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A team of scientists has discovered one of life’s strongest bonds with the help of supercomputers. The bond holds together the proteins Dockerin and Cohesin in a way similar to the Chinese Finger Trap puzzle, tightening under stress. The biomolecular interaction binds at about half the strength of covalent bond pieces of a finger-like system of proteins, called cellulosomes, used by bacteria in cow stomachs to digest plants.
The main finding of the study identified the nature of the adhesion complex of cellulosomal proteins, which show extreme resistance to applied force. The research discovery could boost efforts to develop catalysts for biofuel production from non-food waste plants.Image credit: Rafael C. Bernardi, Beckman Institute, University at Illinois of Urbana-Champaign
