Evolutionary relationships among shell proteins of carboxysomes and metabolosomes

Curr Opin Microbiol. 2021 Jun 4;63:1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2021.05.011. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBacterial microcompartments (BMCs) are self-assembling prokaryotic organelles which encapsulate enzymes within a polyhedral protein shell. The shells are comprised of only two structural modules, distinct domains that form pentagonal and hexagonal building blocks, which occupy the vertices and facets, respectively. As all BMC loci encode at least one hexamer-forming and one pentamer-forming protein, the evolutionary history of BMCs can be interrogated from the perspective of their shells. Here, we discuss how structures of intact shells and detailed phylogenies of their building blocks from a recent phylogenomic survey distinguish families of these domains and reveal clade-specific structural features. These features suggest distinct functional roles that recur across diverse BMCs. For example, it is clear that carboxysomes independently arose twice from metabolosomes, yet the principles of shell assembly are remarkably conserved.PMID:34098411 | DOI:10.1016/j.mib.2021.05.011

Source: Current Opinion in Microbiology - June 7, 2021 Category: Microbiology Authors: Matthew R Melnicki Markus Sutter Cheryl A Kerfeld Source Type: research