Heterologous expression of a fully active Azotobacter vinelandii nitrogenase Fe protein in Escherichia coli

The heterologous expression of a fully active Fe protein (AvNifH) has never been accomplished. Given the functional importance of this protein in nitrogenase catalysis and assembly, the successful expression of AvNifH in as reported herein supplies a key element for the further development of heterologous expression systems that explore the catalytic versatility of the Fe protein, either on its own or as a key component of nitrogenase, for nitrogenase-based biotechnological applications in the future. Moreover, the "clean" genetic background of the heterologous expression host allows for an unambiguous assessment of the effect of certain nif-encoded protein factors, such as AvNifM described in this work, in the maturation of AvNifH, highlighting the utility of this heterologous expression system in further advancing our understanding of the complex biosynthetic mechanism of nitrogenase.