A comparison of the electrophoretic properties of the ATP-sulfurylases, APS-reductases, and sulfite reductases from cultures of dissimilatory sulfate-reducing bacteria

ATP-sulfurylases, APS-reductases, and sulfite reductases (SO3−2 → S−2) have been detected by gel disc electrophoresis in 13 cultures of dissimilatory sulfate-reducing bacteria and their electrophoretic properties have been compared. With respect to these three enzymes only, the results were indicative of some interspecies and intergenus homologies. In the Desulfovibrio strains (except Desulfovibrio desulfuricans 8301 which does not contain desulfoviridin), the major sulfite reductase was electrophoretically coincident with desulfoviridin and, in the Desulfotomaculum strains, with a brown protein. Some distinct patterns of electrophoretically distinguishable forms of APS-reductase were found. Considerable electrophoretic variation was found among the ATP-sulfurylases.