Oxidative Decarboxylase UndA Utilizes a Dinuclear Iron Cofactor

UndA is a nonheme iron enzyme that activates oxygen to catalyze the decarboxylation of dodecanoic acid to undecene and carbon dioxide. We report the first optical and Mossbauer spectroscopic characterization of UndA, revealing that the enzyme harbors a coupled dinuclear iron cluster. Single turnover studies confirm that the reaction of the diferrous enzyme with dioxygen produces stoichiometric product per cluster. UndA is the first characterized example of a diiron decarboxylase, thus expanding the repertoire of reactions catalyzed by dinuclear iron enzymes.