---
pmid: '18292340'
title: Atomic-level models of the bacterial carboxysome shell.
authors:
- Tanaka S
- Kerfeld CA
- Sawaya MR
- Cai F
- Heinhorst S
- Cannon GC
- Yeates TO
journal: Science
year: '2008'
full_text_available: false
doi: 10.1126/science.1151458
pubmed_publication_types:
- Journal Article
- Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
publication_type: PRIMARY_RESEARCH
---

# Atomic-level models of the bacterial carboxysome shell.
**Authors:** Tanaka S, Kerfeld CA, Sawaya MR, Cai F, Heinhorst S, Cannon GC, Yeates TO
**Journal:** Science (2008)
**DOI:** [10.1126/science.1151458](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1151458)

## Abstract

1. Science. 2008 Feb 22;319(5866):1083-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1151458.

Atomic-level models of the bacterial carboxysome shell.

Tanaka S(1), Kerfeld CA, Sawaya MR, Cai F, Heinhorst S, Cannon GC, Yeates TO.

Author information:
(1)Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Los
Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

The carboxysome is a bacterial microcompartment that functions as a simple
organelle by sequestering enzymes involved in carbon fixation. The carboxysome
shell is roughly 800 to 1400 angstroms in diameter and is assembled from several
thousand protein subunits. Previous studies have revealed the three-dimensional
structures of hexameric carboxysome shell proteins, which self-assemble into
molecular layers that most likely constitute the facets of the polyhedral shell.
Here, we report the three-dimensional structures of two proteins of previously
unknown function, CcmL and OrfA (or CsoS4A), from the two known classes of
carboxysomes, at resolutions of 2.4 and 2.15 angstroms. Both proteins assemble
to form pentameric structures whose size and shape are compatible with formation
of vertices in an icosahedral shell. Combining these pentamers with the hexamers
previously elucidated gives two plausible, preliminary atomic models for the
carboxysome shell.

DOI: 10.1126/science.1151458
PMID: 18292340 [Indexed for MEDLINE]