A Novel FadL Homolog, AltL, Mediates Transport of Long-Chain Alkanes and Fatty Acids in Acinetobacter venetianus RAG-1
Jia Liu, Shuai Chen, Bo Zhao, Guoqiang Li, Ting Ma
Abstract
Petroleum pollution has caused great harm to the natural environment, and alkanes are the main components of petroleum. Many Gram-negative bacteria can use alkanes as carbon and energy sources, which is an important strategy for oil pollution remediation. Alkane uptake is the first step for its utilization. Hence, the characterization of transport proteins is of great significance for the recovery of oil pollution and other potential applications in industrial engineering bacteria. At present, some short- and medium-chain alkane transporters have been identified, but stronger hydrophobic long-chain alkane transporters have received little attention. In this study, the broad-spectrum transporter AltL, identified in RAG-1, makes up for the lack of research on the transport of long-chain alkanes and (very) long-chain fatty acids. Meanwhile, the structural features of longer extracellular loops might be related to its unique transport function on more hydrophobic and larger substrates, indicating it is a novel type alkane transporter.