Methicillin treatment reveals that FtsZ phosphorylation influences the cell division of Streptococcus pneumoniae
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2026
Protein phosphorylation plays a crucial role in regulating cell division and morphogenesis in many bacteria. In Streptococcus pneumoniae, the serine/threonine kinase StkP orchestrates cell wall assembly and cell morphogenesis by phosphorylating several proteins involved in cell division. In this study, we provide evidence that FtsZ, a conserved tubulin-like protein that coordinates pneumococcal cell elongation and constriction, is phosphorylated in vivo by StkP at six threonine residues within its C-terminal linker (CTL). Mutational analysis reveals the structural role of the CTL in pneumococcal cell division and further shows that its phosphorylation status influences cell morphogenesis. Importantly, phosphomimetic FtsZ mutants rescue division blocks induced by sublethal concentrations of methicillin, which targets the essential septal cell wall synthase PBP2x. Additionally, we demonstrate that CTL phosphorylation affects FtsZ polymerization and filament bundling in vitro. It also accelerates FtsZ treadmilling dynamics and alters its interactome in vivo. Altogether, these findings support a model in which CTL phosphorylation fine-tunes FtsZ filament dynamics to sustain cell division under β-lactam stress, representing a potential adaptive mechanism for antibiotic tolerance.
FtsZ
cell division
protein phosphorylation
peptidoglycan
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Författare
Sathya Narayanan Nagarajan
Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry
Sylvie Manuse
Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry
Dimitri Juillot
Université Paris-Saclay
L. Claude
Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry
Vaishnavi Ravikumar
Chalmers, Life sciences, Systembiologi
Universität Tübingen
Emmanuelle Neumann
Université Grenoble Alpes
Jean Pierre Lavergne
Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry
M. Franz-Wachtel
Universität Tübingen
B. Macek
Universität Tübingen
Ivan Mijakovic
Chalmers, Life sciences, Systembiologi
Cecile Morlot
Université Grenoble Alpes
Rut Carballido-Lopez
Université Paris-Saclay
C. Grangeasse
Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry
PNAS Nexus
27526542 (eISSN)
Vol. 5 6 pgag200Är Bacillus subtilis PtkA reglerad som ett "cyclin-dependant" kinas?
Vetenskapsrådet (VR) (2020-03176), 2021-01-01 -- 2024-12-31.
Ämneskategorier (SSIF 2025)
Molekylärbiologi
Cell- och molekylärbiologi
Mikrobiologi inom det medicinska området
DOI
10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag200
PubMed
42311477