Isolation of a ferritin from Bacteroides fragilis
Open Access
- 15 August 1992
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in FEMS Microbiology Letters
- Vol. 95 (2-3) , 207-212
- https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-1097(92)90430-v
Abstract
A ferritin was isolated from the obligate anaerobe Bacteroides fragilis. Estimated molecular masses were 400 kDa for the holomer and 16.7 kDa for the subunits. A 30-residue N-terminal amino acid sequence was determined and found to resemble the sequences of other ferritins (human H-chain ferritin, 43% identity; Escherichia coli gen-165 product, 37% identity) and to a lesser degree, bacterioferritins (E. coli bacterioferritin, 20% identity). The protein stained positively for iron, and incorporated 59Fe when B. fragilis was grown in the presence of [59Fe]citrate. However, the isolated protein contained only about three iron atoms per molecule, and contained no detectable haem. This represents the first isolation of a ferritin protein from bacteria. It may alleviate iron toxicity in the presence of oxygen.Keywords
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