Identification of a stress-induced factor of Corynebacterineae that is involved in the regulation of the outer membrane lipid composition.

ABSTRACT: Corynebacterineae are gram-positive bacteria that possess a true outer membrane composed of mycolic acids and other lipids. Little is known concerning the modulation of mycolic acid composition and content in response to changes in the bacterial environment, especially temperature variations. To address this question, we investigated the function of the Rv3802c gene, a gene conserved in Corynebacterineae and located within a gene cluster involved in mycolic acid biosynthesis. We showed that the Rv3802 ortholog is essential in Mycobacterium smegmatis, while its Corynebacterium glutamicum ortholog, NCgl2775, is not. We provided evidence that the NCgl2775 gene is transcriptionally induced under heat stress conditions, and while the corresponding protein has no detectable activity under normal

SUBMITTER: Meniche X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2786555 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature