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Gas Vesicles of Archaea and Bacteria

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Complex Intracellular Structures in Prokaryotes

Part of the book series: Microbiology Monographs ((MICROMONO,volume 2))

Abstract

Gas vesicles are hollow proteinaceous structures of spindle or cylinder shape produced by many cyanobacteria,heterotrophic bacteria and Archaea. Because of their gas content, gas vesicles decrease the cell densityand provide neutral or even positive buoyancy to cells. The rigid wall is formed solely from protein andis freely permeable to gas molecules. A major constituent of the wall is the small hydrophobic proteinGvpA that is arranged along 4.5 nm wide ribs running perpendicular to the long axis of the gas vesicle.The surface tension at the hydrophobic inner surface excludes the formation of water droplets inside. A secondprotein, GvpC, is attached to the outside surface strengthening the structure, and five additional Gvp proteinsare present in minor amounts. Gas vesicle formation involves the expression of 10 to 14 gas vesicle protein(gvp) genes. Ten gvp genes have beenidentified in the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa, whereas 14 gvp genes are found in halophilic Archaea. Gas-vesiculate microorganisms occurabundantly in aqueous environments, but recently, homologues of the gvpgenes have been also detected in sporulating soil bacteria such as Bacillus megaterium and Streptomyces coelicolor,raising the question of additional functions of Gvp proteins.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). Arnulf Kletzin is thanked for support in bioinformatic analyses, and Torsten Hechler for several microscopic pictures of haloarchaea. Gerhard Wanner (LMU München, Germany), Sonja Offner and Christoph Englert contributed as former coworkers to the electron microscopy studies.

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  1. Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, University of Technology Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany

    Felicitas Pfeifer

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Jessup M. Shively

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Pfeifer, F. (2006). Gas Vesicles of Archaea and Bacteria. In: Shively, J.M. (eds) Complex Intracellular Structures in Prokaryotes. Microbiology Monographs, vol 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/7171_022

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