microbiology, Vol 145, 1397-1407, Copyright © 1999 by Society for General Microbiology

ARTICLES

Agrobacterium tumefaciens possesses a fourth flagellin gene located in a large gene cluster concerned with flagellar structure, assembly and motility

WJ Deakin, VE Parker, EL Wright, KJ Ashcroft, GJ Loake and CH Shaw
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Durham, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK

The authors have identified a fourth flagellin gene in a 21850 bp region of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58C1 chromosome containing at least 20 genes concerned with flagellar structure, assembly and function. Three flagellin genes, flaA, flaB and flaC, orientated rightward, are positioned in a tandem array at the right end, with the fourth, substantially larger gene, flaD, in the opposite orientation, at the left end. Between these lie four apparent operons, two transcribed in each direction (motA, flhB leftward; flgF, flgB rightward) from a divergent position approx 7.5 kb from the left end. This unifies the previously published motA, flgB and flaABC sequences into a single region, also containing the homologues of flhB, flgF and fliI. Site-specific mutagenesis of fliI results in a non-flagellate phenotype, while a Tn5-induced flhB mutant possesses abnormal flagella. Mutagenesis and protein profiling demonstrate that all four flagellins contribute to flagellar structure: FlaA is the major protein, FlaB and FlaC are present in lesser amounts, and FlaD is a minor component. FlaA has anomolous electrophoretic mobility, possibly due to glycosylation.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Verma, M. Schirm, S. K. Arora, P. Thibault, S. M. Logan, and R. Ramphal Glycosylation of b-Type Flagellin of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Structural and Genetic Basis. J. Bacteriol., June 1, 2006; 188(12): 4395 - 4403. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. M. Logan Flagellar glycosylation - a new component of the motility repertoire? Microbiology, May 1, 2006; 152(Pt 5): 1249 - 1262. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Ausmees, H. Kobayashi, W. J. Deakin, C. Marie, H. B. Krishnan, W. J. Broughton, and X. Perret Characterization of NopP, a Type III Secreted Effector of Rhizobium sp. Strain NGR234 J. Bacteriol., July 15, 2004; 186(14): 4774 - 4780. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. S. Millikan and E. G. Ruby Vibrio fischeri Flagellin A Is Essential for Normal Motility and for Symbiotic Competence during Initial Squid Light Organ Colonization J. Bacteriol., July 1, 2004; 186(13): 4315 - 4325. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Ding and P. J. Christie Agrobacterium tumefaciens Twin-Arginine-Dependent Translocation Is Important for Virulence, Flagellation, and Chemotaxis but Not Type IV Secretion J. Bacteriol., February 1, 2003; 185(3): 760 - 771. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. M. Szymanski, D. H. Burr, and P. Guerry Campylobacter Protein Glycosylation Affects Host Cell Interactions Infect. Immun., April 1, 2002; 70(4): 2242 - 2244. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Scharf, H. Schuster-Wolff-Buhring, R. Rachel, and R. Schmitt Mutational Analysis of the Rhizobium lupini H13-3 and Sinorhizobium meliloti Flagellin Genes: Importance of Flagellin A for Flagellar Filament Structure and Transcriptional Regulation J. Bacteriol., September 15, 2001; 183(18): 5334 - 5342. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. K. Arora, M. Bangera, S. Lory, and R. Ramphal A genomic island in Pseudomonas aeruginosa carries the determinants of flagellin glycosylation PNAS, July 31, 2001; 98(16): 9342 - 9347. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. S. Kahng and L. Shapiro The CcrM DNA Methyltransferase of Agrobacterium tumefaciens Is Essential, and Its Activity Is Cell Cycle Regulated J. Bacteriol., May 15, 2001; 183(10): 3065 - 3075. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				T. Ballado, L. Camarena, B. González-Pedrajo, E. Silva-Herzog, and G. Dreyfus The Hook Gene (flgE) Is Expressed from the flgBCDEF Operon in Rhodobacter sphaeroides: Study of an flgE Mutant J. Bacteriol., March 1, 2001; 183(5): 1680 - 1687. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				B. Ely, T. W. Ely, W. B. Crymes Jr., and S. A. Minnich A Family of Six Flagellin Genes Contributes to the Caulobacter crescentus Flagellar Filament J. Bacteriol., September 1, 2000; 182(17): 5001 - 5004. [Abstract] [Full Text]