• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Monday, January 25, 2021
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

Not as simple as thought: How bacteria form membrane vesicles

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
January 14, 2021
in Chemistry
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Researchers from the University of Tsukuba identify a novel mechanism by which bacteria form various types of membrane vesicles

IMAGE

Credit: University of Tsukuba

Tsukuba, Japan – Bacteria have the ability to form membrane vesicles to communicate with each other, but also to defend themselves against antibiotics. In a new study, researchers from the University of Tsukuba discovered a novel mechanism by which mycolic acid-containing bacteria, a specific group of bacteria with a special type of cell membrane, form membrane vesicles.

Bacteria have traditionally been classified on the basis of the composition of their cell envelopes. For example, microbiologists employ Gram staining to differentiate between bacteria that have a thick (Gram-positive) or thin (Gram-negative) cell wall. While bacterial membranes mostly act as protective barriers, they can also form protrusions to make membrane vesicles with diverse biological functions. For example, membrane vesicles may contain various biomolecules, such as DNA, which can be sent between bacteria and confer new abilities to the cells. Membrane vesicles have also been shown to be an important tool for bacteria to defend themselves against antibiotics and phages (viruses that infect bacteria). Recent studies have shown that bacteria form membrane vesicles in various ways, which in turn produces different types of membrane vesicles. While these studies mostly explored the biogenesis of membrane vesicles in Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, the mechanism of membrane vesicle formation in mycolic acid-containing bacteria (MCB), such as Mycobacteria tuberculosis that are responsible for tuberculosis, has remained unknown.

“Mycolic acid-containing bacteria are a very interesting group of bacteria because of their complex cell structure,” says author of the study Dr. Toshiki Nagakubo. “The goal of our study was to understand how these cells form membrane vesicles.”

To achieve their goal, the researchers asked how environmental conditions influence the formation of membrane vesicles. They exposed the MCB Corynebacterium glutamicum to two different types of stress: DNA damage and envelope stress, that is an interference with cell wall or cell membrane synthesis. By employing electron microscopy, super resolution live-cell imaging and various biochemical analytical tools, the researchers found that under DNA-damaging conditions, MCB formed membrane vesicles with more diverse morphologies than under normal conditions, demonstrating how bacteria adapt and respond to their environment. They further showed that DNA damage induced membrane vesicle formation remarkably through cell death. On the contrary, exposing the bacteria to envelope stress via penicillin or biotin deficiency resulted in membrane vesicle formation through membrane blebbing. Interestingly, these various routes of membrane vesicle formation were similar in other MCB, demonstrating how the complex cell structure of MCB dictates the types of membrane vesicles this group of bacteria can form.

“These are striking results that provide insight into the mechanisms by which unicellular organisms, namely bacteria, form various types of membrane vesicles. These findings could be helpful for the development of novel therapeutics or vaccines,” says corresponding author of the study Associate Professor Masanori Toyofuku.

###

Media Contact
Naoko Yamashina
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.102015

Tags: BacteriologyBiochemistryBiologyMicrobiologyMolecular Biology
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

IMAGE

Photocatalytic reaction in the shadow

January 25, 2021
IMAGE

How complex oscillations in a quantum system simplify with time

January 25, 2021

Better bundled: new principle for generating X-rays

January 25, 2021

CHEOPS finds unique planetary system

January 25, 2021
Next Post
IMAGE

How insects activate muscles to adapt to limbs removed

IMAGE

Bladder cancer -- When to use chemotherapy

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

POPULAR NEWS

  • IMAGE

    The map of nuclear deformation takes the form of a mountain landscape

    54 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14
  • People living with HIV face premature heart disease and barriers to care

    68 shares
    Share 27 Tweet 17
  • New drug form may help treat osteoporosis, calcium-related disorders

    41 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • New findings help explain how COVID-19 overpowers the immune system

    35 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

Medicine/HealthInfectious/Emerging DiseasesBiologycancerCell BiologyMaterialsGeneticsClimate ChangeTechnology/Engineering/Computer ScienceEcology/EnvironmentPublic HealthChemistry/Physics/Materials Sciences

Recent Posts

  • Impact of patient-reported symptom information on lumbar spine MRI Interpretation
  • Governments need to set clear rules for vaccinating health care workers against COVID-19
  • In ED patients with chest and abdominal pain, care delivered by physicians and APPs is similar
  • New book on Influenza: The Cutting Edge from CSHLPress
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In