Pilus

Pilus
Schematic drawing of bacterial conjugation. 1- Donor cell produces pilus. 2- Pilus attaches to recipient cell, brings the two cells together. 3- The mobile plasmid is nicked and a single strand of DNA is then transferred to the recipient cell. 4- Both cells recircularize their plasmids, synthesize second strands, and reproduce pili; both cells are now viable donors.

A pilus (Latin for 'hair'; plural : pili) is a hairlike appendage found on the surface of many bacteria.[1][2] The terms pilus and fimbria (Latin for 'thread' or 'fiber'; plural: fimbriae) can be used interchangeably, although some researchers reserve the term pilus for the appendage required for bacterial conjugation. All pili are primarily composed of oligomeric pilin proteins.

Dozens of these structures can exist on the bacteria. Some bacterial viruses or bacteriophages attach to receptors on pili at the start of their reproductive cycle.

Pili are antigenic. They are also fragile and constantly replaced, sometimes with pili of different composition, resulting in altered antigenicity. Specific host responses to old pili structure are not effective on the new structure. Recombination genes of pili code for variable (V) and constant (C) regions of the pili (similar to immunoglobulin diversity).

Contents

Types

Conjugative pili

Conjugative pili allow the transfer of DNA between bacteria, in the process of bacterial conjugation. They are sometimes called "sex pili", in analogy to sexual reproduction, because they allow for the exchange of genes via the formation of "mating pairs". Perhaps the most well-studied is the F pilus of Escherichia coli, encoded by the F plasmid or fertility factor.

A pilus is typically 6 to 7 nm in diameter. During conjugation, a pilus emerging from donor bacterium ensnares the recipient bacterium, draws it in close, and eventually triggers the formation of a mating bridge, which establishes direct contact and the formation of a controlled pore that allows transfer of DNA from the donor to the recipient. Typically, the DNA transferred consists of the genes required to make and transfer pili (often encoded on a plasmid), and so is a kind of selfish DNA; however, other pieces of DNA are often co-transferred and this can result in dissemination of genetic traits, such as antibiotic resistance, among a bacterial population. Not all bacteria can make conjugative pili, but conjugation can occur between bacteria of different species.

Type IV pili

Some pili, called type IV pili, generate motile forces.[3] The external ends of the pili adhere to a solid substrate, either the surface to which the bacteria are attached or to other bacteria, and when the pilus contracts, it pulls the bacteria forward, like a grappling hook. Movement produced by type IV pili is typically jerky, and so it is called twitching motility, as distinct from other forms of bacterial motility, such as motility produced by flagella. However, some bacteria, for example Myxococcus xanthus, exhibit gliding motility. Bacterial type IV pilins are similar in structure to the component flagellins of Archaeal flagella.[4]

Fimbriae

Attachment of bacteria to host surfaces is required for colonization during infection or to initiate formation of a biofilm. A fimbria is a short pilus that is used to attach the bacterium to a surface. Fimbriae are either located at the poles of a cell, or are evenly spread over its entire surface. Mutant bacteria that lack fimbriae cannot adhere to their usual target surfaces and, thus, cannot cause diseases.

Some fimbriae can contain lectins. The lectins are necessary to adhere to target cells because they can recognize oligosaccharide units on the surface of these target cells. Other fimbriae bind to components of the extracellular matrix.

Fimbriae are found in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. In Gram-positive bacteria, the pilin subunits are covalently linked.

See also

References

  1. ^ "pilus" at Dorland's Medical Dictionary
  2. ^ Jarrell, K (editor) (2009). Pili and Flagella: Current Research and Future Trends. Caister Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-904455-48-6. 
  3. ^ Mattick JS (2002). "Type IV pili and twitching motility". Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 56 (1): 289–314. doi:10.1146/annurev.micro.56.012302.160938. PMID 12142488. http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.micro.56.012302.160938?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dncbi.nlm.nih.gov. 
  4. ^ Jarrell et al (2009). "Archaeal Flagella and Pili". Pili and Flagella: Current Research and Future Trends. Caister Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-904455-48-6. 

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Pilus — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Esquema de la conjugación bacteriana. 1 La célula donante genera un pilus. 2 El pilus se une a la célula receptora y ambas células se aproximan. 3 El plásmido móvil se desarma y una de las cadenas de ADN es… …   Wikipedia Español

  • PILUS — a PELLE cuiinhaeret, ana Graeco πίλος, de quo supra, an a πτίλον, i. e. pluma, an a φύλλον, folium etc. vilitate suâ in proverbium abiit, apud Latinos, Pili non facio, Cicer, ad Fratrem, et Graecos, Α῎ξιος τριχὸς, dignus pilô, inhominem nihili,… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Pilus — (ou fimbriae, pluriel pili) : Appendice se situant à la surface de la paroi de nombreuses bactéries à Gram négatif (et exceptionnellement des bactéries à Gram positif), plus courts et plus fins que des flagelles, ils peuvent également être… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • pilus — pilus. См. пилус. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • pilus — pilus. = fimbria (см.). (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • Pilus [1] — Pilus (lat.), Haar …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Pilus [2] — Pilus (röm. Ant.), Compagnie der Triarier; daher Primipilus, die erste Compagnie u. der erste Centurio derselben …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Pilus — (lat.), Haar (s. Haare) …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • pilus — [pī′ləs] n. pl. pili [pī′lī΄] a hair or hairlike structure …   English World dictionary

  • Pilus — Pili bei E. coli. Der Pilus (von lateinisch pilus „Haar, Faser“, Plural: Pili, auch Fimbrien genannt) ist ein bei Prokaryoten vorkommendes, außerhalb der Zelle als Zellfortsatz befindliches, fadenförmiges, aus einem Protein bestehendes Anhängsel …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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