Bacterial ApbC can bind and effectively transfer iron-sulfur clusters

The first nutritional and biochemical activity of mutants of Salmonella enterica ApbC in the context of iron-sulfur ([Fe-S]) cluster metabolism is described. The result data shed light on the ability of ApbC to coordinate an [4Fe-4S] cluster across its dimer interface and transfer the cluster to an apoprotein acting as an [Fe-S] cluster scaffold protein, a function discovered for its eukaryotic homologues.