An isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDH) with an unique coenzyme specificity from Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans was purified and characterized, and its gene was cloned. The native enzyme was homodimeric with a subunit of M-r 45 000 and showed a 78-fold preference for NAD(+) over NADP(+). The cloned ICDH gene (icd) was expressed in an icd-deficient strain of Escherichia coli EB106; the activity was found in the cell extract. The gene encodes a 429-amino acid polypeptide and is located between open reading frames encoding a putative aconitase gene (upstream of icd) and a putative succinyl-CoA synthase beta-subunit gene (downstream of icd). A. thiooxidans ICDH showed high sequence similarity to bacterial NADP(+)-dependent ICDH rather than eukaryotic NAD(+)-dependent ICDH, but the NAD(+)-preference of the enzyme was suggested due to residues conserved in the coenzyme binding site of the NAD(+)-dependent decarboxylating dehydrogenase. (C) 2002 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.