CryoEM Structure of the Vibrio cholerae Type IV Pilus Secretin PilQ

Natural competence is the process by which bacteria take up genetic material from their environment and integrate it into their genome using homologous recombination. In Vibrio cholerae, the Type IV pilus (T4P) is thought to mediate DNA uptake by binding DNA and retracting back toward the cell. How the DNA enters the periplasm is unclear. One hypothesis suggests that the DNA-bound T4P retracts completely so that the DNA would pass through the outer membrane secretin pore (PilQ). PilQ is a 870 kDa outer membrane pore with C14 symmetry. Here, we purify the V. cholerae PilQ secretin from V. cholerae cells in amphipols for single particle cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM). We solve the structure to 3.5 Å and provide insight on the channel DNA may traverse through during uptake