Project Details
Projekt
Sensor modules of the osmoregulatory glycine betaine uptake carrier from Corynebacterium glutamicum: structure and interaction with the transport domain Transport-Domäne
Applicant
Professor Dr. Reinhard Krämer
Subject Area
Metabolism, Biochemistry and Genetics of Microorganisms
Term
from 1999 to 2007
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5171770
The tightly coupled betaine uptake system BetP of Corynebacterium glutamicum converts the energy of an electrochemical Na+ gradient into an extremely high chemical gradient of betaine. The activity of BetP strictly depends on the presence of an osmotic gradient across the plasma membrane. BetP was shown to be both osmosensor and transporter. The transporter is a membrane protein with 12 transmembrane segments and includes prominent N- and C-terminal extensions facing the cytoplasm, a property observed in many pro- and eukarytic osmoactive membrane proteins. These extensions have been shown to be involved in the sensor function. The N- and C-terminal modules will be separately expressed in different lengths, as well as the membrane-embedded part of BetP. We propose to study the structure of the hydrophilic modules of BetP and its structural interaction with the transport domain by using various spectroscopic techniques, in particular NMR spectroscopy, and also X-ray crystallography.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
Participating Person
Dr. Susanne Morbach
