Phylogenetic and structural diversity of aromatically dense pili from environmental metagenomes.
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ABSTRACT: Electroactive type IV pili, or e-pili, are used by some microbial species for extracellular electron transfer. Recent studies suggest that e-pili may be more phylogenetically and structurally diverse than previously assumed. Here, we used updated aromatic density thresholds (≥9.8% aromatic amino acids, ≤22-aa aromatic gaps and aromatic amino acids at residues 1, 24, 27, 50 and/or 51, and 32 and/or 57) to search for putative e-pilin genes in metagenomes from diverse ecosystems with active microbial metal cycling. Environmental putative e-pilins were diverse in length and phylogeny, and included truncated e-pilins in Geobacter spp., as well as longer putative e-pilins in Fe(II)-oxidizing Betaproteobacteria and Zetaproteobacteria.
SUBMITTER: Bray MS
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7779115 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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