Abstract
Background: Changes in nutrient availability have dramatic and well-defined impacts on both transcription and translation in bacterial cells. At the same time, the role of post-translational control in adaptation to nutrient-poor environments is poorly understood. Previous studies demonstrate the ability of the glucosyltransferase UgtP to influence cell size in response to nutrient availability. Under nutrient-rich medium, interactions with its substrate UDP-glucose promote interactions between UgtP and the tubulin-like cell division protein FtsZ in Bacillus subtilis, inhibiting maturation of the cytokinetic ring and increasing cell size. In nutrient-poor medium, reductions in UDP-glucose availability favor UgtP oligomerization, sequestering it from FtsZ and allowing division to occur at a smaller cell mass. Results: Intriguingly, in nutrient-poor conditions UgtP levels are reduced ∼ 3-fold independent of UDP-glucose. B. subtilis cells cultured under different nutrient conditions indicate that UgtP accumulation is controlled through a nutrient-dependent post-translational mechanism dependent on the Clp proteases. Notably, all three B. subtilis Clp chaperones appeared able to target UgtP for degradation during growth in nutrient-poor conditions. Conclusions: Together these findings highlight conditional proteolysis as a mechanism for bacterial adaptation to a rapidly changing nutritional landscape.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 29 |
Journal | BMC Microbiology |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 6 2018 |
Keywords
- Cell cycle
- Cell division
- Cell size
- ClpP
- UDP-glucose
- UgtP