Mutations in the nucleotide binding pocket of MreB can alter cell curvature and polar morphology in Caulobacter.

ABSTRACT: The maintenance of cell shape in Caulobacter crescentus requires the essential gene mreB, which encodes a member of the actin superfamily and the target of the antibiotic, A22. We isolated 35 unique A22-resistant Caulobacter strains with single amino acid substitutions near the nucleotide binding site of MreB. Mutations that alter cell curvature and mislocalize the intermediate filament crescentin cluster on the back surface of MreB's structure. Another subset have variable cell widths, with wide cell bodies and actively growing thin extensions of the cell poles that concentrate fluorescent MreB. We found that the extent to which MreB localization is perturbed is linearly correlated with the development of pointed cell poles and variable cell widths. Further, we find that a mutation to gly

SUBMITTER: Dye NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3137890 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature