A molecular switch controls assembly of bacterial focal adhesions.

Cell motility universally relies on spatial regulation of focal adhesion complexes (FAs) connecting the substrate to cellular motors. In bacterial FAs, the Adventurous gliding motility machinery (Agl-Glt) assembles at the leading cell pole following a Mutual gliding-motility protein (MglA)-guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP) gradient along the cell axis. Here, we show that GltJ, a machinery membrane protein, contains cytosolic motifs binding MglA-GTP and AglZ and recruiting the MreB cytoskeleton to initiate movement toward the lagging cell pole.

H, C and N chemical shift assignments of the ZnR and GYF cytoplasmic domains of the GltJ protein from Myxococcus xanthus.

Bacterial cell motility is essential for a range of physiological phenomena such as nutrient sensing, predation, biofilm formation and pathogenesis. One of the most intriguing motilities is bacterial gliding, which is defined as the ability of some bacteria to move across surfaces without an external appendage. In Myxococcus xanthus, gliding motility depends on the assembly of focal adhesion complexes (FAC) which include the Glt mutiprotein complex and allow directional movement of individual cells (A-motility).

The small G-protein MglA connects to the MreB actin cytoskeleton at bacterial focal adhesions.

In Myxococcus xanthus the gliding motility machinery is assembled at the leading cell pole to form focal adhesions, translocated rearward to propel the cell, and disassembled at the lagging pole. We show that MglA, a Ras-like small G-protein, is an integral part of this machinery. In this function, MglA stimulates the assembly of the motility complex by directly connecting it to the MreB actin cytoskeleton.

A versatile nano display platform from bacterial spore coat proteins.

Dormant bacterial spores are encased in a thick protein shell, the 'coat', which contains ∼70 different proteins. The coat protects the spore from environmental insults, and is among the most durable static structures in biology. Owing to extensive cross-linking among coat proteins, this structure has been recalcitrant to detailed biochemical analysis, so molecular details of how it assembles are largely unknown.

An autoinhibitory conformation of the Bacillus subtilis spore coat protein SpoIVA prevents its premature ATP-independent aggregation.

Spores of Bacillus subtilis are dormant cell types that are formed when the bacterium encounters starvation conditions. Spores are encased in a shell, termed the coat, which is composed of approximately seventy different proteins and protects the spore's genetic material from environmental insults. The structural component of the basement layer of the coat is an exceptional cytoskeletal protein, termed SpoIVA, which binds and hydrolyzes ATP.

ATP hydrolysis by a domain related to translation factor GTPases drives polymerization of a static bacterial morphogenetic protein.

The assembly of static supramolecular structures is a culminating event of developmental programs. One such structure, the proteinaceous shell (called the coat) that surrounds spores of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, is composed of about 70 different proteins and represents one of the most durable biological structures known. The coat is built atop a basement layer that contains an ATPase (SpoIVA) that forms a platform required for coat assembly.

F plasmid partition depends on interaction of SopA with non-specific DNA.

Bacterial ATPases belonging to the ParA family assure partition of their replicons by forming dynamic assemblies which move replicon copies into the new cell-halves. The mechanism underlying partition is not understood for the Walker-box ATPase class, which includes most plasmid and all chromosomal ParAs. The ATPases studied both polymerize and interact with non-specific DNA in an ATP-dependent manner.

Protein splicing of SufB is crucial for the functionality of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis SUF machinery.

The SufBCD complex is an essential component of the SUF machinery of [Fe-S] cluster biogenesis in many organisms. We show here that in Mycobacterium tuberculosis the formation of this complex is dependent on the protein splicing of SufB, suggesting that this process is a potential new target for antituberculous drugs.