Organization of peptidoglycan synthesis in nodes and separate rings at different stages of cell division of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial peptidoglycan (PG) synthesis requires strict spatiotemporal organization to reproduce specific cell shapes. In ovoid-shaped Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn), septal and peripheral (elongation) PG synthesis occur simultaneously at midcell. To uncover the organization of proteins and activities that carry out these two modes of PG synthesis, we examined Spn cells vertically oriented onto their poles to image the division plane at the high lateral resolution of 3D-SIM (structured-illumination microscopy). Labeling with fluorescent D-amino acids (FDAA) showed that areas of new transpeptidase (TP) activity catalyzed by penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) separate into a pair of concentric rings early in division, representing peripheral PG (pPG) synthesis (outer ring) and the leading-edg

SUBMITTER: Perez AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8575487 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature