The evolutionary origins of peroxynitrite signalling.

Peroxynitrite is a reactive intermediate formed in vivo through uncatalysed reaction of superoxide and nitric oxide radicals. Despite significant interest in detecting peroxynitrite in vivo and understanding its production, little attention has been given to the evolutionary origins of peroxynitrite signalling. Herein we focus on two enzymes that are key to the biosynthesis of superoxide and nitric oxide, NADPH oxidase 5 (NOX5) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), respectively. Multiple sequence alignments of both enzymes including homologues from all domains of life, coupled with a phylogenetic analysis of NOX5, suggest eNOS and NOX5 are present in animals as the result of horizontal gene transfer from ancestral cyanobacteria to ancestral eukaryotes. Therefore, biochemical studies from other laboratories on a NOX5 homologue in Cylindrospermum stagnale and an eNOS homologue in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7335 are likely to be of relevance to human NOX5 and eNOS and to the production of superoxide, nitric oxide and peroxynitrite in humans.

Identification of a cyanobacterial aldehyde dehydrogenase that produces retinoic acid in vitro.

Retinoic acid signalling is generally considered to be of animal origin. Recently, retinoic acid has been identified in cyanobacteria, yet no mechanism for its production has been identified. Here, we characterise for the first time a cyanobacterial aldehyde dehydrogenase that produces retinoic acid in vitro. Our computational studies suggest that the cyanobacterial aldehyde dehydrogenase resembles an ancestor of both eukaryotic aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2. The Chlorogloeopsis fritschii aldehyde dehydrogenase described here may find applications in synthetic production of retinoic acid as well as contributing to our understanding of retinoid synthesis in cyanobacteria.