Objective
Cellulose is the most abundant organic polymer in nature being a structural component of the cell wall of most plants. This highly insoluble polymer is degraded by filamentous fungi and actinomycetes, which secrete numerous enzymes tailored to fulfill this task. Streptomyces coelicolor is the best-studied representative of the actinomycetes, and a model organism for understanding prokaryotic development. It forms reproductive aerial hyphae after a period of assimilative growth. Unexpectedly, we identified a classical cellulose synthase gene whose inactivation critically impaired development on a wide range of media. Also, expression of this gene is strongly induced upon initiation of development indicating a key role for this enzyme during morphogenesis. Taken together, I propose that the cellulose synthase has a structural role in development by producing cellulose, which is incorporated in the cell walls of growing aerial hyphae. This could therefore represent the first example of bacterial cell walls that contain cellulose. Besides having an important role during formation of aerial hyphae, cellulose might have a second distinct function during attachment of Streptomyces hyphae to solid surfaces. Strong attachment involves the formation of an uncharacterized extracellular matrix of thin fibrillar structures associated with the adhering hyphae. This matrix strongly resembles that formed by various pathogenic bacteria, in which it was shown to consist of amyloid-like fibrils in association with cellulose. This proposal is aimed at elucidating the role of the cellulose synthase enzyme in morphogenesis and attachment of S. coelicolor. This research provides important new insights how structural modifications to bacterial cell walls affect microbial development. The host institute’s broad knowledge of actinomycetes and carbohydrate biology, and the experience of the researcher with prokaryotic development make this collaboration potentially highly fruitful
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology mycology
- natural sciences chemical sciences polymer sciences
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-ERG-2008
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
9712CP Groningen
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.