Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 25, 2026
08:42
Visual and Microscopic Evaluation of Streptomyces Developmental Mutants
Published on: September 12, 2018
Aerial development in Streptomyces coelicolor requires sortase activity
Andrew Duong1, David S Capstick, Christina Di Berardo
1Department of Biology and Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Molecular Microbiology
|February 3, 2012
Summary
Sortase enzymes (SrtE1 and SrtE2) are crucial for Streptomyces coelicolor aerial development. Their absence delays sporulation and affects chaplin protein localization, revealing a novel developmental checkpoint.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Molecular Biology
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Streptomyces coelicolor undergoes a complex life cycle with distinct vegetative and aerial hyphal stages.
- Chaplin proteins are essential secreted factors involved in the surface coating of aerial hyphae during development.
- Long chaplins (ChpA, B, C) have a specific sorting signal, suggesting a role in anchoring other chaplins.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of sortase enzymes (SrtE1, SrtE2) in the cell wall anchoring and function of chaplin proteins.
- To elucidate the mechanism by which chaplins mediate aerial development in Streptomyces coelicolor.
- To identify potential regulatory checkpoints in bacterial multicellular development.
Main Methods:
- In vitro cleavage assays of LAXTG-containing peptides by sortase enzymes SrtE1 and SrtE2.
- Analysis of srtE1/E2 double mutants for defects in chaplin localization, aerial hyphae formation, and sporulation.
- Comparison of sortase mutant phenotypes with those of long chaplin mutants.
Main Results:
- SrtE1 and SrtE2 cleave specific peptide motifs and are essential for the cell wall anchoring of ChpC.
- srtE1/E2 double mutants exhibit significant delays in aerial hyphae formation, lack sporulation, and fail to display short chaplins.
- The phenotype of sortase mutants differs markedly from long chaplin mutants, suggesting sortases act upstream of chaplin interactions.
Conclusions:
- Sortase activity is critical for anchoring chaplin proteins and is required for proper aerial development and sporulation in Streptomyces coelicolor.
- The absence of sortase activity leads to the failure of aerial-specific gene transcription, indicating a novel developmental checkpoint.
- This study revises the model of chaplin-mediated development, highlighting the pivotal role of sortases in initiating multicellular development.
Related Concept Videos
01:17Gene Regulation During Sporulation
Sporulation is a complex developmental process that allows certain Gram-positive bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis and Clostridium species, to survive extreme environmental conditions. This process is tightly regulated by a series of signaling cascades and transcriptional controls, ensuring the formation of a highly resistant endospore.Sporulation is triggered by unfavorable conditions, such as nutrient depletion, and is governed by a phosphorelay system. One of the sensor kinases, such as...
01:30Bacterial Phylum Actinobacteria
Coryneform bacteria are gram-positive, aerobic, nonmotile rods that exhibit irregular, club-shaped, or V-shaped arrangements. Their V-shape results from snapping division, where the inner cell wall layer forms the cross-wall, while the outer layer remains intact until it ruptures on one side, causing the daughter cells to bend away.The primary genera are Corynebacterium and Arthrobacter. Corynebacterium includes diverse species, ranging from saprophytes to pathogens like Corynebacterium...