Type IV pilus: one architectural problem, many structural solutions

Julien R C Bergeron; Nikolaos G Sgourakis

doi:10.1016/j.str.2015.01.004

Type IV pilus: one architectural problem, many structural solutions

Structure. 2015 Feb 3;23(2):253-5. doi: 10.1016/j.str.2015.01.004.

Authors

Julien R C Bergeron¹, Nikolaos G Sgourakis²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Centre for Blood Research, University of British Columbia, 2350 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
² National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. Electronic address: nikolaos.sgourakis@nih.gov.

PMID: 25651057
DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2015.01.004

Abstract

Type IV pili are long appendages found at the surface of many bacteria, composed of an oligomerized pilin protein and involved in processes such as adherence, motility and DNA transfer. In this issue of Structure, Piepenbrink and colleagues report the first structure a major pilin from a Gram-positive bacterium, revealing an unprecedented stabilization mechanism that may have implications for pilus evolution.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Comment

MeSH terms

Clostridioides difficile / chemistry*
Evolution, Molecular*
Fimbriae, Bacterial / chemistry*
Models, Molecular*