This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Couture-Tosi, E. Articles by Mosser, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Couture-Tosi, E. Articles by Mosser, G.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, December 2002, p. 6448-6456, Vol. 184, No. 23
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.23.6448-6456.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Structural Analysis and Evidence for Dynamic Emergence of Bacillus anthracis S-Layer Networks

Evelyne Couture-Tosi,¹ Hervé Delacroix,² Tâm Mignot,³ Stéphane Mesnage,³ Mohamed Chami,⁴ Agnès Fouet,^3* and Gervaise Mosser⁵

Groupe de Microscopie Structurale Moléculaire (CNRS URA 2185),¹ Toxines et Pathogénie Bactérienne (CNRS URA 2172), Institut Pasteur,³ Centre de Génétique Moléculaire (UFR 2167), Université Pierre et Marie Curie,² Equipe Matériaux du Vivant (UMR7574-CNRS, LCMC-UPMC, LHCP-EPHE), Paris,⁵ Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, CNRS, Gif sur Yvette, France⁴

Received 6 June 2002/ Accepted 13 August 2002

Surface layers (S-layers), which form the outermost layers of many Bacteria and Archaea, consist of protein molecules arranged in two-dimensional crystalline arrays. Bacillus anthracis, a gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium, responsible for anthrax, synthesizes two abundant surface proteins: Sap and EA1. Regulatory studies showed that EA1 and Sap appear sequentially at the surface of the parental strain. Sap and EA1 can form arrays. The structural parameters of S-layers from mutant strains (EA1^- and Sap^-) were determined by computer image processing of electron micrographs of negatively stained regular S-layer fragments or deflated whole bacteria. Sap and EA1 projection maps were calculated on a p1 symmetry basis. The unit cell parameters of EA1 were a = 69 Å, b = 83 Å, and = 106°, while those of Sap were a = 184 Å, b = 81 Å, and = 84°. Freeze-etching experiments and the analysis of the peripheral regions of the cell suggested that the two S-layers have different settings. We characterized the settings of each network at different growth phases. Our data indicated that the scattered emergence of EA1 destabilizes the Sap S-layer.

---

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Toxines et Pathogénie Bactérienne, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. Phone: 33 1 45 68 86 54. Fax: 33 1 45 68 89 54. E-mail: afouet{at}pasteur.fr.

---

Journal of Bacteriology, December 2002, p. 6448-6456, Vol. 184, No. 23
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.23.6448-6456.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Sheng, D., Jao, J., Li, M., Xu, P., Zhang, J. (2009). RecX is Involved In the Switch between DNA Damage Response and Normal Metabolism in D. radiodurans. J Biochem 146: 337-342 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rothfuss, H., Lara, J. C., Schmid, A. K., Lidstrom, M. E. (2006). Involvement of the S-layer proteins Hpi and SlpA in the maintenance of cell envelope integrity in Deinococcus radiodurans R1.. Microbiology 152: 2779-2787 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Sylvestre, P., Couture-Tosi, E., Mock, M. (2005). Contribution of ExsFA and ExsFB Proteins to the Localization of BclA on the Spore Surface and to the Stability of the Bacillus anthracis Exosporium. J. Bacteriol. 187: 5122-5128 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Candela, T., Mignot, T., Hagnerelle, X., Haustant, M., Fouet, A. (2005). Genetic analysis of Bacillus anthracis Sap S-layer protein crystallization domain. Microbiology 151: 1485-1490 [Abstract] [Full Text]