Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1992 Apr;174(7):2298–2304. doi: 10.1128/jb.174.7.2298-2304.1992

Characterization of the fliE genes of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium and identification of the FliE protein as a component of the flagellar hook-basal body complex.

V Müller 1, C J Jones 1, I Kawagishi 1, S Aizawa 1, R M Macnab 1
PMCID: PMC205851  PMID: 1551848

Abstract

Within flagellar region III of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium, the genomic organization has been largely established. An exception is fliE, a gene whose exact location and product function are not well understood. We cloned the fliE gene, obtained its DNA sequence, and identified its product.fliE was found to be a monocistronic transcriptional unit, adjacent to and divergent from the large fliF operon. It is several kilobases distant from the nearest flagellar operon in the other direction, the fliD operon, and constitutes the first operon within the newly defined region IIIb, which contains the genes fliE through fliR.fliE encodes a small, moderately hydrophilic protein with a deduced molecular mass of 11,114 Da (E. coli) or 11,065 Da (S. typhimurium). We identified a protein within the isolated hook-basal body complex as the fliE gene product on the basis of its size and comparison of its N-terminal amino acid sequence with that deduced from the gene sequence. From gel electrophoresis and autoradiography of 35S-labeled S. typhimurium hook-basal body complexes (C.J. Jones, R.M. Macnab, H. Okino, and S.-I. Aizawa, J. Mol. Biol. 212:377-387, 1990) and the deduced number of sulfur-containing residues in FliE, we estimated the stoichiometry of the protein in the hook-basal body complex to be about nine subunits. FliE does not undergo cleavage of a signal peptide, nor does it show any sequence similarity to the axial components like the rod or hook proteins, which are believed to be exported by the flagellum-specific export pathway. On the basis of this and other evidence, we suggest that FliE may be in the vicinity of the MS ring, perhaps acting as an adaptor protein between the ring and rod substructures.

Full text

PDF
2303

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aizawa S. I., Dean G. E., Jones C. J., Macnab R. M., Yamaguchi S. Purification and characterization of the flagellar hook-basal body complex of Salmonella typhimurium. J Bacteriol. 1985 Mar;161(3):836–849. doi: 10.1128/jb.161.3.836-849.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bartlett D. H., Matsumura P. Identification of Escherichia coli region III flagellar gene products and description of two new flagellar genes. J Bacteriol. 1984 Nov;160(2):577–585. doi: 10.1128/jb.160.2.577-585.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chou P. Y., Fasman G. D. Prediction of the secondary structure of proteins from their amino acid sequence. Adv Enzymol Relat Areas Mol Biol. 1978;47:45–148. doi: 10.1002/9780470122921.ch2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Engelman D. M., Steitz T. A., Goldman A. Identifying nonpolar transbilayer helices in amino acid sequences of membrane proteins. Annu Rev Biophys Biophys Chem. 1986;15:321–353. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bb.15.060186.001541. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fickett J. W. Recognition of protein coding regions in DNA sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Sep 11;10(17):5303–5318. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.17.5303. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Garnier J., Osguthorpe D. J., Robson B. Analysis of the accuracy and implications of simple methods for predicting the secondary structure of globular proteins. J Mol Biol. 1978 Mar 25;120(1):97–120. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(78)90297-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Helmann J. D., Chamberlin M. J. DNA sequence analysis suggests that expression of flagellar and chemotaxis genes in Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium is controlled by an alternative sigma factor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Sep;84(18):6422–6424. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.18.6422. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Homma M., Aizawa S., Dean G. E., Macnab R. M. Identification of the M-ring protein of the flagellar motor of Salmonella typhimurium. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Nov;84(21):7483–7487. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.21.7483. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Homma M., DeRosier D. J., Macnab R. M. Flagellar hook and hook-associated proteins of Salmonella typhimurium and their relationship to other axial components of the flagellum. J Mol Biol. 1990 Jun 20;213(4):819–832. doi: 10.1016/S0022-2836(05)80266-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Homma M., Komeda Y., Iino T., Macnab R. M. The flaFIX gene product of Salmonella typhimurium is a flagellar basal body component with a signal peptide for export. J Bacteriol. 1987 Apr;169(4):1493–1498. doi: 10.1128/jb.169.4.1493-1498.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Homma M., Kutsukake K., Hasebe M., Iino T., Macnab R. M. FlgB, FlgC, FlgF and FlgG. A family of structurally related proteins in the flagellar basal body of Salmonella typhimurium. J Mol Biol. 1990 Jan 20;211(2):465–477. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(90)90365-S. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Homma M., Kutsukake K., Iino T. Structural genes for flagellar hook-associated proteins in Salmonella typhimurium. J Bacteriol. 1985 Aug;163(2):464–471. doi: 10.1128/jb.163.2.464-471.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Jones C. J., Homma M., Macnab R. M. L-, P-, and M-ring proteins of the flagellar basal body of Salmonella typhimurium: gene sequences and deduced protein sequences. J Bacteriol. 1989 Jul;171(7):3890–3900. doi: 10.1128/jb.171.7.3890-3900.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Jones C. J., Macnab R. M. Flagellar assembly in Salmonella typhimurium: analysis with temperature-sensitive mutants. J Bacteriol. 1990 Mar;172(3):1327–1339. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.3.1327-1339.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Jones C. J., Macnab R. M., Okino H., Aizawa S. Stoichiometric analysis of the flagellar hook-(basal-body) complex of Salmonella typhimurium. J Mol Biol. 1990 Mar 20;212(2):377–387. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(90)90132-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kihara M., Homma M., Kutsukake K., Macnab R. M. Flagellar switch of Salmonella typhimurium: gene sequences and deduced protein sequences. J Bacteriol. 1989 Jun;171(6):3247–3257. doi: 10.1128/jb.171.6.3247-3257.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Komeda Y. Fusions of flagellar operons to lactose genes on a mu lac bacteriophage. J Bacteriol. 1982 Apr;150(1):16–26. doi: 10.1128/jb.150.1.16-26.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Komeda Y., Kutsukake K., Iino T. Definition of additional flagellar genes in Escherichia coli K12. Genetics. 1980 Feb;94(2):277–290. doi: 10.1093/genetics/94.2.277. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Kuo S. C., Koshland D. E., Jr Sequence of the flaA (cheC) locus of Escherichia coli and discovery of a new gene. J Bacteriol. 1986 Jun;166(3):1007–1012. doi: 10.1128/jb.166.3.1007-1012.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Kutsukake K., Ohya Y., Iino T. Transcriptional analysis of the flagellar regulon of Salmonella typhimurium. J Bacteriol. 1990 Feb;172(2):741–747. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.2.741-747.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Kyte J., Doolittle R. F. A simple method for displaying the hydropathic character of a protein. J Mol Biol. 1982 May 5;157(1):105–132. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(82)90515-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Laemmli U. K. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature. 1970 Aug 15;227(5259):680–685. doi: 10.1038/227680a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Malakooti J., Komeda Y., Matsumura P. DNA sequence analysis, gene product identification, and localization of flagellar motor components of Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1989 May;171(5):2728–2734. doi: 10.1128/jb.171.5.2728-2734.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Matsudaira P. Sequence from picomole quantities of proteins electroblotted onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes. J Biol Chem. 1987 Jul 25;262(21):10035–10038. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Ohnishi K., Kutsukake K., Suzuki H., Iino T. Gene fliA encodes an alternative sigma factor specific for flagellar operons in Salmonella typhimurium. Mol Gen Genet. 1990 Apr;221(2):139–147. doi: 10.1007/BF00261713. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Patterson-Delafield J., Martinez R. J., Stocker B. A., Yamaguchi S. A new fla gene in Salmonella typhimurium--flaR--and its mutant phenotype-superhooks. Arch Mikrobiol. 1973 Mar 26;90(2):107–120. doi: 10.1007/BF00414513. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Sharp P. M., Li W. H. The codon Adaptation Index--a measure of directional synonymous codon usage bias, and its potential applications. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Feb 11;15(3):1281–1295. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.3.1281. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Silverman M., Simon M. Genetic analysis of flagellar mutants in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1973 Jan;113(1):105–113. doi: 10.1128/jb.113.1.105-113.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Suzuki T., Iino T., Horiguchi T., Yamaguchi S. Incomplete flagellar structures in nonflagellate mutants of Salmonella typhimurium. J Bacteriol. 1978 Feb;133(2):904–915. doi: 10.1128/jb.133.2.904-915.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Suzuki T., Iino T. Role of the flaR gene in flagellar hook formation in Salmonella spp. J Bacteriol. 1981 Dec;148(3):973–979. doi: 10.1128/jb.148.3.973-979.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Suzuki T., Komeda Y. Incomplete flagellar structures in Escherichia coli mutants. J Bacteriol. 1981 Feb;145(2):1036–1041. doi: 10.1128/jb.145.2.1036-1041.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Tabor S., Richardson C. C. DNA sequence analysis with a modified bacteriophage T7 DNA polymerase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Jul;84(14):4767–4771. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.14.4767. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Vogler A. P., Homma M., Irikura V. M., Macnab R. M. Salmonella typhimurium mutants defective in flagellar filament regrowth and sequence similarity of FliI to F0F1, vacuolar, and archaebacterial ATPase subunits. J Bacteriol. 1991 Jun;173(11):3564–3572. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.11.3564-3572.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Yamaguchi S., Aizawa S., Kihara M., Isomura M., Jones C. J., Macnab R. M. Genetic evidence for a switching and energy-transducing complex in the flagellar motor of Salmonella typhimurium. J Bacteriol. 1986 Dec;168(3):1172–1179. doi: 10.1128/jb.168.3.1172-1179.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Yamaguchi S., Fujita H., Sugata K., Taira T., Iino T. Genetic analysis of H2, the structural gene for phase-2 flagellin in Salmonella. J Gen Microbiol. 1984 Feb;130(2):255–265. doi: 10.1099/00221287-130-2-255. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES