Effects of electron transport inhibitors and uncouplers on the oxidation of ferrous iron and compounds interacting with ferric iron inAcidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (8) ◽  
pp. 695-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongqiang Chen ◽  
Isamu Suzuki

Oxidation of Fe2+, ascorbic acid, propyl gallate, tiron, L-cysteine, and glutathione by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans was studied with respect to the effect of electron transport inhibitors and uncouplers on the rate of oxidation. All the oxidations were sensitive to inhibitors of cytochrome c oxidase, KCN, and NaN3. They were also partially inhibited by inhibitors of complex I and complex III of the electron transport system. Uncouplers at low concentrations stimulated the oxidation and inhibited it at higher concentrations. The oxidation rates of Fe2+and L-cysteine inhibited by complex I and complex III inhibitors (amytal, rotenone, antimycin A, myxothiazol, and HQNO) were stimulated more extensively by uncouplers than the control rates. Atabrine, a flavin antagonist, was an exception, and atabrine-inhibited oxidation activities of all these compounds were further inhibited by uncouplers. A model for the electron transport pathways of A. ferrooxidans is proposed to account for these results. In the model these organic substrates reduce ferric iron on the surface of cells to ferrous iron, which is oxidized back to ferric iron through the Fe2+oxidation pathway, leading to cytochrome oxidase to O2. Some of electrons enter the uphill (energy-requiring) electron transport pathway to reduce NAD+. Uncouplers at low concentrations stimulate Fe2+oxidation by stimulating cytochrome oxidase by uncoupling. Higher concentrations lower Δp to the level insufficient to overcome the potentially uphill reaction at rusticyanin-cytochrome c4. Inhibition of uphill reactions at complex I and complex III leads to Δp accumulation and inhibition of cytochrome oxidase. Uncouplers remove the inhibition of Δp and stimulate the oxidation. Atabrine inhibition is not released by uncouplers, which implies a possibility of atabrine inhibition at a site other than complex I, but a site somehow involved in the Fe2+oxidation pathway.Key words: Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, electron transport, uncouplers, uphill electron transport pathway.

Weed Science ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 636-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Moreland ◽  
W. J. Blackmon ◽  
H. G. Todd ◽  
F. S. Farmer

Effects of three diphenylether herbicides [2,4-dichlorophenyl-p-nitrophenyl ether (nitrofen); 2,4,6-trichlorophenyl-4′-nitrophenyl ether (hereinafter referred to as MC-1478); and 2,4′-dinitro-4-trifluoromethyl-diphenylether (hereinafter referred to as C-6989)] were measured on phosphorylation and electron transport in spinach(Spinacia oleraceaL.) chloroplasts, and mung bean(Phaseolus aureusL., var. Jumbo) and white potato tuber(Solarium tuberosumL.) mitochondria. All of the diphenylethers acted primarily as inhibitors of chloroplast noncyclic electron transport, and the coupled photophosphorylation. The compounds ranked in the following decreasing order of inhibitory effectiveness: MC-1478 ≥ C-6989 >> nitrofen. A site of action close to light reaction II was suggested. At high molar concentrations, marginal interference with cyclic electron transport or phosphorylation was obtained. In mitochondria, MC-1478 and nitrofen acted primarily as electron transport inhibitors with malate, NADH, and succinate as substrates. MC-1478 was a slightly stronger inhibitor than nitrofen. Only slight stimulation of ADP-limited oxygen uptake was obtained during the oxidation of NADH and succinate; whereas, strong inhibition of oxygen uptake was obtained with malate. C-6989 also weakly stimulated ADP-limited oxygen uptake with NADH and succinate but differed from the two chlorinated diphenylethers in that electron transport was not inhibited when ADP was present in excess. Interference with ATP generation could be one of the mechanisms through which the phytotoxicity of diphenylether herbicides is expressed.


2006 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongqiang Chen ◽  
Isamu Suzuki

Oxidation of endogenous substrate(s) of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans with O2 or Fe3+ as electron acceptor was studied in the presence of uncouplers and electron transport inhibitors. Endogenous substrate was oxidized with a respiratory quotient (CO2 produced/O2 consumed) of 1.0, indicating its carbohydrate nature. The oxidation was inhibited by complex I inhibitors (rotenone, amytal, and piericidin A) only partially, but piericidin A inhibited the oxidation with Fe3+ nearly completely. The oxidation was stimulated by uncouplers, and the stimulated activity was more sensitive to inhibition by complex I inhibitors. HQNO (2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide) also stimulated the oxidation, and the stimulated respiration was more sensitive to KCN inhibition than uncoupler stimulated respiration. Fructose, among 20 sugars and sugar alcohols including glucose and mannose, was oxidized with a CO2/O2 ratio of 1.0 by the organism. Iron chelators in general stimulated endogenous respiration, but some of them reduced Fe3+ chemically, introducing complications. The results are discussed in view of a branched electron transport system of the organism and its possible control.Key words: Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, endogenous respiration, uncouplers, electron transport.


1982 ◽  
Vol 206 (2) ◽  
pp. 419-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
B D Price ◽  
M D Brand

NN'-Dicyclohexylcarbodi-imide at low concentrations decreases the H+/2e ratio for rat liver mitochondria over the span succinate to oxygen from 5.9 +/- 0.3 (mean +/- S.E.M.) to 4.0 +/- 0.1 and for the cytochrome b-c1 complex from 3.8 +/- 0.2 to 1.9 +/- 0.1, but has little effect on the H+/2e ratio of cytochrome oxidase. The decrease in stoicheiometry is due, not to uncoupling or inhibition of electron transport, but to inhibition of proton translocation. NN'-Dicyclohexylcarbodi-imide thus ‘decouples’ proton translocation in the cytochrome b-c1 complex.


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