Helical cell shape is necessary for efficient stomach colonization by Helicobacter pylori, but the molecular mechanisms for generating helical shape remain unclear. The helical centerline pitch and radius of wild-type H. pylori cells dictate surface curvatures of considerably higher positive and negative Gaussian curvatures than those present in straight- or curved-rod H. pylori. Quantitative 3D microscopy analysis of short pulses with either N-acetylmuramic acid or D-alanine metabolic probes showed that cell wall growth is enhanced at both sidewall curvature extremes. Immunofluorescence revealed MreB is most abundant at negative Gaussian curvature, while the bactofilin CcmA is most abundant at positive Gaussian curvature. Strains expressing CcmA variants with altered polymerization properties lose helical shape and associated positive Gaussian curvatures. We thus propose a model where CcmA and MreB promote PG synthesis at positive and negative Gaussian curvatures, respectively, and that this patterning is one mechanism necessary for maintaining helical shape.

中文翻译：

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不同的细胞骨架蛋白定义了幽门螺杆菌中增强的细胞壁合成区域

螺旋细胞形状对于幽门螺杆菌有效的胃定植是必需的，但是产生螺旋形状的分子机制仍不清楚。野生型幽门螺杆菌细胞的螺旋中心线螺距和半径决定了表面曲率，正，负高斯曲率要比直杆或弯曲杆幽门螺杆菌高。使用N进行短脉冲的定量3D显微镜分析-乙酰基尿酸或D-丙氨酸代谢探针显示，在两个侧壁曲率极限处，细胞壁的生长均得到增强。免疫荧光显示，MreB在负高斯曲率下最丰富，而细菌丝蛋白CcmA在正高斯曲率下最丰富。表达具有改变的聚合性质的CcmA变体的菌株失去螺旋形状和相关的正高斯曲率。因此，我们提出了一个模型，其中CcmA和MreB分别在正高斯曲率和负高斯曲率下促进PG合成，并且该图案化是保持螺旋形状所必需的一种机制。