Analysis of the motA flagellar motor gene from Rhodobacter sphaeroides, a bacterium with a unidirectional, stop-start flagellum

Molecular Microbiology
D S Shah, R E Sockett

Abstract

Rhodobacter sphaeroides swims by unidirectional rotation of a single medial flagellum, re-orienting randomly by Brownian motion when flagellar rotation stops and restarts. Previously we identified a mutant with a paralysed flagellum, which was complemented by a Rhodobacter gene that had homology to motB of Escherichia coli, a bacterium with bidirectional flagella. In the current work, interposon mutagenesis upstream of the Rhodobacter motB gene gave rise to another paralysed mutant, RED5. DNA sequence analysis of this upstream region showed one open reading frame, the predicted polypeptide sequence of which shows homology to the MotA protein of E. coli. MotA is thought to be a proton 'pore' involved in converting proton-motive force into flagellar rotation. Several potential proton-binding amino acids were conserved between putative membrane-spanning regions of R. sphaeroides and E. coli MotA sequences, along with a highly charged cytoplasmic linker region. Complementation studies with mutant RED5 showed the presence of an active promoter upstream from motA which was found to be necessary for expression of both motA and motB. Examination of the upstream DNA sequence showed only one putative promoter-like sequence which resemble...Continue Reading

Citations

Apr 23, 2002·Molecular Microbiology·Brian K HammerMichele S Swanson
Sep 11, 2012·Journal of Bacteriology·Victor Ramírez-CabreraLaura Camarena
Aug 19, 2011·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Orkun S Soyer, Richard A Goldstein
Sep 3, 2010·PLoS Computational Biology·Marcus J TindallJudith P Armitage
Nov 10, 2013·PLoS Computational Biology·Gabriel RosserRuth E Baker
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