SUMMARY Kae1 is a universally conserved ATPase and part of the essential gene set in bacteria. In archaea and eukaryotes, Kae1 is embedded within the protein kinase-containing KEOPS complex. Mutation of KEOPS subunits in yeast leads to striking telomere and transcription defects but the exact biochemical function of KEOPS is not known. As a first step to elucidating its function, we solved the atomic structure of archaea-derived KEOPS complexes involving Kae1, Bud32, Pcc1 and Cgi121 subunits. Our studies suggest that Kae1 is regulated at two levels by the primordial protein kinase Bud32, which is itself regulated by Cgi121. Moreover, Pcc1 appears to function as a dimerization module, perhaps suggesting that KEOPS may be a processive molecular machine. Lastly, as Bud32 lacks the conventional substrate-recognition infrastructure of eukaryotic protein kinases including an activation segment, Bud32 may provide a glimpse of the evolutionary history of the protein kinase family.

[FeFe]-hydrogenases are to date the only enzymes for which it has been demonstrated that the native inorganic binuclear cofactor of the active site Fe2(adt)(CO)3(CN)2 (adt = azadithiolate = [S-CH2-NH-CH2-S](2-)) can be synthesized on the laboratory bench and subsequently inserted into the unmaturated enzyme to yield fully functional holo-enzyme (Berggren, G. et al. (2013) Nature 499, 66-70; Esselborn, J. et al. (2013) Nat. Chem. Biol. 9, 607-610). In the current study, we exploit this procedure to introduce non-native cofactors into the enzyme. Mimics of the binuclear subcluster with a modified bridging dithiolate ligand (thiodithiolate, N-methylazadithiolate, dimethyl-azadithiolate) and three variants containing only one CN(-) ligand were inserted into the active site of the enzyme. We investigated the activity of these variants for hydrogen oxidation as well as proton reduction and their structural accommodation within the active site was analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Interestingly, the monocyanide variant with the azadithiolate bridge showed ∼50% of the native enzyme activity. This would suggest that the CN(-) ligands are not essential for catalytic activity, but rather serve to anchor the binuclear subsite inside the protein pocket through hydrogen bonding. The inserted artificial cofactors with a propanedithiolate and an N-methylazadithiolate bridge as well as their monocyanide variants also showed residual activity. However, these activities were less than 1% of the native enzyme. Our findings indicate that even small changes in the dithiolate bridge of the binuclear subsite lead to a rather strong decrease of the catalytic activity. We conclude that both the Brønsted base function and the conformational flexibility of the native azadithiolate amine moiety are essential for the high catalytic activity of the native enzyme.

Hydride state intermediates are known to occur in various hydrogen conversion enzymes, including the highly efficient [FeFe] hydrogenases. The intermediate state involving a terminal iron-bound hydride has been recognized as crucial for the catalytic mechanism, but its occurrence has up to now eluded unequivocal proof under (near) physiological conditions. Here we show that the terminal hydride in the [FeFe] hydrogenase from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii can be directly detected using solution H NMR spectroscopy at room temperature, opening new avenues for detailed in situ investigations under catalytic conditions.

Photohydrogen generation in microalgae is catalysed by hydrogenases, which receive electrons from photosystem I via the ferredoxin PETF. The dominant acceptor of photosynthetic electrons is, however, ferredoxin-NADP⁺-oxidoreductase (FNR). By utilizing targeted ferredoxin and FNR variants in a light-dependent competition assay, electrons can be redirected to the hydrogenase yielding a five-fold enhanced hydrogen evolution activity