Membraneless channels sieve cations in ammonia-oxidizing marine archaea.

ABSTRACT: Nitrosopumilus maritimus is an ammonia-oxidizing archaeon that is crucial to the global nitrogen cycle^1,2. A critical step for nitrogen oxidation is the entrapment of ammonium ions from a dilute marine environment at the cell surface and their subsequent channelling to the cell membrane of N. maritimus. Here we elucidate the structure of the molecular machinery responsible for this process, comprising the surface layer (S-layer), using electron cryotomography and subtomogram averaging from cells. We supplemented our in situ structure of the ammonium-binding S-layer array with a single-particle electron cryomicroscopy structure, revealing detailed features of this immunoglobulin-rich and glycan-decorated S-layer. Biochemical analyses showed strong ammonium binding by the cell sur

SUBMITTER: von Kugelgen A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11153153 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature