Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Identification And Structural Analysis Of A Novel Carboxysome Shell Protein With Implications For Metabolite Transport, Michael G. Klein, Peter Zwart, Sarah C. Bag By, Fei Cai, Sallie W. Chisolm, Sabine Heinhorst, Gordon C. Cannon, Cheryl A. Kerfeld

Faculty Publications

Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) are polyhedral bodies, composed entirely of proteins, that function as organelles in bacteria; they promote subcellular processes by encapsulating and co-localizing targeted enzymes with their substrates. The best-characterized BMC is the carboxysome, a central part of the carbon-concentrating mechanism that greatly enhances carbon fixation in cyanobacteria and some chemoautotrophs. Here we report the first structural insights into the carboxysome of Prochlorococcus, the numerically dominant cyanobacterium in the world's oligotrophic oceans. Bioinformatic methods, substantiated by analysis of gene expression data, were used to identify a new carboxysome shell component, CsoS1D, in the genome of Prochlorococcus strain MED4; …