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J. Bacteriol. doi:10.1128/JB.00975-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Functional analysis of the Mycoplasma genitalium MG312 protein reveals a specific requirement of the MG312 N-terminal domain for gliding motility

Institut de Biotecnologia i Biomedicina and Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: jaume.pinyol{at}uab.es.

	Abstract

The human pathogen Mycoplasma genitalium is known to mediate cell adhesion to target cells by the attachment organelle, a complex structure also implicated in gliding motility. The gliding mechanism of M. genitalium cells is completely unknown but recent studies have begun to elucidate the components of the gliding machinery. We report the study of MG312, a cytadherence related protein containing in the N-terminus an enriched in aromatic and glycine residues (EAGR) box which is also exclusively found in MG200 and MG386 gliding motility proteins. Characterization of an mg312 deletion mutant obtained by homologous recombination has revealed that the MG312 protein is required for the assembly of the M. genitalium terminal organelle. This finding is consistent with the intermediate cytadherence phenotype and the complete absence of gliding motility exhibited by this mutant. Reintroduction of several mg312 deletion derivatives in the mg312 null mutant allowed us to identify two separate functional domains: an N-terminal domain implicated in gliding motility and a C-terminal domain involved in cytadherence and terminal organelle assembly functions. In addition, our results also provide evidence that the EAGR box has a specific contribution to the mycolasma cell motion. Finally, the presence of a conserved ATP binding site known as Walker A box in the MG312 N-terminal region suggests that this structural protein could also play an active function in the gliding mechanism.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Pich, O. Q., Burgos, R., Ferrer-Navarro, M., Querol, E., Pinol, J. (2008). Role of Mycoplasma genitalium MG218 and MG317 cytoskeletal proteins in terminal organelle organization, gliding motility and cytadherence. Microbiology 154: 3188-3198 [Abstract] [Full Text]