TY - JOUR A1 - Pernil, Rafael A1 - Schleiff, Enrico T1 - Metalloproteins in the biology of heterocysts T2 - Life N2 - Cyanobacteria are photoautotrophic microorganisms present in almost all ecologically niches on Earth. They exist as single-cell or filamentous forms and the latter often contain specialized cells for N2 fixation known as heterocysts. Heterocysts arise from photosynthetic active vegetative cells by multiple morphological and physiological rearrangements including the absence of O2 evolution and CO2 fixation. The key function of this cell type is carried out by the metalloprotein complex known as nitrogenase. Additionally, many other important processes in heterocysts also depend on metalloproteins. This leads to a high metal demand exceeding the one of other bacteria in content and concentration during heterocyst development and in mature heterocysts. This review provides an overview on the current knowledge of the transition metals and metalloproteins required by heterocysts in heterocyst-forming cyanobacteria. It discusses the molecular, physiological, and physicochemical properties of metalloproteins involved in N2 fixation, H2 metabolism, electron transport chains, oxidative stress management, storage, energy metabolism, and metabolic networks in the diazotrophic filament. This provides a detailed and comprehensive picture on the heterocyst demands for Fe, Cu, Mo, Ni, Mn, V, and Zn as cofactors for metalloproteins and highlights the importance of such metalloproteins for the biology of cyanobacterial heterocysts. KW - cyanobacteria KW - Nostocales KW - heterocysts KW - metalloproteins KW - metalloenzymes KW - metals KW - electron transport chains KW - oxidative stress KW - bioenergetics KW - metabolism Y1 - 2019 UR - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/50080 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-500809 SN - 2075-1729 N1 - This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0). VL - 9 IS - 2, Art. 32 SP - 1 EP - 58 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER -