Unipolar Peptidoglycan Synthesis in the Rhizobiales Requires an Essential Class A Penicillin-Binding Protein.

ABSTRACT: Members of the Rhizobiales are polarly growing bacteria that lack homologs of the canonical Rod complex. To investigate the mechanisms underlying polar cell wall synthesis, we systematically probed the function of cell wall synthesis enzymes in the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The development of fluorescent d-amino acid dipeptide (FDAAD) probes, which are incorporated into peptidoglycan by penicillin-binding proteins in A. tumefaciens, enabled us to monitor changes in growth patterns in the mutants. Use of these fluorescent cell wall probes and peptidoglycan compositional analysis demonstrate that a single class A penicillin-binding protein is essential for polar peptidoglycan synthesis. Furthermore, we find evidence of an additional mode of cell wall synthesis that req

SUBMITTER: Williams MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8546619 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature