Prediction of the secondary and tertiary structure of plastocyanin.

The amino acid sequences of nine plastocyanins were examined using four published methods for the prediction of secondary structure in proteins. The results of the four methods were combined in such a way as to maximize agreement, and the position of alpha helices, beta sheets, and beta turns in plastocyanin was predicted. From this result and other information, such as the position of conserved residues and the requirements for coordination of copper, a preliminary model for the mainchain folding of the molecule was presented.