Neodymium as Metal Cofactor for Biological Methanol Oxidation: Structure and Kinetics of an XoxF1-Type Methanol Dehydrogenase
Rob A. Schmitz, Nunzia Picone, Helena Singer, Andreas Dietl, Kerstin-Anikó Seifert, Arjan Pol, Mike S. M. Jetten, Thomas R. M. Barends, Lena J. Daumann, Huub J. M. Op den Camp
Abstract
Lanthanides comprise a group of 15 elements with atomic numbers 57 to 71 that are essential in a variety of high-tech devices, such as mobile phones, but were considered biologically inert for a long time. The biological relevance of lanthanides became evident when the acidophilic methanotroph Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum SolV, isolated from a volcanic mud pot, could only grow when lanthanides were supplied to the growth medium. We expanded knowledge in the exciting and rapidly developing field of lanthanide biochemistry by the purification and characterization of a neodymium-containing methanol dehydrogenase from a thermoacidophilic methanotroph.