Perturbation of FliL interferes with Proteus mirabilis swarmer cell gene expression and differentiation.

ABSTRACT: Proteus mirabilis is a dimorphic, motile bacterium often associated with urinary tract infections. Colonization of urinary tract surfaces is aided by swarmer cell differentiation, which is initiated by inhibition of flagellar rotation when the bacteria first contact a surface. Mutations in fliL, encoding a flagellar structural protein with an enigmatic function, result in the inappropriate production of differentiated swarmer cells, called pseudoswarmer cells, under noninducing conditions, indicating involvement of FliL in the surface sensing pathway. In the present study, we compared the fliL transcriptome with that of wild-type swarmer cells and showed that nearly all genes associated with motility (flagellar class II and III genes) and chemotaxis are repressed. In contrast, spontaneous

SUBMITTER: Cusick K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3256649 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature