A novel copper site in a cyanobacterial metallochaperone

The thylakoid lumen of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803 is supplied with copper via two copper-transporting ATPases and a metallochaperone intermediary. We show that the copper site of this metallochaperone is unusual and consists of two cysteine residues and a histidine imidazole located on structurally dynamic loops. Substitution of this histidine residue enhances bacterial two-hybrid interaction with the cytosolic copper exporter, but not the copper importer, suggesting that the interacting surfaces are distinct, with implications for metal transfer.