Molecular ruler of the attachment organelle in Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

PLoS Pathogens
Daisuke NakaneTakayuki Nishizaka

Abstract

Length control is a fundamental requirement for molecular architecture. Even small wall-less bacteria have specially developed macro-molecular structures to support their survival. Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a human pathogen, forms a polar extension called an attachment organelle, which mediates cell division, cytadherence, and cell movement at host cell surface. This characteristic ultrastructure has a constant size of 250-300 nm, but its design principle remains unclear. In this study, we constructed several mutants by genetic manipulation to increase or decrease coiled-coil regions of HMW2, a major component protein of 200 kDa aligned in parallel along the cell axis. HMW2-engineered mutants produced both long and short attachment organelles, which we quantified by transmission electron microscopy and fluorescent microscopy with nano-meter precision. This simple design of HMW2 acting as a molecular ruler for the attachment organelle should provide an insight into bacterial cellular organization and its function for their parasitic lifestyles.

References

Feb 1, 1991·Biophysical Journal·K Tawada, K Sekimoto
May 24, 1991·Science·A LupasJ Stock
Sep 1, 1982·Journal of Bacteriology·J B BasemanD K Leith
Oct 18, 2002·Die Naturwissenschaften·Jan HegermannFrank Mayer
Oct 12, 2004·Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology·Wallace F Marshall
Aug 1, 2006·Journal of Structural Biology·Anja SeybertAchilleas S Frangakis
Oct 26, 2006·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Benjamin M HasselbringDuncan C Krause
Jun 11, 2010·Annual Review of Microbiology·Makoto Miyata
Jun 10, 2011·The EMBO Journal·Marc ErhardtKelly T Hughes
Jul 17, 2012·Journal of Bacteriology·Kelly T Hughes
Jun 10, 2014·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Yoshiaki KinositaTakayuki Nishizaka
Aug 27, 2014·Journal of Bacteriology·Mitchell F Balish
Dec 17, 2014·Nature Structural & Molecular Biology·Gregor HageluekenJames H Naismith
Dec 4, 2015·PLoS Pathogens·Daisuke NakaneMakoto Miyata
Mar 26, 2016·Science·Clyde A HutchisonJ Craig Venter
Jul 26, 2016·Frontiers in Microbiology·Makoto Miyata, Tasuku Hamaguchi
Jun 10, 2020·Nature Communications·David AparicioAchilleas S Frangakis
Oct 16, 2020·Nature Communications·David VizarragaDavid Aparicio

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Software Mentioned

Solis
ImageJ
COILS

Related Concepts