Membrane Curvature and the Tol-Pal Complex Determine Polar Localization of the Chemoreceptor Tar in Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: Chemoreceptors are localized at the cell poles of Escherichia coli and other rod-shaped bacteria. Over the years, different mechanisms have been put forward to explain this polar localization, including stochastic clustering, membrane curvature-driven localization, interactions with the Tol-Pal complex, and nucleoid exclusion. To evaluate these mechanisms, we monitored the cellular localization of the aspartate chemoreceptor Tar in different deletion mutants. We did not find any indication for either stochastic cluster formation or nucleoid exclusion. However, the presence of a functional Tol-Pal complex appeared to be essential to retain Tar at the cell poles. Interestingly, Tar still accumulated at midcell in tol and in pal deletion mutants. In these mutants, the protein appears to gathe

SUBMITTER: Saaki TNV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5892120 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature