Figure 1. Schematic overview of characterized bacterial microcompartments.

(A) Carboxysome. (B) Metabolosome. An example substrate is ethanolamine and the signature enzyme produces acetaldehyde and ammonia, a secondary product. Reactions in gray are peripheral reactions to the core BMC chemistry. BMC shell protein oligomers are depicted on the left: blue, BMC-H; cyan, BMC-T; yellow, BMC-P. 3-PGA, 3-phosphoglycerate, and RuBP, ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate.