The sixteenth iron in the nitrogenase MoFe protein

21.08.2013

Zhang L, Kaiser JT, Meloni G, Yang KY, Spatzal T, Andrade SL, Einsle O, Howard JB, Rees DC.

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2013 Sep 27;52(40):10529-32

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl.       online article

Another iron in the fire: X-ray anomalous diffraction studies on the nitrogenase MoFe protein show the presence of a mononuclear iron site, designated as Fe16, which was previously identified as either Ca(2+) or Mg(2+) . The position of the absorption edge indicates that this site is in the oxidation state +2. The high sequence conservation of the residues coordinated to Fe16 emphasizes the potential importance of the site in nitrogenase.