This Article 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 Pasloske, B L Articles by Paranchych, W Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Pasloske, B L Articles by Paranchych, W

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J Bacteriol. 1989 April; 171(4): 2142-2147

research-article

Assembly of mutant pilins in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: formation of pili composed of heterologous subunits.

B L Pasloske, D G Scraba and W Paranchych

Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

ABSTRACT

Recently, we reported the degree of N-terminal processing within the cytoplasmic membranes of three mutant pilins from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAK with respect to leader peptide removal and the methylation of the N-terminal phenylalanine (B. L. Pasloske and W. Paranchych, Mol. Microbiol. 2:489-495, 1988). The results of those experiments showed that the deletion of 4 or 8 amino acids within the highly conserved N terminus greatly inhibited leader peptide removal. On the other hand, the mutation of the glutamate at position 5 to a lysine permitted leader peptide cleavage but inhibited transmethylase activity. In this report, we have examined the effects of these mutant pilins upon pilus assembly in a P. aeruginosa PAO host with or without the chromosomally encoded pilin gene present. Pilins with deletions of 4 or 8 amino acids in the N-terminal region were not incorporated into pili. Interestingly, pilin subunits containing the glutamate-to-lysine mutation were incorporated into compound pili together with PAO wild-type subunits. However, the mutant pilins were unable to polymerize as a homopolymer. When wild-type PAK and PAO pilin subunits were expressed in the same bacterial strain, the pilin subunits assembled into homopolymeric pili containing one or the other type of subunit.

---

J Bacteriol. 1989 April; 171(4): 2142-2147

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Han, X., Kennan, R. M., Parker, D., Davies, J. K., Rood, J. I. (2007). Type IV Fimbrial Biogenesis Is Required for Protease Secretion and Natural Transformation in Dichelobacter nodosus. J. Bacteriol. 189: 5022-5033 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Szabo, Z., Stahl, A. O., Albers, S.-V., Kissinger, J. C., Driessen, A. J. M., Pohlschroder, M. (2007). Identification of Diverse Archaeal Proteins with Class III Signal Peptides Cleaved by Distinct Archaeal Prepilin Peptidases. J. Bacteriol. 189: 772-778 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tomich, M., Fine, D. H., Figurski, D. H. (2006). The TadV Protein of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans Is a Novel Aspartic Acid Prepilin Peptidase Required for Maturation of the Flp1 Pilin and TadE and TadF Pseudopilins.. J. Bacteriol. 188: 6899-6914 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Friedrich, A., Rumszauer, J., Henne, A., Averhoff, B. (2003). Pilin-Like Proteins in the Extremely Thermophilic Bacterium Thermus thermophilus HB27: Implication in Competence for Natural Transformation and Links to Type IV Pilus Biogenesis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 3695-3700 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Vignon, G., Kohler, R., Larquet, E., Giroux, S., Prevost, M.-C., Roux, P., Pugsley, A. P. (2003). Type IV-Like Pili Formed by the Type II Secreton: Specificity, Composition, Bundling, Polar Localization, and Surface Presentation of Peptides. J. Bacteriol. 185: 3416-3428 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Busch, S., Rosenplänter, C., Averhoff, B. (1999). Identification and Characterization of ComE and ComF, Two Novel Pilin-Like Competence Factors Involved in Natural Transformation of Acinetobacter sp. Strain BD413. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65: 4568-4574 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Keizer, D. W., Slupsky, C. M., Kalisiak, M., Campbell, A. P., Crump, M. P., Sastry, P. A., Hazes, B., Irvin, R. T., Sykes, B. D. (2001). Structure of a Pilin Monomer from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ASSEMBLY OF PILI. J. Biol. Chem. 276: 24186-24193 [Abstract] [Full Text]