Orientation of the axial ligands and magnetic properties of the hemes in the cytochrome c ₇ family from Geobacter sulfurreducens determined by paramagnetic NMR

Geobacter sulfurreducens is a sediment bacterium that contains a large number of multiheme cytochromes. The family of five c ₇ triheme periplasmic cytochromes from Geobacter sulfurreducens shows structural diversity of the heme core. Structural characterization of the relative orientation of the axial ligands of these proteins by ¹³C-paramagnetic NMR was carried out. The structures in solution were compared with those obtained by X-ray crystallography. For some hemes significant differences exist between the two methods such that orientation of the magnetic axes obtained from NMR data and the orientation taken from the X-ray coordinates differ. The results allowed the orientation of the magnetic axes to be defined confidently with respect to the heme frame in solution, a necessary step for the use of paramagnetic constraints to improve the complete solution structure of these proteins.