Overexpression of lpxT Gene in Escherichia coli Inhibits Cell Division and Causes Envelope Defects without Changing the Overall Phosphorylation Level of Lipid A.

ABSTRACT: LpxT is an inner membrane protein that transfers a phosphate group from the essential lipid undecaprenyl pyrophosphate (C-55PP) to the lipid A moiety of lipopolysaccharide, generating a lipid A tris-phosphorylated species. The protein is encoded by the non-essential lpxT gene, which is conserved in distantly related Gram-negative bacteria. In this work, we investigated the phenotypic effect of lpxT ectopic expression from a plasmid in Escherichia coli. We found that lpxT induction inhibited cell division and led to the formation of elongated cells, mostly with absent or altered septa. Moreover, the cells became sensitive to detergents and to hypo-osmotic shock, indicating that they had cell envelope defects. These effects were not due to lipid A hyperphos

SUBMITTER: Falchi FA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7356881 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature