title: Building the invisible wall: updating the chlamydial peptidoglycan anomaly.
abstract: The existence of peptidoglycan (PG) in chlamydiae has long been debated. Genome sequencing of members of the Chlamydiaceae family and Protochlamydia amoebophila has uncovered a nearly complete pathway for PG synthesis in these organisms. The recent use of microarray and proteomic analysis methods has revealed that PG synthesis genes are expressed primarily during reticulate body development and division. Furthermore, key genes in the chlamydial PG synthesis pathway encode functional PG synthesis enzymes, some of which provide the basis for the susceptibility of chlamydiae to PG inhibitors. Recent studies shed light on how the construction of a cell wall in chlamydiae is taking shape and why the wall is being built.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814-4799, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: McCoy
authors.forename: Anthony T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Maurelli
mesh_terms: D019883:Alkyl and Aryl Transferases / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002455:Cell Division; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D002695:Chlamydiales / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010453:Peptide Synthases / Q000378:metabolism; D010457:Peptidoglycan / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D010457:Peptidoglycan; D019883:Alkyl and Aryl Transferases; C022566:UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 1-carboxyvinyltransferase; D010453:Peptide Synthases