Speculations on the growth strategy of prosthecate bacteria

1988 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 390-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur L. Koch

Appendaged bacteria with stalks that are extensions of the cell wall have had to solve the problems of growing the stalk as a tube of constant diameter and of partitioning their chromosomes into the asymmetric daughter cells. Although no experimental proof is given, it is suggested that both processes depend on the attachment of the chromosome origin and terminus to the wall at special terminal sites that contain the basal body (motor assembly) for flagellar motion.

2009 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 572-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeaki Kubo ◽  
Shinsuke Kaida ◽  
Jun Abe ◽  
Tatsuaki Saito ◽  
Hideya Fukuzawa ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 295 (39) ◽  
pp. 13664-13676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Willing ◽  
Emma Dyer ◽  
Olaf Schneewind ◽  
Dominique Missiakas

Staphylococcal peptidoglycan is characterized by pentaglycine cross-bridges that are cross-linked between adjacent wall peptides by penicillin-binding proteins to confer robustness and flexibility. In Staphylococcus aureus, pentaglycine cross-bridges are synthesized by three proteins: FemX adds the first glycine, and the homodimers FemA and FemB sequentially add two Gly-Gly dipeptides. Occasionally, serine residues are also incorporated into the cross-bridges by enzymes that have heretofore not been identified. Here, we show that the FemA/FemB homologues FmhA and FmhC pair with FemA and FemB to incorporate Gly-Ser dipeptides into cross-bridges and to confer resistance to lysostaphin, a secreted bacteriocin that cleaves the pentaglycine cross-bridge. FmhA incorporates serine residues at positions 3 and 5 of the cross-bridge. In contrast, FmhC incorporates a single serine at position 5. Serine incorporation also lowers resistance toward oxacillin, an antibiotic that targets penicillin-binding proteins, in both methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant strains of S. aureus. FmhC is encoded by a gene immediately adjacent to lytN, which specifies a hydrolase that cleaves the bond between the fifth glycine of cross-bridges and the alanine of the adjacent stem peptide. In this manner, LytN facilitates the separation of daughter cells. Cell wall damage induced upon lytN overexpression can be alleviated by overexpression of fmhC. Together, these observations suggest that FmhA and FmhC generate peptidoglycan cross-bridges with unique serine patterns that provide protection from endogenous murein hydrolases governing cell division and from bacteriocins produced by microbial competitors.


1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 439-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry R. Hoffman ◽  
Cecilia S. Hofmann

Quadriflagellate zoospores and conditions for their induction are described for an algal isolate tentatively identified as Cylindrocapsa geminella Wolle. Previous to this report, only biflagellate zoospores were known for Cylindrocapsa while quadriflagellate zoospores were thought to characterize the closely related Cylindrocapsopsis; this distinction is no longer valid. In our isolate, a vegetative cell may differentiate directly into a single zoospore or, more commonly, zoosporogenesis is preceded by division of a vegetative cell into two, four, or eight daughter cells, each of which becomes a zoospore. Variation in zoospore arrangement depends on the number and nature of the division sequences. Ultimately, zoospores are released from the more-or-less dissociated parental cell wall in one or more vesicles. Each primary vesicle contains one, two, four, or occasionally eight zoospores; zoospore release follows the gradual distention and dissolution of the enclosing vesicle. Light microscopic observations suggest that the zoospore-containing vesicles arise from altered cell wall material. Zoospore germlings and variations in the appearance of vegetative filaments are aiso described and attention is called to the nature of the cell wall, which is quite unlike that of most other filamentous green algae.


HortScience ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 762B-762
Author(s):  
Martin C. Goffinet ◽  
Roger C. Pearson

Clusters of Vitis labruscana cv. Concord were grown either in full sun or canopy shade, and either not sprayed or sprayed with 3.4 Kg/Ha chlorothalonil every 2 wk from pre-bloom to veraison. Only sun-exposed, sprayed fruit produced skin russeting. Clusters of the very susceptible V. vinifera cv. Rosette were grown in direct sun, sprayed with chlorothalonil 4 times from bloom to veraison, in the presence or absence of purported anti-russeting agents. Heavy russet occurred in all treatments. Russet initiation was similar in the 2 cvs.: epidermal cells first died beneath spray residue in full sun, a phellogen then arose in the hypodermis, followed by periderm. Epidermal death began in `Rosette' within a wk of the bloom spray, but in `Concord' only after 2-3 wk post bloom and 3 sprays. `Concord' russet generally appeared as patches or scabs, whereas `Rosette' russet ranged from freckles, welts, scabs to large smooth burnished areas. In both cvs., unbroken russet consisted of uniform layers of phellum. New, deeper periderm initials arose beneath checks and cracks which formed as fruit enlarged. In `Concord', but not `Rosette', the daughter cells of each such initial were often enclosed in the original cell wall. In all cases of russet, cell walls in the periderm were suberized and sometimes lignified. Cells also contained much phenolic material.


1919 ◽  
Vol 44 (299) ◽  
pp. 473-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Muriel Bristol

Summary The material described has been obtained from cultures of a sample of dried soil, which was sent from the Malay States about two years before the cultures were set up. The vegetative cells are spherical or subspherical, solitary or collected together into mucilaginous strata, very variable in size, being from 20–80 μ in diameter, each with a thin cellulose cell-wall and a single parietal chloroplast containing from one to several pyrenoids and numerous starch granules. In adult cells a quantity of yellow oil is stored, in which a bright red pigment is often dissolved. The cytoplasm is reticulate. The young cells contain a single minute nucleus and one pyrenoid, both of which multiply by repeated division so that the adult cells are cœnocytic with many pyrenoids. Propagation takes place, by successive bipartition of the contents of the mother-cell, into 8–16 or numerous biciliate zoogonidia which may develop asexually or may act as facultative gametes. In both cases direct development into vegetative cells takes place. Aplanospore-formation may also take place, preceded by the multiplication by constriction of the nuclei of the mother-cell. The aplanospores remain imbedded in a mucous stratum, and enter into a palmelloid state in which further bipartitions may take place. Eventually, the palmelloid cells either acquire cilia and behave as normal zoogonidia or they develop directly into vegetative cells. True vegetative division does not take place, but the cell-contents may divide into two daughter-cells which immediately acquire new cell-walls and are set free as vegetative cells by the dissolution of the mother-cell-wall. Chloroaoccum humicola, differing in no essential particulars from that in the Malay soil, has been found to occur almost universally in English soils. The limit of its resistance against desiccation and of its retention of vitality has been shown, by investigations on long-dried English soils, to lie somewhere between seventy and eighty years. In conclusion, I wish to express my thanks to Professor G. S. West for his valuable help throughout this work.


1938 ◽  
Vol s2-80 (320) ◽  
pp. 567-591
Author(s):  
J. BRONTË GATENBY ◽  
B. N. SINGH

1. In Copromonas subtilis , Dobell, and Euglena sp. there is a Golgi apparatus consisting of osmiophil material in the form of granules, which are associated with the osmoregulatory mechanism of the cell. 2. Inside the granules, water collects, so that they become spherical vacuoles, identical with what have in the past been called contractile vacuoles (Copromonas) or accessory contractile vacuoles (Euglena viridis). 3. In Euglena viridis, the Golgi apparatus is closely applied to the so-called contractile vacuole, and consists of numerous loaf-shaped osmiophil bodies which undergo a regular series of changes from systole to diastole, and vice versa. 4. In Copromonas, the osmiophil material may form a thick cortex surrounding what has been called the reservoir, it may be attached to the reservoir in fairly regular loafshaped bodies as in Euglena, or it may be completely detached from the reservoir. 5. The so-called contractile vacuoles of Copromonas are vesicles containing water, which are formed on the site of the osmiophil granules. 6. As far as we are able to say at present, the reservoir of Copromonas is indistinguishable from an enlarged contractile vacuole, and new reservoirs probably arise from swollen contractile vacuoles. It is difficult to believe that the reservoir divides into two, as has been claimed by Dobell. 7. During division of Copromonas, two reservoirs can nearly always be found in the early stages before the nucleus becomes dumb-bell shaped. These seem to have originated from the osmiophil vacuoles. 8. The remaining osmiophil material, when present, moves slightly down the cell, occupying a place in the mid-line. When the new cell-wall between the two organisms has passed down, about one-third the length of the dividing monad, the osmiophil material splits into two sub-equal groups and is so divided between the two organisms. There is therefore a definite dictyokinesis to be found in Copromonas. 9. Just at or after this period, the osmiophil material may become scattered about the upper middle and upper region of the dividing monads, but finally becomes situated in the region of the reservoir. 10. The osmiophil material (Golgi apparatus) persists throughout conjugation and encystment, even when a reservoir cannot be found. 11. There is a rhizoplast joining the basal granule of the flagellum with the intra-nuclear nucleolo-centrosome, and an axostyle is present, passing from the basal granule to the posterior end of the organism. 12. During cell division, the basal granule divides into two and appears to lose its connexion with the two nucleolo-centrosomes of the dividing nucleus. The axostyle appears to be absorbed in the early stages of division and cannot be stained at this epoch, but reappears in each moiety of the dividing organism, when the nucleus is dumb-bell shaped. It appears to reform when the two basal granules have taken their definitive position at the anterior end of the cells. 13. We agree with Wenyon that one flagellum passes over intact to one of the daughter cells at division, the other flagellum arises from the other basal granule. 14. Numerous fat granules are found throughout the organism; what have been called volutin granules in other Protozoa are present in Copromonas, and stain in neutral red. 15. Mitochondria are present mainly in the posterior region of the organism.


1982 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. CRAIGIE ◽  
T. CAVALIER-SMITH

Chlamydomonas reinhardii divides by multiple fission to produce 2n daughter cells per division burst, where n is an integer. By separating predivision cells from synchronous cultures into fractions of differing mean cell volumes, and electronically measuring the numbers and volume distributions of the daughter cells produced by the subsequent division burst, we have shown that n is determined by the volume of the parent cell. Control of n can occur simply, if after every cell division the daughter cells monitor their volume and divide again if, and only if, their volume is greater than a fixed minimum value. In cultures synchronized by 12-h light/12-h dark cycles, the larger parent cells divide earlier in the dark period than do smaller cells. This has been shown by two independent methods: (1) by separating cells into different size fractions by Percoll density-gradient centrifugation and using the light microscope to see when they divide; and (2) by studying changes in the cell volume distribution of unfractioned cultures. Since daughter cells remain within the mother-cell wall for some hours after cell division, and cell division causes an overall swelling of the mother-cell wall, the timing of division can be determined electronically by measuring this increase in cell volume that occurs in the dark period in the absence of growth; we find that cells at the large end of the size distribution range undergo this swelling first, and are then followed by successively smaller size fractions. A simple model embodying a sizer followed by a timer gives a good quantitative fit to these data for 12-h light/12-h dark cycles if cell division occurs 12-h after attaining a critical volume of approximately 140 μm3. However, this simple model is called into question by our finding that alterations in the length of the light period alter the rate of progress towards division even of cells that have attained their critical volume. We discuss the relative roles of light and cell volume in the control of division timing in the Chlamydomonas cell cycle.


1967 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 341-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Chung

The pattern of cell wall synthesis as measured by the incorporation of tritiated alanine into the cell wall of Bacillus cereus, and the number of synthesizing sites in the cell wall were studied by the direct and the reverse autoradiographic labelling methods.In the absence of chloramphenicol, the new cell wall was initiated at two or three segments, and later increased to four or five segments which continued to elongate but not to increase in number until the bacilli had made preparation for cell division. Shortly before the centripetal growth of the cell wall and constriction to separate daughter cells, two to three more new wall-segments were added to those already present. The second and third generation cells retained some old wall-segments from the first-generation mother, which remained as discrete clusters of grains, and could easily be distinguished from the new segments.In the presence of chloramphenicol, the new wall was initiated at 8 to 10 sites. Further incubation resulted in the uniform incorporation of labels at multiple sites along the entire cell length.The patterns of new wall replication as studied by the two methods were compared. To account for the difference in synthesizing sites when chloramphenicol is present, it is suggested that the cells have either used the maximum number of sites or have completely bypassed all the sites and allowed the tritiated alanine to diffuse into the wall to become incorporated.


1975 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 503-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
D L Nanney

Most naked basal bodies visualized in protargol stains on the surface of Tetrahymena are new basal bodies which have not yet developed cilia. The rarity of short cilia is explained by the rapid development of the ciliary shaft once it begins to grow. The high frequency of naked basal bodies (about 50 percent) in log cultures indicates that the interval between assembly of the basal body and the initiation of the cilium is long, approximately a full cell cycle. Naked basal bodies are more frequent in the mid and posterior parts of the cell and two or more naked basal bodies may be associated with one ciliated basal body in these regions. Daughter cells produced at division are apparently asymmetric with respect to their endowment of new and old organelles.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (5) ◽  
pp. 1815-1824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz A. Łęski ◽  
Alexander Tomasz

ABSTRACT Ceftizoxime, a beta-lactam antibiotic with high selective affinity for penicillin-binding protein 2 (PBP2) of Staphylococcus aureus, was used to select a spontaneous resistant mutant of S. aureus strain 27s. The stable resistant mutant ZOX3 had an increased ceftizoxime MIC and a decreased affinity of its PBP2 for ceftizoxime and produced peptidoglycan in which the proportion of highly cross-linked muropeptides was reduced. The pbpB gene of ZOX3 carried a single C-to-T nucleotide substitution at nucleotide 1373, causing replacement of a proline with a leucine at amino acid residue 458 of the transpeptidase domain of the protein, close to the SFN conserved motif. Experimental proof that this point mutation was responsible for the drug-resistant phenotype, and also for the decreased PBP2 affinity and reduced cell wall cross-linking, was provided by allelic replacement experiments and site-directed mutagenesis. Disruption of pbpD, the structural gene of PBP4, in either the parental strain or the mutant caused a large decrease in the highly cross-linked muropeptide components of the cell wall and in the mutant caused a massive accumulation of muropeptide monomers as well. Disruption of pbpD also caused increased sensitivity to ceftizoxime in both the parental cells and the ZOX3 mutant, while introduction of the plasmid-borne mecA gene, the genetic determinant of the beta-lactam resistance protein PBP2A, had the opposite effects. The findings provide evidence for the cooperative functioning of two native S. aureus transpeptidases (PBP2 and PBP4) and an acquired transpeptidase (PBP2A) in staphylococcal cell wall biosynthesis and susceptibility to antimicrobial agents.


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