Functional Characterization of the Cell Division Gene Cluster of the Wall-less Bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium
It is well-established that FtsZ drives peptidoglycan synthesis at the division site in walled bacteria. However, the function and conservation of FtsZ in wall-less prokaryotes such as mycoplasmas are less clear. In the genome-reduced bacterium , the cell division gene cluster is limited to four gen...
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| Published in | Frontiers in microbiology Vol. 12; p. 695572 |
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| Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
Switzerland
Frontiers Media S.A
13.09.2021
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| Subjects | |
| Online Access | Get full text |
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| Summary: | It is well-established that FtsZ drives peptidoglycan synthesis at the division site in walled bacteria. However, the function and conservation of FtsZ in wall-less prokaryotes such as mycoplasmas are less clear. In the genome-reduced bacterium
, the cell division gene cluster is limited to four genes:
,
, MG_223, and
. In a previous study, we demonstrated that
was dispensable for growth of
under laboratory culture conditions. Herein, we show that the entire cell division gene cluster of
is non-essential for growth
. Our analyses indicate that loss of the
gene alone is more detrimental for growth of
than deletion of
or the entire cell division gene cluster. Transcriptional analysis revealed a marked upregulation of
in the
mutant. Stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC)-based proteomics confirmed the overexpression of FtsZ in MraZ-deprived cells. Of note, we found that
expression was upregulated in non-adherent cells of
, which arise spontaneously at relatively high rates. Single cell analysis using fluorescent markers showed that FtsZ localization varied throughout the cell cycle of
in a coordinated manner with the chromosome and the terminal organelle (TMO). In addition, our results indicate a possible role for the RNA methyltransferase MraW in the regulation of FtsZ expression at the post-transcriptional level. Altogether, this study provides an extensive characterization of the cell division gene cluster of
and demonstrates the existence of regulatory elements controlling FtsZ expression at the temporal and spatial level in mycoplasmas. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 This article was submitted to Microbial Physiology and Metabolism, a section of the journal Frontiers in Microbiology These authors have contributed equally to this work Reviewed by: William Margolin, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, United States; Iain G. Duggin, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Edited by: Joe Lutkenhaus, University of Kansas Medical Center Research Institute, United States |
| ISSN: | 1664-302X 1664-302X |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fmicb.2021.695572 |