Proteolysis of the Caulobacter McpA chemoreceptor is cell cycle regulated by a ClpX-dependent pathway.
Proteolysis is involved in cell differentiation and the progression through the cell cycle in Caulobacter crescentus. We have constitutively expressed the transmembrane chemoreceptor McpA from a multicopy plasmid to demonstrate that McpA degradation is modulated during the cell cycle. The level of McpA protein starts to decrease only when the swarmer cells differentiate into stalked cells. The reduction in McpA protein levels is maintained until the stalked cells develop into predivisional cells, at which point the level returns to that observed in swarmer cells. The cell-cycle-regulated degradation of McpA does not require the last 12 C-terminal amino acids, but it does require three amino acids (AAL) located 15 residues away from the C terminus. The ClpXP protease is essential in C. crescentus for viability, and thus, we tested McpA degradation in xylose conditional mutants. The effect on McpA degradation occurred within two generations from the start of ClpX depletion. The conditional mutants' growth rate was only slightly affected, suggesting that ClpX is directly involved in McpA proteolysis.
Tsai
J W
JW
Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2AY, United Kingdom.
Alley
M R
MR
D000074183:ATPases Associated with Diverse Cellular Activities; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016935:Caulobacter crescentus / Q000378:metabolism*; D002453:Cell Cycle; D049071:Endopeptidase Clp; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000072236:Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Proteins; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D000072236:Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Proteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; C069656:CheB protein, Bacteria; D008780:Methyltransferases; C038706:chemotaxis methyltransferase; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D049071:Endopeptidase Clp; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; C088072:ClpX protein, E coli; D000074183:ATPases Associated with Diverse Cellular Activities