Flagella and Pili ofPseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract

IntroductionMotility is one of the most impressive features of microbial life and requires a large percent of cellular energy. Its roles include increased efficiency of nutrient acquisition, evasion of toxic substances, ability to translocate to preferred hosts and access to optimal colonization sites within them, as well as dispersal in the environment. Movement in aqueous environments by swimming or along surfaces by using different modes of translocation has been classified into several distinct types [1]. Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibits three types of motility -flagellum-mediated swimming, flagellum and type IVpilus-mediated swarming [2,3], and type IVpilus-mediated twitching [4][5][6]. Swarming motility can be distinguished from swimming motility in that swarming is required to move across a hydrated, viscous semisolid surface, while swimming allows movement through a relatively low-viscosity liquid environment. The direction of movement is biased by chemotactic responses to chemical stimuli [7][8][9]. This chapter focuses on the two motility organelles of P. aeruginosa, i.e. the flagellum and the pilus, their structure, regulation and role in pathogenesis. 4.2 Flagellum of P. aeruginosa P. aeruginosa has a single, unsheathed polar flagellum similar to that of Caulobacter crescentus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, but unlike the polar, sheathed flagellum observed in Helicobacter and the peritrichous flagella seen in Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. However, swarmer cells of P. aeruginosa appear to possess on average two polar flagella and no lateral flagella [2,10]. At the genetic level, the expression of flagellar genes in P. aeruginosa is tightly regulated, involving transcriptional activators and multiple s factors as in other enteric bacteria. Flagellar structural genes are usually conserved across the genomes Pseudomonas. Model Organism, Pathogen, Cell Factory. Edited by Bernd H.A. Rehm

Virulence Genes as Markers for Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Formation in Dogs and Cats

“…The ppyR gene encodes a putative transmembrane protein. The fliC gene is a crucial component of flagella production, due to subunit protein-encoding-flagellin type B [ 12 ]. Flagella are highly immunogenic, and are essential for inflammation development [ 13 ].…”

The phenotypic evolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa populations changes in the presence of subinhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin

“…The last two types of motility are surface-related and have not been investigated in this study, where P. aeruginosa has been grown by several passages in shaking liquid cultures. Swimming motility is driven by a single uni-polar flagellum which in P. aeruginosa PAO1 is dependent on 41 genes encoding structural/assembly and regulatory components of the flagellar organelle (Jyet & Ramphal, 2008). Swimming motility was reduced in ciprofloxacin-evolved populations compared to ancestor populations (Fig.…”

Roles of Two-Component Systems in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Virulence

“…P. aeruginosa possesses a single polar unsheathed flagellum that is crucial for both swimming and swarming motility [105,106]. Flagellar proteins are also responsible for adhesion, invasion, and biofilm formation [107].…”