Respiratory Chain-Linked Components of the Marine Bacterium Vibrio alginolyticus Affect Each Other

The aerobic respiratory chain of Vibrio alginolyticus possesses two different kinds of NADH oxidase systems, i.e., an $Na^{+}$-dependent NADH oxidase system and an $Na^{+}$-independent NADH oxidase system. When deamino-NADH, which is the only substrate for the $Na^{+}$-dependent NADH oxidase system, was used as a substrate, the maximum activities of $N^{+}$-dependent NADH: quinone oxidoreductase and $Na^{+}$-dependent NADH oxidase were obtained at about 0.06 M and 0.2 M NaCl, respectively. When NADH, which is a substrate for both $Na^{+}$-dependent and $Na^{+}$-independent NADH oxidase systems was used as a substrate, the NADH oxidase activity had a pH optimum at about 8.0. In cGntrastl when deamino-NADH was used as a substrate, the NADH oxidase activity had a pH optimum at about 9.0. On the other handle inside-out membrane vesicles prepared from the wild-type bacterium generated only a very small $\Delta$pH by the NADH oxidase system, whereas inside-out membrane vesicles prepared from Napl, which is a mutant defective in the $Na^{+}$ pump, generated $\Delta$pH to a considerable extent by the NADH oxidase system. On the basis of the results\ulcorner it was concluded that the respiratory chain-linked components of V. atginotyticus affect each other.