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Journal of Bacteriology, May 2007, p. 3525-3531, Vol. 189, No. 9
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00044-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Role of PBP1 in Cell Division of Staphylococcus aureus{triangledown}

S. F. F. Pereira,1 A. O. Henriques,2 M. G. Pinho,3 H. de Lencastre,1,4 and A. Tomasz4*

Laboratory of Molecular Genetics,1 Laboratory of Microbial Development,2 Laboratory of Bacterial Cell Biology,3 Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2780 Oeiras, Portugal, and Laboratory of Microbiology, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 100214

Received 9 January 2007/ Accepted 8 February 2007

We constructed a conditional mutant of pbpA in which transcription of the gene was placed under the control of an IPTG (isopropyl-ß-D-thiogalactopyranoside)-inducible promoter in order to explore the role of PBP1 in growth, cell wall structure, and cell division. A methicillin-resistant strain and an isogenic methicillin-susceptible strain, each carrying the pbpA mutation, were unable to grow in the absence of the inducer. Conditional mutants of pbpA transferred into IPTG-free medium underwent a four- to fivefold increase in cell mass, which was not accompanied by a proportional increase in viable titer. Examination of thin sections of such cells by transmission electron microscopy or fluorescence microscopy of intact cells with Nile red-stained membranes showed a morphologically heterogeneous population of bacteria with abnormally increased sizes, distorted axial ratios, and a deficit in the number of cells with completed septa. Immunofluorescence with an antibody specific for PBP1 localized the protein to sites of cell division. No alteration in the composition of peptidoglycan was detectable in pbpA conditional mutants grown in the presence of a suboptimal concentration of IPTG, which severely restricted the rate of growth, and the essential function of PBP1 could not be replaced by PBP2A present in methicillin-resistant cells. These observations suggest that PBP1 is not a major contributor to the cross-linking of peptidoglycan and that its essential function must be intimately integrated into the mechanism of cell division.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021. Phone: (212) 327-8277. Fax: (212) 327-8688. E-mail: tomasz{at}mail.rockefeller.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 16 February 2007.

Journal of Bacteriology, May 2007, p. 3525-3531, Vol. 189, No. 9
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00044-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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