Amino acid sequence of a 3Fe:3S ferredoxin from the "archaebacterium" Methanosarcina barkeri (DSM 800)

The complete amino acid sequence for a 3Fe:3S ferredoxin from the "archaebacterium" Methanosarcina barkeri (DSM 800) was determined by repetitive Edman degradation on the whole protein and peptides derived from trypsin, thermolysin, and Staphylococcus aureus protease digestion. The protein has 59 residues of which 8 are cysteines. The latter have the same spacing and distribution as found for the clostridial-type 2 x 4Fe:4S ferredoxins. Also, the sequence had evidence of internal homology which is indicative of gene duplication prior to the divergence of the archaebacteria and the eubacteria. This is the first sequence to be reported for a methanogen ferredoxin and only the fourth for a 3Fe:3S ferredoxin from any source.