Encapsulation of the septal cell wall protects Streptococcus pneumoniae from its major peptidoglycan hydrolase and host defenses

PLoS Pathog. 2022 Jun 22;18(6):e1010516. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010516. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Synthesis of the capsular polysaccharide, a major virulence factor for many pathogenic bacteria, is required for bacterial survival within the infected host. In Streptococcus pneumoniae, Wze, an autophosphorylating tyrosine kinase, and Wzd, a membrane protein required for Wze autophosphorylation, co-localize at the division septum and guarantee the presence of capsule at this subcellular location. To determine how bacteria regulate capsule synthesis, we studied pneumococcal proteins that interact with Wzd and Wze using bacterial two hybrid assays and fluorescence microscopy. We found that Wzd interacts with Wzg, the putative ligase that attaches capsule to the bacterial cell wall, and recruits it to the septal area. This interaction required residue V56 of Wzd and both the transmembrane regions and DNA-PPF domain of Wzg. When compared to the wild type, Wzd null pneumococci lack capsule at midcell, bind the peptidoglycan hydrolase LytA better and are more susceptible to LytA-induced lysis, and are less virulent in a zebrafish embryo infection model. In this manuscript, we propose that the Wzd/Wze pair guarantees full encapsulation of pneumococcal bacteria by recruiting Wzg to the division septum, ensuring that capsule attachment is coordinated with peptidoglycan synthesis. Impairing the encapsulation process, at localized subcellular sites, may facilitate elimination of bacteria by strategies that target the pneumococcal peptidoglycan.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Cell Wall / metabolism
  • N-Acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine Amidase* / genetics
  • N-Acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine Amidase* / metabolism
  • Peptidoglycan / metabolism
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae* / metabolism
  • Zebrafish / metabolism

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Peptidoglycan
  • N-Acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine Amidase

Grants and funding

This work was financed by national funds provided by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. through PTDC/BIA-MIC/30746/2017 research grant (awarded to SRF), by European Research Council through grant ERC-2017-CoG-771709 (to M.G.P), in the scope of the project UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences - UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy - i4HB. JF (SFRH/BD/103181/2014) and ARN (SFRH/BD/52203/2013) were recipients of PhD fellowships from FCT-MCES, Portugal. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analyses, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.