CLONING AND SEQUENCING OF THE GENE ENCODING THE HIGH-POTENTIAL IRON-SULFUR PROTEIN (HIPIP) FROM THE PURPLE SULFUR BACTERIUM CHROMATIUM-VINOSUM

The gene encoding the high potential iron-sulfur protein (HiPIP) of Ch romatium vinosum strain D (DSM 180(T)) was cloned from an EcoRI-HindII I digest of genomic DNA. A nucleotide sequence of 648 bp length was de termined which contained the coding region and putative promoter and t ermination sites. The gene codes for a 122 residue 12761 Da protein. T he C-terminal 85 residues are those of the previously biochemically de termined sequence, whereas the N-terminal 37 residues constitute a lea der peptide which shows characteristics of the double arginine signal sequences of complex cofactor containing periplasmic proteins.