Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA.
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA
J Bacteriol. 2020 Feb 25;202(6). doi: 10.1128/JB.00720-19.
Bacteria such as divide by organizing filaments of FtsZ, a tubulin homolog that assembles into dynamic treadmilling membrane-associated protein filaments at the cell midpoint. FtsA and ZipA proteins are required to tether these filaments to the inner face of the cytoplasmic membrane, and loss of either tether is lethal. ZipA from and other closely related species harbors a long linker region that connects the essential N-terminal transmembrane domain to the C-terminal globular FtsZ-binding domain, and part of this linker includes a P/Q-rich peptide that is predicted to be intrinsically disordered. We found unexpectedly that several large deletions of the ZipA linker region, including the entire P/Q rich peptide, had no effect on cell division under normal conditions. However, we found that the loss of the P/Q region made cells more resistant to excess levels of FtsA and more sensitive to conditions that displaced FtsA from FtsZ. FtsA also harbors a short ∼20-residue peptide linker that connects the main globular domain with the C-terminal amphipathic helix that is important for membrane binding. In analogy with ZipA, deletion of 11 of the central residues in the FtsA linker had little effect on FtsA function in cell division. cells divide using a cytokinetic ring composed of polymers of the tubulin-like FtsZ. To function properly, these polymers must attach to the inner surface of the cytoplasmic membrane via two essential membrane-associated tethers, FtsA and ZipA. Both FtsA and ZipA contain peptide linkers that connect their membrane-binding domains with their FtsZ-binding domains. Although they are presumed to be crucial for cell division activity, the importance of these linkers has not yet been rigorously tested. Here, we show that large segments of these linkers can be removed with few consequences for cell division, although several subtle defects were uncovered. Our results suggest that ZipA, in particular, can function in cell division without an extended linker.
细菌通过组织 FtsZ 丝来分裂,FtsZ 是一种微管同源物,它在细胞中部组装成动态的踏车式膜相关蛋白丝。FtsA 和 ZipA 蛋白需要将这些丝固定在细胞质膜的内表面上,并且丢失任何一个固定物都会导致细胞死亡。来自 和其他密切相关物种的 ZipA 含有一个长的连接区,该连接区将必需的 N 端跨膜结构域连接到 C 端球状 FtsZ 结合结构域,该连接区的一部分包括富含 P/Q 的肽,该肽被预测为无规卷曲。我们出人意料地发现,ZipA 连接区的几个大缺失,包括整个富含 P/Q 的肽,在正常条件下对细胞分裂没有影响。然而,我们发现缺失 P/Q 区域使细胞对过量的 FtsA 更具抗性,并对使 FtsA 从 FtsZ 移位的条件更敏感。FtsA 还含有一个短的约 20 个残基的肽连接区,该连接区将主要的球状结构域与 C 端两性螺旋连接起来,该螺旋对于膜结合很重要。与 ZipA 类似,在 FtsA 连接区中缺失 11 个中心残基对 FtsA 在细胞分裂中的功能几乎没有影响。细胞使用由微管样 FtsZ 聚合物组成的细胞分裂环进行分裂。为了正常发挥作用,这些聚合物必须通过两个必需的膜相关固定物 FtsA 和 ZipA 附着在细胞质膜的内表面上。FtsA 和 ZipA 都含有肽连接区,它们将其膜结合结构域与 FtsZ 结合结构域连接起来。尽管它们被认为对细胞分裂活动至关重要,但这些连接物的重要性尚未得到严格测试。在这里,我们表明,这些连接物的大部分可以被去除,对细胞分裂几乎没有影响,尽管发现了几个细微的缺陷。我们的结果表明,特别是 ZipA,可以在没有扩展连接物的情况下在细胞分裂中发挥作用。