The structured organization of Deinococcus radiodurans' cell envelope
Farci, Domenica
First
;Piano, Dario
Last
2022-01-01
Abstract
Surface layers (S-layers) are highly ordered coats of proteins localized on the cell surface of many bacterial species. In these structures, one or more proteins form elementary units that self-assemble into a crystalline monolayer tiling the entire cell surface. Here, the cell envelope of the radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans was studied by cryo-electron microscopy, finding the crystalline regularity of the S-layer extended into the layers below (outer membrane, periplasm, and inner membrane). The cell envelope appears to be highly packed and resulting from a three-dimensional crystalline distribution of protein complexes organized in close continuity yet allowing a certain degree of free space. The presented results suggest how S-layers, at least in some species, are mesoscale assemblies behaving as structural and functional scaffolds essential for the entire cell envelope.File | Size | Format | |
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pnas.2209111119.pdf open access
Type: versione editoriale
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2.16 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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