Two antagonistic response regulators control Pseudomonas aeruginosa polarization during mechanotaxis

ABSTRACT: The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa adapts to solid surfaces to enhance virulence and infect its host. Type IV pili (T4P), long and thin filaments that power surface-specific twitching motility, allow single cells to sense surfaces and control their direction of movement. T4P distribution is polarized to the sensing pole by the chemotaxis-like Chp system via a local positive feedback loop. However, how the initial spatially-resolved mechanical signal is translated into T4P polarity is incompletely understood. Here we demonstrate that the two Chp response regulators PilG and PilH enable dynamic cell polarization by antagonistically regulating T4P extension. By precisely quantifying the localization of fluorescent protein fusions, we show that phosphorylation of PilG by the his

SUBMITTER: Dr. Marco, J. Kühn 

PROVIDER: S-SCDT-10_15252-EMBJ_2022112165 | biostudies-other |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other