Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: The fatty acid synthesis pathway is a checkpoint for lipoteichoic acid synthesis in Staphylococcus aureus
doi: 10.64898/2026.04.06.715823
Figure Lengend Snippet: A . Multiple biosynthetic pathways underly synthesis of LTA, and carry an energy cost. LTA production relies on 3 major biosynthetic pathways (FASII and FASII bypass , ①a and ①b; phosphatic acid synthesis, ②; and phosphatidylglycerol synthesis, ③) before branching to LTA synthesis. FAs are in green; lipoprotein sometimes comprises a third FA (dashed line) . ATP and GroP or Gro expenses (boxed in red), gains (in green), or neutral changes (in grey) during production of the 4 possible PG products, including LTA . For a single LTA molecule, one PG is used to produce the anchor, while ∼25 PGs donate GroP to produce the polymer. The GroP donors are then recycled to regenerate PGs, which requires ATP. Synthesis of a single LTA molecule costs about 150 ATPs , 25 GroPs, and 26 PGs. In contrast, production of the three other lipid products leads to positive or neutral ATP and GroP footprints. PG product distribution in the inner and outer membrane leaflets is asymmetric: cardiolipin, but not the other lipid products, is preferentially enriched in the membrane inner leaflet . B and C , bacteria were grown in SerFA (non-treated) or in SerFA-AFN (FASII bypass ). B. ATP pools are greater in FASII bypass conditions, as FASII bypass uses ∼7-10 times less ATP per FA molecule compared to FASII (see A ). N=5. C . FASII bypass causes depletion of GroP pools. These measurements do not include GroP net loss associated with depletion of the GroP polymer attached to LTA. N=6. Data in B and C are shown as mean values ± SD normalized to cognate measurements in non-treated samples; P-values were determined using the two-sided T-test. Full data sets for B and C is in and Source data.
Article Snippet: They were then diluted in SerFA to OD 600 = 0.1 without or with antibiotics, and growth was followed for at least 10 h. FASII inhibitors were AFN-1252 (anti-FabI; Bioaustralis, Australia) or platensimycin (anti-FabF, MedChemExpress, France), both used at 0.5 μg/ml.
Techniques: Polymer, Membrane, Bacteria