Apical cell growth and generation of cellular asymmetry in corynebacteria (P05)

• Subject Area: Metabolism, Biochemistry and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 269423233

Corynebacterium glutamicum is a model organism to study apical growth. The spatiotemporal organization of apical cell wall synthesis machineries and polar tethering of the chromosome are governed by the scaffold protein DivIVA. Corynebacteria have an unusually complex cell envelope termed mycoloyl-arabinogalactan-peptidoglycan (mAGP) complex. We will analyze the spatial organization of the mAGP synthesis by DivIVA. DivIVA was also identified as polar tether for the ParB–parS nucleoprotein complex. It remains unsolved how newly replicated ParB complexes are forming and how the segregation process of sister origins is initiated. We will address ParB complex formation and dynamics in the new funding period. Furthermore, we will unravel the function of a novel, DivIVA-localized DNA-repair mechanism. Our work will provide a comprehensive insight into the cell biology of an apically growing bacterium and contribute to the understanding of the intimate connection of apical growth on chromosome organization.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 174: Spatiotemporal dynamics of bacterial cells
• Applicant Institution: Philipps-Universität Marburg
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Marc Bramkamp