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Consensus Structural Features of Purified Bacterial TatABC Complexes
- Source :
- Journal of Molecular Biology. 330:277-286
- Publication Year :
- 2003
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2003.
-
Abstract
- The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) system transports folded proteins across bacterial plasma membranes and the chloroplast thylakoid membrane. Here, we investigate the composition and structural organization of three different purified Tat complexes from Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Agrobacterium tumefaciens. First, we demonstrate the functional activity of these Tat systems in vivo, since expression of the tatABC operons from S. typhimurium or A. tumefaciens in an E. coli tat null mutant strain resulted in efficient Tat-dependent export of an E. coli cofactor-containing substrate, TMAO reductase. The three isolated, affinity-tagged Tat complexes comprised TatA, TatB and TatC in each case, demonstrating a strong interaction between these three subunits. Single-particle electron microscopy studies of all three complexes revealed approximately oval-shaped, asymmetric particles with maximal dimensions up to 13 nm. A common feature is a number of stain-excluding densities surrounding more or less central pools of stain, suggesting protein-lined pores or cavities. The characteristics of size variation among the particles suggest a modular form of assembly and/or the recruitment of varying numbers of TatBC/TatA units. Despite low levels of sequence homology, the combined data indicate structural and functional conservation in the Tat systems of these three bacterial species.
- Subjects :
- DNA, Bacterial
Salmonella typhimurium
Operon
Molecular Sequence Data
medicine.disease_cause
Twin-arginine translocation pathway
Bacterial Proteins
Structural Biology
Consensus Sequence
Escherichia coli
medicine
Amino Acid Sequence
Molecular Biology
Base Sequence
Molecular Structure
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Strain (chemistry)
biology
Escherichia coli Proteins
Membrane Transport Proteins
Agrobacterium tumefaciens
biology.organism_classification
Transport protein
Microscopy, Electron
Protein Subunits
Membrane
Biochemistry
Chloroplast thylakoid membrane
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00222836
- Volume :
- 330
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Molecular Biology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....72089e0bc6b5f5634316145d0e44db43