Methyl Group Reduction to Methane

到目前为止，已发现六种不常见的辅酶(甲烷呋喃、四氢甲烷蝶呤、辅酶M.ickle四吡咯F430、去氮黄素F420和7-巯基庚烷苏氨酸磷酸)是二氧化碳和甲烷还原所必需的。本项目继续对该过程的末端反应--甲基转移和还原为甲烷进行研究。被称为C组分的蛋白质现在被明确地确定为甲基还原酶(MR)。特别感兴趣的是：细胞如何保持MR处于活跃状态？%产甲烷细菌(产甲烷菌)是古生菌，代表着进化的古老分歧。这种分歧的一个有趣的方面是，产甲烷的生物化学仍然孤立在产甲烷菌中，这是其他生物所不具备的特征。到目前为止，人们已经发现了将二氧化碳还原为甲烷所需的六种不寻常的辅酶，这极大地表明了这种生物化学的独特性。这些研究具有原创性和重要意义。

Six unusual coenzymes (methanofuran, tetrahydromethanopterin, coenzyme M. nickle tetrapyrrole F430, deazaflavin F420, and 7- mercaptoheptanolythreonine phosphate) so far have been discovered to be required for the reduction of carbon dioxide the methane. The present project continue studies on the terminal reactions of this process, methyl group transfer and reduction to methane. The protein known as component C is now clearly established as the methylreductase (MR). Special interests are: How does the cell maintain MR in the active state? %%% Methanogenic bacteria (methanogens) are archaebacteria and represent an ancient divergence in evolution. An interesting aspect of this divergence is that the biochemistry of methanogenesis has remained isolated in the methanogens, a characteristic not shared by other living things. The uniqueness of this biochemistry is dramatically shown by the six unusual coenzymes that so far have been discovered to be required for the reduction of carbon dioxide to methane. These studies are original and significant.