Rewiring the Pneumococcal Cell Cycle with Serine/Threonine and Tyrosine kinases.
Over the past decade, Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) has gained prominence as a model for studying the bacterial cell cycle. This important human pathogen possesses a characteristic diplo ovococcal cell shape and produces a protective polysaccharide capsule required for virulence, and it has been used to investigate natural genetic transformation. Recent advances have demonstrated that the pneumococcus has evolved phosphorylation dependent regulatory mechanisms dedicated to controlling cell division and ensuring the concealment of the newborn cells by the capsule. In this review, I survey the role of the only two serine/threonine (StkP) and tyrosine kinases (CpsD) of the pneumococcus and discuss the existence of interconnected phosphorylation networks coordinating cell division and morphogenesis with key aspects of the cell cycle.
Trends in microbiology