γ-proteobacteria eject their polar flagella under nutrient depletion, retaining flagellar motor relic structures.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria switch only intermittently to motile planktonic lifestyles under favorable conditions. Under chronic nutrient deprivation, however, bacteria orchestrate a switch to stationary phase, conserving energy by altering metabolism and stopping motility. About two-thirds of bacteria use flagella to swim, but how bacteria deactivate this large molecular machine remains unclear. Here, we describe the previously unreported ejection of polar motors by γ-proteobacteria. We show that these bacteria eject their flagella at the base of the flagellar hook when nutrients are depleted, leaving a relic of a former flagellar motor in the outer membrane. Subtomogram averages of the full motor and relic reveal that this is an active process, as a plug protein appears in the relic, likely to prevent leak

SUBMITTER: Ferreira JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6424402 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature