Search

Silicibacter sp. TM1040 is a member of the marine Roseobacter clade of Alphaproteobacteria that forms symbioses with unicellular eukaryotic phytoplankton, such as dinoflagellates. The symbiosis is complex and involves a series of steps that physiologically change highly motile bacteria into cells that readily form biofilms on the surface of the host. The initial phases of symbiosis require bacterial motility and chemotaxis that drive the swimming bacteria toward their planktonic host. Cells lacking wild-type motility fail to establish biofilms on host cells and do notproduce effective symbioses, emphasizing the importance of understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling flagellar biosynthesis and the biphasic "swim-or-stick" switch. In the present study, we used a combination of bioinformatic and genetic approaches to identify the genes critical for swimming of Silicibacter sp. TM1040. More than 40 open reading frames with homology to known flagellar structural and regulatory genes were identified, most of which are organized into approximately eight operons comprising a 35.4-kb locus, with surprising similarity to the fla2 locus of Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The genome has homologs of CckA, CtrA, FlbT, and FlaF, proteins that in Caulobacter crescentus regulate flagellum biosynthesis. In addition, we uncovered three novel genes, flaB, flaC, and flaD, which encode flagellar regulatory proteins whose functions are likely to involve regulation of motor function (FlaD) and modulation of the swim-or-stick switch (FlaC). The data support the conclusion that Silicibacter sp. TM1040 uses components found in other Alphaproteobacteria, as well as novel molecular mechanisms, to regulate the expression of the genes required for motility and biofilm formation. These unique molecular mechanisms may enhance the symbiosis and survival of Roseobacter clade bacteria in the marine environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bradyrhizobium japonicum is one of the soil bacteria that form nodules on soybean roots. The cell has two sets of flagellar systems, one thick flagellum and a few thin flagella, uniquely growing at subpolar positions. The thick flagellum appears to be semicoiled in morphology, and the thin flagella were in a tight-curly form as observed by dark-field microscopy. Flagellin genes were identified from the amino acid sequence of each flagellin. Flagellar genes for the thick flagellum are scattered into several clusters on the genome, while those genes for the thin flagellum are compactly organized in one cluster. Both types of flagella are powered by proton-driven motors. The swimming propulsion is supplied mainly by the thick flagellum. B. japonicum flagellar systems resemble the polar-lateral flagellar systems of Vibrio species but differ in several aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]