Abstract
Molecular studies of enzymes involved in sulfite oxidation in Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans have not yet been developed, especially in the ATP sulfurylase (ATPS) of these acidophilus tiobacilli that have importance in biomining. This enzyme synthesizes ATP and sulfate from adenosine phosphosulfate (APS) and pyrophosphate (PPi), final stage of the sulfite oxidation by these organisms in order to obtain energy. The atpS gene (1674 bp) encoding the ATPS from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 23270 was amplified using PCR, cloned in the pET101-TOPO plasmid, sequenced and expressed in Escherichia coli obtaining a 63.5 kDa ATPS recombinant protein according to SDS-PAGE analysis. The bioinformatics and phylogenetic analyses determined that the ATPS from A. ferrooxidans presents ATP sulfurylase (ATS) and APS kinase (ASK) domains similar to ATPS of Aquifex aeolicus, probably of a more ancestral origin. Enzyme activity towards ATP formation was determined by quantification of ATP formed from E. coli cell extracts, using a bioluminescence assay based on light emission by the luciferase enzyme. Our results demonstrate that the recombinant ATP sulfurylase from A. ferrooxidans presents an enzymatic activity for the formation of ATP and sulfate, and possibly is a bifunctional enzyme due to its high homology to the ASK domain from A. aeolicus and true kinases.