Homeostatic control of cell wall hydrolysis by the WalRK two-component signaling pathway in Bacillus subtilis
- Harvard Medical School, United States
Abstract
Bacterial cells are encased in a peptidoglycan (PG) exoskeleton that protects them from osmotic lysis and specifies their distinct shapes. Cell wall hydrolases are required to enlarge this covalently closed macromolecule during growth, but how these autolytic enzymes are regulated remains poorly understood. Bacillus subtilis encodes two functionally redundant D,L-endopeptidases (CwlO and LytE) that cleave peptide crosslinks to allow expansion of the PG meshwork during growth. Here, we provide evidence that the essential and broadly conserved WalR-WalK two component regulatory system continuously monitors changes in the activity of these hydrolases by sensing the cleavage products generated by these enzymes and modulating their levels and activity in response. The WalR-WalK pathway is conserved among many Gram-positive pathogens where it controls transcription of distinct sets of PG hydrolases. Cell wall remodeling in these bacteria may be subject to homeostatic control mechanisms similar to the one reported here.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.
Article and author information
Author details
Genevieve S Dobihal
Funding
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (GM086466)
- David Z Rudner
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (GM127399)
- David Z Rudner
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U19 AI109764)
- David Z Rudner
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (F32AI36431)
- Josué Flores-Kim
European Molecular Biology Organization (Long-Term Fellowship)
- Yannick R Brunet
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2019, Dobihal et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Homeostatic control of cell wall hydrolysis by the WalRK two-component signaling pathway in Bacillus subtilis
eLife 8:e52088.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.52088
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