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Bacterial physiology

Another brick in the invisible wall?

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 7, pages 688–689 (2009)Cite this article

In a recent report in Molecular Microbiology, Beate Henrichfreise, Andrea Schiefer and colleagues investigate the intriguing question of why the cell-wall-less obligate intracellular bacteria Chlamydia and Wolbachia spp. retain components of the cell wall biosynthesis pathway.

Peptidoglycan has never been reliably detected in bacteria of the obligate intracellular genera Chlamydia and Wolbachia. However, genome sequencing of members of these genera revealed that although both genera lack the transglycosylases necessary for the formation of the peptide bridges in mature peptidoglycan, they both possess the genes necessary for the biosynthesis of the peptidoglycan precursor lipid II.

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References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Henrichfreise, B. et al. Functional conservation of the lipid II biosynthesis pathway in the cell wall-less bacteria Chlamydia and Wolbachia: why is lipid II needed? Mol. Microbiol. 73, 913–923 (2009)

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FURTHER READING

  1. McCoy, A. J. & Maurelli, A. T. Building the invisible wall: updating the chlamydial peptidoglycan anomaly. Trends Microbiol. 14, 70–77 (2006)

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Authors
  1. Sheilagh Molloy
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Molloy, S. Another brick in the invisible wall?. Nat Rev Microbiol 7, 688–689 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2233

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2233

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