User:Nikhil Malvankar/Geobacter pilus structure and function

Interactive 3D Complement in Proteopedia

Structure of novel pili evolved for extracellular translocation of microbial nanowires

Yangqi Gu, Vishok Srikanth, Ruchi Jain, Aldo I. Salazar-Morales, J. Patrick O'Brien, Sophia M. Yi, Rajesh K. Soni, Fadel A. Samatey, Sibel Ebru Yalcin, and Nikhil S. Malvankar. (journal article link here) (2020). (DOI link here)

Molecular TourMolecular Tour

Previously, pili of Geobacter sulfurreducens were thought to be composed of PilA-N, a 61-amino acid protein[1][2].

Our electron cryomicroscopic structure of Geobacter sulfurreducens pili reveals them to be composed of a core of PilA-N coated with an outer surface layer of PilA-C (. Here is a (front half hidden). The C-termini of PilA-N in PilA-C.

The filament is assembled from . Dimer : PilA-N consists of two alpha helices, while PilA-C includes a 3-stranded beta sheet. The C-terminal protrusion of PilA-N is held between two flaps of PilA-C. These flaps might be open before PilA-N arrives to form a dimer, reminiscent of the flaps of HIV protease[3].


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Notes & ReferencesNotes & References

  1. Malvankar NS, Vargas M, Nevin K, Tremblay PL, Evans-Lutterodt K, Nykypanchuk D, Martz E, Tuominen MT, Lovley DR. Structural basis for metallic-like conductivity in microbial nanowires. MBio. 2015 Mar 3;6(2):e00084. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00084-15. PMID:25736881 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00084-15
  2. Lovley DR, Walker DJF. Geobacter Protein Nanowires. Front Microbiol. 2019 Sep 24;10:2078. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02078. eCollection , 2019. PMID:31608018 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02078
  3. Hornak V, Okur A, Rizzo RC, Simmerling C. HIV-1 protease flaps spontaneously open and reclose in molecular dynamics simulations. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Jan 24;103(4):915-20. doi:, 10.1073/pnas.0508452103. Epub 2006 Jan 17. PMID:16418268 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0508452103