FlhE functions as a chaperone to prevent formation of periplasmic flagella in Gram-negative bacteria.

ABSTRACT: The bacterial flagellum, which facilitates motility, is composed of ~20 structural proteins organized into a long extracellular filament connected to a cytoplasmic rotor-stator complex via a periplasmic rod. Flagellum assembly is regulated by multiple checkpoints that ensure an ordered gene expression pattern coupled to the assembly of the various building blocks. Here, we use epifluorescence, super-resolution, and transmission electron microscopy to show that the absence of a periplasmic protein (FlhE) prevents proper flagellar morphogenesis and results in the formation of periplasmic flagella in Salmonella enterica. The periplasmic flagella disrupt cell wall synthesis, leading to a loss of normal cell morphology resulting in cell lysis. We propose that FlhE functions as a periplasmic cha

SUBMITTER: Halte M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11247099 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature