Outer membrane cytochrome c, OmcF, from Geobacter sulfurreducens: High structural similarity to an algal cytochrome c6

Putative outer membrane c-type cytochromes have been implicated in metal ion reducing properties of Geobacter sulfurreducens. OmcF (GSU2432), OmcB (GSU2731), and OmcC (GSU2737) are three such proteins that have predicted lipid anchors. OmcF is a monoheme cytochrome, whereas OmcB and OmcC are multiheme cytochromes. Deletion of OmcF was reported to affect the expression of OmcB and OmcC in G. sulfurreducens. The OmcF deficient strain was impaired in its ability to both reduce and grow on Fe(III) citrate probably because the expression of OmcB, which is crucial for iron reduction, is low in this strain. U(VI) reduction activity of this bacterium is also lower on deletion of OmcB or OmcF. The U(VI) reduction activity is affected more by the deletion of OmcF than by the deletion of OmcB. The soluble part of OmcF (residues 20-104, referred to as OmcF{sub S} hereafter) has sequence similarity to soluble cytochromes c{sub 6} of photosynthetic algae and cyanobacteria. The cytochrome c{sub 6} proteins in algae and cyanobacteria are electron transport proteins that mediate the transfer of electrons from cytochrome b{sub 6}f to photosystem I and have high reduction potentials of about +350 mV and low pI. The structures of seven cytochromes c{sub 6} have been previously determined. Further, a c{sub 6}-like cytochrome (PetJ2) of unknown function was recently identified in Synechoccus sp. PCC 7002 with a reduction potential of +148 mV and high pI. Here, we report the structure of OmcF{sub S} and its remarkable structural similarity to that of cytochrome c{sub 6} from the green alga, Monoraphidium braunii. To our knowledge, OmcF{sub S} is the first example of a cytochrome c{sub 6}-like structure from a nonphotosynthetic organism.