Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 10, 2025

In Vesiculo Synthesis of Peptide Membrane Precursors for Autonomous Vesicle Growth
07:10

In Vesiculo Synthesis of Peptide Membrane Precursors for Autonomous Vesicle Growth

Published on: June 28, 2019

5.9K

Autolysis-mediated membrane vesicle formation in Bacillus subtilis

Kimihiro Abe1, Masanori Toyofuku1,2, Nobuhiko Nomura1,2

  • 1Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.

Environmental Microbiology
|April 5, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Bacillus subtilis releases membrane vesicles (MVs) during stress through autolysis, a novel pathway independent of prophage genes. These MVs protect cells from surfactant-induced lysis, enhancing viability.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Cell Biology
  • Bacterial Physiology

Background:

  • Bacillus subtilis is known to release membrane vesicles (MVs) during the SOS response, linked to prophage-induced cell lysis.
  • The role of MVs and the mechanisms of their release under various stress conditions require further elucidation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of autolysis and prophage-encoded enzymes in Bacillus subtilis MV production under diverse stress conditions.
  • To determine the protective function of MVs against cell lysis induced by external stressors.

Main Methods:

  • Induction of stress conditions including sucrose fatty acid ester (SFE) treatment, cold shock, starvation, and oxygen deficiency.
  • Generation of B. subtilis deletion mutants for autolysin genes (LytC, LytD, LytE, LytF) and prophage-related genes (xhlAB, xlyA).
  • Analysis of autolysis, MV production, and cell viability in wild-type and mutant strains.
  • Assessment of the protective effect of exogenous MVs against SFE-induced cell lysis.

Main Results:

  • Bacillus subtilis releases MVs under various stress conditions, including SFE treatment, cold shock, starvation, and oxygen deficiency.
  • Deletion of autolysin genes abolished stress-induced autolysis and subsequent MV production, identifying autolysis as crucial for MV biogenesis.
  • Prophage-encoded genes xhlAB and xlyA were not involved in autolysis-triggered MV production.
  • Exogenous MVs effectively neutralized cell lysis induced by surfactant treatment, protecting bacterial cells.

Conclusions:

  • Autolysis is a novel and prophage-independent pathway for MV production in Bacillus subtilis under stress.
  • Bacillus subtilis MVs play a protective role, acting as decoys to shield cells from membrane damage by surfactants.
  • The study highlights a positive effect of MVs on cell viability and underscores the biological significance of autolysis.

More Related Videos

Visualization of Germinosomes and the Inner Membrane in Bacillus subtilis Spores08:58

Visualization of Germinosomes and the Inner Membrane in Bacillus subtilis Spores

Published on: April 15, 2019

10.3K
Single-cell Analysis of Bacillus subtilis Biofilms Using Fluorescence Microscopy and Flow Cytometry13:28

Single-cell Analysis of Bacillus subtilis Biofilms Using Fluorescence Microscopy and Flow Cytometry

Published on: February 15, 2012

20.8K

Related Concept Videos

Pinching-off of Coated Vesicles01:32

Pinching-off of Coated Vesicles

Vesicle budding is orchestrated by distinct cytosolic proteins such as adaptor proteins, coat proteins, and GTPases. To initiate vesicle budding, membrane-bending proteins containing crescent-shaped BAR domains bind to the lipid heads in the bilayer and distort the membrane to form a protein-coated vesicle bud. Adaptors proteins such as AP2 for clathrin-coated vesicles can nucleate on the deformed membrane. Finally, coat proteins such as clathrin or COPI and COPII assemble into a coat forming...
3.6K
Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane01:26

Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane

Proteins and neurotransmitters in secretory vesicles can be released from a cell upon vesicle docking, priming, and fusion with the plasma membrane. Vesicles are docked and primed in preparation for the quick exocytosis of their contents in response to a stimulus. The fusion process is mainly carried out by a SNAP Receptor or SNARE complex, consisting of synaptobrevin, syntaxin-1, and SNAP-25.
In 1993, Jim Rothman proposed that the antiparallel pairing of vesicular and transmembrane SNAREs, or...
15.8K
Intralumenal Vesicles and Multivesicular Bodies01:38

Intralumenal Vesicles and Multivesicular Bodies

Intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) are small vesicles 50-80 nm in diameter formed during the maturation of early endosomes. A specialized endosome containing numerous ILVs is called a multivesicular body (MVB). ILVs contain internalized molecules such as antigens, nucleic acids, proteins, and metabolites. Some of these molecules are released from the MVBs inside exosomes and are transported to other cells. Other MVBs contain molecules that are retained in the ILVs and are later degraded within the...
4.2K
Overview of Secretory Vesicles01:33

Overview of Secretory Vesicles

Secretory vesicles, also known as dense core vesicles (DCVs), are membrane-bound vesicles that transport secretory proteins, such as hormones or neurotransmitters. Regulated secretory vesicles transport proteins from the trans-Golgi network to the exterior of the cell. Proteins present in regulated secretory vesicles are required to be rapidly exocytosed in large amounts upon a specific stimulus.
Various proteins regulate the aggregation of molecules inside the secretory vesicles. Chromogranins...
9.0K
SNAREs and Membrane Fusion01:43

SNAREs and Membrane Fusion

Once a transport vesicle has recognized its target organelle, the vesicular membrane needs to fuse with the target membrane to unload the cargo. Transmembrane proteins called SNAREs present on organelle membranes and their vesicles, mediate vesicle fusion.
SNAREs exist in pairs that symmetrically interact and catalyze the fusion of the lipid bilayers in vesicle and target organelle. v-SNARE in the vesicle membrane are single polypeptide chains that bind to a complementary t-SNARE, composed of 2...
11.7K
Autophagy01:27

Autophagy

Autophagy is a self-digesting process by which a cell protects itself from threats both within and outside the cell, ranging from abnormal proteins to invading bacteria. In this process, obsolete components of the cell and invading microbes are degraded by hydrolytic enzymes active in an acidic environment of the lysosomal lumen.
An autophagic pathway consists of a series of signaling events activated in response to diverse stress and physiological conditions such as food deprivation,...
5.2K