Protein structure of C24 gene from Bizionia argentinensis resembles the phage T4 long tail fiber receptor-binding tip: a new role for a recent insertion or a novel marine bacteriophage?

PELLIZA, L., ARAN, M., KLINKE, S., RINALDI, J, SYCZ, G., SMAL, C., PARIS, G., GOLDBAUM, F., CICERO, D.; LOPEZ, J.; GUIMARAES, B.; MAC CORMACK, W.; LANZAROTTI, E., TURJANSKI, A.; VAZQUEZ, S.

Puerto Varas

Congreso; 4th Latinamerican Protein Society Meeting; 2013

Latinamerican Protein Society

JUB59 represents a new bacterial strain isolated from the Antarctic sea surface. It was grouped into the Flavobacteriaceae family and considered as a novel species of the genus Bizionia, for which the name Bizionia argentinensis (BA) was proposed. The genome of BA was recently decoded and constitutes a relevant source for the discovery of new proteins showing biological activity under extreme conditions of low temperatures. In order to identify suitable targets for structure determination among the proteins codified in the BA genome, a protocol based on bioinformatics analysis and NMR screening was set up. By this method we were able to select proteins that given its solubility and folding became good candidates for structural determinations. From an initial pool of 50 target proteins we selected several candidates. Here, we show the crystal structure of one of the selected targets, the protein C24, revealing a previously unknown sequence/structure pair. We describe the overall structure of C24 and the individual domains. Comparing the 3D structure of C24 with existing databases, we found that C24 presents a similar overall shape to the bacteriophage T4 long tail fiber receptor-binding tip. In addition, we studied the C24 mRNA expression levels in BA and the presence of the C24 gene in several strains of different genera within Flavobacteriaceae and Proteobacteria. Taken together, these data allow us to discuss the possible biological role of C24.