Title: Requirement of Cell Wall Remodeling for Cell–Cell Communication and Cell Differentiation in Filamentous Cyanobacteria of the Order <i>Nostocales</i>
Abstract: Cyanobacteria of the order Nostocales form filaments of hundreds of interacting cells exchanging metabolites and signal molecules, similar to multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we show a structural requisite for intrafilament communication: perforation of a single layered septal cell wall by an array of nanopores. An autolytic enzyme was identified in two heterocyst-forming strains, Nostoc punctiforme ATCC 29133 and Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, with similarities to the AmiC protein of the divisome from E. coli. Mutations of the cyanobacterial AmiC-orthologs abolished nanopore formation, cell–cell communication, and differentiation. Through this, we identified a novel function for a cell wall amidase: it transforms the cell-separating septum into a framework for cell-joining structures with approximately 150 pores 20 nm wide, which together constitute a novel bacterial organelle, establishing multicellularity in a filamentous prokaryote.
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-07-14
Language: en
Type: other
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 4
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