The lipoprotein Pal stabilises the bacterial outer membrane during constriction by a mobilisation-and-capture mechanism

Joanna Szczepaniak, Peter Holmes, Karthik Rajasekar, Renata Kaminska, Firdaus Samsudin, Patrick George Inns, Patrice Rassam, Syma Khalid, Seán M. Murray, Christina Redfield and Colin Kleanthous ()
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Joanna Szczepaniak: University of Oxford
Peter Holmes: University of Oxford
Karthik Rajasekar: University of Oxford
Renata Kaminska: University of Oxford
Firdaus Samsudin: University of Southampton
Patrick George Inns: University of Oxford
Patrice Rassam: University of Oxford
Syma Khalid: University of Southampton
Seán M. Murray: Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology and LOEWE Centre for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO)
Christina Redfield: University of Oxford
Colin Kleanthous: University of Oxford

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Coordination of outer membrane constriction with septation is critical to faithful division in Gram-negative bacteria and vital to the barrier function of the membrane. This coordination requires the recruitment of the peptidoglycan-binding outer-membrane lipoprotein Pal at division sites by the Tol system. Here, we show that Pal accumulation at Escherichia coli division sites is a consequence of three key functions of the Tol system. First, Tol mobilises Pal molecules in dividing cells, which otherwise diffuse very slowly due to their binding of the cell wall. Second, Tol actively captures mobilised Pal molecules and deposits them at the division septum. Third, the active capture mechanism is analogous to that used by the inner membrane protein TonB to dislodge the plug domains of outer membrane TonB-dependent nutrient transporters. We conclude that outer membrane constriction is coordinated with cell division by active mobilisation-and-capture of Pal at division septa by the Tol system.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15083-5

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