Localized cardiolipin synthesis is required for the assembly of MreB during the polarized cell division of Chlamydia trachomatis.

ABSTRACT: Pathogenic Chlamydia species are coccoid bacteria that use the rod-shape determining protein MreB to direct septal peptidoglycan synthesis during their polarized cell division process. How the site of polarized budding is determined in this bacterium, where contextual features like membrane curvature are seemingly identical, is unclear. We hypothesized that the accumulation of the phospholipid, cardiolipin (CL), in specific regions of the cell membrane induces localized membrane changes that trigger the recruitment of MreB to the site where the bud will arise. To test this, we ectopically expressed cardiolipin synthase (Cls) and observed a polar distribution for this enzyme in Chlamydia trachomatis. In early division intermediates, Cls was restricted to the bud site where MreB is localized

SUBMITTER: Ouellette SP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9499288 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature