title: Diverse supramolecular structures formed by self-assembling proteins of the Bacillus subtilis spore coat.
abstract: Bacterial spores (endospores), such as those of the pathogens Clostridium difficile and Bacillus anthracis, are uniquely stable cell forms, highly resistant to harsh environmental insults. Bacillus subtilis is the best studied spore-former and we have used it to address the question of how the spore coat is assembled from multiple components to form a robust, protective superstructure. B. subtilis coat proteins (CotY, CotE, CotV and CotW) expressed in Escherichia coli can arrange intracellularly into highly stable macro-structures through processes of self-assembly. Using electron microscopy, we demonstrate the capacity of these proteins to generate ordered one-dimensional fibres, two-dimensional sheets and three-dimensional stacks. In one case (CotY), the high degree of order favours strong, cooperative intracellular disulfide cross-linking. Assemblies of this kind could form exquisitely adapted building blocks for higher-order assembly across all spore-formers. These physically robust arrayed units could also have novel applications in nano-biotechnology processes.
authors: Krebs Institute for Biomolecular Research, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
authors: Shuo
authors: S
authors: Jiang
authors: Krebs Institute for Biomolecular Research, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
authors: Qiang
authors: Q
authors: Wan
authors: Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 21, Bratislava, 845 51, Slovakia.
authors: Daniela
authors: D
authors: Krajcikova
authors: State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130022, China.
authors: Jilin
authors: J
authors: Tang
authors: Krebs Institute for Biomolecular Research, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
authors: Svetomir B
authors: SB
authors: Tzokov
authors: Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 21, Bratislava, 845 51, Slovakia.
authors: Imrich
authors: I
authors: Barak
authors: Krebs Institute for Biomolecular Research, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
authors: Per A
authors: PA
authors: Bullough
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D013171:Spores, Bacterial
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins