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Genetic and cell biological studies of the Streptomyces venezuelae orthologue of Mycobacterium septation factor SepIV A

Datta, Susmita (2020) MOBN03 20191
Degree Projects in Molecular Biology
Popular Abstract
Characterization of a gene associated with polar growth in Streptomyces venezuelae

Bacteria display a variety of shapes which includes spheres, rods, spirals etc. This variety of cell morphology is determined by the cell wall and the cytoskeleton, and by mechanisms that control growth, cell division and cell wall synthesis for example in response to the surrounding environment. Streptomyces spp. are unusual that they grow as filamentous cells called hyphae that branch and form a mycelial network. To live in a complex and variable environment like soil, streptomycetes possess a complex developmental life cycle, which also is reminiscent of that of many filamentous fungi. Streptomyces spp. reproduce through spore dispersal and vegetative... (More)
Characterization of a gene associated with polar growth in Streptomyces venezuelae

Bacteria display a variety of shapes which includes spheres, rods, spirals etc. This variety of cell morphology is determined by the cell wall and the cytoskeleton, and by mechanisms that control growth, cell division and cell wall synthesis for example in response to the surrounding environment. Streptomyces spp. are unusual that they grow as filamentous cells called hyphae that branch and form a mycelial network. To live in a complex and variable environment like soil, streptomycetes possess a complex developmental life cycle, which also is reminiscent of that of many filamentous fungi. Streptomyces spp. reproduce through spore dispersal and vegetative hyphae form from the spores and the life cycle continues.

In this study, we have investigated the function of a Streptomyces-version of gene called sepIVA that was recently found to be essential gene for viability and involved in cell division in Mycobacterium smegmatis. Mycobacteria and streptomycetes are members of the same phylum Actinobacteria. Also, they both exhibit similar cellular growth mechanism. This led us to investigate the location and function of the protein encoded by sepIVA in our model organism, Streptomyces venezuelae. Our first approach was to understand the effect of the deletion of this gene from the wild type S. venezuelae genome. We successfully created the mutant and performed an extensive examination of the effects of the deletion on colony morphology, sporulation pattern, spore size, growth pattern and cell division. Besides, we also tried to find out the location of the protein in the cells. We could satisfyingly observe the localization of the protein at the poles of elongating hyphae (hyphal tips). Our next approach was to initiate a search for other proteins that may interact with SepIVA. This is an ongoing research in the project.

The function of this protein in S. venezuelae remain unresolved so far. However, unlike Mycobacterium spp. the protein is not found to be essential in S. venezuelae under tested conditions. The localization of the protein at the tips of the hyphae perhaps indicates that it may have a role in the cell wall synthesis. It would also be interesting to know about some interacting protein partners of SepIVA in order to find out about the function of it. Exploring more about this protein could possibly lead us to a better understanding of the cell wall synthesis machinery of the group of bacteria to which both Streptomyces and Mycobacterium belong and could in the long run be important in discovery of new drugs.

Master’s Degree Project in Molecular Biology (Microbiology), 60 credits, 2019
Department of Biology, Lund University
Advisor: Klas Flärdh (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Datta, Susmita
supervisor
organization
course
MOBN03 20191
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
language
English
id
9008830
date added to LUP
2020-05-12 13:25:08
date last changed
2020-05-12 13:25:08
@misc{9008830,
  author       = {{Datta, Susmita}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Genetic and cell biological studies of the Streptomyces venezuelae orthologue of Mycobacterium septation factor SepIV A}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}