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Soluble Methane Monooxygenase
Methane monooxygenase is an enzyme found in methanotrophs that oxidizes the C-H bond in methane.
Methanotroph Methylocella silvestris has a form of soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO).
M. sylvestris uses the serine cycle and the operon encoding for sMMO and all the genes needed for methane fixation through the serine cycle have been verified.
This enzyme takes methane, oxygen, NADPH, and hydrogen to get a byproduct of methanol, NADP (which it uses for energy), and water. The main components of sMMO are the reductase, the β unit, and hydroxylase. This complicated structure is around a diiron core.
RESTING STATE
OXIDIZED STATE
ACTIVE STATE
ACTIVE SITES
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