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Direct observation of steps in rotation of the bacterial flagellar motor

Nature volume 437, pages 916–919 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

The bacterial flagellar motor is a rotary molecular machine that rotates the helical filaments that propel many species of swimming bacteria1,2. The rotor is a set of rings up to 45 nm in diameter in the cytoplasmic membrane3; the stator contains about ten torque-generating units anchored to the cell wall at the perimeter of the rotor4,5. The free-energy source for the motor is an inward-directed electrochemical gradient of ions across the cytoplasmic membrane, the protonmotive force or sodium-motive force for H+-driven and Na+-driven motors, respectively. Here we demonstrate a stepping motion of a Na+-driven chimaeric flagellar motor in Escherichia coli6 at low sodium-motive force and with controlled expression of a small number of torque-generating units. We observe 26 steps per revolution, which is consistent with the periodicity of the ring of FliG protein, the proposed site of torque generation on the rotor7,8. Backwards steps despite the absence of the flagellar switching protein CheY indicate a small change in free energy per step, similar to that of a single ion transit.

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Figure 1: Rotation measurements of chimaeric Na+-driven flagellar motors in E. coli.
Figure 2: Stepping rotation.
Figure 3: Analysis of step size and periodicity.
Figure 4: Summary of step analysis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. Berg and K. Fahrner for the gift of strain HCB1271. The research of R.B., M.L. and A.R. was supported by combined UK research councils through an Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration in Bionanotechnology, that of A.I., M.H. and T.Y. by Grants-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, Culture and Technology of Japan, that of M.H. and T.Y. by Soft Nano-Machine Project of JST, and that of Y.S. by JSPS Research Fellowships for Young Scientists. Author Contributions BFP experiments were performed by Y.S. and A.R., fluorescence experiments by A.R. and M.L., experimental design was by R.B., A.I., A.R. and Y.S., data analysis by R.B., Y.S. and A.R., and strain construction by Y.S., T.Y. and M.H. Y.S. and A.R. contributed equally to this work.

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Author notes

  1. Yoshiyuki Sowa and Alexander D. Rowe: *These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-8603, Japan

    Yoshiyuki Sowa & Akihiko Ishijima

  2. The Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, Oxford University, Parks Road, OX1 3PU, Oxford, UK

    Alexander D. Rowe, Mark C. Leake & Richard M. Berry

  3. Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusaku, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-8602, Japan

    Toshiharu Yakushi & Michio Homma

  4. PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST) 4-1-8, Honmachi, Kawagoe, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan

    Akihiko Ishijima

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Correspondence to Richard M. Berry.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Figure 1

Effect of Na+ concentration on stator number, and initial stator number estimates for step experiments. (DOC 1175 kb)

Supplementary Figure 2

Further examples of stepping rotation. (DOC 1831 kb)

Supplementary Video 1

A 200 nm fluorescent bead rotating at ˜2 Hz, slowed down 40 times. Stepping rotation is visible. (MPG 130 kb)

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Sowa, Y., Rowe, A., Leake, M. et al. Direct observation of steps in rotation of the bacterial flagellar motor. Nature 437, 916–919 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04003

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