The quantitative basis for the redistribution of immobile bacterial lipoproteins to division septa

PLoS Comput Biol. 2021 Dec 29;17(12):e1009756. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009756. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Abstract

The spatial localisation of proteins is critical for most cellular function. In bacteria, this is typically achieved through capture by established landmark proteins. However, this requires that the protein is diffusive on the appropriate timescale. It is therefore unknown how the localisation of effectively immobile proteins is achieved. Here, we investigate the localisation to the division site of the slowly diffusing lipoprotein Pal, which anchors the outer membrane to the cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria. While the proton motive force-linked TolQRAB system is known to be required for this repositioning, the underlying mechanism is unresolved, especially given the very low mobility of Pal. We present a quantitative, mathematical model for Pal relocalisation in which dissociation of TolB-Pal complexes, powered by the proton motive force across the inner membrane, leads to the net transport of Pal along the outer membrane and its deposition at the division septum. We fit the model to experimental measurements of protein mobility and successfully test its predictions experimentally against mutant phenotypes. Our model not only explains a key aspect of cell division in Gram-negative bacteria, but also presents a physical mechanism for the transport of low-mobility proteins that may be applicable to multi-membrane organelles, such as mitochondria and chloroplasts.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins* / chemistry
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins* / metabolism
  • Cell Division
  • Cell Wall / chemistry
  • Cell Wall / metabolism
  • Escherichia coli / chemistry
  • Escherichia coli / cytology
  • Escherichia coli / metabolism
  • Escherichia coli Proteins* / chemistry
  • Escherichia coli Proteins* / metabolism
  • Intracellular Space* / chemistry
  • Intracellular Space* / metabolism
  • Lipoproteins* / chemistry
  • Lipoproteins* / metabolism
  • Peptidoglycan* / chemistry
  • Peptidoglycan* / metabolism
  • Periplasmic Proteins* / chemistry
  • Periplasmic Proteins* / metabolism
  • Protein Binding / physiology
  • Protein Transport / physiology*

Substances

  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins
  • Escherichia coli Proteins
  • ExcC protein, E coli
  • Lipoproteins
  • Peptidoglycan
  • Periplasmic Proteins
  • tolB protein, E coli

Grants and funding

CK acknowledges financial support for this work from the European Research Council (advanced grant 742555; OMPorg; https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/). SMM receives core support from the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (https://www.mpg.de). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.