Structures of the Stator Complex That Drives Rotation of the Bacterial Flagellum

Overview

Journal Nat Microbiol

Specialties Microbiology
Parasitology

Date 2020 Sep 15

PMID 32929189

Citations 87

Authors

Justin C Deme

Steven Johnson

Owen Vickery

Amy Aron

Holly Monkhouse

Thomas Griffiths

Rory Hennell James

Ben C Berks

James W Coulton

Phillip J Stansfeld

Susan M Lea

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The bacterial flagellum is the prototypical protein nanomachine and comprises a rotating helical propeller attached to a membrane-embedded motor complex. The motor consists of a central rotor surrounded by stator units that couple ion flow across the cytoplasmic membrane to generate torque. Here, we present the structures of the stator complexes from Clostridium sporogenes, Bacillus subtilis and Vibrio mimicus, allowing interpretation of the extensive body of data on stator mechanism. The structures reveal an unexpected asymmetric AB subunit assembly where the five A subunits enclose the two B subunits. Comparison to structures of other ion-driven motors indicates that this AB architecture is fundamental to bacterial systems that couple energy from ion flow to generate mechanical work at a distance and suggests that such events involve rotation in the motor structures.

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