Cell wall precursors are required to organize the chlamydial division septum.
Members of the Chlamydiales order are major bacterial pathogens that divide at mid-cell, without a sequence homologue of the FtsZ cytokinetic tubulin and without a classical peptidoglycan cell wall. Moreover, the spatiotemporal mechanisms directing constriction in Chlamydia are not known. Here we show that the MreB actin homologue and its conserved regulator RodZ localize to the division furrow in Waddlia chondrophila, a member of the Chlamydiales order implicated in human miscarriage. RodZ is recruited to the septal site earlier than MreB and in a manner that depends on biosynthesis of the peptidoglycan precursor lipid II by the MurA enzyme. By contrast, crosslinking of lipid II peptides by the Pbp3 transpeptidase disperses RodZ from the septum. Altogether, these findings provide a cytological framework for understanding chlamydial cytokinesis driven by septal cell wall synthesis.
Institute of Microbiology, University Hospital Center and University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Nicolas
N
Jacquier
Institute of Genetics & Genomics in Geneva (iGE3), Department of Microbiology & Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine / CMU, University of Geneva, 1211 Genève 4, Switzerland.
Antonio
A
Frandi
Institute of Microbiology, University Hospital Center and University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Trestan
T
Pillonel
Patrick H
PH
Viollier
Institute of Genetics & Genomics in Geneva (iGE3), Department of Microbiology & Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine / CMU, University of Geneva, 1211 Genève 4, Switzerland.
Patrick
P
Viollier
Institute of Microbiology, University Hospital Center and University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Gilbert
G
Greub
D019883:Alkyl and Aryl Transferases / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000502:physiology*; D002695:Chlamydiales / Q000502:physiology*; D048749:Cytokinesis / Q000502:physiology*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D014538:Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylmuramic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D014538:Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylmuramic Acid; C069249:muramyl-NAc-(pentapeptide)pyrophosphoryl-undecaprenol; D019883:Alkyl and Aryl Transferases; C022566:UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 1-carboxyvinyltransferase