Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-15-2020
Description
Developing cultivation methods that yield chemically and isotopically defined fatty acid (FA) compositions within bacterial cytoplasmic membranes establishes an in vivo experimental platform to study membrane biophysics and cell membrane regulation using novel approaches. Yet before fully realizing the potential of this method, it is prudent to understand the systemic changes in cells induced by the labeling procedure itself. In this work, analysis of cellular membrane compositions was paired with proteomics to assess how the proteome changes in response to the directed incorporation of exogenous FAs into the membrane of Bacillus subtilis. Key findings from this analysis include an alteration in lipid headgroup distribution, with an increase in phosphatidylglycerol lipids and decrease in phosphatidylethanolamine lipids, possibly providing a fluidizing effect on the cell membrane in response to the induced change in membrane composition. Changes in the abundance of enzymes involved in FA biosynthesis and degradation are observed; along with changes in abundance of cell wall enzymes and isoprenoid lipid production. The observed changes may influence membrane organization, and indeed the well-known lipid raft-associated protein flotillin was found to be substantially down-regulated in the labeled cells – as was the actin-like protein MreB. Taken as a whole, this study provides a greater depth of understanding for this important cell membrane experimental platform and presents a number of new connections to be explored in regard to modulating cell membrane FA composition and its effects on lipid headgroup and raft/cytoskeletal associated proteins.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Citation Information
Nickels, Jonathan D.; Poudel, Suresh; Chatterjee, Sneha; Farmer, Abigail; Cordner, Destini; Campagna, Shawn R.; Giannone, Richard J.; Hettich, Robert L.; Myles, Dean A.A.; Standaert, Robert F.; Katsaras, John; and Elkins, James G.. 2020. Impact of Fatty-Acid Labeling of Bacillus subtilis Membranes on the Cellular Lipidome and Proteome. Frontiers in Microbiology. Vol.11 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00914
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Nickels, Poudel, Chatterjee, Farmer, Cordner, Campagna, Giannone, Hettich, Myles, Standaert, Katsaras and Elkins. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.