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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Mapping: A New Methodology to Elucidate Global Structural Features
Published on: March 16, 2022
FtsY, the bacterial signal-recognition particle receptor, interacts functionally and physically with the SecYEG
Sandra Angelini1, Sandra Deitermann, Hans-Georg Koch
1Institute for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Strasse 7, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Co-translational membrane targeting of proteins by the bacterial signal-recognition particle (SRP) requires the specific interaction of the SRP-ribosome nascent chain complex with FtsY, the bacterial SRP receptor (SR). FtsY is homologous to the SRalpha-subunit of the eukaryotic SR, which is tethered to the endoplasmic-reticulum membrane by its interaction with the integral SRbeta-subunit. In contrast to SRalpha, FtsY is partly membrane associated and partly located in the cytosol. However, the mechanisms by which FtsY associates with the membrane are unclear. No gene encoding an SRbeta homologue has been found in bacterial genomes, and the presence of an FtsY-specific membrane receptor has not been shown so far. We now provide evidence for the direct interaction between FtsY and the SecY translocon. This interaction offers an explanation of how the bacterial SRP cycle is regulated in response to available translocation channels.
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