Dataset Information

In situ structure of the Caulobacter crescentus flagellar motor and visualization of binding of a CheY-homolog.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial flagellar motility is controlled by the binding of CheY proteins to the cytoplasmic switch complex of the flagellar motor, resulting in changes in swimming speed or direction. Despite its importance for motor function, structural information about the interaction between effector proteins and the motor are scarce. To address this gap in knowledge, we used electron cryotomography and subtomogram averaging to visualize such interactions inside Caulobacter crescentus cells. In C. crescentus, several CheY homologs regulate motor function for different aspects of the bacterial lifestyle. We used subtomogram averaging to image binding of the CheY family protein CleD to the cytoplasmic Cring switch complex, the control center of the flagellar motor. This unambiguously confirmed the orientation of the motor switch protein FliM and the binding of a member of the CheY protein family to the outside rim of the C ring. We also uncovered previously unknown structural elaborations of the alphaproteobacterial flagellar motor, including two novel periplasmic ring structures, and the stator ring harboring eleven stator units, adding to our growing catalog of bacterial flagellar diversity.

SUBMITTER: Rossmann FM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7534056 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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In situ structure of the Caulobacter crescentus flagellar motor and visualization of binding of a CheY-homolog.

Rossmann Florian M FM Hug Isabelle I Sangermani Matteo M Jenal Urs U Beeby Morgan M

Molecular microbiology 20200525 3

Bacterial flagellar motility is controlled by the binding of CheY proteins to the cytoplasmic switch complex of the flagellar motor, resulting in changes in swimming speed or direction. Despite its importance for motor function, structural information about the interaction between effector proteins and the motor are scarce. To address this gap in knowledge, we used electron cryotomography and subtomogram averaging to visualize such interactions inside Caulobacter crescentus cells. In C. crescent ...[more]

PMID: 32449846

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Project description:Bacteria carry out sophisticated developmental programs to colonize exogenous surfaces. The rotary flagellum, a dynamic machine that drives motility, is a key regulator of surface colonization. The specific signals recognized by flagella and the pathways by which those signals are transduced to coordinate adhesion remain subjects of debate. Mutations that disrupt flagellar assembly in the dimorphic bacterium Caulobacter crescentus stimulate the production of a polysaccharide adhesin called the holdfast. Using a genomewide phenotyping approach, we compared surface adhesion profiles in wild-type and flagellar mutant backgrounds of C. crescentus We identified a diverse set of flagellar mutations that enhance adhesion by inducing a hyperholdfast phenotype and discovered a second set of mutations that suppress this phenotype. Epistasis analysis of the flagellar signaling suppressor (fss) mutations demonstrated that the flagellum stimulates holdfast production via two genetically distinct pathways. The developmental regulator PleD contributes to holdfast induction in mutants disrupted at both early and late stages of flagellar assembly. Mutants disrupted at late stages of flagellar assembly, which assemble an intact rotor complex, induce holdfast production through an additional process that requires the MotAB stator and its associated diguanylate cyclase, DgcB. We have assigned a subset of the fss genes to either the stator- or pleD-dependent networks and characterized two previously unidentified motility genes that regulate holdfast production via the stator complex. We propose a model through which the flagellum integrates mechanical stimuli into the C. crescentus developmental program to coordinate adhesion.IMPORTANCE Understanding how bacteria colonize solid surfaces is of significant clinical, industrial and ecological importance. In this study, we identified genes that are required for Caulobacter crescentus to activate surface attachment in response to signals from a macromolecular machine called the flagellum. Genes involved in transmitting information from the flagellum can be grouped into separate pathways, those that control the C. crescentus morphogenic program and those that are required for flagellar motility. Our results support a model in which a developmental and a mechanical signaling pathway operate in parallel downstream of the flagellum and converge to regulate adhesion. We conclude that the flagellum serves as a signaling hub by integrating internal and external cues to coordinate surface colonization and emphasize the role of signal integration in linking complex sets of environmental stimuli to individual behaviors.

Dataset Information

In situ structure of the Caulobacter crescentus flagellar motor and visualization of binding of a CheY-homolog.

Publications

In situ structure of the Caulobacter crescentus flagellar motor and visualization of binding of a CheY-homolog.

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