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Journal of Bacteriology, June 2002, p. 3396-3400, Vol. 184, No. 12
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.12.3396-3400.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Gas Channels for NH₃: Proteins from Hyperthermophiles Complement an Escherichia coli Mutant

Eric Soupene,¹ Tony Chu,^1, Rebecca W. Corbin,^2, Donald F. Hunt,² and Sydney Kustu^1*

Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720,¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901²

Received 11 February 2002/ Accepted 20 March 2002

Ammonium transport (Amt) proteins appear to be bidirectional channels for NH₃. The amt genes of the hyperthermophiles Aquifex aeolicus and Methanococcus jannaschii complement enteric amtB mutants for growth at 25 nM NH₃ at 37°C. To our knowledge, Amt proteins are the first hyperthermophilic membrane transport proteins shown to be active in a mesophilic bacterium. Despite low expression levels, His-tagged Aquifex Amt could be purified by heating and nickel chelate affinity chromatography. It could be studied genetically in Escherichia coli.

Present address: University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0348.

Present address: Ashland University, Department of Chemistry, Ashland, OH 44805.

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