Overview
- Using super-resolution imaging, genetics, structural biology, biochemical assays, and computational modeling, researchers mapped roles for individual proteins in Salmonella Eut microcompartment biogenesis.
- Assembly initiates with shell protein EutM forming structures at bacterial cell poles, after which metabolic enzymes are recruited into the compartment.
- EutQ connects shell components such as EutM and EutL to cargo enzymes, and its deletion collapses microcompartment assembly and severely impairs bacterial growth.
- The enzyme core inside the compartments exhibits liquid-like behavior, enabling dynamic interactions that enhance ethanolamine metabolism.
- Published in Science Advances, the study outlines next steps to test other species and probe atomic interactions, with BBSRC funding and collaborators from Huazhong Agricultural University and Ocean University of China.