Subunit structure and organization of the genes of the A1A0 ATPase from the Archaeon Methanosarcina mazei Gö1.

The proton-translocating A1A0 ATP synthase/hydrolase of Methanosarcina mazei Gö1 was purified and shown to consist of six subunits of molecular masses of 65, 49, 40, 36, 25, and 7 kDa. Electron microscopy revealed that this enzyme is organized in two domains, the hydrophilic A1 and the hydrophobic A0 domain, which are connected by a stalk. Genes coding for seven hydrophilic subunits were cloned and sequenced. From these data it is evident that the 65-, 49-, 40- and 25-kDa subunits are encoded by ahaA, ahaB, ahaC, and ahaD, respectively; they are part of the A1 domain or the stalk. In addition there are three more genes, ahaE, ahaF, and ahaG, encoding hydrophilic subunits, which were apparently lost during the purification of the protein. The A0 domain consists of at least the 7-kDa proteolipid and the 36-kDa subunit for which the genes have not yet been found. In summary, it is proposed that the A1A0 ATPase of Methanosarcina mazei Gö1 contains at least nine subunits, of which seven are located in A1 and/or the stalk and two in A0.

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