3D Structure of Bacillus halodurans O-Methyltransferase, a Novel Bacterial O-Methyltransferase by Comparative Homology Modeling

Bacillus halodurans O-methyltransferase (BhOMT) is a S-adenosylmethionine (SAM or AdoMet) dependent methyltransferase. Three dimensional structure of the BhOMT bound to S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (SAH or AdoHcy) has been determined by comparative homology modeling. BhOMT has 40% sequence identity with caffeoyl-CoA 3-O-methyltransferase (CCoAOMT) from alfalfa. Based on x-ray structure of CCoAOMT, three dimensional structure of BhOMT was determined using MODELLER. The substrate binding sites of these two proteins showed slight differences, but these differences were important to characterize the substrate of BhOMT. Automated docking study showed that four flavonoids, quercetin, fisetin, myricetin, and luteolin which have two hydroxyl groups simultaneously at 3'- and 4'-position in the B-ring and structural rigidity of Cring resulting from the double bond characters between C2 and C3, were well docked as ligands of BhOMT. These flavonoids form stable hydrogen bondings with K211, R170, and hydroxyl group at 3'-position in the Bring has stable electrostatic interaction with Ca2+ ion in BhOMT. This study will be helpful to understand the biochemical function of BhOMT as an O-methyltransferase for flavonoids.