Catalase-peroxidases (KatG) produced by Burkholderia pseudomallei, Escherichia coli, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis catalyze the oxidation of NADH to form NAD+ and either H2O2 or superoxide radical depending on pH. The NADH oxidase reaction requires molecular oxygen, does not require hydrogen peroxide, is not inhibited by superoxide dismutase or catalase, and has a pH optimum of 8.75, clearly differentiating it from the peroxidase and catalase reactions with pH optima of 5.5 and 6.5, respectively, and from the NADH peroxidase-oxidase reaction of horseradish peroxidase. B. pseudomallei KatG has a relatively high affinity for NADH (Km=12 microm), but the oxidase reaction is slow (kcat=0.54 min(-1)) compared with the peroxidase and catalase reactions. The catalase-peroxidases also catalyze the hydrazinolysis of isonicotinic acid hydrazide (INH) in an oxygen- and H2O2-independent reaction, and KatG-dependent radical generation from a mixture of NADH and INH is two to three times faster than the combined rates of separate reactions with NADH and INH alone. The major products from the coupled reaction, identified by high pressure liquid chromatography fractionation and mass spectrometry, are NAD+ and isonicotinoyl-NAD, the activated form of isoniazid that inhibits mycolic acid synthesis in M. tuberculosis. Isonicotinoyl-NAD synthesis from a mixture of NAD+ and INH is KatG-dependent and is activated by manganese ion. M. tuberculosis KatG catalyzes isonicotinoyl-NAD formation from NAD+ and INH more efficiently than B. pseudomallei KatG.

The catalase reaction of catalase‐peroxidases involves catalase‐specific features built into a peroxidase core. An arginine, 20 Å from the active‐site heme, acts as a molecular switch moving between two conformations, one that activates heme oxidation and one that activates oxoferryl heme reduction by H2O2, facilitating the catalatic pathway in a peroxidase. The influence of the arginine is imparted to the heme through its association with or dissociation from a tyrosinate that modulates reactivity through a Met‐Tyr‐Trp crosslinked adduct and a π electron interaction of the heme with the adduct Trp.

The electron density maps of the catalase-peroxidase from Burkholderia pseudomallei (BpKatG) presented two unusual covalent modifications. A covalent structure linked the active site Trp¹¹¹ with Tyr²³⁸ and Tyr²³⁸ with Met²⁶⁴, and the heme was modified, likely by a perhydroxy group added to the vinyl group on ring I. Mass spectrometry analysis of tryptic digests of BpKatG revealed a cluster of ions at m/z 6585, consistent with the fusion of three peptides through Trp¹¹¹, Tyr²³⁸, and Met²⁶⁴, and a cluster at m/z ∼4525, consistent with the fusion of two peptides linked through Trp¹¹¹ and Tyr²³⁸. MS/MS analysis of the major ions at m/z 4524 and 4540 confirmed the expected sequence and suggested that the multiple ions in the cluster were the result of multiple oxidation events and transfer of CH₃-S to the tyrosine. Neither cluster of ions at m/z 4525 or 6585 was present in the spectrum of a tryptic digest of the W111F variant of BpKatG. The spectrum of the tryptic digest of native BpKatG also contained a major ion for a peptide in which Met²⁶⁴ had been converted to homoserine, consistent with the covalent bond between Tyr²³⁸ and Met²⁶⁴ being susceptible to hydrolysis, including the loss of the CH₃-S from the methionine. Analysis of the tryptic digests of hydroperoxidase I (KatG) from Escherichia coli provided direct evidence for the covalent linkage between Trp¹⁰⁵ and Tyr²²⁶ and indirect evidence for a covalent linkage between Tyr²²⁶ and Met²⁵². Tryptic peptide analysis and N-terminal sequencing revealed that the N-terminal residue of BpKatG is Ser²².