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Abstract
A superoxide reduction pathway has been proposed to be involved in the oxidative stress defense in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus. This pathway includes superoxide reductase (SOR), rubredoxin (Rd), NADPH: rubredoxin oxidoreductase (NROR) and rubrerythrin (Rr). One of the goals of this study was to investigate if any of the proteins involved in SOR pathway directly interact with each other. The results indicated that this is the case in the cell free extract. The genome wide oxidative stress response of the organism to cumene hydroperoxide (CHP), an organic peroxide, was also investigated in this study. The results suggest that there are two types of responses to CHP. The constitutive response involves genes from the SOR pathway together with alkyl hydroperoxide reductase, an enzyme that utilizes CHP as one of its substrates. In addition, there is an inducible response and involves a large number of genes of unknown functions.