Tertiary Structure of Bacterial Murein: the Scaffold Model

Tertiary Structure of Bacterial Murein: the Scaffold Model Full article

Journal

Journal of Bacteriology
ISSN: 0021-9193 , E-ISSN: 1098-5530

Output data

Year: 2003, Volume: 185, Number: 11, Pages: 3458-3468 Pages count : 11 DOI: 10.1128/jb.185.11.3458-3468.2003

Authors

Dmitriev Boris A. ¹ , Toukach Filip V. ² , Schaper Klaus-Jürgen ³ , Holst Otto ³ , Rietschel Ernst T. ³ , Ehlers Stefan ³

Affiliations

1	N. F. Gamaleya Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Moscow 123098
2	N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Moscow 119991, Russia
3	Department of Immunochemistry and Biochemical Microbiology, Research Center Borstel, Center for Medicine and Biosciences, D-23845 Borstel, Germany

Although the chemical structure and physical properties of peptidoglycan have been elucidated for some time, the precise three-dimensional organization of murein has remained elusive. Earlier published computer simulations of the bacterial murein architecture modeled peptidoglycan strands in either a regular (D. Pink, J. Moeller, B. Quinn, M. Jericho, and T. Beveridge, J. Bacteriol. 182: 5925-5930, 2000) or an irregular (A. Koch, J. Theor. Biol. 204: 533-541, 2000) parallel orientation with respect to the plasma membrane. However, after integrating published experimental data on glycan chain length distribution and the degree of peptide side chain cross-linking into this computer simulation, we now report that the proposed planar network of murein appears largely dysfunctional. In contrast, a scaffold model of murein architecture, which assumes that glycan strands extend perpendicularly to the plasma membrane, was found to accommodate published experimental evidence and yield a viable stress-bearing matrix. Moreover, this model is in accordance with the well-established principle of murein assembly in vivo, i.e., sequential attachment of strands to the preexisting structure. For the first time, the phenomenon of division plane alternation in dividing bacteria can be reconciled with a computer model of the molecular architecture of murein.

Dmitriev B.A. , Toukach F.V. , Schaper K-J. , Holst O. , Rietschel E.T. , Ehlers S.
Tertiary Structure of Bacterial Murein: the Scaffold Model
Journal of Bacteriology. 2003. V.185. N11. P.3458-3468. DOI: 10.1128/jb.185.11.3458-3468.2003 WOS Scopus OpenAlex

≡ Web of science:	WOS:000183100900025
≡ Scopus:	2-s2.0-0037853294
≡ OpenAlex:	W2119227949