title: Glycopeptidolipid acetylation affects sliding motility and biofilm formation in Mycobacterium smegmatis.
abstract: The absence of glycopeptidolipids (GPLs) abolishes the ability of mycobacteria both to slide over the surface of motility plates and to form biofilms on polyvinyl chloride. In a screen for biofilm-defective mutants of Mycobacterium smegmatis mc(2)155, a new mutant was obtained that resulted in partial inhibition of both processes and also showed an intermediate rough colony morphology. The mariner transposon insertion mapped to a GPL biosynthesis gene (atf1) which encodes a putative acetyltranferase involved in the transfer of acetyl groups to the glycopeptide core. Physical characterization of the GPLs from the atf1 mutant demonstrated that they were not acetylated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Recht
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kolter
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D006001:Glycoconjugates / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009068:Movement; D005810:Multigene Family; D009154:Mutation; D020102:Mycobacterium smegmatis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D011143:Polyvinyl Chloride
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D006001:Glycoconjugates; D011143:Polyvinyl Chloride; D000123:Acetyltransferases