Functional amyloids have been identified in a wide range of organisms, taking on a variety of biological roles and being controlled by remarkable mechanisms of directed assembly. Here, we report that amyloid fibrils constitute the ribs of the buoyancy organelles of Anabaena flos-aquae. The walls of these gas-filled vesicles are known to comprise a single protein, GvpA, arranged in a low pitch helix. However, the tertiary and quaternary structures have been elusive. Using solid-state NMR correlation spectroscopy we find detailed evidence for an extended cross-β structure. This amyloid assembly helps to account for the strength and amphiphilic properties of the vesicle wall. Buoyancy organelles thus dramatically extend the scope of known functional amyloids.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 6. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 02 February 2026.
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#5,446,210
of 25,371,288 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Biological Chemistry
#13,967
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#42,604
of 247,122 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Biological Chemistry
#82
of 478 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,371,288 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 75th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 85,238 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.1. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 67% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 247,122 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 79% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 478 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 75% of its contemporaries.
