenase from the blue-green alga Anabaena

The nitrogen fixation nif K gene of the blue-green alga Anabaena, which codes for the beta-subunit of dinitrogenase, has been subjected to sequence analysis. The nif K protein is predicted to be 512 amino acids long, to have a M(r) or 57,583, and to contain six cysteine residues. Three of these cysteines are within peptides homologous to FeS cluster-binding cysteinyl peptides from ferredoxins and from a high potential iron protein and, thus, may be ligands to which FeS clusters bind in dinitrogenase. The sequences surrounding the cysteine residues are 70% homologous to the corresponding cysteinyl tryptic peptides of the Azotobacter vinelandii dinitrogenase, although the positions of the cysteine residues are not always conserved between the two proteins. A 15-amino acid coding sequence precedes nif K on its transcript. Amino acid codon usage is highly asymmetric and parallels that found for the Anabaena dinitrogenase reductase gene (nif H). Putative promoter and ribosome binding site sequences were identified for nif K. These regulatory sequences are homologous to sequences preceding nif D; nif D codes for the alpha-subunit of dinitrogenase but is separated from nif K on the chromosome by 11,000 nucleotides. The nif K promoter also is virtually identical to a promoter-like sequence that immediately precedes the start of the transcript for the large subunit of ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase from maize chloroplasts. This homology appears to support the theory that chloroplasts evolved from blue-green algae.