Identification of a membrane protein required for lipomannan maturation and lipoarabinomannan synthesis in corynebacterineae

Abstract

Mycobacterium tuberculosis and related Corynebacterineae synthesize a family of lipomannans (LM) and lipoarabinomannans (LAM) that are abundant components of the multilaminate cell wall and essential virulence factors in pathogenic species. Here we describe a new membrane protein, highly conserved in all Corynebacterineae, that is required for synthesis of fulllength LM and LAM. Deletion of the Corynebacterium glutamicum NCgl2760 gene resulted in a complete loss of mature LM/LAM and the appearance of a truncated LM (t-LM). Complementation of the mutant with the NCgl2760 gene fully restored LM/LAM synthesis. Structural studies, including monosaccharide analysis, methylation linkage analysis, ..