Dataset Information

Disruption of the SucT acyltransferase in Mycobacterium smegmatis abrogates succinylation of cell envelope polysaccharides.

ABSTRACT: Similar to other prokaryotes, mycobacteria decorate their major cell envelope glycans with minor covalent substituents whose biological significance remains largely unknown. We report on the discovery of a mycobacterial enzyme, named here SucT, that adds succinyl groups to the arabinan domains of both arabinogalactan (AG) and lipoarabinomannan (LAM). Disruption of the SucT-encoding gene in Mycobacterium smegmatis abolished AG and LAM succinylation and altered the hydrophobicity and rigidity of the cell envelope of the bacilli without significantly altering AG and LAM biosynthesis. The changes in the cell surface properties of the mutant were consistent with earlier reports of transposon mutants of the closely related species Mycobacterium marinum and Mycobacterium avium harboring insertions in the orthologous gene whose ability to microaggregate and form biofilms were altered. Our findings point to an important role of SucT-mediated AG and LAM succinylation in modulating the cell surface properties of mycobacteria.

SUBMITTER: Palcekova Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6664188 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Disruption of the SucT acyltransferase in <i>Mycobacterium smegmatis</i> abrogates succinylation of cell envelope polysaccharides.

Palčeková Zuzana Z Angala Shiva K SK Belardinelli Juan Manuel JM Eskandarian Haig A HA Joe Maju M Brunton Richard R Rithner Christopher C Jones Victoria V Nigou Jérôme J Lowary Todd L TL Gilleron Martine M McNeil Michael M Jackson Mary M

The Journal of biological chemistry 20190520 26

Similar to other prokaryotes, mycobacteria decorate their major cell envelope glycans with minor covalent substituents whose biological significance remains largely unknown. We report on the discovery of a mycobacterial enzyme, named here SucT, that adds succinyl groups to the arabinan domains of both arabinogalactan (AG) and lipoarabinomannan (LAM). Disruption of the SucT-encoding gene in <i>Mycobacterium smegmatis</i> abolished AG and LAM succinylation and altered the hydrophobicity and rigidi ...[more]

PMID: 31110045

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Project description:BackgroundMycobacteria, along with exospore forming Streptomyces, belong to the phylum actinobacteria. Mycobacteria are generally believed to be non-differentiating. Recently however, we showed that the mycobacterial model organism M. smegmatis is capable of forming different types of morphologically distinct resting cells. When subjected to starvation conditions, cells of M. smegmatis exit from the canonical cell division cycle, segregate and compact their chromosomes, and become septated and multi-nucleoided. Under zero nutrient conditions the differentiation process terminates at this stage with the formation of Large Resting Cells (LARCs). In the presence of traces of carbon sources this multi-nucleoided cell stage completes cell division and separates into Small Resting Cells (SMRCs). Here, we carried out RNA-seq profiling of SMRC and LARC development to characterize the transcriptional program underlying these starvation-induced differentiation processes.ResultsChanges among the top modulated genes demonstrated that SMRCs and LARCs undergo similar transcriptional changes. The formation of multi-nucleoided cells (i.e. LARCs and the LARC-like intermediates observed during SMRC formation) was accompanied by upregulation of septum formation functions FtsZ, FtsW, and PbpB, as well as the DNA translocase FtsK. The observed compaction of chromosomes was accompanied by an increase of the transcript level of the DNA binding protein Hlp, an orthologue of the Streptomyces spore-specific chromosome condensation protein HupS. Both SMRC and LARC development were accompanied by similar temporal expression patterns of candidate regulators, including the transcription factors WhiB2, WhiB3, and WhiB4, which are orthologues of the Streptomyces sporulation regulators WhiB, WhiD and WblA, respectively.ConclusionsTranscriptional analyses of the development of mycobacterial resting cell types suggest that these bacteria harbor a novel differentiation program and identify a series of potential regulators. This provides the basis for the genetic dissection of this actinobacterial differentiation process.

Dataset Information

Disruption of the SucT acyltransferase in Mycobacterium smegmatis abrogates succinylation of cell envelope polysaccharides.

Publications

Disruption of the SucT acyltransferase in <i>Mycobacterium smegmatis</i> abrogates succinylation of cell envelope polysaccharides.

Similar Datasets

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