Determining the Role of Multicopper Oxidases in Manganese(II) Oxidation by Marine Bacillus Spores

Bacteria play an important role in the environmental cycling of Mn by oxidizing soluble Mn(II) and forming insoluble Mn(III/IV) oxides. These biogenic Mn oxides are renowned for their strong sorptive and oxidative properties, which control the speciation and availability of many metals and organic compounds. A wide variety of bacteria are known to catalyze the oxidation of Mn(II); one of the most frequently isolated types are Bacillus species that oxidize Mn(II) only as metabolically dormant spores. We are using genetic and biochemical methods to study the molecular mechanisms of this process in these organisms. mnxG, a gene related to the multicopper oxidase (MCO) family of enzymes, is required for Mn(II) oxidation in the model organism, Bacillus sp. strain SG-1. Mn(II)-oxidizing activity can be detected in crude protein extracts of the exosporium and as a discrete band in SDS-PAGE gels, however previous attempts to purify or identify this Mn(II)-oxidizing enzyme have failed. A direct link between the Mn(II)-oxidizing enzyme and the MCO gene suspected to encode it has never been made. We used genetic and biochemical methods to investigate the role of the MCO in the mechanism of Mn(II) oxidation. Comparative analysis of the mnx operon from several diverse Mn(II)-oxidizing Bacillus spores revealed that mnxG is the most highly conserved gene in the operon, and that copper binding sites are highly conserved. As with Mn(II) oxidases from other organisms, heterologous expression of the Bacillus mnxG in E. coli did not yield an active Mn(II) oxidase. Purifying sufficient quantities of the native Mn(II) oxidase from Bacillus species for biochemical characterization has proven difficult because the enzyme does not appear to be abundant, and it is highly insoluble. We were able to partially purify the Mn(II) oxidase, and to analyze the active band by in-gel trypsin digestion followed by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). MS/MS spectra provided a conclusive match to mnxG, suggesting that this MCO directly catalyzes the oxidation of Mn(II) and the precipitation of Mn(IV) oxide, which represents a novel reaction for a MCO. MS/MS analysis of bands identified by in-gel activity assays is a powerful method of identifying novel enzymes responsible for geochemical processes.