biostudies-literatureSanchez SHHS | National Institutes of HealthHHS | NIH | NIH Office of the Directore00029-21https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC8088609biostudies-literatureUnknown203(10)Lytic enzymes play an essential role in the remodeling of bacterial peptidoglycan (PG), an extracellular mesh-like structure that retains the membrane in the context of high internal osmotic pressure. Peptidoglycan must be unfailingly stable to preserve cell integrity, but must also be dynamically remodeled for the cell to grow, divide, and insert macromolecular machines. The flagellum is one such macromolecular machine that transits the PG, and flagellar insertion is aided by localized activity of a dedicated PG lyase in Gram-negative bacteria. To date, there is no known dedicated lyase in Gram-positive bacteria for the insertion of flagella. Here, we take a reverse-genetic candidate-gene approach and find that cells mutated for the lytic transglycosylase CwlQ exhibit a severe defect in fJournal of bacteriologyCwlQ Is Required for Swarming Motility but Not Flagellar Assembly in Bacillus subtilis.PMC80886091S10OD024988-01R35 GM131783Sanchez SKearns DBDunn CMfalseCwlQ Is Required for Swarming Motility but Not Flagellar Assembly in Bacillus subtilis.Lytic enzymes play an essential role in the remodeling of bacterial peptidoglycan (PG), an extracellular mesh-like structure that retains the membrane in the context of high internal osmotic pressure. Peptidoglycan must be unfailingly stable to preserve cell integrity, but must also be dynamically remodeled for the cell to grow, divide, and insert macromolecular machines. The flagellum is one such macromolecular machine that transits the PG, and flagellar insertion is aided by localized activity of a dedicated PG lyase in Gram-negative bacteria. To date, there is no known dedicated lyase in Gram-positive bacteria for the insertion of flagella. Here, we take a reverse-genetic candidate-gene approach and find that cells mutated for the lytic transglycosylase CwlQ exhibit a severe defect in f2021-01-01T00:00:00Z2021 Apr2025-04-26T23:43:00.882Z2025-04-06T17:39:00.057ZS-EPMC80886093364914610.1128/jb.00029-2110.1128/JB.00029-21