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Objective To investigate the function of general chaperones in the secretion of two-partner-secretion (TPS) protein across the inner membrane to the periplasm of Gram-negative bacteria. Methods The general chaperones were knocked-out and the strains were used to prepare spheroplast to see the effects on the secretion of FhaB*, which is a substrate of the representative model TPS substrates FhaB/FhaC system. Results Single knock-out of chaperones Skp,DegP,PpiD,YfgM and double knock-out of PpiD/YfgM has no or little effect on the secretion of FhaB* into the periplasm, while single knock-out of SurA or double knock-out of Skp/DegP severely affect the secretion of FhaB*. Conclusions There may be two molecular chaperone pathways mediated by SurA or by both SKP and DegP in Gram-negative bacteria, which can mediate the substrate protein of the two-partner-secretion system secretes into the peripheral space.

The cell envelope of Gram-negative bacteria consists of two membranes surrounding a periplasm and peptidoglycan layer. Molecular machines spanning the cell envelope depend on spatial constraints and load-bearing forces across the cell envelope and surface. The mechanisms dictating spatial constraints across the cell envelope remain incompletely defined. In Escherichia coli, the coiled-coil lipoprotein Lpp contributes the only covalent linkage between the outer membrane and the underlying peptidoglycan layer. Using proteomics, molecular dynamics, and a synthetic lethal screen, we show that lengthening Lpp to the upper limit does not change the spatial constraint but is accommodated by other factors which thereby become essential for viability. Our findings demonstrate E. coli expressing elongated Lpp does not simply enlarge the periplasm in response, but the bacteria accommodate by a combination of tilting Lpp and reducing the amount of the covalent bridge. By genetic screening, we identified all of the genes in E. coli that become essential in order to enact this adaptation, and by quantitative proteomics discovered that very few proteins need to be up- or down-regulated in steady-state levels in order to accommodate the longer Lpp. We observed increased levels of factors determining cell stiffness, a decrease in membrane integrity, an increased membrane vesiculation and a dependance on otherwise non-essential tethers to maintain lipid transport and peptidoglycan biosynthesis. Further this has implications for understanding how spatial constraint across the envelope controls processes such as flagellum-driven motility, cellular signaling, and protein translocation

The peptidoglycan cell wall is a predominant structure of bacteria, determining cell shape and supporting survival in diverse conditions. Peptidoglycan is dynamic and requires regulated synthesis of new material, remodeling, and turnover – or autolysis – of old material. Despite exploitation of peptidoglycan synthesis as an antibiotic target, we lack a fundamental understanding of how peptidoglycan synthesis and autolysis intersect to maintain the cell wall. Here, we uncover a critical physiological role for a widely misunderstood class of autolytic enzymes, lytic transglycosylases (LTGs). We demonstrate that LTG activity is essential to survival by contributing to periplasmic processes upstream and independent of peptidoglycan recycling. Defects accumulate in Vibrio cholerae LTG mutants due to generally inadequate LTG activity, rather than absence of specific enzymes, and essential LTG activities are likely independent of protein-protein interactions, as heterologous expression of a non-native LTG rescues growth of a conditional LTG-null mutant. Lastly, we demonstrate that soluble, uncrosslinked, endopeptidase-dependent peptidoglycan chains, also detected in the wild-type, are enriched in LTG mutants, and that LTG mutants are hypersusceptible to the production of diverse periplasmic polymers. Collectively, our results suggest that LTGs prevent toxic crowding of the periplasm with synthesis-derived peptidoglycan polymers and, contrary to prevailing models, that this autolytic function can be temporally separate from peptidoglycan synthesis.

OmpA, a protein commonly found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, has served as a paradigm for the study of β-barrel proteins for several decades. In Escherichia coli, OmpA was previously reported to form complexes with RcsF, a surface-exposed lipoprotein that triggers the Rcs stress response when damage occurs in the outer membrane and the peptidoglycan. How OmpA interacts with RcsF and whether this interaction allows RcsF to reach the surface has remained unclear. Here, we integrated in vivo and in vitro approaches to establish that RcsF interacts with the C-terminal, periplasmic domain of OmpA, not with the N-terminal β-barrel, thus implying that RcsF does not reach the bacterial surface via OmpA. Our results suggest a novel function for OmpA in the cell envelope: OmpA competes with the inner membrane protein IgaA, the downstream Rcs component, for RcsF binding across the periplasm, thereby regulating the Rcs response.

Background: Nowadays, by genetic engineering and bioinformatics, large scale production of pharmacological recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, which has unique expression properties, becomes a routine and economic imperative. In this study, periplasmic production of human growth hormone was investigated using bioinformatics methods. Methods: The aim of this study was bioinformatic evaluation of 48 human signal peptides by reliable servers for expression analysis of human growth hormone in Escherichia coli. Accuracy and precision of 48 signal peptides were evaluated via powerful SignalP server. Physicochemical properties of remaining signal peptides were investigated using Genescript and Protparam servers. Solubility of protein, secretory activity of signal peptides after expression, and transmission mechanism of signal peptides were investigated using Solpro, ProtCompB and PRED-TAT, respectively. Findings: Theoretically, proline rich protein HaeIII subfamily 1 (PRH1), C10orf99, and prolactin-releasing hormone (PRLH) signal peptides were predicted as the most proper signal peptides in fusion of human growth hormone protein, respectively. Conclusion: Secretory expression instead of cytoplasmic expression provides benefits. This study results indicated that by examining different signal peptide sequences in fusion with human growth hormone protein, achieving signal peptides with potential and capability for high expression is possible. The accuracy of these results can be verified in future studies and experiments.