Systematic Structural Analyses of Attachment Organelle in Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

ABSTRACT: Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a human pathogenic bacterium, glides on host cell surfaces by a unique and unknown mechanism. It forms an attachment organelle at a cell pole as a membrane protrusion composed of surface and internal structures, with a highly organized architecture. In the present study, we succeeded in isolating the internal structure of the organelle by sucrose-gradient centrifugation. The negative-staining electron microscopy clarified the details and dimensions of the internal structure, which is composed of terminal button, paired plates, and bowl complex from the end of cell front. Peptide mass fingerprinting of the structure suggested 25 novel components for the organelle, and 3 of them were suggested for their involvement in the structure through their subcellular localizatio

SUBMITTER: Nakane D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4669176 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature