Control of Morphological Differentiation of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) by Phosphorylation of MreC and PBP2

PLoS One. 2015 Apr 30;10(4):e0125425. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0125425. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

During morphological differentiation of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), the sporogenic aerial hyphae are transformed into a chain of more than fifty spores in a highly coordinated manner. Synthesis of the thickened spore envelope is directed by the Streptomyces spore wall synthesizing complex SSSC which resembles the elongasome of rod-shaped bacteria. The SSSC includes the eukaryotic type serine/threonine protein kinase (eSTPK) PkaI, encoded within a cluster of five independently transcribed eSTPK genes (SCO4775-4779). To understand the role of PkaI in spore wall synthesis, we screened a S. coelicolor genomic library for PkaI interaction partners by bacterial two-hybrid analyses and identified several proteins with a documented role in sporulation. We inactivated pkaI and deleted the complete SCO4775-4779 cluster. Deletion of pkaI alone delayed sporulation and produced some aberrant spores. The five-fold mutant NLΔ4775-4779 had a more severe defect and produced 18% aberrant spores affected in the integrity of the spore envelope. Moreover, overbalancing phosphorylation activity by expressing a second copy of any of these kinases caused a similar defect. Following co-expression of pkaI with either mreC or pbp2 in E. coli, phosphorylation of MreC and PBP2 was demonstrated and multiple phosphosites were identified by LC-MS/MS. Our data suggest that elaborate protein phosphorylation controls activity of the SSSC to ensure proper sporulation by suppressing premature cross-wall synthesis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Escherichia coli / metabolism
  • Escherichia coli Proteins / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
  • Penicillin-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Phosphorylation
  • Protein Binding
  • Spores, Bacterial / metabolism
  • Streptomyces coelicolor / cytology*
  • Streptomyces coelicolor / metabolism*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Escherichia coli Proteins
  • MreC protein, Bacteria
  • Penicillin-Binding Proteins
  • MrdA protein, E coli

Grants and funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), SFB-766.