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Alternative complex III (ACIII) is a key component of the respiratory and/or photosynthetic electron transport chains of many bacteria 1-3 . Like complex III (also known as the bc 1 complex), ACIII catalyses the oxidation of membrane-bound quinol and the reduction of cytochrome c or an equivalent electron carrier. However, the two complexes have no structural similarity 4-7 . Although ACIII has eluded structural characterization, several of its subunits are known to be homologous to members of the complex iron-sulfur molybdoenzyme (CISM) superfamily 8 , including the proton pump polysulfide reductase 9,10 . We isolated the ACIII from Flavobacterium johnsoniae with native lipids using styrene maleic acid copolymer 11-14 , both as an independent enzyme and as a functional 1:1 supercomplex with an aa 3 -type cytochrome c oxidase (cyt aa 3 ). We determined the structure of ACIII to 3.4 Å resolution by cryo-electron microscopy and constructed an atomic model for its six subunits. The structure, which contains a [3Fe-4S] cluster, a [4Fe-4S] cluster and six haem c units, shows that ACIII uses known elements from other electron transport complexes arranged in a previously unknown manner. Modelling of the cyt aa 3 component of the supercomplex revealed that it is structurally modified to facilitate association with ACIII, illustrating the importance of the supercomplex in this electron transport chain. The structure also resolves two of the subunits of ACIII that are anchored to the lipid bilayer with N-terminal triacylated cysteine residues, an important post-translational modification found in numerous prokaryotic membrane proteins that has not previously been observed structurally in a lipid bilayer.

Vacuolar-type ATPases (V-ATPases) are ATP-powered proton pumps involved in processes such as endocytosis, lysosomal degradation, secondary transport, TOR signalling, and osteoclast and kidney function. ATP hydrolysis in the soluble catalytic V 1 region drives proton translocation through the membrane-embedded V O region via rotation of a rotor subcomplex. Variability in the structure of the intact enzyme has prevented construction of an atomic model for the membrane-embedded motor of any rotary ATPase. We induced dissociation and auto-inhibition of the V 1 and V O regions of the V-ATPase by starving the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, allowing us to obtain a ~3.9-Å resolution electron cryomicroscopy map of the V O complex and build atomic models for the majority of its subunits. The analysis reveals the structures of subunits ac 8 c'c″de and a protein that we identify and propose to be a new subunit (subunit f). A large cavity between subunit a and the c-ring creates a cytoplasmic half-channel for protons. The c-ring has an asymmetric distribution of proton-carrying Glu residues, with the Glu residue of subunit c″ interacting with Arg735 of subunit a. The structure suggests sequential protonation and deprotonation of the c-ring, with ATP-hydrolysis-driven rotation causing protonation of a Glu residue at the cytoplasmic half-channel and subsequent deprotonation of a Glu residue at a luminal half-channel.

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) elicit a histone modification cascade that controls DNA repair. This pathway involves the sequential ubiquitination of histones H1 and H2A by the E3 ubiquitin ligases RNF8 and RNF168, respectively. RNF168 ubiquitinates H2A on lysine 13 and lysine 15 (refs 7, 8) (yielding H2AK13ub and H2AK15ub, respectively), an event that triggers the recruitment of 53BP1 (also known as TP53BP1) to chromatin flanking DSBs. 53BP1 binds specifically to H2AK15ub-containing nucleosomes through a peptide segment termed the ubiquitination-dependent recruitment motif (UDR), which requires the simultaneous engagement of histone H4 lysine 20 dimethylation (H4K20me2) by its tandem Tudor domain. How 53BP1 interacts with these two histone marks in the nucleosomal context, how it recognizes ubiquitin, and how it discriminates between H2AK13ub and H2AK15ub is unknown. Here we present the electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) structure of a dimerized human 53BP1 fragment bound to a H4K20me2-containing and H2AK15ub-containing nucleosome core particle (NCP-ubme) at 4.5 Å resolution. The structure reveals that H4K20me2 and H2AK15ub recognition involves intimate contacts with multiple nucleosomal elements including the acidic patch. Ubiquitin recognition by 53BP1 is unusual and involves the sandwiching of the UDR segment between ubiquitin and the NCP surface. The selectivity for H2AK15ub is imparted by two arginine fingers in the H2A amino-terminal tail, which straddle the nucleosomal DNA and serve to position ubiquitin over the NCP-bound UDR segment. The structure of the complex between NCP-ubme and 53BP1 reveals the basis of 53BP1 recruitment to DSB sites and illuminates how combinations of histone marks and nucleosomal elements cooperate to produce highly specific chromatin responses, such as those elicited following chromosome breaks.

Eukaryotic vacuolar H(+)-ATPases (V-ATPases) are rotary enzymes that use energy from hydrolysis of ATP to ADP to pump protons across membranes and control the pH of many intracellular compartments. ATP hydrolysis in the soluble catalytic region of the enzyme is coupled to proton translocation through the membrane-bound region by rotation of a central rotor subcomplex, with peripheral stalks preventing the entire membrane-bound region from turning with the rotor. The eukaryotic V-ATPase is the most complex rotary ATPase: it has three peripheral stalks, a hetero-oligomeric proton-conducting proteolipid ring, several subunits not found in other rotary ATPases, and is regulated by reversible dissociation of its catalytic and proton-conducting regions. Studies of ATP synthases, V-ATPases, and bacterial/archaeal V/A-ATPases have suggested that flexibility is necessary for the catalytic mechanism of rotary ATPases, but the structures of different rotational states have never been observed experimentally. Here we use electron cryomicroscopy to obtain structures for three rotational states of the V-ATPase from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The resulting series of structures shows ten proteolipid subunits in the c-ring, setting the ATP:H(+) ratio for proton pumping by the V-ATPase at 3:10, and reveals long and highly tilted transmembrane α-helices in the a-subunit that interact with the c-ring. The three different maps reveal the conformational changes that occur to couple rotation in the symmetry-mismatched soluble catalytic region to the membrane-bound proton-translocating region. Almost all of the subunits of the enzyme undergo conformational changes during the transitions between these three rotational states. The structures of these states provide direct evidence that deformation during rotation enables the smooth transmission of power through rotary ATPases.