The crystal structure of nitrous oxide reductase, the enzyme
catalyzing
the final step of bacterial denitrification in which nitrous oxide is
reduced
to dinitrogen, exhibits a novel catalytic site, called CuZ.
This comprises a cluster of four copper ions bound by seven histidines
and three other ligands modeled in the X-ray structure as OH-
or H2O. However, elemental analyses and
resonance
Raman spectroscopy of isotopically labeled enzyme conclusively
demonstrate
that CuZ has one acid-labile sulfur ligand.
Thus,
nitrous oxide reductase contains the first reported biological
copper-sulfide
cluster.