title: Pentapeptide-rich peptidoglycan at the Bacillus subtilis cell-division site.
abstract: Peptidoglycan (PG), the major component of the bacterial cell wall, is one large macromolecule. To allow for the different curvatures of PG at cell poles and division sites, there must be local differences in PG architecture and eventually also chemistry. Here we report such local differences in the Gram-positive rod-shaped model organism Bacillus subtilis. Single-cell analysis after antibiotic treatment and labeling of the cell wall with a fluorescent analogue of vancomycin or the fluorescent D-amino acid analogue (FDAA) HCC-amino-D-alanine revealed that PG at the septum contains muropeptides with unprocessed stem peptides (pentapeptides). Whereas these pentapeptides are normally shortened after incorporation into PG, this activity is reduced at division sites indicating either a lower local degree of PG crosslinking or a difference in PG composition, which could be a topological marker for other proteins. The pentapeptides remain partially unprocessed after division when they form the new pole of a cell. The accumulation of unprocessed PG at the division site is not caused by the activity of the cell division specific penicillin-binding protein 2B. To our knowledge, this is the first indication of local differences in the chemical composition of PG in Gram-positive bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Danae
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morales Angeles
authors.affiliation: Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Alwin M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hartman
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and Infection Medicine Tübingen, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borisova
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anabela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Sousa Borges
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: de Kok
authors.affiliation: Molecular Genetics Group, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, Centre for Synthetic Biology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beilharz
authors.affiliation: Molecular Genetics Group, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, Centre for Synthetic Biology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.|Department of Fundamental Microbiology, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Biophore Building, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jan-Willem
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Veening
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and Infection Medicine Tübingen, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.affiliation: Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anna K H
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dirk-Jan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9439-9168
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Scheffers
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002455:Cell Division; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D046915:Penicillin-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010457:Peptidoglycan / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D046915:Penicillin-Binding Proteins; D010457:Peptidoglycan; D014640:Vancomycin