Isolation and partial characterization of two different subunits from the molybdenum-iron protein of Azotobacter vinelandii nitrogenase

The molybdenum-iron protein of Azotobacter vinelandii nitrogenase was separated into two subunits of equal concentration by ion exchange chromatography on sulfopropyl (SP) Sephadex at pH 5.4 in 7 M urea. Better than 90% yield of each subunit was obtained on a preparative scale if the reduced carboxymethylated molybdenum-iron protein was incubated at 45 degrees C for 45 min prior to chromatography. Without the heating step low yields of the subunits were obtained. Although the amino acid compositions of the two subunits were very similar, the NH2-terminal sequences were completely different as determined by automated sequential Edman degradation. The sequence for the alpha subunit was NH2-Ser-Gln-Gln-Val-Asp-Lys-Ile-Lys-Ala-Ser-Tyr-Pro-Leu-Phe-Leu-Asp-Gln-Asp-Tyr- and for the beta subunit the sequence was NH2-Thr-Gly-Met-Ser-Arg-Glu-Glu-Val-Glu-Ser-Leu-Ile-Gln-Glu-Val-Leu-Glu-Val-Tyr-. Likewise the COOH-terminal sequences for the two subunits, as determined with carboxypeptidase Y, were tota-ly different. The sequence for the alpha subunit was -Leu-Arg-Val-COOH and that for the beta subunit was -Ile-(Phe, Glu)-Ala-Phe-COOH. Radioautographs of tryptic peptide maps were prepared for the molybdenum-iron protein and the two subunits which had been labeled at the cysteinyl residues with iodo[2-14C]acetic acid. These maps indicated that the two subunits had no cysteinyl peptides in common and that the cysteinyl residues were clustered in both subunits.