Abstract
Bacterial flagella are helical proteinaceous fibers, composed of the protein flagellin, that confer motility to many bacterial species. The genomes of about half of all flagellated species include more than one flagellin gene, for reasons mostly unknown. Here we show that two flagellins (FlaA and FlaB) are spatially arranged in the polar flagellum of Shewanella putrefaciens, with FlaA being more abundant close to the motor and FlaB in the remainder of the flagellar filament. Observations of swimming trajectories and numerical simulations demonstrate that this segmentation improves motility in a range of environmental conditions, compared to mutants with single-flagellin filaments. In particular, it facilitates screw-like motility, which enhances cellular spreading through obstructed environments. Similar mechanisms may apply to other bacterial species and may explain the maintenance of multiple flagellins to form the flagellar filament.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 5369 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Nature Communications |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 18 Dec 2018 |
Bibliographical note
© The Author(s) 2018.Profiles
Datasets
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Spatial arrangement of several flagellins within bacterial flagella improves motility in different environments
Wilson, L. G. (Creator), University of York, 20 Sept 2018
DOI: 10.15124/675b6083-2a6e-43d1-8511-b7c18bb1be9a
Dataset