title: A model symbiosis reveals a role for sheathed-flagellum rotation in the release of immunogenic lipopolysaccharide.
abstract: Bacterial flagella mediate host-microbe interactions through tissue tropism during colonization, as well as by activating immune responses. The flagellar shaft of some bacteria, including several human pathogens, is encased in a membranous sheath of unknown function. While it has been hypothesized that the sheath may allow these bacteria to evade host responses to the immunogenic flagellin subunit, this unusual structural feature has remained an enigma. Here we demonstrate that the rotation of the sheathed flagellum in both the mutualist Vibrio fischeri and the pathogen Vibrio cholerae promotes release of a potent bacteria-derived immunogen, lipopolysaccharide, found in the flagellar sheath. We further present a new role for the flagellar sheath in triggering, rather than circumventing, host immune responses in the model squid-vibrio symbiosis. Such an observation not only has implications for the study of bacterial pathogens with sheathed flagella, but also raises important biophysical questions of sheathed-flagellum function. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.01579.001.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States.
authors.forename: Caitlin A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.forename: Jason R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: Natacha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kremer
authors.forename: Benjamin C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Krasity
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Apicella
authors.forename: Margaret J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: McFall-Ngai
authors.forename: Edward G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Ruby
mesh_terms: D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D000818:Animals; D049832:Decapodiformes / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D005407:Flagella / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005838:Genotype; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D009024:Morphogenesis; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013559:Symbiosis; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides
keywords: LPS; Vibrio fischeri; cholerae; flagella