AUTHOR=Chauhan Deepika , Srivastava Pulkit Anupam , Ritzl Barbara , Yennamalli Ragothaman M. , Cava Felipe , Priyadarshini Richa 

TITLE=Amino Acid-Dependent Alterations in Cell Wall and Cell Morphology of Deinococcus indicus DR1

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01449

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2019.01449

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Deinococcus radiodurans</italic> exhibits growth medium-dependent morphological variation in cell shape, but there is no evidence whether this phenomenon is observed in other members of the Deinococcaceae family. In this study, we isolated a red-pigmented, aerobic, <italic>Deinococcus indicus</italic> strain DR1 from Dadri wetland, India. This <italic>D. indicus</italic> strain exhibited cell–morphology transition from rod-shaped cells to multi-cell chains in a growth-medium-dependent fashion. In response to addition of 1% casamino acids in the minimal growth medium, rod-shaped cells formed multi-cell chains. Addition of all 20 amino acids to the minimal medium was able to recapitulate the phenotype. Specifically, a combination of <sc>L</sc>-methionine, <sc>L</sc>-lysine, <sc>L</sc>-aspartate, and <sc>L</sc>-threonine caused morphological alterations. The transition from rod shape to multi-cell chains is due to delay in daughter cell separation after cell division. Minimal medium supplemented with <sc>L</sc>-ornithine alone was able to cause cell morphology changes. Furthermore, a comparative UPLC analysis of PG fragments isolated from <italic>D. indicus</italic> cells propagated in different growth media revealed alterations in the PG composition. An increase in the overall cross-linkage of PG was observed in muropeptides from nutrient-rich TSB and NB media versus PYE medium. Overall our study highlights that environmental conditions influence PG composition and cell morphology in <italic>D. indicus</italic>.</p>