Benjamin Bardiaux

ArticleOnline nowOpen access Affiliations & Notes 1Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR3528, Bacterial Transmembrane Systems Unit, Paris, 75015, France 2Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR3528, Structural Bioinformatics Unit, Paris, 75015, France 3Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia Medical School, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America 4Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Nanoimaging Core Facility, Paris, 75015,...

Abstract Active nutrient uptake is fundamental for survival and pathogenicity of Gram-negative bacteria, which operate a multi-protein Ton system to transport essential nutrients like metals and vitamins. This system harnesses the proton motive force at the inner membrane to energize the import through the outer membrane, but the mechanism of energy transfer remains enigmatic. Here, we study the periplasmic domain of ExbD, a crucial component of the proton channel of the Ton system.

Abstract E. coli and most other diderm bacteria (those with two membranes) have an inner membrane enriched in glycerophospholipids (GPLs) and an asymmetric outer membrane (OM) containing GPLs in its inner leaflet and primarily lipopolysaccharides in its outer leaflet. In E.