Molecular insights into the elevator-type mechanism of the cyanobacterial bicarbonate transporter BicA

Matthew C. Chan, Yazeed Alfawaz, Arnav Paul, Diwakar Shukla

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are responsible for up to 80% of aquatic carbon dioxide fixation and have evolved a specialized carbon concentrating mechanism to increase photosynthetic yield. As such, cyanobacteria are attractive targets for synthetic biology and engineering approaches to address the demands of global energy security, food production, and climate change for an increasing world's population. The bicarbonate transporter BicA is a sodium-dependent, low-affinity, high-flux bicarbonate symporter expressed in the plasma membrane of cyanobacteria. Despite extensive biochemical characterization of BicA, including the resolution of the BicA crystal structure, the dynamic understanding of the bicarbonate transport mechanism remains elusive. To this end, we have collected over 1 ms of all-atom molecular dynamics simulation data of the BicA dimer to elucidate the structural rearrangements involved in the substrate transport process. We further characterized the energetics of the transition of BicA protomers and investigated potential mutations that are shown to decrease the free energy barrier of conformational transitions. In all, our study illuminates a detailed mechanistic understanding of the conformational dynamics of bicarbonate transporters and provides atomistic insights to engineering these transporters for enhanced photosynthetic production.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)379-392
Number of pages14
JournalBiophysical journal
Volume124
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 21 2025

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biophysics

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