A novel <Emphasis Type="Italic">Geobacteraceae</Emphasis>-specific outer membrane protein J (OmpJ) is essential for electron transport to Fe (III) and Mn (IV) oxides in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Geobacter sulfurreducens</Emphasis>

Background  

Metal reduction is thought to take place at or near the bacterial outer membrane and, thus, outer membrane proteins in the model dissimilatory metal-reducing organism Geobacter sulfurreducens are of interest to understand the mechanisms of Fe(III) reduction in the Geobacter species that are the predominant Fe(III) reducers in many environments. Previous studies have implicated periplasmic and outer membrane cytochromes in electron transfer to metals. Here we show that the most abundant outer membrane protein of G. sulfurreducens, OmpJ, is not a cytochrome yet it is required for metal respiration.