 This protein is homologous to FecA, FepA and FhuA, outer membrane iron transport proteins that presumably function by similar mechanisms.These proteins belong to a class of transport proteins for which high-resolution structural models have been obtained, and they are extremely important for the survival of some bacterial pathogens.In addition to BtuB, FecA and FhuA, his team is expressing, reconstituting and labeling BtuC/D.