Primary Citation of Related Structures:   1IRE
PubMed Abstract: 
The crystal structure of cobalt-containing nitrile hydratase from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM 3095 at 1.8 A resolution revealed the structure of the noncorrin cobalt at the catalytic center. Two cysteine residues (alphaCys(111) and alphaCys(113)) coordinated to the cobalt were posttranslationally modified to cysteine-sulfinic acid and to cysteine-sulfenic acid, respectively, like in iron-containing nitrile hydratase ...
The crystal structure of cobalt-containing nitrile hydratase from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM 3095 at 1.8 A resolution revealed the structure of the noncorrin cobalt at the catalytic center. Two cysteine residues (alphaCys(111) and alphaCys(113)) coordinated to the cobalt were posttranslationally modified to cysteine-sulfinic acid and to cysteine-sulfenic acid, respectively, like in iron-containing nitrile hydratase. A tryptophan residue (betaTrp(72)), which may be involved in substrate binding, replaced the tyrosine residue of iron-containing nitrile hydratase. The difference seems to be responsible for the preference for aromatic nitriles rather than aliphatic ones of cobalt-containing nitrile hydratase.
Related Citations: 
Cloning and Sequencing of a Nitrile Hydratase Gene from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095 Yamaki, T., Oikawa, T., Ito, K., Nakamura, T. (1997) J Ferment Bioeng 83: 474
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Biotechnology, University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.