Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Application of Impermeable Barriers Combined with Candidate Factor Soaked Beads to Study Inductive Signals in the Chick
Published on: November 17, 2016
BolA inhibits cell elongation and regulates MreB expression levels
Patrick Freire1, Ricardo Neves Moreira, Cecília Maria Arraiano
1Control of Gene Expression Laboratory, Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica/Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Oeiras, Portugal.
Abstract:
The morphogene bolA is a general stress response gene in Escherichia coli that induces a round morphology when overexpressed. Results presented in this report show that increased BolA levels can inhibit cell elongation mechanisms. MreB polymerization is crucial for the bacterial cell cytoskeleton, and this protein is essential for the maintenance of a cellular rod shape. In this report, we demonstrate that bolA overexpression affects the architecture of MreB filaments. An increase in BolA leads to a significant reduction in MreB protein levels and mreB transcripts. BolA affects the mreBCD operon in vivo at the level of transcription. Furthermore, our results show that BolA is a new transcriptional repressor of MreB. The alterations in cell morphology induced by bolA seem to be mediated by a complex pathway that integrates PBP5, PBP6, MreB, and probably other regulators of cell morphology/elongation.
Related Concept Videos
Receptor Downregulation in MVBs
The EGFR can initiate signaling pathways that lead to cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation. Overexpression of EGFR stimulates cells to proliferate. Excessive EGFR activation may...
Negative Regulator Molecules
Cell Motility through Blebbing
Blebbing Through the Matrix
In multicellular...
Abnormal Proliferation
Master Transcription Regulators
Molecular Factors Affecting Cell Division
Several proteins function as internal regulators to ensure each cell cycle stage is completed faithfully before proceeding to the next. Regulator molecules may act directly or influence the activity or production of other...