Proteome of Methanosarcina acetivorans Part I: An expanded view of the biology of the cell

Methanosarcina acetivorans is representative of the genus that is distinguished from all other methane-producing genera by extensive metabolic diversity predicted from the large genome. In Part I of this study, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF-TOF mass spectrometry was used to investigate the proteome of methanol- or acetate-grown M. acetivorans, with the goal of an initial characterization of the diversity of the proteins synthesized. A total of 412 proteins were identified, representing nearly 10% of the ORFs, with nearly 30% conserved hypothetical or hypothetical. Of the 412 proteins, 188 were found in both acetate- and methanol-grown cells, 122 were detected only in acetate-grown cells, and 102 only in methanol-grown cells. The results revealed the expression of a remarkable number of redundant genes which encode enzymes involved in the pathways for methanogenesis from methanol or acetate, suggesting an important role for the unusually high percentage of redundant genes in Methanosarcina species. Evidence was obtained for synthesis of a sodium-transporting oxidoreductase in acetate-grown cells, with the potential to function in energy conservation. Several transcriptional regulatory proteins were identified that also function in the Bacteria domain, raising questions regarding their interaction with the Archaea/Eucarya-type basal transcription apparatus. In addition, a significant number of proteins involved in protein folding were shown to be synthesized in methanol- and acetate-grown cells. These studies provide the first examination of the protein diversity of M. acetivorans.