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- Title
A minimized motile machinery for Mycoplasma genitalium.
- Authors
García‐Morales, Luis; González‐González, Luis; Querol, Enrique; Piñol, Jaume
- Abstract
The cell wall-less bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium uses specialized adhesins located at the terminal organelle to adhere to host cells and surfaces. The terminal organelle is a polar structure protruding from the cell body that is internally supported by a cytoskeleton and also has an important role in cell motility. We have engineered a M. genitalium null mutant for MG491 protein showing a massive downstream destabilization of proteins involved in the terminal organelle organization. This mutant strain exhibited striking similarities with the previously isolated MG_218 null mutant strain. Upon introduction of an extra copy of MG_318 gene in both strains, the amount of main adhesins P140 and P110 dramatically increased. These strains were characterized by microcinematography, epifluorescence microscopy and cryo-electron microcopy, revealing the presence of motile cells and filaments in the absence of many proteins considered essential for cell adhesion and motility. These results indicate that adhesin complexes play a major role in the motile machinery of M. genitalium and demonstrate that the rod element of the cytoskeleton core is not the molecular motor propelling mycoplasma cells. These strains containing a minimized motile machinery also provide a valuable cell model to investigate the adhesion and gliding properties of this human pathogen.
- Subjects
MYCOPLASMA; CELL adhesion; BACTERIAL adhesins; MICROCINEMATOGRAPHY; MOLECULAR microbiology
- Publication
Molecular Microbiology, 2016, Vol 100, Issue 1, p125
- ISSN
0950-382X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/mmi.13305