A conserved cell-pole determinant organizes proper polar flagellum formation
Erick E Arroyo-Pérez,
John C Hook,
Alejandra Alvarado,
Stephan Wimmi,
Timo Glatter,
Kai Thormann,
Simon Ringgaard
Affiliations
Erick E Arroyo-Pérez
Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Department of Ecophysiology, Munich, Germany; Department of Biology I, Microbiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
John C Hook
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Giessen, Germany
Alejandra Alvarado
Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and Infection Medicine Tübingen, Bacterial Metabolomics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
Stephan Wimmi
Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Department of Ecophysiology, Munich, Germany; Institute for Biological Physics, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany
Timo Glatter
Core Facility for Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Giessen, Germany
Simon Ringgaard
Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Department of Ecophysiology, Munich, Germany; Department of Biology I, Microbiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
The coordination of cell cycle progression and flagellar synthesis is a complex process in motile bacteria. In γ-proteobacteria, the localization of the flagellum to the cell pole is mediated by the SRP-type GTPase FlhF. However, the mechanism of action of FlhF, and its relationship with the cell pole landmark protein HubP remain unclear. In this study, we discovered a novel protein called FipA that is required for normal FlhF activity and function in polar flagellar synthesis. We demonstrated that membrane-localized FipA interacts with FlhF and is required for normal flagellar synthesis in Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Pseudomonas putida, and Shewanella putrefaciens, and it does so independently of the polar localization mediated by HubP. FipA exhibits a dynamic localization pattern and is present at the designated pole before flagellar synthesis begins, suggesting its role in licensing flagellar formation. This discovery provides insight into a new pathway for regulating flagellum synthesis and coordinating cellular organization in bacteria that rely on polar flagellation and FlhF-dependent localization.
