Assembly and the gating mechanism of the Pel exopolysaccharide export complex PelBC of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Marius Benedens, Cristian Rosales-Hernandez, Sabine A. P. Straathof, Jennifer Loschwitz, Otto Berninghausen, Giovanni Maglia, Roland Beckmann () and Alexej Kedrov ()
Additional contact information
Marius Benedens: Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Cristian Rosales-Hernandez: Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Sabine A. P. Straathof: University of Groningen
Jennifer Loschwitz: Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Otto Berninghausen: Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Giovanni Maglia: University of Groningen
Roland Beckmann: Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Alexej Kedrov: Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract The pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa enhances its virulence and antibiotic resistance upon formation of durable biofilms. The exopolysaccharides Pel, Psl and alginate essentially contribute to the biofilm matrix, but their secretion mechanisms are barely understood. Here, we reveal the architecture of the outer membrane complex PelBC for Pel export, where the essential periplasmic ring of twelve lipoproteins PelC is mounted on top of the nanodisc-embedded β-barrel PelB. The PelC assembly is stabilized by electrostatic contacts with the periplasmic rim of PelB and via the membrane-anchored acyl chains. The negatively charged interior of the PelB β-barrel forms a route for the cationic Pel exopolysaccharide. The β-barrel is sealed at the extracellular side, but molecular dynamic simulations suggest that the short loop Plug-S is sufficiently flexible to open a tunnel for the exopolysaccharide transport. This gating model is corroborated by single-channel conductivity measurements, where a deletion of Plug-S renders a constitutively open β-barrel. Our structural and functional analysis offers a comprehensive view on this pathogenicity-relevant complex and suggests the route taken by the exopolysaccharide at the final secretion step.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60605-8 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-60605-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60605-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().