scholarly journals Cryo-EM reconstruction of AlfA fromBacillus subtilisreveals the structure of a simplified actin-like filament at 3.4 Å resolution

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Szewczak-Harris ◽  
Jan Löwe

AbstractLow copy-number plasmid pLS32 ofBacillus subtilissubsp.nattocontains a partitioning system that ensures segregation of plasmid copies during cell division. The partitioning locus comprises actin-like protein AlfA, adaptor protein AlfB and the centromeric sequenceparN. Similar to the ParMRC partitioning system fromE. coliplasmid R1, AlfA filaments form actin-like double helical filaments that arrange into an antiparallel bipolar spindle, which attaches its growing ends to sister plasmids, through interactions with AlfB andparN. Since, compared with ParM and other actin-like proteins, AlfA is highly diverged in sequence, we determined the atomic structure of non-bundling AlfA filaments to 3.4 Å resolution by cryo-EM. The structure reveals how the deletion of subdomain IIB of the canonical actin-fold has been accommodated by unique longitudinal and lateral contacts, whilst still enabling formation of left-handed, double helical, polar and staggered filaments that are architecturally similar to ParM. Through cryo-EM reconstruction of bundling AlfA filaments we obtained a pseudo-atomic model of AlfA doublets: the assembly of two filaments. The filaments are antiparallel, as required by the segregation mechanism, and exactly anti-phasic with 8-fold integer helical symmetry, to enable efficient doublet formation. The structure of AlfA filaments and doublets shows, in atomic detail, signs of the strong evolutionary pressure for simplicity, placed on plasmids: deletion of an entire domain of the actin fold is compensated by changes to all interfaces so that the required properties of polymerisation, nucleotide hydrolysis and antiparallel doublet formation are retained to fulfil the system's biological raison d'être.Significance StatementProtein filaments perform a vast array of functions inside almost all living cells. Actin-like proteins in archaea and bacteria have previously been found to form a surprising diversity of filament architectures, reflecting their divergent cellular roles. Actin-like AlfA is unique in that it is much smaller than all other filament forming actin-like proteins. With an atomic structure of the AlfA filament, obtained by high-resolution electron cryo-microscopy, we have revealed—at atomic level of detail—how AlfA filaments form dynamic filaments capable of transporting plasmid DNA in cells and how these filaments arrange into antiparallel bundles required for the segregation mechanism.

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (13) ◽  
pp. 3458-3463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Szewczak-Harris ◽  
Jan Löwe

Low copy-number plasmid pLS32 ofBacillus subtilissubsp.nattocontains a partitioning system that ensures segregation of plasmid copies during cell division. The partitioning locus comprises actin-like protein AlfA, adaptor protein AlfB, and the centromeric sequenceparN. Similar to the ParMRC partitioning system fromEscherichia coliplasmid R1, AlfA filaments form actin-like double helical filaments that arrange into an antiparallel bipolar spindle, which attaches its growing ends to sister plasmids through interactions with AlfB andparN. Because, compared with ParM and other actin-like proteins, AlfA is highly diverged in sequence, we determined the atomic structure of nonbundling AlfA filaments to 3.4-Å resolution by cryo-EM. The structure reveals how the deletion of subdomain IIB of the canonical actin fold has been accommodated by unique longitudinal and lateral contacts, while still enabling formation of left-handed, double helical, polar and staggered filaments that are architecturally similar to ParM. Through cryo-EM reconstruction of bundling AlfA filaments, we obtained a pseudoatomic model of AlfA doublets: the assembly of two filaments. The filaments are antiparallel, as required by the segregation mechanism, and exactly antiphasic with near eightfold helical symmetry, to enable efficient doublet formation. The structure of AlfA filaments and doublets shows, in atomic detail, how deletion of an entire domain of the actin fold is compensated by changes to all interfaces so that the required properties of polymerization, nucleotide hydrolysis, and antiparallel doublet formation are retained to fulfill the system’s biological raison d’être.


2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (21) ◽  
pp. 7032-7068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata B. Łobocka ◽  
Debra J. Rose ◽  
Guy Plunkett ◽  
Marek Rusin ◽  
Arkadiusz Samojedny ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT P1 is a bacteriophage of Escherichia coli and other enteric bacteria. It lysogenizes its hosts as a circular, low-copy-number plasmid. We have determined the complete nucleotide sequences of two strains of a P1 thermoinducible mutant, P1 c1-100. The P1 genome (93,601 bp) contains at least 117 genes, of which almost two-thirds had not been sequenced previously and 49 have no homologs in other organisms. Protein-coding genes occupy 92% of the genome and are organized in 45 operons, of which four are decisive for the choice between lysis and lysogeny. Four others ensure plasmid maintenance. The majority of the remaining 37 operons are involved in lytic development. Seventeen operons are transcribed from σ70 promoters directly controlled by the master phage repressor C1. Late operons are transcribed from promoters recognized by the E. coli RNA polymerase holoenzyme in the presence of the Lpa protein, the product of a C1-controlled P1 gene. Three species of P1-encoded tRNAs provide differential controls of translation, and a P1-encoded DNA methyltransferase with putative bifunctionality influences transcription, replication, and DNA packaging. The genome is particularly rich in Chi recombinogenic sites. The base content and distribution in P1 DNA indicate that replication of P1 from its plasmid origin had more impact on the base compositional asymmetries of the P1 genome than replication from the lytic origin of replication.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (17) ◽  
pp. 6094-6105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urszula Zielenkiewicz ◽  
Piotr Cegłowski

ABSTRACT pSM19035 of the pathogenic bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes is a low-copy-number plasmid carrying erythromycin resistance, stably maintained in a broad range of gram-positive bacteria. We show here that the ω-ε-ζ operon of this plasmid constitutes a novel proteic plasmid addiction system in which the ε and ζ genes encode an antitoxin and toxin, respectively, while ω plays an autoregulatory function. Expression of toxin Zeta is bactericidal for the gram-positive Bacillus subtilis and bacteriostatic for the gram-negative Escherichia coli. The toxic effects of ζ gene expression in both bacterial species are counteracted by proper expression of ε. The ε-ζ toxin-antitoxin cassette stabilizes plasmids in E. coli less efficiently than in B. subtilis.


Plasmid ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Šmajs ◽  
Michal Strouhal ◽  
Petra Matějková ◽  
Darina Čejková ◽  
Luciana Cursino ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
W. Krakow ◽  
D. A. Smith

The successful determination of the atomic structure of [110] tilt boundaries in Au stems from the investigation of microscope performance at intermediate accelerating voltages (200 and 400kV) as well as a detailed understanding of how grain boundary image features depend on dynamical diffraction processes variation with specimen and beam orientations. This success is also facilitated by improving image quality by digital image processing techniques to the point where a structure image is obtained and each atom position is represented by a resolved image feature. Figure 1 shows an example of a low angle (∼10°) Σ = 129/[110] tilt boundary in a ∼250Å Au film, taken under tilted beam brightfield imaging conditions, to illustrate the steps necessary to obtain the atomic structure configuration from the image. The original image of Fig. 1a shows the regular arrangement of strain-field images associated with the cores of ½ [10] primary dislocations which are separated by ∼15Å.


Author(s):  
J.L. Batstone ◽  
J.M. Gibson ◽  
Alice.E. White ◽  
K.T. Short

High resolution electron microscopy (HREM) is a powerful tool for the determination of interface atomic structure. With the previous generation of HREM's of point-to-point resolution (rpp) >2.5Å, imaging of semiconductors in only <110> directions was possible. Useful imaging of other important zone axes became available with the advent of high voltage, high resolution microscopes with rpp <1.8Å, leading to a study of the NiSi2 interface. More recently, it was shown that images in <100>, <111> and <112> directions are easily obtainable from Si in the new medium voltage electron microscopes. We report here the examination of the important Si/Si02 interface with the use of a JEOL 4000EX HREM with rpp <1.8Å, in a <100> orientation. This represents a true structural image of this interface.


Author(s):  
M. Boublik ◽  
W. Hellmann ◽  
F. Jenkins

Correlations between structure and function of biological macromolecules have been studied intensively for many years, mostly by indirect methods. High resolution electron microscopy is a unique tool which can provide such information directly by comparing the conformation of biopolymers in their biologically active and inactive state. We have correlated the structure and function of ribosomes, ribonucleoprotein particles which are the site of protein biosynthesis. 70S E. coli ribosomes, used in this experiment, are composed of two subunits - large (50S) and small (30S). The large subunit consists of 34 proteins and two different ribonucleic acid molecules. The small subunit contains 21 proteins and one RNA molecule. All proteins (with the exception of L7 and L12) are present in one copy per ribosome.This study deals with the changes in the fine structure of E. coli ribosomes depleted of proteins L7 and L12. These proteins are unique in many aspects.


Author(s):  
Y. Y. Wang ◽  
H. Zhang ◽  
V. P. Dravid ◽  
H. Zhang ◽  
L. D. Marks ◽  
...  

Azuma et al. observed planar defects in a high pressure synthesized infinitelayer compound (i.e. ACuO2 (A=cation)), which exhibits superconductivity at ~110 K. It was proposed that the defects are cation deficient and that the superconductivity in this material is related to the planar defects. In this report, we present quantitative analysis of the planar defects utilizing nanometer probe xray microanalysis, high resolution electron microscopy, and image simulation to determine the chemical composition and atomic structure of the planar defects. We propose an atomic structure model for the planar defects.Infinite-layer samples with the nominal chemical formula, (Sr1-xCax)yCuO2 (x=0.3; y=0.9,1.0,1.1), were prepared using solid state synthesized low pressure forms of (Sr1-xCax)CuO2 with additions of CuO or (Sr1-xCax)2CuO3, followed by a high pressure treatment.Quantitative x-ray microanalysis, with a 1 nm probe, was performed using a cold field emission gun TEM (Hitachi HF-2000) equipped with an Oxford Pentafet thin-window x-ray detector. The probe was positioned on the planar defects, which has a 0.74 nm width, and x-ray emission spectra from the defects were compared with those obtained from vicinity regions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 1778-1783
Author(s):  
Andreea-Loredana Golli ◽  
Floarea Mimi Nitu ◽  
Maria Balasoiu ◽  
Marina Alina Lungu ◽  
Cristiana Cerasella Dragomirescu ◽  
...  

To determine the resistance pattern of bacterial pathogens involved in infections of the patients aged between 18-64 years, admitted in a ICU from a 1518-bed university-affiliated hospital. A retrospective study of bacterial pathogens was carried out on 351 patients aged between 18-64 years admitted to the ICU, from January to December 2017. In this study there were analysed 469 samples from 351 patients (18-64 years). A total of 566 bacterial isolates were obtained, of which 120 strains of Klebsiella spp. (35.39%%), followed by Nonfermenting Gram negative bacilli, other than Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter (NFB) (75- 22.12%), Acinetobacter spp. (53 - 15.63%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus (51 - 15.04%), and Escherichia coli (49 - 14.45%). The most common isolates were from respiratory tract (394 isolates � 69.61%). High rates of MDR were found for Pseudomonas aeruginosa (64.70%), MRSA (62.65%) and Klebsiella spp. (53.33%), while almost all of the isolated NFB strains were MDR (97.33%). There was statistic difference between the drug resistance rate of Klebsiella and E. coli strains to ceftazidime and ceftriaxone (p[0.001), cefuroxime (p[0.01) and to cefepime (p[0.01). The study revealed an alarming pattern of antibiotic resistance in the majority of ICU isolates.


Author(s):  
M. Fayyaz Rehman ◽  
M. Jeeves ◽  
E. I. Hyde

AbstractIncC from the low-copy number plasmid RK2, is a member of the ParA family of proteins required for partitioning DNA in many bacteria and plasmids. It is an ATPase that binds DNA and its ParB protein partner, KorB. Together, the proteins move replicated DNA to appropriate cellular positions, so that each daughter cell inherits a copy on cell division. IncC from RK2 is expressed in two forms. IncC2 is homologous to bacterial ParA proteins, while IncC1 has an N-terminal extension of 105 amino acids and is similar in length to ParA homologues in other plasmids. We have been examining the role of this extension, here called IncC NTD. We present its backbone NMR chemical shift assignments and show that it is entirely intrinsically disordered. The assignments were achieved using C-detected, CON-based spectra, complemented by HNN spectra to obtain connectivities from three adjacent amino acids. We also observed evidence of deamidation of the protein at a GNGG sequence, to give isoAsp, giving 2 sets of peaks for residues up to 5 amino acids on either side of the modification. We have assigned resonances from around the position of modification for this form of the protein.


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