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Biochemical and genetic characterization of PpcA, a periplasmic c-type cytochrome in Geobacter sulfurreducens.

ABSTRACT: A 9.6 kDa periplasmic c -type cytochrome, designated PpcA, was purified from the Fe(III)-reducing bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens and characterized. The purified protein is basic (pI 9.5), contains three haems and has an N-terminal amino acid sequence closely related to those of the previously described trihaem c (7) cytochromes of Geobacter metallireducens and Desulfuromonas acetoxidans. The gene encoding PpcA was identified from the G. sulfurreducens genome using the N-terminal sequence, and encodes a protein of 71 amino acids (molecular mass 9.58 kDa) with 49% identity to the c (7) cytochrome of D. acetoxidans. In order to determine the physiological role of PpcA, a knockout mutant was prepared with a single-step recombination method. Acetate-dependent Fe(III) reduction was significantly inhibited in both growing cultures and cell suspensions of the mutant. When ppcA was expressed in trans, the full capacity for Fe(III) reduction with acetate was restored. The transfer of electrons from acetate to anthraquinone 2,6-disulphonate (AQDS; a humic acid analogue) and to U(VI) was also compromised in the mutant, but acetate-dependent reduction of fumarate was not altered. The rates of reduction of Fe(III), AQDS, U(VI) and fumarate were also the same in the wild type and ppcA mutant when hydrogen was supplied as the electron donor. When taken together with previous studies on other electron transport proteins in G. sulfurreducens, these results suggest that PpcA serves as an intermediary electron carrier from acetate to terminal Fe(III) reductases in the outer membrane, and is also involved in the transfer of electrons from acetate to U(VI) and humics.

SUBMITTER: Lloyd JR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1223068 | biostudies-other | 2003 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:A family of five periplasmic triheme cytochromes (PpcA-E) was identified in Geobacter sulfurreducens, where they play a crucial role by driving electron transfer from the cytoplasm to the cell exterior and assisting the reduction of extracellular acceptors. The thermodynamic characterization of PpcA using NMR and visible spectroscopies was previously achieved under experimental conditions identical to those used for the triheme cytochrome c(7) from Desulfuromonas acetoxidans. Under such conditions, attempts to obtain NMR data were complicated by the relatively fast intermolecular electron exchange. This work reports the detailed thermodynamic characterization of PpcB, PpcD, and PpcE under optimal experimental conditions. The thermodynamic characterization of PpcA was redone under these new conditions to allow a proper comparison of the redox properties with those of other members of this family. The heme reduction potentials of the four proteins are negative, differ from each other, and cover different functional ranges. These reduction potentials are strongly modulated by heme-heme interactions and by interactions with protonated groups (the redox-Bohr effect) establishing different cooperative networks for each protein, which indicates that they are designed to perform different functions in the cell. PpcA and PpcD appear to be optimized to interact with specific redox partners involving e(-)/H(+) transfer via different mechanisms. Although no evidence of preferential electron transfer pathway or e(-)/H(+) coupling was found for PpcB and PpcE, the difference in their working potential ranges suggests that they may also have different physiological redox partners. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to characterize homologous cytochromes from the same microorganism and provide evidence of their different mechanistic and functional properties. These findings provide an explanation for the coexistence of five periplasmic triheme cytochromes in G. sulfurreducens.

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Biochemical and genetic characterization of PpcA, a periplasmic c-type cytochrome in Geobacter sulfurreducens.

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