Organization of potential alternative nitrogenase genes from Clostridium pasteurianum

A 3.3 kb HindIII genomic DNA fragment from Clostridium pasteurianum ATCC 6013 which hybridized to the anfDGK genes for the Fe-only 'alternative' nitrogenase from Azotobacter vinelandii was cloned. Open reading frames (ORFs D, G, and K) with high sequence identity to anfD, anfG, and part of anfK were located in the nucleotide sequence obtained for 2494 bp of this fragment. In C. pasteurianum, ORFD maps approximately 1.8 kb downstream of nifH3 and is transcribed in the same direction. There was no evidence for additional copies of ORFDGK-like sequences in the genome of C. pasteurianum, other than those encoding the Mo-nitrogenase. Physiological and biochemical studies suggest that a nitrogenase not requiring molybdenum may occur in C. pasteurianum. This enzyme is probably encoded by nifH3 and ORFs D, G, and K identified here.