Structure and Assembly of the <i>Proteus mirabilis</i> Flagellar Motor by Cryo-Electron Tomography
<i>Proteus mirabilis</i> is a Gram-negative Gammaproteobacterium and a major causative agent of urinary tract infections in humans. It is characterized by its ability to switch between swimming motility in liquid media and swarming on solid surfaces. Here, we used cryo-electron tomograph...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/9/8292 |
| Summary: | <i>Proteus mirabilis</i> is a Gram-negative Gammaproteobacterium and a major causative agent of urinary tract infections in humans. It is characterized by its ability to switch between swimming motility in liquid media and swarming on solid surfaces. Here, we used cryo-electron tomography and subtomogram averaging to reveal the structure of the flagellar motor of <i>P. mirabilis</i> at nanometer resolution in intact cells. We found that <i>P. mirabilis</i> has a motor that is structurally similar to those of <i>Escherichia coli</i> and <i>Salmonella enterica</i>, lacking the periplasmic elaborations that characterize other more specialized gammaproteobacterial motors. In addition, no density corresponding to stators was present in the subtomogram average suggesting that the stators are dynamic. Finally, several assembly intermediates of the motor were seen that support the inside-out assembly pathway. |
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| ISSN: | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |