RRC ID 88928
Author Gaines MC, Isupov MN, McLaren M, Haque RU, Recalde A, Bargiela R, Gold VAM, Albers SV, Golyshin PN, Golyshina OV, Daum B.
Title Unusual cell surfaces, pili, and archaella of Thermoplasmatales archaea.
Journal ISME J
Abstract Archaea of the order Thermoplasmatales push the boundaries of our current knowledge of prokaryotic life. They show distinct cellular plasticity, heterogenous cell morphologies, and lack a paracrystalline S-layer. As the S-layer has previously been implicated in acting as a stator scaffold for filaments driving cellular propulsion, particularly archaella, we asked whether the absence of an S-layer precludes the formation of functional archaella or pili in Thermoplasmatales. Using cryoEM, we investigated the two Thermoplasmatales species Cuniculiplasma divulgatum and Oxyplasma meridianum. We found that these species indeed generate pili and archaella and that the latter likely function in cellular propulsion. Whereas C. divulgatum produces pili with terminal hooks using a unique assembly machinery, O. meridianum generates unusually wide, "barbed" archaella with a high degree of glycosylation. Our results show that for the generation of functional archaella and pili, a canonical S-layer is not necessary.
Volume 19(1)
Published 2025-1-2
DOI 10.1093/ismejo/wraf176
PII 8233076
PMID 40801261
PMC PMC12448462
MeSH Archaeal Proteins / genetics Archaeal Proteins / metabolism Cell Membrane* / ultrastructure Cryoelectron Microscopy Fimbriae, Bacterial Glycosylation Membrane Glycoproteins / metabolism Thermoplasmales* / physiology Thermoplasmales* / ultrastructure
Resource
General Microbes JCM30642