Phospholipid synthesis and translocation by bacterial UPF0104 proteins (A08)

• Subject Area: Parasitology and Biology of Tropical Infectious Disease Pathogens
• Term: from 2007 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 32152271

Phospholipid biosynthesis takes place at the inner leaflet of the cytoplasmic membrane but it has remained unclear how bacteria translocate de novo-synthesized phospholipids into the outer leaflet of the membrane. We identified a universal prokaryotic protein family UPF0104 of previously unknown function and demonstrated that some of its members including the Escherichia coli YbhN and the Staphylococcus aureus MprF can translocate phospholipids. We plan to characterize the specificities, interaction partners, structures, and functional roles of UPF0104 proteins to unravel a crucial, largely unknown process of bacterial cell envelope synthesis.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 766: The Bacterial Cell Envelope: Structure, Function and Infection Interface
• Applicant Institution: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Andreas Peschel