title: An abundant cell-surface polypeptide is required for swimming by the nonflagellated marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus.
abstract: Certain marine unicellular cyanobacteria of the genus Synechococcus exhibit a unique and mysterious form of motility characterized by the ability to swim in liquid in the absence of flagella. An abundant cell-surface-associated polypeptide that is required for swimming motility by Synechococcus sp. strain WH8102 has been identified, and the gene encoding it, swmA, has been cloned and sequenced. The predicted SwmA protein contains a number of Ca2+-binding motifs as well as several potential N-glycosylation sites. Insertional inactivation of swmA in Synechococcus sp. strain WH8102 results in a loss of the ability to translocate, although the mutant strain, Swm-1, generates torque. This suggests that SwmA functions in the generation of thrust.
authors.affiliation: Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0202, USA. bbrahamsha@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brahamsha
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001483:Base Sequence; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D008124:Locomotion; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000502:physiology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D010455:Peptides; C100438:SwmA protein, Synechococcus