Display Settings:

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination
We are sorry, but NCBI web applications do not support your browser and may not function properly. More information
    J Bacteriol. 2009 Jan;191(1):365-74. doi: 10.1128/JB.01183-08. Epub 2008 Oct 31.

    Expression and physiological relevance of Agrobacterium tumefaciens phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis genes.

    Source

    Microbial Biology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.

    Abstract

    Phosphatidylcholine (PC), or lecithin, is the major phospholipid in eukaryotic membranes, whereas only 10% of all bacteria are predicted to synthesize PC. In Rhizobiaceae, including the phytopathogenic bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, PC is essential for the establishment of a successful host-microbe interaction. A. tumefaciens produces PC via two alternative pathways, the methylation pathway and the Pcs pathway. The responsible genes, pmtA (coding for a phospholipid N-methyltransferase) and pcs (coding for a PC synthase), are located on the circular chromosome of A. tumefaciens C58. Recombinant expression of pmtA and pcs in Escherichia coli revealed that the individual proteins carry out the annotated enzyme functions. Both genes and a putative ABC transporter operon downstream of PC are constitutively expressed in A. tumefaciens. The amount of PC in A. tumefaciens membranes reaches around 23% of total membrane lipids. We show that PC is distributed in both the inner and outer membranes. Loss of PC results in reduced motility and increased biofilm formation, two processes known to be involved in virulence. Our work documents the critical importance of membrane lipid homeostasis for diverse cellular processes in A. tumefaciens.

    PMID:
    18978052
    [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
    PMCID:
    PMC2612428
    Free PMC Article

    Images from this publication.See all images (8)Free text

    FIG. 2.
    FIG. 4.
    FIG. 6.
    FIG. 8.
    FIG. 1.
    FIG. 3.
    FIG. 5.
    FIG. 7.

      Supplemental Content

      Icon for HighWire Icon for PubMed Central

      Save items

      Recent activity

      Your browsing activity is empty.

      Activity recording is turned off.

      Turn recording back on

      See more...
      Write to the Help Desk