Identification of Haloferax volcanii Pilin N-Glycans with Diverse Roles in Pilus Biosynthesis, Adhesion, and Microcolony Formation.

ABSTRACT: N-Glycosylation is a post-translational modification common to all three domains of life. In many archaea, the oligosacharyltransferase (AglB)-dependent N-glycosylation of flagellins is required for flagella assembly. However, whether N-glycosylation is required for the assembly and/or function of the structurally related archaeal type IV pili is unknown. Here, we show that of six Haloferax volcanii adhesion pilins, PilA1 and PilA2, the most abundant pilins in pili of wild-type and ΔaglB strains, are modified under planktonic conditions in an AglB-dependent manner by the same pentasaccharide detected on H. volcanii flagellins. However, unlike wild-type cells, which have surfaces decorated with discrete pili and form a dispersed layer of cells on a plastic surface, ΔaglB cells have thick pi

SUBMITTER: Esquivel RN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4865909 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature