Interestingly, the deletion of the atp gene region of M. acetivorans conferred no phenotype [25]. The atpX gene present in the M. acetivorans and M. barkeri genomes is conserved in some, but not all bacterial-like ATP synthase operons. It is present check details in the Rhodoferax ferrireducens DSM 15236, Desulfuromonas acetoxidans DSM 684 and Shewanella

frigidimarina NCIMB genomes (gene alignments not shown). Since the synteny of atpX in the above operons is conserved, atpX is not due to an isolated insertion event in the M. acetivorans genome. Biochemical studies have identified essential amino acids involved in translocation of sodium ions by the proteolipid c subunit of the Ilyobacter tartaricus ATPase [26]. To address whether Na+ or H+ ions are transported by the M. acetivorans archaeal-type A0A1 ATP synthase, the ahaK gene encoding proteolipid c subunit was aligned with the corresponding subunits of I. tartaricus plus other well studied microorganisms (Additional file 2, Figure S2). Four amino acid residues at positions 32, 63, 65, and 66 in the I. tartaricus protein to specify Na+ ion movement [26]. These four residues are conserved in M. acetivorans, in contrast to E. coli that is a proton translocating enzyme. This suggests the archaeal-type

A0A1 ATP synthase also transfers Na+ ions rather than protons to form ATP, in keeping with the example of Pyrococcus ABT-263 chemical structure furiosus [27]. Furthermore, the archaeal type ahaK subunit learn more in the three Methanosarcina strains form a distinct protein subclass given the presence of an additional three amino acids relative

to position 14 of the I. tartaricus subunit, and a three amino acid deletion corresponding to position 47-49 of I. tartaricus. Amino acid alignments of the A0A1 ATP synthases subunits from the M. mazei and M. barkeri proteolipids suggest the same conclusion for these highly related archaeal complexes (Additional file 2, Figure S2). Interestingly, the alignment of the c proteolipid subunit (atpE) of the M. acetivorans bacterial-type F0F1 synthase also suggests specificity for Na+ ions. A neighbor-joining tree of the archaeal and bacterial c-type polypeptides (Figure 9) reveals a relatively conserved Benzatropine origin of the archaeal-type A0A1 ATP synthase in the Methanosarcina species. Strikingly, the bacterial-type F0F1 synthase genes present in M. acetivorans and M. barkeri are more distantly related to either the archaeal or bacterial type enzymes. This branch of ATP metabolism genes/proteins remains poorly understood and awaits further study. Figure 9 Phylogenic tree of the atp and aha ATP synthase proteolipid subunit c for the methanogens M. acetivorans, M. mazei , and M. barkeri , and for the bacterial homologs indicated in reference [26].