RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Cell-wall synthases contribute to bacterial cell-envelope integrity by actively repairing defects
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 763508
DO 10.1101/763508
A1 Antoine Vigouroux
A1 Baptiste Cordier
A1 Andrey Aristov
A1 Enno Oldewurtel
A1 Gizem Özbaykal
A1 Thibault Chaze
A1 Mariette Matondo
A1 David Bikard
A1 Sven van Teeffelen
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/09/12/763508.abstract
AB Cell shape and cell-envelope integrity of bacteria are determined by the peptidoglycan cell wall. In rod-shaped Escherichia coli, two conserved sets of machinery are essential for cell-wall insertion in the cylindrical part of the cell, the Rod complex and the class-A penicillin-binding proteins (aPBPs). While the Rod complex governs rod-like cell shape, aPBP function is less well understood. aPBPs were previously hypothesized to either work in concert with the Rod complex or to independently repair cell-wall defects. First, we demonstrate through modulation of enzyme levels that class-A PBPs do not contribute to rod-like cell shape but are required for mechanical stability, supporting their independent activity. By combining measurements of cell-wall stiffness, cell-wall insertion, and PBP1b motion at the single-molecule level we then demonstrate that PBP1b, the major class-A PBP, contributes to cell-wall integrity by localizing and inserting peptidoglycan in direct response to local cell-wall defects.