by Keyword: Bacterial protein
Boschker, HTS, Cook, PLM, Polerecky, L, Eachambadi, RT, Lozano, H, Hidalgo-Martinez, S, Khalenkow, D, Spampinato, V, Claes, N, Kundu, P, Wang, D, Bals, S, Sand, KK, Cavezza, F, Hauffman, T, Bjerg, JT, Skirtach, AG, Kochan, K, McKee, M, Wood, B, Bedolla, D, Gianoncelli, A, Geerlings, NMJ, Van Gerven, N, Remaut, H, Geelhoed, JS, Millan-Solsona, R, Fumagalli, L, Nielsen, LP, Franquet, A, Manca, JV, Gomila, G, Meysman, FJR, (2021). Efficient long-range conduction in cable bacteria through nickel protein wires Nature Communications 12, 3996 
Filamentous cable bacteria display long-range electron transport, generating electrical currents over centimeter distances through a highly ordered network of fibers embedded in their cell envelope. The conductivity of these periplasmic wires is exceptionally high for a biological material, but their chemical structure and underlying electron transport mechanism remain unresolved. Here, we combine high-resolution microscopy, spectroscopy, and chemical imaging on individual cable bacterium filaments to demonstrate that the periplasmic wires consist of a conductive protein core surrounded by an insulating protein shell layer. The core proteins contain a sulfur-ligated nickel cofactor, and conductivity decreases when nickel is oxidized or selectively removed. The involvement of nickel as the active metal in biological conduction is remarkable, and suggests a hitherto unknown form of electron transport that enables efficient conduction in centimeter-long protein structures. Filamentous cable bacteria conduct electrical currents over centimeter distances through fibers embedded in their cell envelope. Here, Boschker et al. show that the fibers consist of a conductive core containing nickel proteins that is surrounded by an insulating protein shell.
JTD Keywords: Bacteria (microorganisms), Bacterial protein, Bacterial proteins, Bacterium, Chemistry, Deltaproteobacteria, Electric conductivity, Electricity, Electron, Electron transport, Metabolism, Microscopy, Nanowires, Nickel, Physiology, Protein, Resonance raman, Spectroscopy, Transport electrons
Banos, R. C., Pons, J. I., Madrid, C., Juarez, A., (2008). A global modulatory role for the Yersinia enterocolitica H-NS protein 
Microbiology , 154, (5), 1281-1289
The H-NS protein plays a significant role in the modulation of gene expression in Gram-negative bacteria. Whereas isolation and characterization of hns mutants in Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Shigella represented critical steps to gain insight into the modulatory role of H-NS, it has hitherto not been possible to isolate hns mutants in Yersinia. The hns mutation is considered to be deleterious in this genus. To study the modulatory role of H-NS in Yersinia we circumvented hns lethality by expressing in Y. enterocolitica a truncated H-NS protein known to exhibit anti-H-NS activity in E. coli (H-NST(EPEC)). Y. enterocolitica cells expressing H-NST(EPEC) showed an altered growth rate and several differences in the protein expression pattern, including the ProV protein, which is modulated by H-NS in other enteric bacteria. To further confirm that H-NST(EPEC) expression in Yersinia can be used to demonstrate H-NS-dependent regulation in this genus, we used this approach to show that H-NS modulates expression of the YmoA protein.
JTD Keywords: Bacterial Proteins/biosynthesis/genetics/ physiology, DNA-Binding Proteins/biosynthesis/genetics/ physiology, Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional, Gene Expression Profiling, Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial, Genes, Essential, Proteome/analysis, RNA, Bacterial/biosynthesis, RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Sequence Deletion, Yersinia enterocolitica/chemistry/genetics/growth & development/ physiology
