Photobiochemical Production of Carbon Monoxide by Thermus thermophilus ba3-Cytochrome c Oxidase

We report the photobiochemical production of carbon monoxide by a terminal ba(3)-cytochrome c oxidase from T. thermophilus HB8. FTIR and time-resolved step-scan FTIR spectroscopies were combined to probe this process and also monitor the concomitant binding of the produced gas to other intact ba(3) molecules forming the ba(3)-CO complex. The activation of this mechanism by ba(3)-oxidase under visible excitation raises the question as to whether such a mechanism is physiologically relevant to the extreme environment in which it operates.