Structural modeling of an outer membrane electron conduit from a metal-reducing bacterium suggests electron transfer via periplasmic redox partners
Many subsurface microorganisms couple their metabolism to the reduction or oxidation of extracellular substrates. For example, anaerobic mineral-respiring bacteria can use external metal oxides as terminal electron acceptors during respiration. Porin–cytochrome complexes facilitate the movement of e...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51122/ |
| _version_ | 1848798421985525760 |
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| author | Edwards, Marcus J. White, Gaye F. Lockwood, Colin W. Lawes, Matthew C. Martel, Anne Harris, Gemma Scott, David J. Richardson, David J. Butt, Julea N. Clarke, Thomas A. |
| author_facet | Edwards, Marcus J. White, Gaye F. Lockwood, Colin W. Lawes, Matthew C. Martel, Anne Harris, Gemma Scott, David J. Richardson, David J. Butt, Julea N. Clarke, Thomas A. |
| author_sort | Edwards, Marcus J. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Many subsurface microorganisms couple their metabolism to the reduction or oxidation of extracellular substrates. For example, anaerobic mineral-respiring bacteria can use external metal oxides as terminal electron acceptors during respiration. Porin–cytochrome complexes facilitate the movement of electrons generated through intracellular catabolic processes across the bacterial outer membrane to these terminal electron acceptors. In the mineral-reducing model bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, this complex is composed of two decaheme cytochromes (MtrA and MtrC) and an outer-membrane β-barrel (MtrB). However, the structures and mechanisms by which porin–cytochrome complexes transfers electrons are unknown. Here, we used small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to study the molecular structure of the transmembrane complexes MtrAB and MtrCAB. Ab initio modeling of the scattering data yielded a molecular envelope with dimensions of ~105×60×35ÅforMtrABand~170×60×45Å for MtrCAB. The shapes of these molecular envelopes suggested that MtrC interacts with the surface of MtrAB, extending ~70 Å from the membrane surface and allowing the terminal hemes to interact with both MtrAB and an extracellular acceptor. The data also reveal that MtrA fully extends through the length of MtrB, with ~30 Å being exposed into the periplasm. Proteoliposome models containing membrane associated MtrCAB and internalized small tetraheme cytochrome (STC) indicate that MtrCAB could reduce Fe(III) citrate with STC as an electron donor, disclosing a direct interaction between MtrCAB and STC. Taken together, both structural and proteoliposome experiments support porin-cytochrome–mediated electron transfer via periplasmic cytochromes such as STC. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:19:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-51122 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:19:31Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-511222020-05-04T19:37:42Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51122/ Structural modeling of an outer membrane electron conduit from a metal-reducing bacterium suggests electron transfer via periplasmic redox partners Edwards, Marcus J. White, Gaye F. Lockwood, Colin W. Lawes, Matthew C. Martel, Anne Harris, Gemma Scott, David J. Richardson, David J. Butt, Julea N. Clarke, Thomas A. Many subsurface microorganisms couple their metabolism to the reduction or oxidation of extracellular substrates. For example, anaerobic mineral-respiring bacteria can use external metal oxides as terminal electron acceptors during respiration. Porin–cytochrome complexes facilitate the movement of electrons generated through intracellular catabolic processes across the bacterial outer membrane to these terminal electron acceptors. In the mineral-reducing model bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, this complex is composed of two decaheme cytochromes (MtrA and MtrC) and an outer-membrane β-barrel (MtrB). However, the structures and mechanisms by which porin–cytochrome complexes transfers electrons are unknown. Here, we used small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to study the molecular structure of the transmembrane complexes MtrAB and MtrCAB. Ab initio modeling of the scattering data yielded a molecular envelope with dimensions of ~105×60×35ÅforMtrABand~170×60×45Å for MtrCAB. The shapes of these molecular envelopes suggested that MtrC interacts with the surface of MtrAB, extending ~70 Å from the membrane surface and allowing the terminal hemes to interact with both MtrAB and an extracellular acceptor. The data also reveal that MtrA fully extends through the length of MtrB, with ~30 Å being exposed into the periplasm. Proteoliposome models containing membrane associated MtrCAB and internalized small tetraheme cytochrome (STC) indicate that MtrCAB could reduce Fe(III) citrate with STC as an electron donor, disclosing a direct interaction between MtrCAB and STC. Taken together, both structural and proteoliposome experiments support porin-cytochrome–mediated electron transfer via periplasmic cytochromes such as STC. American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2018-05-25 Article PeerReviewed Edwards, Marcus J., White, Gaye F., Lockwood, Colin W., Lawes, Matthew C., Martel, Anne, Harris, Gemma, Scott, David J., Richardson, David J., Butt, Julea N. and Clarke, Thomas A. (2018) Structural modeling of an outer membrane electron conduit from a metal-reducing bacterium suggests electron transfer via periplasmic redox partners. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 293 (21). pp. 8103-8112. ISSN 1083-351X Shewanella cytochrome outer membrane electron transfer small angle neutron scattering MtrCAB http://www.jbc.org/content/early/2018/04/10/jbc.RA118.001850 doi:10.1074/jbc.RA118.001850 doi:10.1074/jbc.RA118.001850 |
| spellingShingle | Shewanella cytochrome outer membrane electron transfer small angle neutron scattering MtrCAB Edwards, Marcus J. White, Gaye F. Lockwood, Colin W. Lawes, Matthew C. Martel, Anne Harris, Gemma Scott, David J. Richardson, David J. Butt, Julea N. Clarke, Thomas A. Structural modeling of an outer membrane electron conduit from a metal-reducing bacterium suggests electron transfer via periplasmic redox partners |
| title | Structural modeling of an outer membrane electron conduit from a metal-reducing bacterium suggests electron transfer via periplasmic redox partners |
| title_full | Structural modeling of an outer membrane electron conduit from a metal-reducing bacterium suggests electron transfer via periplasmic redox partners |
| title_fullStr | Structural modeling of an outer membrane electron conduit from a metal-reducing bacterium suggests electron transfer via periplasmic redox partners |
| title_full_unstemmed | Structural modeling of an outer membrane electron conduit from a metal-reducing bacterium suggests electron transfer via periplasmic redox partners |
| title_short | Structural modeling of an outer membrane electron conduit from a metal-reducing bacterium suggests electron transfer via periplasmic redox partners |
| title_sort | structural modeling of an outer membrane electron conduit from a metal-reducing bacterium suggests electron transfer via periplasmic redox partners |
| topic | Shewanella cytochrome outer membrane electron transfer small angle neutron scattering MtrCAB |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51122/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51122/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51122/ |