Cytochrome c from Schizosaccharomyces pombe. 2. Amino-acid sequence

The amino acid sequence of Schizosaccharomyces pombe cytochrome c has been established by automatic degradation of the protein and by manual degradation of fragments obtained by cyanogen bromide cleavage and chymotryptic digestion. The chymotryptic peptides were aligned by homology with other known cytochrome c sequences. The protein is 108 residues long, with a four-residue amino-terminal tail. It has only one methionine residue and differs from other fungal cytochromes c in lacking the one-residue deletion at the C-terminal end. After a cyanogen bromide step, an unexpected cleavage of the peptide chain before a cysteine residue was observed. This is ascribed to formation of a dehydroalanyl residue during an incomplete S-carboxymethylation of the apoprotein, and subsequent cleavage under acidic conditions. Experimental evidence is presented in favour of the proposed mechanisms.