Tat-fimbriae (“tafi”): An unusual type of haloarchaeal surface structure depending on the twin-arginine translocation pathway
The surface structures of archaeal cells, many of which exist at high temperatures, high salinity, and non-physiological pH, are key factors for their adaptation to extreme living conditions. In the haloarchaeon <i>Haloarcula hispanica</i>, we have discovered a thin filamentous surface appendage called tat-fimbriae ("tafi"), which were identified to be composed of three protein subunits, TafA, TafC, and TafE, among which TafA is the major fimbrial subunit. Molecular genetic evidence demonstrates TafA was transported through the twin-arginine translocation pathway (Tat-pathway). Based on protein structure prediction (including AlphaFold 3), tafi exhibits a linear structure: TafC at the tip, TafE acting as an adapter, TafA forming the core filament, and they link the fourth subunit TafF, anchoring tafi to the cell wall. To our knowledge, this is the first case that the Tat-pathway has been linked to the secretion of protein subunits forming prokaryotic filamentous structures.
Authors
- Alexey S. Syutkin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5151-4632)
- Elena Y. Pavlova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3010-6290)
- Igor I. Kireev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9252-6808)
- Anna V. Galeva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1893-6160)
- S. Yu. Shchyogolev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1084-312X)
- Hua Xiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0369-1225)
- Olga M. Selivanova
- Dahe Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0312-6824)
- M. G. Pyatibratov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4341-3529)
- Gennady L. Burygin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8031-9641)
- Jingfang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1908-4454)
- Alexey K. Surin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0757-0554)
- Marina Yu Topilina
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Lomonosov Moscow State University (RU)
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry (RU)
- Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Plants and Microorganisms (RU)
- Microbiology Institute of Shaanxi (CN)
- Saratov State Vavilov Agrarian University (RU)
- State Research Center for Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (RU)
- Institute of Microbiology (CN)
- Institute of Protein Research (RU)
- Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- iScience
- Published
- 2025-01-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.111793
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Bone and Dental Protein Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 8.34
Funders
- Russian Foundation for Fundamental Investigations
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Lomonosov Moscow State University
- Key Technologies Research and Development Program
- Central Asian Center of Drug Discovery and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences