3J9R

Atomic structures of a bactericidal contractile nanotube in its pre- and post-contraction states

This is a non-PDB format compatible entry.

Summary for 3J9R

• Entry DOI: 10.2210/pdb3j9r/pdb
• Related: 3J9Q
• EMDB information: 6270 6271
• Descriptor: sheath (1 entity in total)
• Functional Keywords: pyocin, bacteriocin, sheath, tube, structural protein
• Biological source: Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Total number of polymer chains: 36
• Total formula weight: 1484903.95

Authors

Ge, P.,Scholl, D.,Leiman, P.G.,Yu, X.,Miller, J.F.,Zhou, Z.H. (deposition date: 2015-02-17, release date: 2015-04-01, Last modification date: 2024-02-21)

Primary citation

Ge, P.,Scholl, D.,Leiman, P.G.,Yu, X.,Miller, J.F.,Zhou, Z.H.
Atomic structures of a bactericidal contractile nanotube in its pre- and postcontraction states.
Nat.Struct.Mol.Biol., 22:377-382, 2015

PubMed Abstract: R-type pyocins are representatives of contractile ejection systems, a class of biological nanomachines that includes, among others, the bacterial type VI secretion system (T6SS) and contractile bacteriophage tails. We report atomic models of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa precontraction pyocin sheath and tube, and the postcontraction sheath, obtained by cryo-EM at 3.5-Å and 3.9-Å resolutions, respectively. The central channel of the tube is negatively charged, in contrast to the neutral and positive counterparts in T6SSs and phage tails. The sheath is interwoven by long N- and C-terminal extension arms emanating from each subunit, which create an extensive two-dimensional mesh that has the same connectivity in the extended and contracted state of the sheath. We propose that the contraction process draws energy from electrostatic and shape complementarities to insert the inner tube through bacterial cell membranes to eventually kill the bacteria.

PubMed: 25822993
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2995

Experimental method

ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (3.9 Å)