Milner, D.S., Ray, L.J., Saxon, E.B. et al. (4 more authors) (2020) DivIVA controls progeny morphology and diverse ParA proteins regulate cell division or gliding motility in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11. 542. ISSN 1664-302X
Abstract
The predatory bacterium B. bacteriovorus grows and divides inside the periplasm of Gram-negative bacteria, forming a structure known as a bdelloplast. Cell division of predators inside the dead prey cell is not by binary fission but instead by synchronous division of a single elongated filamentous cell into odd or even numbers of progeny cells. Bdellovibrio replication and cell division processes are dependent on the finite level of nutrients available from inside the prey bacterium. The filamentous growth and division process of the predator maximizes the number of progeny produced by the finite nutrients in a way that binary fission could not. To learn more about such an unusual growth profile, we studied the role of DivIVA in the growing Bdellovibrio cell. This protein is well known for its link to polar cell growth and spore formation in Gram-positive bacteria, but little is known about its function in a predatory growth context. We show that DivIVA is expressed in the growing B. bacteriovorus cell and controls cell morphology during filamentous cell division, but not the number of progeny produced. Bacterial Two Hybrid (BTH) analysis shows DivIVA may interact with proteins that respond to metabolic indicators of amino-acid biosynthesis or changes in redox state. Such changes may be relevant signals to the predator, indicating the consumption of prey nutrients within the sealed bdelloplast environment. ParA, a chromosome segregation protein, also contributes to bacterial septation in many species. The B. bacteriovorus genome contains three ParA homologs; we identify a canonical ParAB pair required for predatory cell division and show a BTH interaction between a gene product encoded from the same operon as DivIVA with the canonical ParA. The remaining ParA proteins are both expressed in Bdellovibrio but are not required for predator cell division. Instead, one of these ParA proteins coordinates gliding motility, changing the frequency at which the cells reverse direction. Our work will prime further studies into how one bacterium can co-ordinate its cell division with the destruction of another bacterium that it dwells within.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 Milner, Ray, Saxon, Lambert, Till, Fenton and Sockett. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
Keywords: | predatory bacteria; Bdellovibrio; ParAB; DivIVA; septation; cell-morphology |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) > Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 24 Apr 2020 10:18 |
Last Modified: | 25 Apr 2020 19:55 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Frontiers Media SA |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00542 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:159835 |
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