Cloning and sequencing the genes encoding uptake-hydrogenase subunits of Rhodocyclus gelatinosus

Rhodocyclus gelatinosus grew photosynthetically in the light and consumed H2 at a rate of about 665 nmol/min per mg protein. The uptake-hydrogenase (H2ase) was found to be membrane bound and insensitive to inhibition by CO. The structural genes of R. gelatinosus uptake-H2ase were isolated from a 40 kb cosmid gene library of R. gelatinosus DNA by hybridization with the structural genes of uptake-H2ase of Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Rhodobacter capsulatus. The R. gelatinosus genes were localized on two overlapping DNA restriction fragments subcloned into pUC18. Two open reading frames (ORF1 and ORF2) were observed. ORF1 contained 1080 nucleotides and encoded a 39.4 kDa protein. ORF2 had 1854 nucleotides and encoded a 68.5 kDa protein. Amino acid sequence analysis suggested that ORF1 and ORF2 corresponded to the small (HupS) and large (HupL) subunits, respectively, of R. gelatinosus uptake-H2ase. ORF1 was approximately 80% homologous with the small, and ORF2 was maximally 68% homologous with the large subunit of typical membrane-bound uptake-H2ases.