Elongasome

A protein complex that catalyzes peptidoglycan biosynthesis and is thereby involved in maintaining cell shape

Complex members

• cell wall biosynthetic enzymes at the outer side of the membrane: penicillin-binding proteins
• transmembrane proteins: MreC, MreD, RodA, RodZ
• actin-like proteins at the inner surface of the membrane: MreB, MreBH, Mbl

Related pages

• penicillin-binding proteins
• cell shape
• cell wall synthesis
• Cell wall synthesis in SubtiPathways

Labs working on the complex

• Rut Carballido-Lopez, Jouy-en-Josas
• Jeff Errington, Newcastle upon Tyne
• David Rudner, New York

Important publications

• Domínguez-Escobar et al. from Rut Carballido-Lopez' lab and Garner et al. report that movement of actin-like filaments is driven by the peptidoglycan elongation machinery. Both papers suggest that the MreB-like filaments serve to restrict the mobility of the peptidoglycan synthesizing machinery
  

Ethan C Garner, Remi Bernard, Wenqin Wang, Xiaowei Zhuang, David Z Rudner, Tim Mitchison
Coupled, circumferential motions of the cell wall synthesis machinery and MreB filaments in B. subtilis.
Science: 2011, 333(6039);222-5
[PubMed:21636745] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Julia Domínguez-Escobar, Arnaud Chastanet, Alvaro H Crevenna, Vincent Fromion, Roland Wedlich-Söldner, Rut Carballido-López
Processive movement of MreB-associated cell wall biosynthetic complexes in bacteria.
Science: 2011, 333(6039);225-8
[PubMed:21636744] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

• A comment on these papers:

Andrew Jermy
Bacterial physiology: MreB takes a back seat.
Nat Rev Microbiol: 2011, 9(8);560-1
[PubMed:21725336] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I e)