Biochemistry of Nitrogen Fixation
Luis M. Rubio Herrero (PI)
Associate Professor
Technical University of Madrid and Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics, Madrid, Spain
Other group members
Research lines
- Nitrogenase bioengineering in plants and yeast
- Structure-function studies on nitrogenase iron-molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis
- Optimization of hydrogen production by nitrogenase
Representative publications
- Eseverri Á, Baysal C, Medina V, Capell T, Christou P, Rubio LM, Caro E (2020) Transit peptides from photosynthesis-related proteins mediate import of a marker protein into different plastid types and within different s Front Plant Sci 11: 560701 (doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.560701).
- Fajardo AS, Legrand P, Payá-Tormo L, Martin L, Pellicer Martı́nez MT, Echavarri-Erasun C, Vernède X, Rubio LM, Nicolet Y (2020) Structural insights into the mechanism of the radical SAM carbide synthase NifB, a key nitrogenase cofactor maturating e J Am Chem Soc 142: 11006-11012.
- Eseverri Á, López‐Torrejón G, Jiang X, Burén S, Rubio LM, Caro E (2020) Use of synthetic biology tools to optimize the production of active nitrogenase Fe protein in chloroplasts of tobacco leaf cells. Plant Biotech J 18: 1882-1896.
- Burén S, Jiménez-Vicente E, Echavarri-Erasun C, Rubio LM (2020) Biosynthesis of Nitrogenase Cofactors. Chem Rev 120: 4921-4968.
- Burén S, Pratt K, Jiang X, Guo Y, Jimenez-Vicente E, Echavarri-Erasun C, Dean DR, Saaem I, Gordon DB, Voigt CA, Rubio LM (2019) Biosynthesis of the nitrogenase active-site cofactor precursor NifB-co in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116: 25078-25086.
- Baysal C, Pérez-González A, Eseverri Á, Jiang X, Medina V, Caro E, Rubio LM, Christou P, Zhu C (2019) Recognition motifs rather than phylogenetic origin influence the ability of targeting peptides to import nuclear-encoded recombinant proteins into rice mitochondria. Transgenic Res 29: 37-52.
- Navarro-Rodríguez M, Buesa JM, Rubio LM (2019) Genetic and biochemical analysis of the Azotobacter vinelandii molybdenum storage protein. Front Microbiol 10: 579 (doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00579).
- Burén S, López-Torrejón G, Rubio LM (2018). Extreme bioengineering to meet the nitrogen challenge. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115: 8849-8851.
- Jimenez-Vicente E, Yang ZY, Ray WK, Echavarri-Erasun C, Cash VL, Rubio LM, Seefeldt LC, Dean DR (2018) Sequential and differential interaction of assembly factors during nitrogenase MoFe protein maturation. J Biol Chem 293: 9812-9823.
- Burén S, Rubio LM (2017) State of the art in eukaryotic nitrogenase engineering. FEMS Microbiol Lett 365: 274 (doi: 10.1093/femsle/fnx274).
- Arragain S, Jiménez-Vicente E, Scandurra AA, Burén S, Rubio LM, Echavarri-Erasun C (2017) Diversity and functional analysis of the FeMo-cofactor maturase NifB. Front Plant Sci 8: 1947 (doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.01947).
- Pérez-González A, Kniewel R, Veldhuizen M, Verma HK, Navarro-Rodríguez M, Rubio LM, Caro E (2017) Adaptation of the GoldenBraid modular cloning system and creation of a toolkit for the expression of heterologous proteins in yeast mitochondria. BMC Biotech 17: 80 (doi: 10.1186/s12896-017-0393-y).
- Burén S, Jiang X, López-Torrejón G, Echavarri-Erasun C, Rubio LM (2017) Purification and in vitro activity of mitochondria targeted nitrogenase cofactor maturase NifB. Front Plant Sci 8:1567 (doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.01567).
- Burén S, Young EM, Sweeny EA, Lopez-Torrejón G, Veldhuizen M, Voigt CA, Rubio LM (2017) Formation of nitrogenase NifDK tetramers in the mitochondria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. ACS Synth Biol 6: 1043-1055.
Grants
- Rubio LM (PI) (2020-2024) BNF Cereals Phase III. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. INV005889.
- Rubio LM (PI) (2018-2021) New paradigms in nitrogenase biogenesis. Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. BIO2017-88475-R.
- Rubio LM (PI) (2016-2020) BNF Cereals Phase II. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. OPP1143172.
- Rubio LM (PI) (2015-2017) Biotechnological applications of nitrogenase. Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. BIO20154-59131-R.
- Rubio LM (PI) (2011-2016) Engineering nitrogen fixation in mitochondria. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. OPP10442444.
Relevant methods
- Nitrogenase activity assays
- Anaerobic biochemistry
- In vitro synthesis of protein metal cofactors
- Purification and analysis of metalloproteins
- Synthetic biology in bacteria, yeast and plants
- Bacteria and yeast fermentations
- Protein-protein and protein-metal interactions
Collaborations with other national and international research groups
- Dennis Dean (Virginia Tech, USA)
- Christopher Voigt (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
- Leonardo Curatti (FIBA, Argentina)
- Yvain Nicolet (Institut de Biologie Structurale, France)
- Lance Seefeldt (Utah State, USA)
- Yisong Guo (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
- Paul Christou (Universidad de Lleida, Spain)
- Janneke Balk y Nick Le Brun (John Innes Centre, UK)
- Mario Piccioli (CERM, Universita degli Studi di Firenze, Italy)
- Jose Hernandez (Midwestern University, USA)
- Eva Kondorosi (Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary)
- Elena Caro, Manuel González Guerrero, Juan Imperial, Jaime Huerta-Cepas, Luis Fernández Pacios (Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Madrid, Spain)
