RNA-based thermoregulation of a Campylobacter jejuni zinc resistance determinant.

RNA thermometers (RNATs) trigger bacterial virulence factor expression in response to the temperature shift on entering a warm-blooded host. At lower temperatures these secondary structures sequester ribosome-binding sites (RBSs) to prevent translation initiation, whereas at elevated temperatures they "melt" allowing translation. Campylobacter jejuni is the leading bacterial cause of human gastroenteritis worldwide yet little is known about how it interacts with the host including host induced gene regulation. Here we demonstrate that an RNAT regulates a C. jejuni gene, Cj1163c or czcD, encoding a member of the Cation Diffusion Facilitator family. The czcD upstream untranslated region contains a predicted stem loop within the mRNA that sequesters the RBS to inhibit translation at temperatures below 37°C. Mutations that disrupt or enhance predicted secondary structure have significant and predictable effects on temperature regulation. We also show that in an RNAT independent manner, CzcD expression is induced by Zn(II). Mutants lacking czcD are hypersensitive to Zn(II) and also over-accumulate Zn(II) relative to wild-type, all consistent with CzcD functioning as a Zn(II) exporter. Importantly, we demonstrate that C. jejuni Zn(II)-tolerance at 32°C, a temperature at which the RNAT limits CzcD production, is increased by RNAT disruption. Finally we show that czcD inactivation attenuates larval killing in a Galleria infection model and that at 32°C disrupting RNAT secondary structure to allow CzcD production can enhance killing. We hypothesise that CzcD regulation by metals and temperature provides a mechanism for C. jejuni to overcome innate immune system-mediated Zn(II) toxicity in warm-blooded animal hosts.

Prototyping of microbial chassis for the biomanufacturing of high-value chemical targets.

Metabolic engineering technologies have been employed with increasing success over the last three decades for the engineering and optimization of industrial host strains to competitively produce high-value chemical targets. To this end, continued reductions in the time taken from concept, to development, to scale-up are essential. Design-Build-Test-Learn pipelines that are able to rapidly deliver diverse chemical targets through iterative optimization of microbial production strains have been established. Biofoundries are employing in silico tools for the design of genetic parts, alongside combinatorial design of experiments approaches to optimize selection from within the potential design space of biological circuits based on multi-criteria objectives. These genetic constructs can then be built and tested through automated laboratory workflows, with performance data analysed in the learn phase to inform further design. Successful examples of rapid prototyping processes for microbially produced compounds reveal the potential role of biofoundries in leading the sustainable production of next-generation bio-based chemicals.

Rapid prototyping of microbial production strains for the biomanufacture of potential materials monomers.

Bio-based production of industrial chemicals using synthetic biology can provide alternative green routes from renewable resources, allowing for cleaner production processes. To efficiently produce chemicals on-demand through microbial strain engineering, biomanufacturing foundries have developed automated pipelines that are largely compound agnostic in their time to delivery. Here we benchmark the capabilities of a biomanufacturing pipeline to enable rapid prototyping of microbial cell factories for the production of chemically diverse industrially relevant material building blocks. Over 85 days the pipeline was able to produce 17 potential material monomers and key intermediates by combining 160 genetic parts into 115 unique biosynthetic pathways. To explore the scale-up potential of our prototype production strains, we optimized the enantioselective production of mandelic acid and hydroxymandelic acid, achieving gram-scale production in fed-batch fermenters. The high success rate in the rapid design and prototyping of microbially-produced material building blocks reveals the potential role of biofoundries in leading the transition to sustainable materials production.

PartsGenie: an integrated tool for optimizing and sharing synthetic biology parts.

Motivation: Synthetic biology is typified by developing novel genetic constructs from the assembly of reusable synthetic DNA parts, which contain one or more features such as promoters, ribosome binding sites, coding sequences and terminators. PartsGenie is introduced to facilitate the computational design of such synthetic biology parts, bridging the gap between optimization tools for the design of novel parts, the representation of such parts in community-developed data standards such as Synthetic Biology Open Language, and their sharing in journal-recommended data repositories. Consisting of a drag-and-drop web interface, a number of DNA optimization algorithms, and an interface to the well-used data repository JBEI ICE, PartsGenie facilitates the design, optimization and dissemination of reusable synthetic biology parts through an integrated application. Availability and implementation: PartsGenie is freely available at https://parts.synbiochem.co.uk.

Functional analysis of the Helicobacter pullorum N-linked protein glycosylation system.

N-linked protein glycosylation systems operate in species from all three domains of life. The model bacterial N-linked glycosylation system from Campylobacter jejuni is encoded by pgl genes present at a single chromosomal locus. This gene cluster includes the pglB oligosaccharyltransferase responsible for transfer of glycan from lipid carrier to protein. Although all genomes from species of the Campylobacter genus contain a pgl locus, among the related Helicobacter genus only three evolutionarily related species (H. pullorum, H. canadensis and H. winghamensis) potentially encode N-linked protein glycosylation systems. Helicobacter putative pgl genes are scattered in five chromosomal loci and include two putative oligosaccharyltransferase-encoding pglB genes per genome. We have previously demonstrated the in vitro N-linked glycosylation activity of H. pullorum resulting in transfer of a pentasaccharide to a peptide at asparagine within the sequon (D/E)XNXS/T. In this study, we identified the first H. pullorum N-linked glycoprotein, termed HgpA. Production of histidine-tagged HgpA in the background of insertional knockout mutants of H. pullorum pgl/wbp genes followed by analysis of HgpA glycan structures demonstrated the role of individual gene products in the PglB1-dependent N-linked protein glycosylation pathway. Glycopeptide purification by zwitterionic-hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry identified six glycosites from five H. pullorum proteins, which was consistent with proteins reactive with a polyclonal antiserum generated against glycosylated HgpA. This study demonstrates functioning of a H. pullorum N-linked general protein glycosylation system.

Functional analysis of N-linking oligosaccharyl transferase enzymes encoded by deep-sea vent proteobacteria.

Bacterial N-linking oligosaccharyl transferases (OTase enzymes) transfer lipid-linked glycans to selected proteins in the periplasm and were first described in the intestinal pathogen Campylobacter jejuni, a member of the ε-proteobacteria-subdivision of bacteria. More recently, orthologues from other ε-proteobacterial Campylobacter and Helicobacter species and a δ-proteobacterium, Desulfovibrio desulfuricans, have been described, suggesting that these two subdivisions of bacteria may be a source of further N-linked protein glycosylation systems. Whole-genome sequencing of both ε- and δ-proteobacteria from deep-sea vent habitats, a rich source of species from these subdivisions, revealed putative ORFs encoding OTase enzymes and associated adjacent glycosyltransferases similar to the C. jejuni N-linked glycosylation locus. We expressed putative OTase ORFs from the deep-sea vent species Nitratiruptor tergarcus, Sulfurovum lithotrophicum and Deferribacter desulfuricans in Escherichia coli and showed that they were able to functionally complement the C. jejuni OTase, CjPglB. The enzymes were shown to possess relaxed glycan specificity, transferring diverse glycan structures and demonstrated different glycosylation sequon specificities. Additionally, a permissive D. desulfuricans acceptor protein was identified, and we provide evidence that the N-linked glycan synthesized by N. tergarcus and S. lithotrophicum contains an acetylated sugar at the reducing end. This work demonstrates that deep-sea vent bacteria encode functional N-glycosylation machineries and are a potential source of biotechnologically important OTase enzymes.

Bioinformatics for the synthetic biology of natural products: integrating across the Design-Build-Test cycle.

Covering: 2000 to 2016Progress in synthetic biology is enabled by powerful bioinformatics tools allowing the integration of the design, build and test stages of the biological engineering cycle. In this review we illustrate how this integration can be achieved, with a particular focus on natural products discovery and production. Bioinformatics tools for the DESIGN and BUILD stages include tools for the selection, synthesis, assembly and optimization of parts (enzymes and regulatory elements), devices (pathways) and systems (chassis). TEST tools include those for screening, identification and quantification of metabolites for rapid prototyping. The main advantages and limitations of these tools as well as their interoperability capabilities are highlighted.

SYNBIOCHEM-a SynBio foundry for the biosynthesis and sustainable production of fine and speciality chemicals.

The Manchester Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SYNBIOCHEM) is a foundry for the biosynthesis and sustainable production of fine and speciality chemicals. The Centre's integrated technology platforms provide a unique capability to facilitate predictable engineering of microbial bio-factories for chemicals production. An overview of these capabilities is described.

Chromosomal integration vectors allowing flexible expression of foreign genes in Campylobacter jejuni.

BACKGROUND: Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of human gastroenteritis yet there is limited knowledge of how disease is caused. Molecular genetic approaches are vital for research into the virulence mechanisms of this important pathogen. Vectors that allow expression of genes in C. jejuni via recombination onto the chromosome are particularly useful for genetic complementation of insertional knockout mutants and more generally for expression of genes in particular C. jejuni host backgrounds. METHODS: A series of three vectors that allow integration of genes onto the C. jejuni chromosome were constructed by standard cloning techniques with expression driven from three different strong promoters. Following integration onto the C. jejuni chromosome expression levels were quantified by fluorescence measurements and cells visualized by fluorescence microscopy. RESULTS: We have created plasmid, pCJC1, designed for recombination-mediated delivery of genes onto the C. jejuni chromosome. This plasmid contains a chloramphenicol resistance cassette (cat) with upstream and downstream restriction sites, flanked by regions of the C. jejuni pseudogene Cj0223. Cloning of genes immediately upstream or downstream of the cat gene allows their subsequent introduction onto the C. jejuni chromosome within the pseudogene. Gene expression can be driven from the native gene promoter if included, or alternatively from the cat promoter if the gene is cloned downstream of, and in the same transcriptional orientation as cat. To provide increased and variable expression of genes from the C. jejuni chromosome we modified pCJC1 through incorporation of three relatively strong promoters from the porA, ureI and flaA genes of C. jejuni, Helicobacter pylori and Helicobacter pullorum respectively. These promoters along with their associated ribosome binding sites were cloned upstream of the cat gene on pCJC1 to create plasmids pCJC2, pCJC3 and pCJC4. To test their effectiveness, a green fluorescent protein (gfp) reporter gene was inserted downstream of each of the three promoters and following integration of promoter-gene fusions onto the C. jejuni host chromosome, expression levels were quantified. Expression from the porA promoter produced the highest fluorescence, from flaA intermediate levels and from ureI the lowest. Expression of gfp from the porA promoter enabled visualization by fluorescent microscopy of intracellular C. jejuni cells following invasion of HeLa cells. CONCLUSIONS: The plasmids constructed allow stable chromosomal expression of genes in C. jejuni and, depending on the promoter used, different expression levels were obtained making these plasmids useful tools for genetic complementation and high level expression.

Characterization of the structurally diverse N-linked glycans of Campylobacter species.

The Gram-negative bacterium Campylobacter jejuni encodes an extensively characterized N-linked protein glycosylation system that modifies many surface proteins with a heptasaccharide glycan. In C. jejuni, the genes that encode the enzymes required for glycan biosynthesis and transfer to protein are located at a single pgl gene locus. Similar loci are also present in the genome sequences of all other Campylobacter species, although variations in gene content and organization are evident. In this study, we have demonstrated that only Campylobacter species closely related to C. jejuni produce glycoproteins that interact with both a C. jejuni N-linked-glycan-specific antiserum and a lectin known to bind to the C. jejuni N-linked glycan. In order to further investigate the structure of Campylobacter N-linked glycans, we employed an in vitro peptide glycosylation assay combined with mass spectrometry to demonstrate that Campylobacter species produce a range of structurally distinct N-linked glycans with variations in the number of sugar residues (penta-, hexa-, and heptasaccharides), the presence of branching sugars, and monosaccharide content. These data considerably expand our knowledge of bacterial N-linked glycan structure and provide a framework for investigating the role of glycosyltransferases and sugar biosynthesis enzymes in glycoprotein biosynthesis with practical implications for synthetic biology and glycoengineering.

The O2 sensitivity of the transcription factor FNR is controlled by Ser24 modulating the kinetics of [4Fe-4S] to [2Fe-2S] conversion.

Fumarate and nitrate reduction regulatory (FNR) proteins are bacterial transcription factors that coordinate the switch between aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. In the absence of O(2), FNR binds a [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster (ligated by Cys-20, 23, 29, 122) promoting the formation of a transcriptionally active dimer. In the presence of O(2), FNR is converted into a monomeric, non-DNA-binding form containing a [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster. The reaction of the [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster with O(2) has been shown to proceed via a 2-step process, an O(2)-dependent 1-electron oxidation to yield a [3Fe-4S](+) intermediate with release of 1 Fe(2+) ion, followed by spontaneous rearrangement to the [2Fe-2S](2+) form with release of 1 Fe(3+) and 2 S(2-) ions. Here, we show that replacement of Ser-24 by Arg, His, Phe, Trp, or Tyr enhances aerobic activity of FNR in vivo. The FNR-S24F protein incorporates a [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster with spectroscopic properties similar to those of FNR. However, the substitution enhances the stability of the [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster in the presence of O(2). Kinetic analysis shows that both steps 1 and 2 are slower for FNR-S24F than for FNR. A molecular model suggests that step 1 of the FNR-S24F iron-sulfur cluster reaction with O(2) is inhibited by shielding of the iron ligand Cys-23, suggesting that Cys-23 or the cluster iron bound to it is a primary site of O(2) interaction. These data lead to a simple model of the FNR switch with physiological implications for the ability of FNR proteins to operate over different ranges of in vivo O(2) concentrations.

A plasmid toolset for CRISPR-mediated genome editing and CRISPRi gene regulation in Escherichia coli.

CRISPR technologies have become standard laboratory tools for genetic manipulations across all kingdoms of life. Despite their origins in bacteria, the development of CRISPR tools for engineering bacteria has been slower than for eukaryotes; nevertheless, their function and application for genome engineering and gene regulation via CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) has been demonstrated in various bacteria, and adoption has become more widespread. Here, we provide simple plasmid-based systems for genome editing (gene knockouts/knock-ins, and genome integration of large DNA fragments) and CRISPRi in E. coli using a CRISPR-Cas12a system. The described genome engineering protocols allow markerless deletion or genome integration in just seven working days with high efficiency (> 80% and 50%, respectively), and the CRISPRi protocols allow robust transcriptional repression of target genes (> 90%) with a single cloning step. The presented minimized plasmids and their associated design and experimental protocols provide efficient and effective CRISPR-Cas12 genome editing, genome integration and CRISPRi implementation. These simple-to-use systems and protocols will allow the easy adoption of CRISPR technology by any laboratory.

Characterization of N-linked protein glycosylation in Helicobacter pullorum.

The first bacterial N-linked glycosylation system was discovered in Campylobacter jejuni, and the key enzyme involved in the coupling of glycan to asparagine residues within the acceptor sequon of the glycoprotein is the oligosaccharyltransferase PglB. Emerging genome sequence data have revealed that pglB orthologues are present in a subset of species from the Deltaproteobacteria and Epsilonproteobacteria, including three Helicobacter species: H. pullorum, H. canadensis, and H. winghamensis. In contrast to C. jejuni, in which a single pglB gene is located within a larger gene cluster encoding the enzymes required for the biosynthesis of the N-linked glycan, these Helicobacter species contain two unrelated pglB genes (pglB1 and pglB2), neither of which is located within a larger locus involved in protein glycosylation. In complementation experiments, the H. pullorum PglB1 protein, but not PglB2, was able to transfer C. jejuni N-linked glycan onto an acceptor protein in Escherichia coli. Analysis of the characterized C. jejuni N-glycosylation system with an in vitro oligosaccharyltransferase assay followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry demonstrated the utility of this approach, and when applied to H. pullorum, PglB1-dependent N glycosylation with a linear pentasaccharide was observed. This reaction required an acidic residue at the -2 position of the N-glycosylation sequon, as for C. jejuni. Attempted insertional knockout mutagenesis of the H. pullorum pglB2 gene was unsuccessful, suggesting that it is essential. These first data on N-linked glycosylation in a second bacterial species demonstrate the similarities to, and fundamental differences from, the well-studied C. jejuni system.

Engineering Escherichia coli towards de novo production of gatekeeper (2S)-flavanones: naringenin, pinocembrin, eriodictyol and homoeriodictyol.

Natural plant-based flavonoids have drawn significant attention as dietary supplements due to their potential health benefits, including anti-cancer, anti-oxidant and anti-asthmatic activities. Naringenin, pinocembrin, eriodictyol and homoeriodictyol are classified as (2S)-flavanones, an important sub-group of naturally occurring flavonoids, with wide-reaching applications in human health and nutrition. These four compounds occupy a central position as branch point intermediates towards a broad spectrum of naturally occurring flavonoids. Here, we report the development of Escherichia coli production chassis for each of these key gatekeeper flavonoids. Selection of key enzymes, genetic construct design and the optimization of process conditions resulted in the highest reported titers for naringenin (484 mg/l), improved production of pinocembrin (198 mg/l) and eriodictyol (55 mg/l from caffeic acid), and provided the first example of in vivo production of homoeriodictyol directly from glycerol (17 mg/l). This work provides a springboard for future production of diverse downstream natural and non-natural flavonoid targets.

SelProm: A Queryable and Predictive Expression Vector Selection Tool for Escherichia coli.

The rapid prototyping and optimization of plasmid-based recombinant gene expression is one of the key steps in the development of bioengineered bacterial systems. Often, multiple genes or gene modules need to be coexpressed, and for this purpose compatible, inducible plasmid systems have been developed. However, inducible expression systems are not favored in industrial processes, due to their prohibitive cost, and consequently the conversion to constitutive expression systems is often desired. Here we present a set of constitutive-expression plasmids for this purpose, which were benchmarked using fluorescent reporter genes. To further facilitate the conversion between inducible and constitutive expression systems, we developed SelProm, a design tool that serves as a parts repository of plasmid expression strength and predicts portability rules between constitutive and inducible plasmids through model comparison and machine learning. The SelProm tool is freely available at http://selprom.synbiochem.co.uk .

Highly multiplexed, fast and accurate nanopore sequencing for verification of synthetic DNA constructs and sequence libraries.

Synthetic biology utilizes the Design-Build-Test-Learn pipeline for the engineering of biological systems. Typically, this requires the construction of specifically designed, large and complex DNA assemblies. The availability of cheap DNA synthesis and automation enables high-throughput assembly approaches, which generates a heavy demand for DNA sequencing to verify correctly assembled constructs. Next-generation sequencing is ideally positioned to perform this task, however with expensive hardware costs and bespoke data analysis requirements few laboratories utilize this technology in-house. Here a workflow for highly multiplexed sequencing is presented, capable of fast and accurate sequence verification of DNA assemblies using nanopore technology. A novel sample barcoding system using polymerase chain reaction is introduced, and sequencing data are analyzed through a bespoke analysis algorithm. Crucially, this algorithm overcomes the problem of high-error rate nanopore data (which typically prevents identification of single nucleotide variants) through statistical analysis of strand bias, permitting accurate sequence analysis with single-base resolution. As an example, 576 constructs (6 × 96 well plates) were processed in a single workflow in 72 h (from Escherichia coli colonies to analyzed data). Given our procedure's low hardware costs and highly multiplexed capability, this provides cost-effective access to powerful DNA sequencing for any laboratory, with applications beyond synthetic biology including directed evolution, single nucleotide polymorphism analysis and gene synthesis.

An automated pipeline for the screening of diverse monoterpene synthase libraries.

Monoterpenoids are a structurally diverse group of natural products with applications as pharmaceuticals, flavourings, fragrances, pesticides, and biofuels. Recent advances in synthetic biology offer new routes to this chemical diversity through the introduction of heterologous isoprenoid production pathways into engineered microorganisms. Due to the nature of the branched reaction mechanism, monoterpene synthases often produce multiple products when expressed in monoterpenoid production platforms. Rational engineering of terpene synthases is challenging due to a lack of correlation between protein sequence and cyclisation reaction catalysed. Directed evolution offers an attractive alternative protein engineering strategy as limited prior sequence-function knowledge is required. However, directed evolution of terpene synthases is hampered by the lack of a convenient high-throughput screening assay for the detection of multiple volatile terpene products. Here we applied an automated pipeline for the screening of diverse monoterpene synthase libraries, employing robotic liquid handling platforms coupled to GC-MS, and automated data extraction. We used the pipeline to screen pinene synthase variant libraries, with mutations in three areas of plasticity, capable of producing multiple monoterpene products. We successfully identified variants with altered product profiles and demonstrated good agreement between the results of the automated screen and traditional shake-flask cultures. In addition, useful insights into the cyclisation reaction catalysed by pinene synthase were obtained, including the identification of positions with the highest level of plasticity, and the significance of region 2 in carbocation cyclisation. The results obtained will aid the prediction and design of novel terpene synthase activities towards clean monoterpenoid products.

Machine Learning of Designed Translational Control Allows Predictive Pathway Optimization in Escherichia coli.

The field of synthetic biology aims to make the design of biological systems predictable, shrinking the huge design space to practical numbers for testing. When designing microbial cell factories, most optimization efforts have focused on enzyme and strain selection/engineering, pathway regulation, and process development. In silico tools for the predictive design of bacterial ribosome binding sites (RBSs) and RBS libraries now allow translational tuning of biochemical pathways; however, methods for predicting optimal RBS combinations in multigene pathways are desirable. Here we present the implementation of machine learning algorithms to model the RBS sequence-phenotype relationship from representative subsets of large combinatorial RBS libraries allowing the accurate prediction of optimal high-producers. Applied to a recombinant monoterpenoid production pathway in Escherichia coli, our approach was able to boost production titers by over 60% when screening under 3% of a library. To facilitate library screening, a multiwell plate fermentation procedure was developed, allowing increased screening throughput with sufficient resolution to discriminate between high and low producers. High producers from one library did not translate during scale-up, but the reduced screening requirements allowed rapid rescreening at the larger scale. This methodology is potentially compatible with any biochemical pathway and provides a powerful tool toward predictive design of bacterial production chassis.

Reactions of nitric oxide and oxygen with the regulator of fumarate and nitrate reduction, a global transcriptional regulator, during anaerobic growth of Escherichia coli.

The Escherichia coli fumarate and nitrate reductase (FNR) regulator protein is an important transcriptional regulator that controls the expression of a large regulon of more than 100 genes in response to changes in oxygen availability. FNR is active when it acquires a [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster under anaerobic conditions. The presence of the [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster promotes protein dimerization and site-specific DNA binding, facilitating activation or repression of target promoters. Oxygen is sensed by the controlled disassembly of the [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster, ultimately resulting in inactive, monomeric, apo-FNR. The FNR [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster is also sensitive to nitric oxide, such that under anaerobic conditions the protein is inactivated by nitrosylation of the iron-sulfur cluster, yielding a mixture of monomeric and dimeric dinitrosyl-iron cysteine species. This chapter describes some of the methods used to produce active [4Fe-4S] FNR protein and investigates the reaction of the [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster with nitric oxide and oxygen in vitro.

Signal perception by FNR: the role of the iron-sulfur cluster.

The metabolic flexibility of bacteria is key to their ability to survive and thrive in a wide range of environments. Optimal switching from one metabolic pathway to another is a key requirement for this flexibility. Respiration is a good example: many bacteria utilize O(2) as the terminal electron acceptor, but can switch to a range of other acceptors, such as nitrate, when O(2) becomes limiting. Sensing environmental levels of O(2) is the key step in switching from aerobic to anaerobic respiration. In Escherichia coli, the fumarate and nitrate reduction transcriptional regulator (FNR) controls this switch. Under O(2)-limiting conditions, FNR binds a [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster, generating a transcriptionally active dimeric form. Exposure to O(2) results in conversion of the cluster into a [2Fe-2S](2+) form, leading to dissociation of the protein into inactive monomers. The mechanism of cluster conversion, together with the nature of the reaction products, is of considerable current interest, and a near-complete description of the process has now emerged. The [4Fe-4S](2+) into [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster conversion proceeds via a two-step mechanism. In step 1, a one-electron oxidation of the cluster takes place, resulting in the release of a Fe(2+) ion, the formation of an intermediate [3Fe-4S](1+) cluster, together with the generation of a superoxide anion. In step 2, the intermediate [3Fe-4S](1+) cluster rearranges spontaneously to form the [2Fe-2S](2+) cluster, releasing two sulfide ions and an Fe(3+) ion in the process. The one-electron activation of the cluster, coupled to catalytic recycling of the superoxide anion back to oxygen via superoxide dismutase and catalase, provides a novel means of amplifying the sensitivity of [4Fe-4S](2+) FNR to its signal molecule.