Cryo-EM reveals the structural basis of long-range electron transport in a cytochrome-based bacterial nanowire

Abstract

Electrically conductive pili from Geobacter species, termed bacterial nanowires, are intensely studied for their biological significance and potential in the development of new materials. Using cryo-electron microscopy, we have characterized nanowires from conductive G. sulfurreducens pili preparations that are composed solely of head-to-tail stacked monomers of the six-heme C-type cytochrome OmcS. The unique fold of OmcS — closely wrapped around a continuous stack of hemes that can serve as an uninterrupted path for electron transport — generates a scaffold that supports the unbranched chain of hemes along the central axis of the filament. We present here, at 3.4 Å resolution, the structure of this cytochrome-based filament and discuss its possible role in long-range biological electron transport.

David Filman et al. present the cryo-EM structure of an electrically conductive filament from Geobacter sulfurreducens, termed bacterial nanowires. They find that these structures are composed of a bacterial cytochrome, and suggest a possible role in long-range biological electron transport.