Manuel Chavez / Biology / Faculty Mentor: Cara Boutte
Mycobacteria, including the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, are a group of rod-shaped bacteria characterized by cell wall growth at the poles rather than along the lateral walls. In mycobacteria, DivIVA, also known as Wag31, is an essential pole-localized cytoplasmic protein with roles in polar growth, morphological maintenance, and recruitment of other cell wall synthesizing proteins. Although Wag31’s role in polar growth is known, its molecular mechanisms and involvement in polar growth have not been well described. Structural predictions show that Wag31 contains an intrinsically disordered region (IDR) over 100 amino acids long which is favorable for the formation of biomolecular condensates. Biomolecular condensates are membrane-less organelles that help regulate metabolic events and can dynamically alter their properties in different environmental conditions. Our data demonstrate that Wag31 from M. tuberculosis forms condensates in vitro under physiological conditions. Notably Wag31 condensates are reversible and will reform when the protein is moved from a biochemically unfavorable environment to a favorable one. Our preliminary work suggests that changes in the properties of the Wag31 condensate could help regulate polar growth in mycobacteria through the delocalization of essential polar cell wall proteins in response to extracellular signals of stress.
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