Mode of action of cell wall biosynthesis inhibitors in Wolbachia spp. (A08)

• Subject Area: Medical Microbiology and Mycology, Hygiene, Molecular Infection Biology
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 398967434

We will elucidate the connection between the lipid II cycle and cell division in the obligate intracellular Wolbachia, a genus of Gram-negative alpha-proteobacteria thought to have no cell wall. Using fosfomycin, the impact of inhibiting MurA on cell division will be studied at the cellular and molecular levels. We will employ transcriptomics and proteomics to clarify how fosfomycin depletes these endobacteria from host cells and how they respond to blocking of the lipid II cycle, including its recycling. Using labeled precursors, Wolbachia will be probed for a rudimentary peptidoglycan and the role of lipid II in interacting with or coordinating the cell division machinery (e.g. MreB or FtsZ) will be investigated.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 261: Cellular Mechanisms of Antibiotic Action and Production
• Applicant Institution: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
• Project Head: Kenneth Pfarr, Ph.D.