A new addition to the cell plan of anammox bacteria: "Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis" has a protein surface layer as the outermost layer of the cell.

ABSTRACT: Anammox bacteria perform anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and have a unique compartmentalized cell consisting of three membrane-bound compartments (from inside outwards): the anammoxosome, riboplasm, and paryphoplasm. The cell envelope of anammox bacteria has been proposed to deviate from typical bacterial cell envelopes by lacking both peptidoglycan and a typical outer membrane. However, the composition of the anammox cell envelope is presently unknown. Here, we investigated the outermost layer of the anammox cell and identified a proteinaceous surface layer (S-layer) (a crystalline array of protein subunits) as the outermost component of the cell envelope of the anammox bacterium "Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis." This is the first description of an S-layer in the phylum of the

SUBMITTER: van Teeseling MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3911120 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature