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Structural biology

Flagella propeller unveiled

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 1, page 5 (2003)Cite this article

The bacterial flagellum consists of a motor embedded in the cell membrane linked to an external filament. Flagellin subunits assemble into so-called protofilaments in two different conformations, L-type and R-type. Supercoiled bundles of 11 protofilaments can form left-handed or right-handed helices. The motor can rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise. Rotation of the helical bundles mimics a propeller and moves the bacterial cell. When the motor rotates counter-clockwise, protofilaments form a left-handed propeller that rotates and drives the cell forwards. When the motor rotates clockwise, some of the protofilaments switch to form a right-handed propeller.The bundled filaments fall apart and the cell stops and re-orientates in a random manner. Reversing motor rotation allows bacteria to change direction.

In 2001, Samatey et al. solved the crystal structure of the R-type protofilament, which showed how flagellin subunits were arranged — but crystallisation proved difficult because flagellin tended to polymerise, so they used a truncated flagellin subunit. This study didn't reveal interactions between protofilaments.

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References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Yonekura, K. et al. Complete atomic model of the bacterial flagellar filament by electorn cryomicroscopy. Nature 424, 643–650 (2003).

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FURTHER READING

  1. Samatey, F. A. et al. Structure of the bacterial protofilament and implications for a switch for supercoiling. Nature 410, 331–337 (2001).

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Authors
  1. Susan Jones
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Jones, S. Flagella propeller unveiled. Nat Rev Microbiol 1, 5 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro744

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro744

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