Imaging peptidoglycan biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis with fluorescent antibiotics.

ABSTRACT: The peptidoglycan (PG) layers surrounding bacterial cells play an important role in determining cell shape. The machinery controlling when and where new PG is made is not understood, but is proposed to involve interactions between bacterial actin homologs such as Mbl, which forms helical cables within cells, and extracellular multiprotein complexes that include penicillin-binding proteins. It has been suggested that labeled antibiotics that bind to PG precursors may be useful for imaging PG to help determine the genes that control the biosynthesis of this polymer. Here, we compare the staining patterns observed in Bacillus subtilis using fluorescent derivatives of two PG-binding antibiotics, vancomycin and ramoplanin. The staining patterns for both probes exhibit a strong dependence on pro

SUBMITTER: Tiyanont K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1544169 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature