Identification of Two Phosphate Starvation-induced Wall Teichoic Acid Hydrolases Provides First Insights into the Degradative Pathway of a Key Bacterial Cell Wall Component.

ABSTRACT: The cell wall of most Gram-positive bacteria contains equal amounts of peptidoglycan and the phosphate-rich glycopolymer wall teichoic acid (WTA). During phosphate-limited growth of the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis 168, WTA is lost from the cell wall in a response mediated by the PhoPR two-component system, which regulates genes involved in phosphate conservation and acquisition. It has been thought that WTA provides a phosphate source to sustain growth during starvation conditions; however, WTA degradative pathways have not been described for this or any condition of bacterial growth. Here, we uncover roles for the Bacillus subtilis PhoP regulon genes glpQ and phoD as encoding secreted phosphodiesterases that function in WTA metabolism during phosphate starvation. Unlike

SUBMITTER: Myers CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5207077 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature