Abstract
<div class="line" id="line-5"> Many bacteria are capable of movement over surfaces without flagella or pili; they glide. <i> Nostoc punctiforme </i> is a cyanobacterium that differentiates specialized gliding filaments called hormogonia, but the mechanism underlying their movement is currently unknown. Risser <i> et al </i> . characterize the hormogonia motility and polysaccharide ( <i> hmp </i> ) locus that encodes proteins homologous to well‐studied chemotaxis systems. All but one of the genes in the locus were required for gliding motility and each protein localized as a ring near the cell junction. One protein, the CheA homologue HmpE, was capable of autophosphorylation and phosphotransfer to the CheY homologue HmpB. This study reveals the <i> hmp </i> locus as an important regulator of gliding and highlights <i> N. punctiforme </i> as a model for understanding gliding motility in a complex multicellular bacterium.</div>
Original language | American English |
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Journal | Molecular Microbiology |
Volume | 92 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 4 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |
Disciplines
- Biology
- Molecular Biology