Aromatic amino acids required for pili conductivity and long-range extracellular electron transport in Geobacter sulfurreducens.

ABSTRACT:

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It has been proposed that Geobacter sulfurreducens requires conductive pili for long-range electron transport to Fe(III) oxides and for high-density current production in microbial fuel cells. In order to investigate this further, we constructed a strain of G. sulfurreducens, designated Aro-5, which produced pili with diminished conductivity. This was accomplished by modifying the amino acid sequence of PilA, the structural pilin protein. An alanine was substituted for each of the five aromatic amino acids in the carboxyl terminus of PilA, the region in which G. sulfurreducens PilA differs most significantly from the PilAs of microorganisms incapable of long-range extracellular electron transport. Strain Aro-5 produced pili that were properly decorated with the multiheme

SUBMITTER: Vargas M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3604773 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature