1887

Abstract

It was recently demonstrated that the pathogen produces a polar sheathed flagellum under the control of the master regulator FtcR. However, the regulatory mechanism controlling the flagellar assembly remains unknown. In this work, we investigate the flagellar hierarchy of as well as the flagellin FliC regulation. We show that a mutation in or (coding for the basal body structure and the hook, respectively) does not affect FliC synthesis, suggesting that production of FliC does not depend on the flagellar assembly. We demonstrate that FlbT is a FliC activator since inactivation of causes a decrease in expression by using a translational reporter construct. Moreover, the quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot analysis show a marked decrease in mRNA and FliC protein level, respectively. Conversely, the wild-type strain overexpressing fails to produce FliC, suggesting an opposite function. Interestingly, the expression of the gene in an or an mutant restores FliC production, demonstrating that FlbT plays a regulatory checkpoint role in FliC synthesis. This mechanism could be conserved in the since complementation of an or an mutant with from restores FliC synthesis.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Fonds Adrien Bauchau
  • Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique
  • Commission of the European Communities (Award QLK2-CT-1999-00014)
  • Fonds de la Recherche Fondamentale Collective (Award 2.4521.08 and 2.4521.04)
  • Actions de Recherches Concertées fellowship (Award 08/13-015 and 04/09-325)
  • Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l’Industrie et dans l’Agriculture
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2011-05-01
2024-03-28
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