Mechanism of activation of bacterial cellulose synthase by cyclic-di-GMP

The bacterial signaling molecule cyclic-di-GMP stimulates the synthesis of bacterial cellulose, frequently found in biofilms. Bacterial cellulose is synthesized and translocated across the inner membrane by a complex of the cellulose synthase BcsA and BcsB subunits. Here we present crystal structures of the cyclic-di-GMP-activated BcsA–B complex. The structures reveal that cyclic-di-GMP releases an auto-inhibited state of the enzyme by breaking a salt bridge which otherwise tethers a conserved gating loop that controls access to and substrate coordination at the active site. Disrupting the salt bridge by mutagenesis generates a constitutively active cellulose synthase. Additionally, the cyclic-di-GMP activated BcsA–B complex contains a nascent cellulose polymer whose terminal glucose unit rests at a novel location above BcsA’s active site where it is positioned for catalysis. Our mechanistic insights are the first examples of how cyclic-di-GMP allosterically modulates enzymatic functions.