Supramolecular structure in the membrane of Staphylococcus aureus.

ABSTRACT: All life demands the temporal and spatial control of essential biological functions. In bacteria, the recent discovery of coordinating elements provides a framework to begin to explain cell growth and division. Here we present the discovery of a supramolecular structure in the membrane of the coccal bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, which leads to the formation of a large-scale pattern across the entire cell body; this has been unveiled by studying the distribution of essential proteins involved in lipid metabolism (PlsY and CdsA). The organization is found to require MreD, which determines morphology in rod-shaped cells. The distribution of protein complexes can be explained as a spontaneous pattern formation arising from the competition between the energy cost of bending that they impose

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Lara J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4697411 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature