Umeå University's logo

umu.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Endospore pili - flexible, stiff and sticky nanofibers
Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Ås, Norway.
Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Physics.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0496-6692
Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Physics.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0168-0197
Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Physics.
Show others and affiliations
2023 (English)In: Biophysical Journal, ISSN 0006-3495, E-ISSN 1542-0086, Vol. 122, no 13, p. 2696-2706Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Species belonging to the Bacillus cereus group form endospores (spores) whose surface is decorated with micrometers-long and nanometers-wide endospore appendages (Enas). The Enas have recently been shown to represent a completely novel class of Gram-positive pili. They exhibit remarkable structural properties making them extremely resilient to proteolytic digestion and solubilization. However, little is known about their functional and biophysical properties. In this work, we apply optical tweezers to manipulate and assess how wild type and Ena-depleted mutant spores immobilize on a glass surface. Further, we utilize optical tweezers to extend S-Ena fibers to measure their flexibility and tensile stiffness. Finally, by oscillating single spores, we examine how the exosporium and Enas affect spores’ hydrodynamic properties. Our results show that S-Enas (μm long pili) are not as effective as L-Enas in immobilizing spores to glass surfaces but are involved in forming spore to spore connections, holding the spores together in a gel-like state. The measurements also show that S-Enas are flexible but tensile stiff fibers, which support structural data suggesting that the quaternary structure is composed of subunits arranged in a complex to produce a bendable fiber (helical turns can tilt against each other) with limited axial fiber extensibility. Lastly, the results show that the hydrodynamic drag is 1.5-times higher for wild type spores expressing S- and L-Enas compared to mutant spores expressing only L-Enas or ”bald spores” lacking Ena, and 2-times higher compared to spores of the exosporium deficient strain. This study unveils novel findings on the biophysics of S- and L-Enas, their role in spore aggregation, binding of spores to glass, and their mechanical behavior upon exposure to drag forces.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2023. Vol. 122, no 13, p. 2696-2706
Keywords [en]
aggregation, pili, adhesion, optical tweezers, spore
National Category
Biophysics Other Physics Topics Microbiology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-208834DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2023.05.024ISI: 001059849200001PubMedID: 37218131Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85160684458OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-208834DiVA, id: diva2:1761402
Part of project
Biophysical and Physicochemical Fingerprinting of Single Bacterial Spores, Swedish Research Council
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2019-04016Available from: 2023-06-01 Created: 2023-06-01 Last updated: 2025-02-20Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(2865 kB)33 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 2865 kBChecksum SHA-512
962affb4d41f0d86b9263cf0b46095caf10c4f8954e343e9e015091940601b93b7bd3c4c84a542cf237aacd8a483b6eedd5df1fc1b326a747b7b48012367d8fd
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full textPubMedScopus

Authority records

Malyshev, DmitryÖberg, RasmusDahlberg, TobiasAndersson, Magnus

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Malyshev, DmitryÖberg, RasmusDahlberg, TobiasAndersson, Magnus
By organisation
Department of PhysicsUmeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR)
In the same journal
Biophysical Journal
BiophysicsOther Physics TopicsMicrobiology

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 33 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn
Total: 254 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf