title: An assessment of the role of intracellular free Ca2+ in E. coli.
abstract: We have previously proposed that fluctuations in Ca(2+) levels should play an important role in bacteria as in eukaryotes in regulating cell cycle events (Norris et al., J. Theor. Biol. 134 (1998) 341-350). This proposal implied the presence of Ca(2+) uptake systems in bacteria, cell cycle mutants simultaneously defective in Ca(2+)-homeostasis, and perturbation of cell cycle processes when cellular Ca(2+) levels are depleted. We review the properties of new cell cycle mutants in E. coli and B. subtilis resistant to inhibitors of calmodulin, PKC or Ca(2+)-channels; the evidence for Ca(2+)-binding proteins including Acp and FtsZ; and Ca(2+)-transporters. In addition, the effects of EGTA and verapamil (a Ca(2+) channel inhibitor) on growth, protein synthesis and cell cycle events in E. coli are described. We also describe new measurements of free Ca(2+)-levels, using aequorin, in E. coli. Several new cell cycle mutants were obtained using this approach, affecting either initiation of DNA replication or in particular cell division at non-permissive temperature. Several of the mutants were also hypersensitive to EGTA and or Ca(2+). However, none of the mutants apparently involved direct alteration of a drug target and surprisingly in some cases involved specific tRNAs or a tRNA synthetase. The results also indicate that the expression of several genes in E. coli may be regulated by Ca(2+). Cell division in particular appears very sensitive to the level of cell Ca(2+), with the frequency of division clearly reduced by EGTA and by verapamil. However, whilst the effect of EGTA was clearly correlated with depletion of cellular Ca(2+) including free Ca(2+), this was not the case with verapamil which appears to change membrane fluidity and the consequent activity of membrane proteins. Measurement of free Ca(2+) in living cells indicated levels of 200-300 nM, tightly regulated in wild type cells in exponential phase, somewhat less so in stationary phase, with apparently La(2+)-sensitive PHB-polyphosphate complexes involved in Ca(2+) influx. The evidence reviewed increasingly supports a role for Ca(2+) in cellular processes in bacteria, however, any direct link to the control of cell cycle events remains to be established.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génétique et Microbiologie, UMR CNRS 8621, Université Paris-Sud, Bâtiment 409,0, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France.
authors.forename: I B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Holland
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jacq
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology; D002147:Calmodulin / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D002455:Cell Division; D002633:Chemotaxis; D004533:Egtazic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D007424:Intracellular Fluid / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014700:Verapamil / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D002147:Calmodulin; D004533:Egtazic Acid; D014700:Verapamil; D011493:Protein Kinase C; D002118:Calcium