Spatial organization enhances versatility and specificity in cyclic di-GMP signaling

• Published in: Biological chemistry Vol. 401; no. 12; pp. 1323 - 1334
• Main Authors: Kunz, Sandra, Graumann, Peter L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany De Gruyter 26.11.2020
• Subjects: cyclic di-GMP; second messenger signaling; spatial specificity; second messenger signaling; spatial specificity; cyclic di-GMP
• ISSN: 1431-6730; 1437-4315
• DOI: 10.1515/hsz-2020-0202

The second messenger cyclic di-GMP regulates a variety of processes in bacteria, many of which are centered around the decision whether to adopt a sessile or a motile life style. Regulatory circuits include pathogenicity, biofilm formation, and motility in a wide variety of bacteria, and play a key role in cell cycle progression in . Interestingly, multiple, seemingly independent c-di-GMP pathways have been found in several species, where deletions of individual c-di-GMP synthetases (DGCs) or hydrolases (PDEs) have resulted in distinct phenotypes that would not be expected based on a freely diffusible second messenger. Several recent studies have shown that individual signaling nodes exist, and additionally, that protein/protein interactions between DGCs, PDEs and c-di-GMP receptors play an important role in signaling specificity. Additionally, subcellular clustering has been shown to be employed by bacteria to likely generate local signaling of second messenger, and/or to increase signaling specificity. This review highlights recent findings that reveal how bacteria employ spatial cues to increase the versatility of second messenger signaling.