Analyses of cell wall synthesis in <i>Clostridioides difficile</i> reveal a diversification in cell division mechanisms in endospore-forming bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Current models of bacterial cell division assume that the core synthases of the multiprotein divisome complex, FtsW-FtsI, are the primary drivers of septal peptidoglycan (PG) synthesis. These enzymes are typically encoded in the highly conserved division and cell wall (dcw) cluster and are considered to be universally essential for cell division. Here, we combine bioinformatics analyses with functional characterization in the pathogen Clostridioides difficile to show that dcw-encoded PG synthases have undergone a surprising specialization in the sole endospore-forming phylum, Firmicutes, to fulfill sporulation-specific roles. We describe a novel role for these enzymes in synthesizing septal PG during the sporulation-specific mode of cell division in C. difficile

SUBMITTER: Shrestha S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10441361 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature