Archaeal Tubulin-like Proteins Modify Cell Shape in Haloferax volcanii during Early Biofilm Development.

ABSTRACT: Tubulin, an extensively studied self-assembling protein, forms filaments in eukaryotic cells that affect cell shape, among other functions. The model archaeon Haloferax volcanii uses two tubulin-like proteins (FtsZ1/FtsZ2) for cell division, similar to bacteria, but has an additional six related tubulins called CetZ. One of them, CetZ1, was shown to play a role in cell shape. Typically, discoid and rod shapes are observed in planktonic growth, but under biofilm formation conditions (i.e., attached to a substratum), H. volcanii can grow filamentously. Here, we show that the deletion mutants of all eight tubulin-like genes significantly impacted morphology when cells were allowed to form a biofilm. ΔftsZ1, ΔcetZ2, and ΔcetZ4-6 created longer, less round cel

SUBMITTER: Cooper A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10606840 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature