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Wide variation in the cyanobacterial complement of presumptive penicillin-binding proteins

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Abstract

A genomic analysis of putative penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) that are involved in the synthesis of the peptidoglycan layer of the cell wall and are encoded in 12 cyanobacterial genomes was performed in order to help elucidate the role(s) of these proteins in peptidoglycan synthesis, especially during cyanobacterial cellular differentiation. The analysis suggested that the minimum set of PBPs needed to assemble the peptidoglycan layer in cyanobacteria probably does not exceed one bifunctional transpeptidase–transglycosylase Class A high-molecular-weight PBP; two Class B high-molecular-weight PBPs, one of them probably involved in cellular elongation and the other in septum formation; and one low-molecular-weight PBP. The low-molecular-weight PBPs of all of the cyanobacteria analyzed are putative endopeptidases and are encoded by fewer genes than in Escherichia coli. We show that in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120, predicted proteins All2981 and Alr4579, like Alr5101, are Class A high-molecular-weight PBPs that are required for the functional differentiation of aerobically diazotrophic heterocysts, indicating that some members of this class of PBPs are required specifically for cellular developmental processes.

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Abbreviations

HMW:

High molecular weight

LMW:

Low molecular weight

PBP:

Penicillin-binding protein

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by MCCYT grant BMC2003-03583, United States National Science Foundation grant MCB0090232, and United States Department of Energy grant DOE-FG02-91ER20021.

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Author notes

  1. Amaya Blanco-Rivero

    Present address: Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå Plant Sciences Center, Umeå University, S-901 87, Umeå, Sweden

  2. Miguel Redondo

    Present address: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut des Sciences du Végétal, Unité Propre de Recherche 2355, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

  3. Qing Fan

    Present address: Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 303 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60611-3008, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Francisco Leganés, Amaya Blanco-Rivero, Francisca Fernández-Piñas, Miguel Redondo & Eduardo Fernández-Valiente

  2. MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory and Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Qing Fan, Sigal Lechno-Yossef & C. Peter Wolk

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  1. Francisco Leganés
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Correspondence to Francisco Leganés.

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Leganés, F., Blanco-Rivero, A., Fernández-Piñas, F. et al. Wide variation in the cyanobacterial complement of presumptive penicillin-binding proteins. Arch Microbiol 184, 234–248 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-005-0046-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-005-0046-8

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