Potentiometric and spectroscopic properties of the cytochrome o complex of Escherichia coli.

Cytochrome o purified from cell membranes of Escherichia coli shows two potentiometrically distinct species with midpoint oxidation-reduction potentials of +265 +/- 5 and +140 +/- 15 mV. The component with the higher potential reacted with carbon monoxide and so likely is the oxygen-reacting heme of the cytochrome o complex. It appears to be responsible for the absorption maximum at 564 nm in reduced minus oxidized difference spectra measured at 77 K. The midpoint potential of the other component was sensitive to oxidation by ferricyanide. This latter component had an absorption maximum at about 554 nm. The inhibitor 2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide inhibited reoxidation of reduced cytochrome o by oxygen and modified the spectroscopic behaviour of the 564 nm component. The ratio of the heights of the maxima in the alpha-band region of the absorption spectrum differed in cytochrome o prepared from cloned material from that found in cytochrome o from noncloned sources, in spite of the similar polypeptide compositions of the two preparations.