@article {445, title = {Purification and characterization of OmcZ, an outer-surface, octaheme c-type cytochrome essential for optimal current production by Geobacter sulfurreducens.}, journal = {Appl Environ Microbiol}, volume = {76}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 Jun}, pages = {3999-4007}, abstract = {Previous studies have demonstrated that Geobacter sulfurreducens requires the c-type cytochrome OmcZ, which is present in large (OmcZ(L); 50-kDa) and small (OmcZ(S); 30-kDa) forms, for optimal current production in microbial fuel cells. This protein was further characterized to aid in understanding its role in current production. Subcellular-localization studies suggested that OmcZ(S) was the predominant extracellular form of OmcZ. N- and C-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of purified OmcZ(S) and molecular weight measurements indicated that OmcZ(S) is a cleaved product of OmcZ(L) retaining all 8 hemes, including 1 heme with the unusual c-type heme-binding motif CX(14)CH. The purified OmcZ(S) was remarkably thermally stable (thermal-denaturing temperature, 94.2 degrees C). Redox titration analysis revealed that the midpoint reduction potential of OmcZ(S) is approximately -220 mV (versus the standard hydrogen electrode [SHE]) with nonequivalent heme groups that cover a large reduction potential range (-420 to -60 mV). OmcZ(S) transferred electrons in vitro to a diversity of potential extracellular electron acceptors, such as Fe(III) citrate, U(VI), Cr(VI), Au(III), Mn(IV) oxide, and the humic substance analogue anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate, but not Fe(III) oxide. The biochemical properties and extracellular localization of OmcZ suggest that it is well suited for promoting electron transfer in current-producing biofilms of G. sulfurreducens.}, keywords = {Binding Sites, Bioelectric Energy Sources, Cytochromes c, Electricity, Electron Transport, Geobacter, Heme, Hot Temperature, Molecular Sequence Data, Molecular Weight, Oxidation-Reduction, Protein Binding, Protein Stability, Sequence Alignment, Sequence Analysis, Protein}, issn = {1098-5336}, doi = {10.1128/AEM.00027-10}, author = {Inoue, Kengo and Qian, Xinlei and Morgado, Leonor and Kim, Byoung-Chan and Mester, T{\"u}nde and Izallalen, Mounir and Salgueiro, Carlos A and Lovley, Derek R} }