Held Mark, Quin Maureen B, Schmidt-Dannert Claudia
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn., USA.
J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol. 2013;23(4-5):308-20. doi: 10.1159/000351343. Epub 2013 Aug 5.
Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) are protein-based polyhedral organelles which serve to encapsulate and organize enzymes involved in key metabolic pathways. The sequestration of these pathways not only improves the overall reaction efficiency; it can also harbor toxic or volatile pathway intermediates, which would otherwise be detrimental to the cell. Genomic and phylogenetic analyses reveal the presence of these unique organelles in a diverse range of bacterial species, highlighting their evolutionary importance and the essential role that they play in bacterial cell survival. Functional and structural analyses of BMCs involved in ethanolamine utilization are developing our understanding of the self-assembly and encapsulation mechanisms employed by these protein supercomplexes. This knowledge will open up exciting new avenues of research with a range of potential engineering and biotechnological applications.
细菌微区室（BMCs）是基于蛋白质的多面体细胞器，用于封装和组织参与关键代谢途径的酶。这些途径的隔离不仅提高了整体反应效率；它还可以容纳有毒或挥发性的途径中间体，否则这些中间体对细胞有害。基因组和系统发育分析表明，这些独特的细胞器存在于多种细菌物种中，突出了它们的进化重要性以及它们在细菌细胞存活中所起的重要作用。对参与乙醇胺利用的BMCs进行功能和结构分析，正在加深我们对这些蛋白质超复合物所采用的自组装和封装机制的理解。这一知识将开辟令人兴奋的新研究途径，并具有一系列潜在的工程和生物技术应用。
