Essential role of DivIVA in polar growth and morphogenesis in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)
Author
Summary, in English
Streptomycetes grow by cell wall extension at hyphal
tips. The molecular basis for such polar growth in
prokaryotes is largely unknown. It is reported here
that DivIVA
SC
, the
Streptomyces coelicolor
homologue
of the
Bacillus subtilis
protein DivIVA, is essential
and directly involved in hyphal tip growth and
morphogenesis. A DivIVA
SC
-EGFP hybrid was distinctively
localized to hyphal tips and lateral branches.
Reduction of
divIVA
SC
expression to about 10% of the
normal level produced a phenotype strikingly similar
to that of many tip growth mutants in fungi, including
irregular curly hyphae and apical branching. Overexpression
of the gene dramatically perturbed determination
of cell shape at the growing tips. Furthermore,
staining of nascent peptidoglycan with a fluorescent
vancomycin conjugate revealed that induction of
overexpression in normal hyphae disturbed tip
growth, and gave rise to several new sites of cell wall
assembly, effectively causing hyperbranching. The
results show that DivIVA
SC
is a novel bacterial morphogene,
and it is localized at or very close to the
apical sites of peptidoglycan assembly in
Streptomyces
hyphae.
tips. The molecular basis for such polar growth in
prokaryotes is largely unknown. It is reported here
that DivIVA
SC
, the
Streptomyces coelicolor
homologue
of the
Bacillus subtilis
protein DivIVA, is essential
and directly involved in hyphal tip growth and
morphogenesis. A DivIVA
SC
-EGFP hybrid was distinctively
localized to hyphal tips and lateral branches.
Reduction of
divIVA
SC
expression to about 10% of the
normal level produced a phenotype strikingly similar
to that of many tip growth mutants in fungi, including
irregular curly hyphae and apical branching. Overexpression
of the gene dramatically perturbed determination
of cell shape at the growing tips. Furthermore,
staining of nascent peptidoglycan with a fluorescent
vancomycin conjugate revealed that induction of
overexpression in normal hyphae disturbed tip
growth, and gave rise to several new sites of cell wall
assembly, effectively causing hyperbranching. The
results show that DivIVA
SC
is a novel bacterial morphogene,
and it is localized at or very close to the
apical sites of peptidoglycan assembly in
Streptomyces
hyphae.
Publishing year
2003
Language
English
Pages
1523-1536
Publication/Series
Molecular Microbiology
Volume
49
Issue
6
Links
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Topic
- Biological Sciences
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1365-2958