Immunogold localization revealed that OmcS, a cytochrome that is required for Fe(III) oxide reduction by Geobacter sulfurreducens, was localized along the pili. The apparent spacing between OmcS molecules suggests that OmcS facilitates electron transfer from pili to Fe(III) oxides rather than promoting electron conduction along the length of the pili.

Previous studies have demonstrated that Geobacter sulfurreducens requires the c-type cytochrome OmcZ, which is present in large (OmcZ L ; 50-kDa) and small (OmcZ S ; 30-kDa) forms, for optimal current production in microbial fuel cells. This protein was further characterized to aid in understanding its role in current production. Subcellular-localization studies suggested that OmcZ S was the predominant extracellular form of OmcZ. N-and C-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of purified OmcZ S and molecular weight measurements indicated that OmcZ S is a cleaved product of OmcZ L retaining all 8 hemes, including 1 heme with the unusual c-type heme-binding motif CX 14 CH. The purified OmcZ S was remarkably thermally stable (thermaldenaturing temperature, 94.2°C). Redox titration analysis revealed that the midpoint reduction potential of OmcZ S is approximately ؊220 mV (versus the standard hydrogen electrode [SHE]) with nonequivalent heme groups that cover a large reduction potential range (؊420 to ؊60 mV). OmcZ S transferred electrons in vitro to a diversity of potential extracellular electron acceptors, such as Fe(III) citrate, U(VI), Cr(VI), Au(III), Mn(IV) oxide, and the humic substance analogue anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate, but not Fe(III) oxide. The biochemical properties and extracellular localization of OmcZ suggest that it is well suited for promoting electron transfer in current-producing biofilms of G. sulfurreducens.

Previous studies with Geobacter sulfurreducens have demonstrated that OmcS, an abundant c-type cytochrome that is only loosely bound to the outer surface, plays an important role in electron transfer to Fe(III) oxides as well as other extracellular electron acceptors. In order to further investigate the function of OmcS, it was purified from a strain that overproduces the protein. Purified OmcS had a molecular mass of 47015 Da, and six low-spin bis-histidinyl hexacoordinated heme groups. Its midpoint redox potential was -212 mV. A thermal stability analysis showed that the cooperative melting of purified OmcS occurs in the range of 65-82 °C. Far UV circular dichroism spectroscopy indicated that the secondary structure of purified OmcS consists of about 10% α-helix and abundant disordered structures. Dithionite-reduced OmcS was able to transfer electrons to a variety of substrates of environmental importance including insoluble Fe(III) oxide, Mn(IV) oxide and humic substances. Stopped flow analysis revealed that the reaction rate of OmcS oxidation has a hyperbolic dependence on the concentration of the studied substrates. A ten-fold faster reaction rate with anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AQDS) (25.2 s⁻¹) was observed as compared to that with Fe(III) citrate (2.9 s⁻¹). The results, coupled with previous localization and gene deletion studies, suggest that OmcS is well-suited to play an important role in extracellular electron transfer.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (HMPV) cause severe respiratory diseases in infants and elder adults 1 . Neither a vaccine nor an effective antiviral therapy exists to control RSV or HMPV infections. During viral genome replication and transcription, the tetrameric phosphoprotein P serves as a crucial adaptor between the nucleoprotein-RNA (N-RNA) template and the L protein, which has RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), GDP polyribonucleotidyltransferase (PRNTase) and cap-specific methyltransferases (MTases) activities 2,3 . How P interacts with L and mediates association with the free form of N and with the ribonucleoprotein (RNP) is not clear for HMPV or other prominent human pathogens including Users may view, print, copy, and download text and data-mine the content in such documents, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full Conditions of use: