MreC is a scaffold protein required for cell shape determination through interactions with proteins related to cell wall synthesis. Here, we determined the crystal structure of the major periplasmic part of MreC from Escherichia coli at 2.1 Å resolution. The periplasmic part of MreC contains a coiled-coil domain and two six-stranded barrel domains. The coiled-coil domain is essential for dimer formation, and the two monomers are prone to relative motion that is related to the small interface of β-barrel domains. In addition, MreC forms an antiparallel filament-like structure along the coiled-coil direction, which is different from the helical array structure in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Our structure deepens our understanding of polymer formation of MreC.
Organizational Affiliation:
Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Department of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, China.
Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen-PSI, Switzerland.
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