CrvA and CrvB form a curvature-inducing module sufficient to induce cell-shape complexity in Gram-negative bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial species have diverse cell shapes that enable motility, colonization and virulence. The cell wall defines bacterial shape and is primarily built by two cytoskeleton-guided synthesis machines, the elongasome and the divisome. However, the mechanisms producing complex shapes, like the curved-rod shape of Vibrio cholerae, are incompletely defined. Previous studies have reported that species-specific regulation of cytoskeleton-guided machines enables formation of complex bacterial shapes such as cell curvature and cellular appendages. In contrast, we report that CrvA and CrvB are sufficient to induce complex cell shape autonomously of the cytoskeleton in V. cholerae. The autonomy of the CrvAB module also enables it to induce curvature in the Gram-negative species Escherichia coli, Pse

SUBMITTER: Martin NR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8764749 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature