BIOPHYSICS/MCDB FACULTY CANDIDATE SEMINAR Featuring Randy Stockbridge “Microbial resistance to toxic fluoride: Structural and functional features of fluoride channels and transporters”

“Microbial resistance to toxic fluoride: structural and functional features of fluoride channels and transporters”

Bacteria, archaea, unicellular eukaryotes and plants have confronted fluoride ion in their environment over evolutionary time, and possess multiple lines of defense against this toxin that inhibits glycolytic enolase, pyrophosphatase, and other phosphoryl transfer enzymes.  One such defense is the presence of membrane transport proteins to rid the cytoplasm of F^-.  Widespread microorganisms possess either of two F^- exporters from unrelated protein families: the Fluc family of fluoride channels, or the CLC^F family of F^-/H⁺ antiporters.  This talk will address the highly unusual structural and functional features of both classes of membrane transport proteins, using membrane protein biochemistry, electrophysiology, and x-ray crystallography.