Viscosity‐dependent locomotion of oral spirochetes

Klitorinos, A.; Noble, Peter B.; Siboo, R.; Chan, E. C. S.

doi:10.1111/j.1399-302x.1993.tb00567.x

Cited by 39 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Although both forms were actively motile in broth but were incapable of translation in a given direction (i.e., the cells showed movement but no displacement), both forms translated in a gel-like medium containing 1% methylcellulose. These results are similar to those reported by others, which indicate that T. denticola translates only in a highly viscous gel-like medium (22,40). No cells with a completely planar waveform were detected.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 82%

Relationship of Treponema denticola periplasmic flagella to irregular cell morphology

et al. 1997

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Treponema denticola is an anaerobic, motile, oral spirochete associated with periodontal disease. We found that the periplasmic flagella (PFs), which are located between the outer membrane sheath and cell cylinder, influence its morphology in a unique manner. In addition, the protein composition of the PFs was found to be quite complex and similar to those of other spirochetes. Dark-field microscopy revealed that most wild-type cells had an irregular twisted morphology, with both planar and helical regions, and a minority of cells had a regular right-handed helical shape. High-voltage electron microscopy indicated that the PFs, especially in those regions of the cell which were planar, wrapped around the cell body axis in a right-handed sense. In those regions of the cell which were helical or irregular, the PFs tended to lie along the cell axis. The PFs caused the cell to form the irregular shape, as two nonmotile, PF-deficient mutants (JR1 and HL51) were no longer irregular but were right-handed helices. JR1 was isolated as a spontaneously occurring nonmotile mutant, and HL51 was isolated as a site-directed mutant in the flagellar hook gene flgE. Consistent with these results is the finding that wild-type cells with their outer membrane sheath removed were also right-handed helices similar in shape to JR1 and HL51. Purified PFs were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and several protein species were identified. Western blot analysis using antisera to Treponema pallidum PF proteins along with N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis indicated T. denticola PFs are composed of one class A sheath protein of 38 kDa (FlaA) and three class B proteins of 35 kDa (FlaB1 and FlaB2) and one of 34 kDa (FlaB3). The N-terminal amino acid sequences of the FlaA and FlaB proteins of T. denticola were most similar to those of T. pallidum and Treponema phagedenis. Because these proteins were present in markedly reduced amounts or were absent in HL51, PF synthesis is likely to be regulated in a hierarchy similar to that found for flagellar synthesis in other bacteria.Spirochetes are recognized for their unique cell morphology and unusual means of motility (5, 48). In most spirochetes, the primary structural component of the cell body is a flexible yet semirigid helically shaped cell cylinder (5). Borrelia burgdorferi is an exception, since it has a rod-shaped cell cylinder (13, 15). Helical periplasmic flagella (PFs) are closely associated with the spirochetal protoplasmic cell cylinder (PC) and are embedded in the cytoplasmic membrane and cell wall near each end of the cell (5, 6, 17); each PF is inserted at only one end. Surrounding the entire cell is an outer membrane sheath (OS) (5). Genetic evidence indicates that the PFs are essential for the motility of several spirochete species (4,8,26,28,37,44). The PFs vary in number, length, and protein composition among the spirochete species. Depending on the species, the PFs may or may not overlap in the center of the cell (5, 8). PFs from most spirochete species are co...

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 82%

Relationship of Treponema denticola periplasmic flagella to irregular cell morphology

et al. 1997

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“…It is inexpensive, nontoxic, and easy to prepare. Assays using concentrations of agar that create an environment that is too viscous for organisms to move in have been frequently used (Greenberg and Canale-Parola, 1977;Klitorinos et al, 1993;Hewitt, 2010). Because the agar medium density is normal, and the tadpoles move enough to feed normally, it can be inferred that the main factor resulting in reduced mobility of the tadpoles is the high viscosity of the medium.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Agar is typically used to modify the motility of microorganisms, especially bacteria (Greenberg and Canale-Parola, 1977;Hewitt, 2010). The mobility is directly related to the concentration of agarose in the medium, so various levels of effective viscosity can be selected, depending on the experimental objectives (Klitorinos et al, 1993).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life in the Slow Lane: The Effect of Reduced Mobility on Tadpole Limb Development

Abdala¹,

Ponssa²

2011

The Anatomical Record

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Movement is thought to be a primary agent eliciting basic responses in the vertebrate body, such as the proper development of the musculoskeletal system. Embryos do not passively await hatching or birth but rather begin active movement very early on in their development. Most studies dealing with embryonic responses to changes in mobility have been performed in chickens or mammals. Herein, we investigate for the first time whether the embryos of organisms that are free-living during development demonstrate the same morphological responses to reduced mobility as embryos that undergo development in controlled environments such as in utero or in a shelled egg. We changed the viscosity of the environment in which free-living anuran tadpoles grow by rearing them in an agar medium. We thus increased the viscosity of the growth medium resulting in a decrease in larval movement. We predicted that a substantial increase in viscosity of the medium in which the larvae were reared would have at least two consequences: (1) a reduction of tadpole mobility and (2) a delayed onset of skeletogenesis thus producing shorter long bones. Our predictions were upheld and tadpoles reared in an agar medium remain immobile longer and showed a delayed onset of skeletogenesis compared with controls. We propose that the developmental responses to the same stimulus are similar throughout tetrapods, regardless of their developmental context (i.e., intrauterine, within an egg, or free-living). Anat Rec, 295:5-17, 2012. V V C 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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“…The treponemes are invasive due to their unique motility in dense media and their ability to penetrate cell monolayers (47). This feature is associated with their helical or wave-shaped cell body and the periplasmic flagellar filament location (15,24,40).…”

mentioning

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Cytoplasmic Filament-Deficient Mutant of Treponema denticola Has Pleiotropic Defects

2001

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In Treponema denticola, a ribbon-like structure of cytoplasmic filaments spans the cytoplasm at all stages of the cell division process. Insertional inactivation was used as a first step to determine the function of the cytoplasmic filaments. A suicide plasmid was constructed that contained part of cfpA and a nonpolar erythromycin resistance cassette (ermF and ermAM) inserted near the beginning of the gene. The plasmid was electroporated into T. denticola, and double-crossover recombinants which had the chromosomal copy of cfpA insertionally inactivated were selected. Immunoblotting and electron microscopy confirmed the lack of cytoplasmic filaments. The mutant was further analyzed by dark-field microscopy to determine cell morphology and by the binding of two fluorescent dyes to DNA to assess the distribution of cellular nucleic acids. The cytoplasmic filament protein-deficient mutant exhibited pleiotropic defects, including highly condensed chromosomal DNA, compared to the homogeneous distribution of the DNA throughout the cytoplasm in a wild-type cell. Moreover, chains of cells are formed by the cytoplasmic filament-deficient mutant, and those cells show reduced spreading in agarose, which may be due to the abnormal cell length. The chains of cells and the highly condensed chromosomal DNA suggest that the cytoplasmic filaments may be involved in chromosome structure, segregation, or the cell division process in Treponema.

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Viscosity‐dependent locomotion of oral spirochetes

Cited by 39 publications

References 10 publications

Relationship of Treponema denticola periplasmic flagella to irregular cell morphology

Relationship of Treponema denticola periplasmic flagella to irregular cell morphology

Life in the Slow Lane: The Effect of Reduced Mobility on Tadpole Limb Development

Cytoplasmic Filament-Deficient Mutant of Treponema denticola Has Pleiotropic Defects

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