Monoderm bacteria: the new frontier for type IV pilus biology

Pelicic, Vladimir

doi:10.1111/mmi.14397

Cited by 26 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Type IV pili are widely detected in Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, and in archaea; these participate in adhesion, twitching motility, swimming motility, natural competence for DNA uptake, and phage secretion. [49][50][51] Type IV pili include Type IVa, Type IVb, Tad/Flp, and Com pili, and archaeal flagellum (archaellum). Type IVa pili are the best Type IV pili characterized thus far.…”

Section: Type IV Pilimentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogenesis of Type V pili

Shoji

Shibata

Sueyoshi

et al. 2020

Microbiology and Immunology

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Pili or fimbriae, which are filamentous structures present on the surface of bacteria, were purified from a periodontal pathogen, Porphyromonas gingivalis, in 1980s. The protein component of pili (stalk pilin), which is its major component, was named FimA; it has a molecular weight of approximately 41 kDa. Because the molecular weight of the pilin from P. gingivalis is twice that of pilins from other bacterial pili, the P. gingivalis Fim pili were suggested to be formed via a novel mechanism. In earlier studies, we reported that the FimA pilin is secreted on the cell surface as a lipoprotein precursor, and the subsequent N-terminal processing of the FimA precursor by arginine-specific proteases is necessary for Fim pili formation. The crystal structures of FimA and its related proteins were determined recently, which show that Fim pili are formed by a protease-mediated strand-exchange mechanism. The most recent study conducted by us, wherein we performed cryoelectron microscopy of the pilus structure, provided evidence in support of this mechanism. As the P. gingivalis Fim pili are formed through novel transport and assembly mechanisms, such pili are now designated as Type V pili. Surface lipoproteins, including the anchor pilin FimB of Fim pili that are present on the outer membrane, have been detected in certain Gram-negative bacteria. Here, we describe the assembly mechanisms of pili, including those of Type V and other pili, as well as the lipoprotein transport mechanisms. K E Y W O R D S bacterial components, lipoprotein, periodontal pathogen, pili 1 | INTRODUCTION Periodontal disease and dental caries are two leading causes of the loss of teeth worldwide. Periodontal disease is more commonly known to cause the loss of teeth than dental caries in people aged 40 years or above in Japan. 1 With age progression, the proportion of people with severe symptoms of periodontal disease increases as well and this tendency is noted approximately until individuals reach 80 years of age. 2,3 Chronic periodontitis is known to be caused by multiple bacteria that inhabit the periodontal pocket and the consequent immune responses. 4 Large-scale epidemiological studies have revealed the bacteria involved in the prevalence of periodontal disease. 5-7 Among periodontopathic bacteria, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, and Treponema denticola are strongly associated with the onset and progression of chronic periodontitis and are

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Section: Type IV Pilimentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogenesis of Type V pili

Shoji

Shibata

Sueyoshi

et al. 2020

Microbiology and Immunology

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“…Together with these conserved structural features, the conservation en bloc of the genes encoding the Com pilus strongly suggests that the molecular mechanisms of filament assembly and DNA uptake are widely conserved in Firmicutes. These mechanisms, which remain poorly understood, can be advantageously studied in S. sanguinis, which has recently emerged as a monoderm T4P model (20). Actually, S. sanguinis is so far the only monoderm likely to express two distinct T4F, Com pili and retractable T4aP, which further cements it as a prime model species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…So far, Com pili have been mainly studied in two model competent species: B. subtilis and S. pneumoniae. S. sanguinis is a naturally competent species that has recently emerged as a monoderm T4F model since it expresses retractable T4aP (20). Functional analysis of S. sanguinis T4aP showed that they are dispensable for DNA uptake, which is instead mediated by Com pili since competence was abolished in a ΔcomGB mutant (21).…”

Section: Com Pili Genes Are Almost Ubiquitous In Monoderm Bacilli Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

The major subunit of widespread competence pili exhibits a novel and conserved type IV pilin fold

Sheppard

Berry

Denise

et al. 2020

Journal of Biological Chemistry

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Type IV filaments (T4F), which are helical assemblies of type IV pilins, constitute a superfamily of filamentous nanomachines virtually ubiquitous in prokaryotes that mediate a wide variety of functions. The competence (Com) pilus is a widespread T4F, mediating DNA uptake (the first step in natural transformation) in bacteria with one membrane (monoderms), an important mechanism of horizontal gene transfer. Here, we report the results of genomic, phylogenetic, and structural analyses of ComGC, the major pilin subunit of Com pili. By performing a global comparative analysis, we show that Com pili genes are virtually ubiquitous in Bacilli, a major monoderm class of Firmicutes. This also revealed that ComGC displays extensive sequence conservation, defining a monophyletic group among type IV pilins. We further report ComGC solution structures from two naturally competent human pathogens, Streptococcus sanguinis (ComGCSS) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (ComGCSP), revealing that this pilin displays extensive structural conservation. Strikingly, ComGCSS and ComGCSP exhibit a novel type IV pilin fold that is purely helical. Results from homology modeling analyses suggest that the unusual structure of ComGC is compatible with helical filament assembly. Because ComGC displays such a widespread distribution, these results have implications for hundreds of monoderm species.

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“…Cyanobacterial T4P have been shown to play a role in twitching motility [ 5 , 29 ], metal uptake [ 30 , 31 ], biofilm formation [ 32 ], flocculation [ 33 ] and also in natural competence [ 14 , 34 ]. The filament of T4P mainly consists of the major pilin, which in cyanobacteria, is referred to as PilA1 [ 5 , 15 , 17 , 35 , 36 ]. PilA1 is exported to the periplasm via the General Secretory (Sec) pathway [ 37 ].…”

Section: The Molecular Basis Of Natural Competencementioning

confidence: 99%

Function and Benefits of Natural Competence in Cyanobacteria: From Ecology to Targeted Manipulation

Schirmacher

Hanamghar

Zedler

2020

Life

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Natural competence is the ability of a cell to actively take up and incorporate foreign DNA in its own genome. This trait is widespread and ecologically significant within the prokaryotic kingdom. Here we look at natural competence in cyanobacteria, a group of globally distributed oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria. Many cyanobacterial species appear to have the genetic potential to be naturally competent, however, this ability has only been demonstrated in a few species. Reasons for this might be due to a high variety of largely uncharacterised competence inducers and a lack of understanding the ecological context of natural competence in cyanobacteria. To shed light on these questions, we describe what is known about the molecular mechanisms of natural competence in cyanobacteria and analyse how widespread this trait might be based on available genomic datasets. Potential regulators of natural competence and what benefits or drawbacks may derive from taking up foreign DNA are discussed. Overall, many unknowns about natural competence in cyanobacteria remain to be unravelled. A better understanding of underlying mechanisms and how to manipulate these, can aid the implementation of cyanobacteria as sustainable production chassis.

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Monoderm bacteria: the new frontier for type IV pilus biology

Cited by 26 publications

References 61 publications

Biogenesis of Type V pili

Biogenesis of Type V pili

The major subunit of widespread competence pili exhibits a novel and conserved type IV pilin fold

Function and Benefits of Natural Competence in Cyanobacteria: From Ecology to Targeted Manipulation

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