Asymmetric peptidoglycan editing generates cell curvature in Bdellovibrio predatory bacteria

Emma J. Banks, Mauricio Valdivia-Delgado, Jacob Biboy, Amber Wilson, Ian T. Cadby, Waldemar Vollmer, Carey Lambert, Andrew L. Lovering () and R. Elizabeth Sockett ()
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Emma J. Banks: University of Nottingham, Queen’s Medical Centre
Mauricio Valdivia-Delgado: Institute for Microbiology and Infection, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
Jacob Biboy: Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University
Amber Wilson: Institute for Microbiology and Infection, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
Ian T. Cadby: Institute for Microbiology and Infection, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
Waldemar Vollmer: Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University
Carey Lambert: University of Nottingham, Queen’s Medical Centre
Andrew L. Lovering: Institute for Microbiology and Infection, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
R. Elizabeth Sockett: University of Nottingham, Queen’s Medical Centre

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Peptidoglycan hydrolases contribute to the generation of helical cell shape in Campylobacter and Helicobacter bacteria, while cytoskeletal or periskeletal proteins determine the curved, vibrioid cell shape of Caulobacter and Vibrio. Here, we identify a peptidoglycan hydrolase in the vibrioid-shaped predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus which invades and replicates within the periplasm of Gram-negative prey bacteria. The protein, Bd1075, generates cell curvature in B. bacteriovorus by exerting LD-carboxypeptidase activity upon the predator cell wall as it grows inside spherical prey. Bd1075 localizes to the outer convex face of B. bacteriovorus; this asymmetric localization requires a nuclear transport factor 2-like (NTF2) domain at the protein C-terminus. We solve the crystal structure of Bd1075, which is monomeric with key differences to other LD-carboxypeptidases. Rod-shaped Δbd1075 mutants invade prey more slowly than curved wild-type predators and stretch invaded prey from within. We therefore propose that the vibrioid shape of B. bacteriovorus contributes to predatory fitness.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29007-y

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