Phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride inactivates an archaeal superoxide dismutase by chemical modification of a specific tyrosine residue Cloning, sequencing and expression of the gene coding for Sulfolobus solfataricus superoxide dismutase

The gene encoding the superoxide dismutase from thehyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus(SsSOD) was cloned and sequenced and its expression inEscherichia coli obtained. The chemicophysical propertiesof the recombinant SsSOD were identical with those of thenative enzyme. The recombinant SsSOD possessed acovalent modification of Tyr41, already observed in nativeSsSOD [Ursby, T., Adinolfi, B.S., Al-Karadaghi, S., DeVendittis, E. & Bocchini, V. (1999) J. Mol. Biol. 286, 189–205]. HPLC analysis of SsSOD samples prepared from cellstreated or not with phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride(PhCH