Imbalance of peptidoglycan biosynthesis alters the cell surface charge of Listeria monocytogenes
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Published version
Author(s)
Schulz, Lisa Maria
Rothe, Patricia
Halbedel, Sven
Gründling, Angelika
Rismondo, Jeanine
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The bacterial cell wall is composed of a thick layer of peptidoglycan and cell wall polymers, which are either embedded in the membrane or linked to the peptidoglycan backbone and referred to as lipoteichoic acid (LTA) and wall teichoic acid (WTA), respectively. Modifications of the peptidoglycan or WTA backbone can alter the susceptibility of the bacterial cell towards cationic antimicrobials and lysozyme. The human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is intrinsically resistant towards lysozyme, mainly due to deacetylation and O-acetylation of the peptidoglycan backbone via PgdA and OatA. Recent studies identified additional factors, which contribute to the lysozyme resistance of this pathogen. One of these is the predicted ABC transporter, EslABC. An eslB mutant is hyper-sensitive towards lysozyme, likely due to the production of thinner and less O-acetylated peptidoglycan. Using a suppressor screen, we show here that suppression of eslB phenotypes could be achieved by enhancing peptidoglycan biosynthesis, reducing peptidoglycan hydrolysis or alterations in WTA biosynthesis and modification. The lack of EslB also leads to a higher negative surface charge, which likely stimulates the activity of peptidoglycan hydrolases and lysozyme. Based on our results, we hypothesize that the portion of cell surface exposed WTA is increased in the eslB mutant due to the thinner peptidoglycan layer and that latter one could be caused by an impairment in UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) production or distribution.
Date Issued
2022-12
Date Acceptance
2022-10-19
Citation
The Cell Surface, 2022, 8, pp.1-16
ISSN
2468-2330
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Start Page
1
End Page
16
Journal / Book Title
The Cell Surface
Volume
8
Copyright Statement
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Wellcome Trust
Identifier
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468233022000147?via%3Dihub
Grant Number
MR/P011071/1
210671/Z/18/Z
Subjects
Listeria monocytogenes
Lysozyme
Peptidoglycan biosynthesis
Wall teichoic acid
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
100085
Date Publish Online
2022-10-20