title: ArnS, a kinase involved in starvation-induced archaellum expression.
abstract: Organisms have evolved motility organelles that allow them to move to favourable habitats. Cells integrate environmental stimuli into intracellular signals to motility machineries to direct this migration. Many motility organelles are complex surface appendages that have evolved a tight, hierarchical regulation of expression. In the crenearchaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, biosynthesis of the archaellum is regulated by regulatory network proteins that control expression of archaellum components in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. A major trigger for archaellum expression is nutrient starvation, but although some components are known, the regulatory cascade triggered by starvation is poorly understood. In this work, the starvation-induced Ser/Thr protein kinase ArnS (Saci_1181) which is located proximally to the archaellum operon was identified. Deletion of arnS results in reduced motility, though the archaellum is properly assembled. Therefore, our experimental and modelling results indicate that ArnS plays an essential role in the precisely controlled expression of archaellum components during starvation-induced motility in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Furthermore they combined in vivo experiments and mathematical models to describe for the first time in archaea the dynamics of key regulators of archaellum expression.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology of Archaea, Institute of Biology II University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, Freiburg, 79104, Germany.
authors.forename: M Florencia
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Haurat
authors.affiliation: Institute for Experimental Internal Medicine, Medical Faculty, Otto von Guericke University, Pfälzer Platz 2, Magdeburg, 39106, Germany.
authors.forename: Ana Sofia
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Figueiredo
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology of Archaea, Institute of Biology II University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, Freiburg, 79104, Germany.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology of Archaea, Institute of Biology II University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, Freiburg, 79104, Germany.
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology of Archaea, Institute of Biology II University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, Freiburg, 79104, Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Herr
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: J Wilson
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Morgan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beeby
authors.affiliation: Institute for Experimental Internal Medicine, Medical Faculty, Otto von Guericke University, Pfälzer Platz 2, Magdeburg, 39106, Germany.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schaber
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology of Archaea, Institute of Biology II University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, Freiburg, 79104, Germany.
authors.forename: Sonja-Verena
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Albers
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000378:metabolism; D019843:Archaeal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D005407:Flagella / Q000378:metabolism; D019848:Gene Expression Regulation, Archaeal / Q000235:genetics; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013217:Starvation / Q000378:metabolism; D016945:Sulfolobus acidocaldarius / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019843:Archaeal Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases