Chargée de Recherche, CNRS
+33 4 91 16 46 72
Equipe / Group: BIP 09
Thème(s) transverse(s) / Cross-cutting theme(s): Dynamics et Redox Catalysis
All Life gets its energy from redox-disequilibria in the environment. Enzymes involved in bioenergetics convert these environmental disequilibria into proton motive force across the inner membrane and into a high ATP/ADP ratio in the cell. Furthermore, some enzymes are capable to generate local redox disequilibria by transferring electrons from an intermediate electron donor to a high and a low-potential electron acceptor, a mechanism called electron bifurcation that gained substantial interest recently. Tracing back the History of Life by a phylogenetic analysis of these enzymes reveals that the principles of biological energy conversion were already present in the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA). Its appearance can be seen as the onset of Life.
To better understand the essence of Life we investigate bioenergetic enzymes, their function and their History. One of the most fascinating enzymes is, to my opinion, the Rieske/cytb complex. It catalyzes electron bifurcation, contributes to the proton motive force and is present in most bioenergetic reaction chains and this ever since the LUCA. I am working with this enzyme since more than 30 years in a journey that took me across many domains of Life – from photosynthesis to respiration and during the past years towards anammox bacteria. The bioenergetic metabolism of the peculiar anammox bacteria is not yet understood. It takes place in an internal organelle that harbor three copies of the Rieske/cytb complexes with stunning properties. Their study will, I hope, not only elucidate the way of life of anammox bacteria but widen our understanding of Rieske/cytb complexes, their catalytic capacities and the roles they play for example in photosynthetic reaction chains.
Keywords: Rieske/cytb complex, bc1 complex, b6f complex, heme ci, electron bifurcation, anammox metabolism, evolution of bioenergetics
Publications
ORCID id: 0000-0002-2612-4939
2025
Wouter Versantvoort, Rainer Hienerwadel, Christina Ferousi, Pieter van der Velden, Catherine Berthomieu, Laura van Niftrik, Frauke Baymann.
Spectroscopic insights into the mechanism of anammox hydrazine synthase.
Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2025, 301 (11), 110771 -.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2025.110771
HAL: hal-05365182
Felix J. Elling, Fabien Pierrel, Sophie-Carole Chobert, Sophie S. Abby, Thomas W. Evans, Arthur Reveillard, Ludovic Pelosi, Juliette Schnoebelen, Jordon D. Hemingway, Ahcène Boumendjel, Kevin W. Becker, Pieter Blom, Julia Cordes, Vinitra Nathan, Frauke Baymann, Sebastian Lücker, Eva Spieck, Jared R. Leadbetter, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs, Roger E. Summons, Ann Pearson.
A novel quinone biosynthetic pathway illuminates the evolution of aerobic metabolism.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 2025, 122 (8).
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2421994122
HAL: hal-04679398v2
2022
Wolfgang Nitschke, Barbara Schoepp‐Cothenet, Simon Duval, Kilian Zuchan, Orion Farr, Frauke Baymann, Francesco Panico, Alessandro Minguzzi, Elbert Branscomb, Michael J. Russell.
Aqueous electrochemistry: The toolbox for life's emergence from redox disequilibria.
Electrochemical Science Adv, 2022.
DOI: 10.1002/elsa.202100192
HAL: hal-03805068v1
2021
Kilian Zuchan, Frauke Baymann, Carole Baffert, Myriam Brugna, Wolfgang Nitschke.
The dyad of the Y-junction- and a flavin module unites diverse redox enzymes.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, 2021, 1862 (6), 148401 -.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2021.148401
HAL: hal-03169066v1
Simon Duval, Kilian Zuchan, Frauke Baymann, Barbara Schoepp-Cothenet, Elbert Branscomb, Michael J. Russell, Wolfgang Nitschke.
Minerals and the emergence of life.
MILS, Metals, Microbes, and Minerals - The Biogeochemical Side of Life, 2021, 21, 135-157.
DOI: 10.1515/9783110589771-011
HAL: hal-03163239v1
2019
Simon Duval, Frauke Baymann, Barbara Schoepp-Cothenet, Fabienne Trolard, Guilhem Bourrié, Olivier Grauby, Elbert Branscomb, Michael J. Russell, Wolfgang Nitschke.
Fougerite: the not so simple progenitor of the first cells.
Interface Focus, 2019, 323 (6), 93 -.
DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2019.0063
HAL: hal-02359667v1
Christina Ferousi, Simon Lindhoud, Frauke Baymann, Eric R. Hester, Joachim Reimann, Boran Kartal.
Discovery of a functional, contracted heme-binding motif within a multiheme cytochrome.
J. Biol. Chem., 2019, 261 (45), 1126 - 16965.
DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.010568
HAL: hal-02369902v1
Magda Grabsztunowicz, Paula Mulo, Frauke Baymann, Risa Mutoh, Genji Kurisu, Pierre Sétif, Peter Beyer, Anja Krieger‐Liszkay.
Electron transport pathways in isolated chromoplasts from
Narcissus pseudonarcissus
L..
Plant J, 2019, 90, 4145 -.
DOI: 10.1111/tpj.14319
HAL: hal-02397878v1
2018
Frauke Baymann, Barbara Schoepp-Cothenet, Simon Duval, Marianne Guiral, Myriam Brugna, Carole Baffert, Michael J. Russell, Wolfgang Nitschke.
On the Natural History of Flavin-Based Electron Bifurcation.
Front. Microbiol., 2018, 8, 357 -.
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01357
HAL: hal-01828959v1
2017
Christina Ferousi, Simon Lindhoud, Frauke Baymann, Boran Kartal, Mike SM Jetten, Joachim Reimann.
Iron assimilation and utilization in anaerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria.
Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 2017, 37, 129 - 136.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2017.03.009
HAL: hal-01501483v1
2016
Sebastian Veit, Kazuki Takeda, Yuichi Tsunoyama, Frauke Baymann, Reinat Nevo, Ziv Reich, Matthias Rögner, Kunio Miki, Sascha Rexroth.
Structural and functional characterisation of the cyanobacterial PetC3 Rieske protein family.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, 2016, 1857 (12), 1879 - 1891.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2016.09.007
HAL: hal-01441855v1
Wei-Chun Kao, Thomas Kleinschroth, Wolfgang Nitschke, Frauke Baymann, Yashvin Neehaul, Petra Hellwig, Sebastian Richers, Janet Vonck, Michael Bott, Carola Hunte.
The obligate respiratory supercomplex from Actinobacteria.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, 2016, 1857 (10), 1705 - 1714.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2016.07.009
HAL: hal-01415865v1
Lucie Bergdoll, Felix ten Brink, Wolfgang Nitschke, Daniel Picot, Frauke Baymann.
From low- to high-potential bioenergetic chains: Thermodynamic constraints of Q-cycle function.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, 2016, 1857 (9), 1569 - 1579.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2016.06.006
HAL: hal-01413250v1
Sebastian Glatt, Rene Zabel, Olga Kolaj-Robin, Osita F Onuma, Florence Baudin, Andrea Graziadei, Valerio Taverniti, Ting-Yu Lin, Frauke Baymann, Bertrand Séraphin, Karin D Breunig, Christoph W Müller.
Structural basis for tRNA modification by Elp3 from Dehalococcoides mccartyi.
Nat Struct Mol Biol, 2016, 45 (10B), 342 - 802.
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.3265
HAL: hal-01413474v1
2014
Anne-Lise Ducluzeau, Barbara Schoepp-Cothenet, Robert van Lis, Frauke Baymann, Michael J. Russell, Wolfgang Nitschke.
The evolution of respiratory O 2 /NO reductases: an out-of-the-phylogenetic-box perspective.
J. R. Soc. Interface, 2014, 265 (98), 11 535 -.
DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2014.0196
HAL: hal-01494539v1
Anne-Lise Ducluzeau, Barbara Schoepp-Cothenet, Frauke Baymann, Michael J. Russell, Wolfgang Nitschke.
Free energy conversion in the LUCA: Quo vadis?.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, 2014, 1837 (7), 982 - 988.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2013.12.005
HAL: hal-01493447v1
2013
F. ten Brink, B. Schoepp-Cothenet, R. van Lis, W. Nitschke, F. Baymann.
Multiple Rieske/cytb complexes in a single organism.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, 2013, 1827 (11-12), 1392 - 1406.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2013.03.003
HAL: hal-01607947v1
Barbara Schoepp-Cothenet, Robert van Lis, Ariane Atteia, Frauke Baymann, Line Capowiez, Anne-Lise Ducluzeau, Simon Duval, Felix ten Brink, Michael J. Russell, Wolfgang Nitschke.
On the universal core of bioenergetics.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, 2013, 1827 (2), 79 - 93.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2012.09.005
HAL: hal-01606377v1
Olga Kolaj-Robin, Mohamed R. Noor, Sarah R. O’Kane, Frauke Baymann, Tewfik Soulimane.
Atypical Features of Thermus thermophilus Succinate:Quinone Reductase.
PLoS ONE, 2013, 43 (1), 1441 -.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0053559
2012
Frauke Baymann, Barbara Schoepp-Cothenet, Evelyne Lebrun, Robert van Lis, Wolfgang Nitschke.
Phylogeny of Rieske/cytb Complexes with a Special Focus on the Haloarchaeal Enzymes.
2012, 392 (8), 677 - 841.
DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evs056
HAL: hal-01607945v1
2011
Olga Kolaj-Robin, Sarah R. O'Kane, Wolfgang Nitschke, Christophe Léger, Frauke Baymann, Tewfik Soulimane.
Biochemical and biophysical characterization of succinate: Quinone reductase from Thermus thermophilus.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, 2011, 1807 (1), 68 - 79.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2010.10.009
HAL: hal-00999887v1
2010
W. Nitschke, R. van Lis, B. Schoepp-Cothenet, F. Baymann.
The “green” phylogenetic clade of Rieske/cytb complexes.
Photosynth Res, 2010, 128 (2-3), 14246 - 355.
DOI: 10.1007/s11120-010-9532-1
HAL: hal-01607249v1
F. Baymann, W. Nitschke.
Heliobacterial Rieske/cytb complex.
Photosynth Res, 2010, 90 (2-3), 4145 - 187.
DOI: 10.1007/s11120-009-9524-1
2009
B. Schoepp-Cothenet, C. Lieutaud, F. Baymann, A. Vermeglio, T. Friedrich, D. M. Kramer, W. Nitschke.
Menaquinone as pool quinone in a purple bacterium.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009, 5 (3), 151 - 8554.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0813173106
2008
A.L. Ducluzeau, E. Chenu, L. Capowiez, F. Baymann.
The Rieske/cytochrome b complex of Heliobacteria.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, 2008, 1777 (9), 1140 - 1146.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2008.04.026
2007
F. Baymann, F. Giusti, D. Picot, W. Nitschke.
The ci/bH moiety in the b6f complex studied by EPR: A pair of strongly interacting hemes.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2007, 1100 (1), 128 - 524.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0606369104
HAL: hal-02329862v1
2006
Evelyne Lebrun, Joanne M. Santini, Myriam Brugna, Anne-Lise Ducluzeau, Soufian Ouchane, Barbara Schoepp-Cothenet, Frauke Baymann, Wolfgang Nitschke.
The Rieske Protein: A Case Study on the Pitfalls of Multiple Sequence Alignments and Phylogenetic Reconstruction.
2006, 23 (6), 1180 - 1191.
DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msk010
HAL: hal-00132690v1
2004
F. Baymann, E. Lebrun, W. Nitschke.
Mitochondrial cytochrome c1 is a collapsed di-heme cytochrome.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2004, 179 (5), 1734 - 17740.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0407442101
2003
Michael Schütz, Barbara Schoepp-Cothenet, Elisabeth Lojou, Mireille Woodstra, Doris Lexa, Pascale Tron, Alain Dolla, Marie-Claire Durand, Karl Otto Stetter, Frauke Baymann.
The Naphthoquinol Oxidizing Cytochrome bc 1 Complex of the Hyperthermophilic Knallgasbacterium Aquifex aeolicus : Properties and Phylogenetic Relationships †.
Biochemistry, 2003, 42 (36), 10800 - 10808.
DOI: 10.1021/bi034452a
E. Lebrun, M. Brugna, F. Baymann, D. Muller, D. Lievremont, M.-C. Lett, W. Nitschke.
Arsenite Oxidase, an Ancient Bioenergetic Enzyme.
2003, 20 (5), 686 - 693.
DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msg071
HAL: hal-00113712v1
Frauke Baymann, Nicola L Barlow, Corinne Aubert, Barbara Schoepp-Cothenet, Gisele Leroy, Fraser A Armstrong.
Voltammetry of a ‘protein on a rope’.
2003, 9 (1-3), 48 - 94.
DOI: 10.1016/S0014-5793(03)00206-0
HAL: hal-03623212v1
Frauke Baymann, Evelyne Lebrun, Myriam Brugna, Barbara Schoepp–Cothenet, Marie–Thérèse Giudici–Orticoni, Wolfgang Nitschke.
The redox protein construction kit: pre-last universal common ancestor evolution of energy-conserving enzymes.
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B, 2003, 180 (1429), 1460 - 274.
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2002.1184
HAL: hal-00343715v1
2001
Frauke Baymann, Pascale Tron, Barbara Schoepp-Cothenet, Corinne Aubert, Pierre Bianco, Karl-Otto Stetter, Wolfgang Nitschke, Michael Schütz.
Cytochromes
c
555
from the Hyperthermophilic Bacterium
Aquifex
aeolicus
(VF5). 1. Characterization of Two Highly Homologous, Soluble and Membranous, Cytochromes.
Biochemistry, 2001, 40 (45), 13681 - 13689.
DOI: 10.1021/bi011201y
Frauke Baymann, Myriam Brugna, Ulrich Mühlenhoff, Wolfgang Nitschke.
Daddy, where did (PS)I come from?.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, 2001, 1507 (1-3), 291 - 310.
DOI: 10.1016/S0005-2728(01)00209-2
Frauke Baymann, Fabrice Rappaport, Pierre Joliot, Toivo Kallas.
Rapid Electron Transfer to Photosystem I and Unusual Spectral Features of Cytochrome c 6 in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 in Vivo †.
Biochemistry, 2001, 40 (35), 10570 - 10577.
DOI: 10.1021/bi010194a
Barbara Schoepp-Cothenet, Michael Schütz, Frauke Baymann, Myriam Brugna, Wolfgang Nitschke, Hannu Myllykallio, Christian Schmidt.
The membrane-extrinsic domain of cytochrome b 558/566 from the Archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius performs pivoting movements with respect to the membrane surface.
2001, 16 (3), 544 - 376.
DOI: 10.1016/S0014-5793(00)02357-7
2000
Michael Schütz, Myriam Brugna, Evelyne Lebrun, Frauke Baymann, Robert Huber, Karl-Otto Stetter, Günter Hauska, René Toci, Danielle Lemesle-Meunier, Pascale Tron, Christian Schmidt, Wolfgang Nitschke.
Early Evolution of Cytochrome bc Complexes.
Journal of Molecular Biology, 2000, 300 (4), 663 - 675.
DOI: 10.1006/jmbi.2000.3915
1999
Catherine de Vitry, Giovanni Finazzi, Frauke Baymann, Toivo Kallas.
Analysis of the Nucleus-Encoded and Chloroplast-Targeted Rieske Protein by Classic and Site-Directed Mutagenesis of Chlamydomonas.
Plant Cell, 1999, 11 (10), 2031 - 2044.
DOI: 10.1105/tpc.11.10.2031
F. Baymann, D. E. Robertson, P. L. Dutton, W. Mäntele.
Electrochemical and Spectroscopic Investigations of the Cytochrome bc 1 Complex from Rhodobacter capsulatus.
Biochemistry, 1999, 38 (40), 13188 - 13199.
DOI: 10.1021/bi990565b
Franke Baymann, Francesca Zito, Richard Kuras, Limor Minai, Wolfgang Nitschke, Francis-André Wollman.
Functional Characterization of
Chlamydomonas
Mutants Defective in Cytochrome
f
Maturation.
J. Biol. Chem., 1999, 3 (33), 243 - 22967.
DOI: 10.1074/jbc.274.33.22957
1998
Frauke Baymann, Fabrice Rappaport.
Electrostatic Interactions at the Donor Side of the Photosynthetic Reaction Center of Rhodopseudomonas v iridis.
Biochemistry, 1998, 37 (44), 15320 - 15326.
DOI: 10.1021/bi980963z
1991
Frauke Baymann, David A. Moss, Werner Mäntele.
An electrochemical assay for the characterization of redox proteins from biological electron transfer chains.
Analytical Biochemistry, 1991, 199 (2), 269 - 274.
DOI: 10.1016/0003-2697(91)90100-8