Purification and preliminary characterization of three c-type cytochromes from Pseudomonas nautica strain 617

Three c-type cytochromes, namely cytochrome c553, cytochrome c553(548) and cytochrome c', were purified from the marine denitrifying bacterium Pseudomonas nautica strain 617. These three monohemic cytochromes present in small amounts were preliminarily characterized by physiochemical and spectroscopic techniques. The visible and the 1H-NMR spectra show that cytochrome c553 and cytochrome c553(548) have histidine-methionine as iron axial ligands. Cytochrome c553 and cytochrome c553(548) have mid-point redox potentials of +269 mV and +223 mV, at pH 7.6, and their molecular masses are 14 kDa and 17 kDa, respectively. Cytochrome c' has a molecular mass of 21 kDa and its visible spectrum is typical of a high spin heme.