Bacterial shape and ActA distribution affect initiation of Listeria monocytogenes actin-based motility.

ABSTRACT: We have examined the process by which the intracellular bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes initiates actin-based motility and determined the contribution of the variable surface distribution of the ActA protein to initiation and steady-state movement. To directly correlate ActA distributions to actin dynamics and motility of live bacteria, ActA was fused to a monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP1). Actin comet tail formation and steady-state bacterial movement rates both depended on ActA distribution, which in turn was tightly coupled to the bacterial cell cycle. Motility initiation was found to be a highly complex, multistep process for bacteria, in contrast to the simple symmetry breaking previously observed for ActA-coated spherical beads. F-actin initially accumulated along t

SUBMITTER: Rafelski SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1366716 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature