Expression, purification and molecular modeling of iron-containing superoxide dismutase from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

The superoxide dismutase(SOD) from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans may play an important role in its tolerance to the extremely toxic and oxidative environment of bioleaching. This gene was cloned and then successfully expressed in Escherichia coli. The expressed protein was finally purified by one-step affinity chromatography to homogeneity and observed to be dimer according to SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF-MS. The metal content determination and optical spectra results of the recombinant protein confirmed that the protein was an iron-containing superoxide dismutase. Molecular modeling for the protein revealed that the iron atom was ligated by His26, His75, Asp158 and His162.