Open AccessCampylobacter jejuni motility integrates specialized cell shape, flagellar filament, and motor, to coordinate action of its opposed flagella
Author(s) -
Eli J Cohen,
Daisuke Nakane,
Yoshiki Kabata,
David R. Hendrixson,
Takayuki Nishizaka,
Morgan Beeby
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos pathogens
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.719
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1553-7374
pISSN - 1553-7366
DOI - 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008620
Subject(s) - flagellum , campylobacter jejuni , motility , protein filament , action (physics) , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , physics , bacteria , biochemistry , genetics , quantum mechanics
Campylobacter jejuni rotates a flagellum at each pole to swim through the viscous mucosa of its hosts’ gastrointestinal tracts. Despite their importance for host colonization, however, how C . jejuni coordinates rotation of these two opposing flagella is unclear. As well as their polar placement, C . jejuni’s flagella deviate from the norm of Enterobacteriaceae in other ways: their flagellar motors produce much higher torque and their flagellar filament is made of two different zones of two different flagellins. To understand how C . jejuni’s opposed motors coordinate, and what contribution these factors play in C . jejuni motility, we developed strains with flagella that could be fluorescently labeled, and observed them by high-speed video microscopy. We found that C . jejuni coordinates its dual flagella by wrapping the leading filament around the cell body during swimming in high-viscosity media and that its differentiated flagellar filament and helical body have evolved to facilitate this wrapped-mode swimming.