Amide bonds assemble pili on the surface of bacilli

Pilin precursors are the building blocks of pili on the surface of Gram-positive bacteria; however, the assembly mechanisms of these adhesive fibers are unknown. Here, we describe the chemical bonds that assemble BcpA pilin subunits on the surface of Bacillus cereus. Sortase D cleaves BcpA precursor...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2008-07, Vol.105 (29), p.10215-10220
Main Authors: Budzik, Jonathan M, Marraffini, Luciano A, Souda, Puneet, Whitelegge, Julian P, Faull, Kym F, Schneewind, Olaf
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amides
Amides - metabolism
Amino Acid Sequence
Amino Acid Substitution
Aminoacyltransferases - genetics
Aminoacyltransferases - metabolism
Bacillus anthracis - genetics
Bacillus anthracis - growth & development
Bacillus anthracis - physiology
Bacillus cereus
Bacterial Proteins - chemistry
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Bacterial Proteins - physiology
Biological Sciences
Cell walls
Cells
Chemical bonding
Chemical bonds
Chromatography
Cysteine Endopeptidases - genetics
Cysteine Endopeptidases - metabolism
Fimbriae proteins
Fimbriae Proteins - chemistry
Fimbriae Proteins - genetics
Fimbriae Proteins - physiology
Fimbriae, Bacterial - genetics
Fimbriae, Bacterial - physiology
Genes, Bacterial
Gram positive bacteria
Mass spectroscopy
Membrane proteins
Molecular Sequence Data
Molecules
Mutagenesis, Site-Directed
Operon
Organic chemicals
Plasmids
Proteins
Recombinant Proteins - chemistry
Recombinant Proteins - genetics
Recombinant Proteins - metabolism
Signal transduction
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Pilin precursors are the building blocks of pili on the surface of Gram-positive bacteria; however, the assembly mechanisms of these adhesive fibers are unknown. Here, we describe the chemical bonds that assemble BcpA pilin subunits on the surface of Bacillus cereus. Sortase D cleaves BcpA precursor between the threonine (T) and the glycine (G) residues of its LPXTG sorting signal and catalyzes formation of an amide bond between threonine (T) of the sorting signal and lysine (K) in the YPKN motif of another BcpA subunit. Three CNA B domains of BcpA generate intramolecular amide bonds, and one of these contributes also to pilus formation. Conservation of catalysts and structural elements in pilin precursors in Gram-positive bacteria suggests a universal mechanism of fiber assembly.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0803565105