Repurposing a chemosensory macromolecular machine

Abstract

Bacterial chemosensory systems are grouped into 17 flagellar classes (F1-17). Here the authors employ electron cryotomography and comparative genomics to characterise the chemosensory arrays in γ-proteobacteria and identify a structural distinct form of F7 that was repurposed to a different biological role over the course of its evolution.