This Article Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: JB.00757-07v1 189/17/6457    most recent 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 Plomp, M. Articles by Malkin, A. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Plomp, M. Articles by Malkin, A. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J. Bacteriol. doi:10.1128/JB.00757-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Spore Coat Architecture of Clostridium novyi-NT spores

Department of Chemistry, Materials and Life Sciences, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, L-234, Livermore CA 94551, USA, Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics at The Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, 1650 Orleans Street, CRB1, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, USA

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: vogelbe{at}welch.jhu.edu. malkin1{at}llnl.gov.

	Abstract

Spores of the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium novyi-NT are able to germinate in and destroy hypoxic regions of tumors in experimental animals. Future progress in this area will benefit from a better understanding of the germination and outgrowth processes that are essential for the tumorilytic properties of these spores. Towards this end, we have used both transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy to determine the structure of dormant as well as germinating spores. We found that the spores are surrounded by an amorphous layer intertwined with honeycomb parasporal layers. Moreover, the spore coat layers had apparently self-assembled and this assembly was likely to be governed by crystal growth principles. During germination and outgrowth, the honeycomb layers as well as the underlying spore coat and undercoat layers sequentially dissolved until the vegetative cell was released. In addition to their implications for understanding the biology of C. novyi-NT, these studies document the presence of proteinaceous growth spirals in a biological organism.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Ghosh, S., Setlow, B., Wahome, P. G., Cowan, A. E., Plomp, M., Malkin, A. J., Setlow, P. (2008). Characterization of Spores of Bacillus subtilis That Lack Most Coat Layers. J. Bacteriol. 190: 6741-6748 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Carroll, A. M., Plomp, M., Malkin, A. J., Setlow, P. (2008). Protozoal Digestion of Coat-Defective Bacillus subtilis Spores Produces "Rinds" Composed of Insoluble Coat Protein. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 5875-5881 [Abstract] [Full Text]