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Updated: Aug 21, 2025
09:51
Standards for Quantitative Metalloproteomic Analysis Using Size Exclusion ICP-MS
Published on: April 13, 2016
15.4K
Evaluating Mineral Lattices as Evolutionary Proxies for Metalloprotein Evolution
Kenneth N McGuinness1, Gunnar W Klau2, Shaunna M Morrison3
1Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA. kenneth.mcguinness@gmail.com.
Summary
Iron-sulfur clusters in proteins and minerals show little evolutionary connection. New informatics methods reveal minimal structural similarity, suggesting alternative origins for these vital biological components.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Geochemistry
- Bioinformatics
Background:
- Iron-sulfur clusters are crucial for electron transport in metabolic pathways across all life.
- The origin of iron-sulfur cluster incorporation into proteins remains unknown.
- Structural similarities between iron-sulfur minerals and protein clusters suggest a potential co-evolutionary link.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evolutionary relationship between iron-sulfur protein clusters and iron-sulfide minerals.
- To develop and apply computational methods for comparing finite protein structures with infinite mineral lattices.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Niggli reduction to create finite representations of mineral lattices.
- Represented protein and mineral structures as quotient graphs.
- Developed a graph theory-based method (Maximum Common Connected Edge Subgraph) to quantify structural similarity.
- Employed the Tversky similarity index to account for differences in graph size.
Main Results:
- Found limited structural similarity between ancient iron-sulfur protein clusters and iron-sulfur mineral lattices.
- The computational analysis challenges the hypothesis of direct co-evolution between these protein clusters and minerals.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest that iron-sulfur protein clusters and iron-sulfide minerals may not share a direct evolutionary origin.
- Mineral surfaces are proposed as a more plausible proxy for understanding the co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere.
Keywords:
FeS mineralsFerredoxinGreigiteIron-sulfur clustersMineral evolutionProtein evolutionProtein-mineral co-evolutionMore Related Videos
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