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An abundant cell-surface polypeptide is required for swimming by the nonflagellated marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus.

ABSTRACT: Certain marine unicellular cyanobacteria of the genus Synechococcus exhibit a unique and mysterious form of motility characterized by the ability to swim in liquid in the absence of flagella. An abundant cell-surface-associated polypeptide that is required for swimming motility by Synechococcus sp. strain WH8102 has been identified, and the gene encoding it, swmA, has been cloned and sequenced. The predicted SwmA protein contains a number of Ca2+-binding motifs as well as several potential N-glycosylation sites. Insertional inactivation of swmA in Synechococcus sp. strain WH8102 results in a loss of the ability to translocate, although the mutant strain, Swm-1, generates torque. This suggests that SwmA functions in the generation of thrust.

SUBMITTER: Brahamsha B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC39053 | biostudies-other | 1996 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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An abundant cell-surface polypeptide is required for swimming by the nonflagellated marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus.

Brahamsha B B

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 19960601 13

Certain marine unicellular cyanobacteria of the genus Synechococcus exhibit a unique and mysterious form of motility characterized by the ability to swim in liquid in the absence of flagella. An abundant cell-surface-associated polypeptide that is required for swimming motility by Synechococcus sp. strain WH8102 has been identified, and the gene encoding it, swmA, has been cloned and sequenced. The predicted SwmA protein contains a number of Ca2+-binding motifs as well as several potential N-gly ...[more]

PMID: 8692845

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Project description:Proteins secreted by marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus under phosphorus stress is largely uncharacterized. This dataset characterizes the exoproteins for both an open ocean (WH8102) and coastal (WH5701) Synechococcus strain and were collected as part of the study "Dissolved organic phosphorus bond-class utilization by Synechococcus". Study Abstract: Dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) contains compounds with phosphoester (P-O-C), phosphoanhydride (P-O-P), and phosphorus-carbon (P-C) bonds. Despite DOP’s importance as a nutritional source for marine microorganisms, the bioavailability of each bond-class to the widespread cyanobacterium Synechococcus remains largely unknown. This study evaluates bond-class specific DOP utilization by cultures of an open ocean and a coastal ocean Synechococcus strain. Both strains exhibited comparable growth rates when provided phosphate, short-chain and long-chain polyphosphate (P-O-P), adenosine 5’-triphosphate (P-O-C and P-O-P), and glucose-6-phosphate (P-O-C) as the phosphorus source. However, growth rates on phosphomonoester adenosine 5’-monophosphate (P-O-C) and phosphodiester bis(4-methylumbelliferyl) phosphate (C-O-P-O-C) varied between strains, and neither strain grew on selected phosphonates. Consistent with the growth measurements, both strains preferentially hydrolyzed 3-polyphosphate, followed by adenosine 5’-triphosphate, and then adenosine 5’-monophosphate. The strains’ exoproteome contained phosphorus hydrolases, which combined with enhanced cell-free hydrolysis of 3-polyphosphate and adenosine 5’-triphosphate under phosphate deficiency, suggests active mineralization of short-chain polyphosphate by Synechococcus’ exoproteins. Synechococcus alkaline phosphatases presented broad substrate specificities, including activity towards short-chain polyphosphate, with varying affinities between the two strains. Collectively, these findings underscore the potentially significant role of compounds with phosphoanhydride bonds in Synechococcus phosphorus nutrition, thereby expanding our understanding of microbially-mediated DOP cycling in marine ecosystems.

Project description:The genome of the marine Synechococcus sp. WH8102 displays a minimal regulatory network yet physiological and molecular responses of this organism are tuned to episodic limitation for nitrogen and phosphorus. Microarray analyses have demonstrated a key role for the two-component regulatory system, PhoBR, in the regulation of P transport and metabolism in this strain. However, there is some evidence that another regulator, SYNW1019 (designated as ptrA), probably under the control of PhoB, is involved in the wider response to P-depletion. PtrA is one of only two genome encoded DNA binding proteins of the CRP family in Synechococcus sp. WH8102, and a potential transcriptional regulator with homology to NtcA, the global nitrogen regulator in cyanobacteria. To define the precise role of this regulator we constructed a mutant by insertional inactivation and compared the physiology of wild-type Synechcococcus sp. WH8102 with the ptrA mutant under P-replete and P-deplete growth conditions. During P-depletion the ptrA mutant failed to up-regulate phosphatase activity. Microarrays and quantitative RT-PCR indicate that a subset of the Pho regulon is directly controlled by PtrA, including two phosphatase genes (SYNW0196, SYNW2390), a predicted phytase (SYNW0762) and a gene of unknown function (SYNW0165) all of which are highly up regulated during P-limitation. This result was confirmed by electrophoretic mobility shift assays which demonstrated binding of over expressed PtrA to promoter sequences upstream of the induced phosphatases (SYNW0165, SYNW0196 and SYNW2390). This work suggests a two-tiered response to P-depletion in this strain, the first being PhoB-dependent induction of high affinity PO4 transporters, and the second the PtrA-dependent induction of phosphatases for scavenging organic P. The levels of numerous other transcripts are also directly or indirectly controlled by PtrA, including those involved in cell surface modification, metal uptake, photosynthesis, stress responses and other metabolic process, which may indicate a wider role for PtrA in cellular organisation. In an environmental context ptrA is found in a number of picocyanobateria isolated from a range of oceanic provinces, including strains that lack a functional phoBR..These results give broader insight into the regulation of physiological responses that may dictate niche adaptation in genetically diverse lineages of marine Synechococcus, and suggest that signalling networks and coordinated responses to nutrient availability are important, even in oligotrophic ocean environments.

Dataset Information

An abundant cell-surface polypeptide is required for swimming by the nonflagellated marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus.

Publications

An abundant cell-surface polypeptide is required for swimming by the nonflagellated marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus.

Similar Datasets

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