Download MendeleyMechanism of activation of bacterial cellulose synthase by cyclic di-GMP.
Morgan, J.L., McNamara, J.T., Zimmer, J.(2014) Nat Struct Mol Biol 21: 489-496
- PubMed: 24704788
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2803
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
4P00, 4P02 - PubMed Abstract:
The bacterial signaling molecule cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) stimulates the synthesis of bacterial cellulose, which is frequently found in biofilms. Bacterial cellulose is synthesized and translocated across the inner membrane by a complex of cellulose synthase BcsA and BcsB subunits. Here we present crystal structures of the c-di-GMP-activated BcsA-BcsB complex. The structures reveal that c-di-GMP releases an autoinhibited state of the enzyme by breaking a salt bridge that otherwise tethers a conserved gating loop that controls access to and substrate coordination at the active site. Disrupting the salt bridge by mutagenesis generates a constitutively active cellulose synthase. Additionally, the c-di-GMP-activated BcsA-BcsB complex contains a nascent cellulose polymer whose terminal glucose unit rests at a new location above BcsA's active site and is positioned for catalysis. Our mechanistic insights indicate how c-di-GMP allosterically modulates enzymatic functions.
Organizational Affiliation:
Center for Membrane Biology, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
