title: Phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis and its significance in bacteria interacting with eukaryotic cells.
abstract: Phosphatidylcholine (PC), a typical eukaryotic membrane phospholipid, is present in only about 10% of all bacterial species, in particular in bacteria interacting with eukaryotes. A number of studies revealed that PC plays a fundamental role in symbiotic and pathogenic microbe-host interactions. Agrobacterium tumefaciens mutants lacking PC are unable to elicit plant tumors. The human pathogens Brucella abortus and Legionella pneumophila require PC for full virulence. The plant symbionts Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Sinorhizobium meliloti depend on wild-type levels of PC to establish an efficient root nodule symbiosis. Two pathways for PC biosynthesis are known in bacteria, the methylation pathway and the phosphatidylcholine synthase (Pcs) pathway. The methylation pathway involves a three-step methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine by at least one phospholipid N-methyltransferase to yield phosphatidylcholine. In the Pcs pathway, choline is condensed directly with CDP-diacylglycerol to form PC. This review focuses on the biosynthetic pathways and the significance of PC in bacteria with an emphasis on plant-microbe interactions.
authors.affiliation: Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Lehrstuhl für Biologie der Mikroorganismen, Universitätsstrasse 150, NDEF 06/783, 44780 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Meriyem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aktas
authors.forename: Mirja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wessel
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hacker
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klüsener
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gleichenhagen
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Narberhaus
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000382:microbiology*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D010713:Phosphatidylcholines