Phosphate starvation triggers production and secretion of an extracellular lipoprotein in Caulobacter crescentus.

ABSTRACT: Life in oligotrophic environments necessitates quick adaptive responses to a sudden lack of nutrients. Secretion of specific degradative enzymes into the extracellular medium is a means to mobilize the required nutrient from nearby sources. The aquatic bacterium Caulobacter crescentus must often face changes in its environment such as phosphate limitation. Evidence reported in this paper indicates that under phosphate starvation, C. crescentus produces a membrane surface-anchored lipoprotein named ElpS subsequently released into the extracellular medium. A complete set of 12 genes encoding a type II secretion system (T2SS) is located adjacent to the elpS locus in the C. crescentus genome. Deletion of this T2SS impairs release of ElpS in the environment, which surprisingly remains present a

SUBMITTER: Le Blastier S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2996285 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature