title: The mechanism of force transmission at bacterial focal adhesion complexes.
abstract: Various rod-shaped bacteria mysteriously glide on surfaces in the absence of appendages such as flagella or pili. In the deltaproteobacterium Myxococcus xanthus, a putative gliding motility machinery (the Agl-Glt complex) localizes to so-called focal adhesion sites (FASs) that form stationary contact points with the underlying surface. Here we show that the Agl-Glt machinery contains an inner-membrane motor complex that moves intracellularly along a right-handed helical path; when the machinery becomes stationary at FASs, the motor complex powers a left-handed rotation of the cell around its long axis. At FASs, force transmission requires cyclic interactions between the molecular motor and the adhesion proteins of the outer membrane via a periplasmic interaction platform, which presumably involves contractile activity of motor components and possible interactions with peptidoglycan. Our results provide a molecular model of bacterial gliding motility.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, 13009 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Laura M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Faure
authors.affiliation: Centre de Biochimie Structurale, CNRS UMR5048, INSERM U1054, Montpellier University, 29 rue de Navacelles, 34090 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Bernard
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Fiche
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, 13009 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Espinosa
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, 13009 Marseille, France.|Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Adrien
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ducret
authors.affiliation: National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Vivek
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Anantharaman
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, 13009 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luciano
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, 13009 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lhospice
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, 13009 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Salim T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, 13009 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tréguier
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, 13009 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Mélanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sotes
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Biochemistry Program, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Erkin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kuru
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Van Nieuwenhze
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Yves V
authors.initials: YV
authors.lastname: Brun
authors.affiliation: Adhesion and Inflammation laboratory, INSERM U1067, Aix Marseille University UMR7333, 13288 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Théodoly
authors.affiliation: National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aravind
authors.affiliation: Centre de Biochimie Structurale, CNRS UMR5048, INSERM U1054, Montpellier University, 29 rue de Navacelles, 34090 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nollmann
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, 13009 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Tâm
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mignot
mesh_terms: D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002465:Cell Movement; D022001:Focal Adhesions / Q000378:metabolism*; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D019897:Periplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D012399:Rotation
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins