Structural insight into SoxC and SoxD interaction and their role in electron transport process in the novel global sulfur cycle in Paracoccus pantotrophus

Abstract

Microbial oxidation of reduced inorganic sulfur compounds mainly sulfur anions in the environment is one of the major reactions of the global sulfur cycle mediated by phylogenetically diverse prokaryotes. The sulfur oxidizing gene cluster (sox) of alpha-Proteobacteria comprises of at least 16 genes, which form two transcriptional units, viz., soxSRT and soxVWXYZABCDEFGH. Sequence analysis reveals that soxD gene product (SoxD) belongs to the di-heme cytochrome c family of electron transport proteins whereas soxC gene product (SoxC) is a sulfur dehydrogenase. We employed homology modeling to construct the three-dimensional structures of the SoxC and SoxD from Paracoccus pantotrophus. SoxD protein is known to interact with SoxC. With the help of docking studies we have identified the residues involved in the interaction of SoxC and SoxD. The putative active site geometries of these two proteins as well as the structural basis of the involvements of these proteins in electron transport process during the oxidation of sulfur anions are also investigated.