THE AMINO ACID SEQUENCE OF GLUTAMATE DEHYDROGENASE FROM Pyrococcus furiosus, A HYPERTERMOPHILIC ARCHAEBACTERIUM .

The complete amino acid sequence of glutamate dehydrogenase from the archaebacterium Pyrococcus furiosus has been determined. The sequence was reconstructed by automated sequence analysis of peptides obtained after cleavage with cyanogen bromide, Asp-N endoproteinase, trypsin, or pepsin. The enzyme subunit is composed of 420 amino acid residues yielding a molecular mass of 47,122D. In the recently determined primary structure of glutamate dehydrogenase from another thermophilic archaebacterium, Sulfolobus solfataricus, the presence of some methylated lysines was detected and the possible role of this posttranslational modification in enhancing the thermostability of the enzyme was discussed (Maras, B., Consalvi, V., Chiaraluce, R., Politi, L., De Rosa, M., Bossa, F., Scandurra, R., and Barra, D. (1992), fur. J. Biochem. 203, 81-87). In the primary structure reported here, such posttranslational modification has not been found, indicating that the role of lysine methylation should be revisited. Comparison of the sequence of glutamate dehydrogenase from Pyrococcus furiosus with that of S. solfataricus shows a 43.7% similarity, thus indicating a common evolutionary pathway.