MurJ is the flippase of lipid-linked precursors for peptidoglycan biogenesis

Peptidoglycan (PG) is a polysaccharide matrix that protects bacteria from osmotic lysis. Inhibition of its biogenesis is a proven strategy for killing bacteria with antibiotics. The assembly of PG requires disaccharide-pentapeptide building blocks attached to a polyisoprene lipid carrier called lipi...

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Published inScience (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 345; no. 6193; pp. 220 - 222
Main Authors Sham, Lok-To, Butler, Emily K., Lebar, Matthew D., Kahne, Daniel, Bernhardt, Thomas G., Ruiz, Natividad
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington American Association for the Advancement of Science 11.07.2014
The American Association for the Advancement of Science
Subjects
Amino acids
Animal genetics
Antibiotics
Bacteria
Biochemistry
Butanols
Cells
Enzymes
Escherichia coli
Lipids
Matrix
Medical genetics
Membranes
Precursors
Product labeling
Spheroplasts
Sugars
Walls
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Summary:Peptidoglycan (PG) is a polysaccharide matrix that protects bacteria from osmotic lysis. Inhibition of its biogenesis is a proven strategy for killing bacteria with antibiotics. The assembly of PG requires disaccharide-pentapeptide building blocks attached to a polyisoprene lipid carrier called lipid II. Although the stages of lipid II synthesis are known, the identity of the essential flippase that translocates it across the cytoplasmic membrane for PG polymerization is unclear. We developed an assay for lipid II flippase activity and used a chemical genetic strategy to rapidly and specifically block flippase function. We combined these approaches to demonstrate that MurJ is the lipid II flippase in Escherichia coli.
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ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1254522