Length of the flagellar hook and the capacity of the type III export apparatus.
Length determination in biology generally uses molecular rulers. The hook, a part of the flagellum of motile bacteria, has an invariant length. Here, we examined hook length and found that it was determined not by molecular rulers but probably by the amount of subunit protein secreted by the flagellar export apparatus. The export apparatus shares common features with the type III virulence-factor secretion machinery and thus may be used more widely in length determination of structures other than flagella.
Department of Biosciences, Teikyo University, 1-1 Toyosatodai, Utsunomiya 320-8551, Japan.
S
S
Makishima
K
K
Komoriya
S
S
Yamaguchi
S I
SI
Aizawa
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001665:Binding Sites; D005407:Flagella / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005408:Flagellin / Q000378:metabolism*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009068:Movement; D009154:Mutation; D021381:Protein Transport; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C088720:FlgD protein, Salmonella typhimurium; C097681:FlgE protein, Bacteria; C088595:FlgK protein, Bacteria; C099486:FliK protein, Bacteria; C077389:FliN protein, Bacteria; C075660:Flig protein, Bacteria; D005408:Flagellin; C066821:FliM protein, Bacteria