Open AccessMolecular ruler of the attachment organelle in Mycoplasma pneumoniae
Author(s) -
Daisuke Nakane,
Kohki Murata,
Tsuyoshi Kenri,
Keigo Shibayama,
Takayuki Nishizaka
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos pathogens
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.719
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1553-7374
pISSN - 1553-7366
DOI - 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009621
Subject(s) - organelle , mycoplasma pneumoniae , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , mycoplasma , mutant , cell , cell division , biophysics , genetics , gene , archaeology , history , pneumonia
Length control is a fundamental requirement for molecular architecture. Even small wall-less bacteria have specially developed macro-molecular structures to support their survival. Mycoplasma pneumoniae , a human pathogen, forms a polar extension called an attachment organelle, which mediates cell division, cytadherence, and cell movement at host cell surface. This characteristic ultrastructure has a constant size of 250–300 nm, but its design principle remains unclear. In this study, we constructed several mutants by genetic manipulation to increase or decrease coiled-coil regions of HMW2, a major component protein of 200 kDa aligned in parallel along the cell axis. HMW2-engineered mutants produced both long and short attachment organelles, which we quantified by transmission electron microscopy and fluorescent microscopy with nano-meter precision. This simple design of HMW2 acting as a molecular ruler for the attachment organelle should provide an insight into bacterial cellular organization and its function for their parasitic lifestyles.