Priming and elongation: dissection of the lipoteichoic acid biosynthetic pathway in Gram-positive bacteria.
The biosynthesis of lipoteichoic acids is a potential target for the development of novel antimicrobials against significant Firmicute pathogens. Excellent progress has been made in recent years towards understanding the biochemistry and genetics of polyglycerophosphate lipoteichoic acid biosynthesis but it has remained unclear whether this pathway requires an initial 'priming' reaction to initiate synthesis on the glycolipid anchor. Recent work from the laboratory of Angelika Gründling, including a new study by Wörmann et al. in this issue of Molecular Microbiology, provides confirmation of the priming step and further insights into the functional redundancy of lipoteichoic acid biosynthesis enzymes in Bacillus subtilis.
Biomolecular and Biomedical Research Centre, School of Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK. iain.sutcliffe@northumbria.ac
Iain C
IC
Sutcliffe
D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D053898:Biosynthetic Pathways / Q000187:drug effects; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008345:Manganese / Q000494:pharmacology; D013379:Substrate Specificity / Q000187:drug effects; D013682:Teichoic Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000302:isolation & purification
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D006017:Glycolipids; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D013682:Teichoic Acids; D008345:Manganese; C009900:lipoteichoic acid