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Review
. 2012:66:349-70.
doi: 10.1146/annurev-micro-092611-150145.

The unique paradigm of spirochete motility and chemotaxis

Nyles W Charon  1 , Andrew Cockburn, Chunhao Li, Jun Liu, Kelly A Miller, Michael R Miller, Md A Motaleb, Charles W Wolgemuth
Affiliations
Review

The unique paradigm of spirochete motility and chemotaxis

Nyles W Charon et al. Annu Rev Microbiol. 2012.

Abstract

Spirochete motility is enigmatic: It differs from the motility of most other bacteria in that the entire bacterium is involved in translocation in the absence of external appendages. Using the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) as a model system, we explore the current research on spirochete motility and chemotaxis. Bb has periplasmic flagella (PFs) subterminally attached to each end of the protoplasmic cell cylinder, and surrounding the cell is an outer membrane. These internal helix-shaped PFs allow the spirochete to swim by generating backward-moving waves by rotation. Exciting advances using cryoelectron tomography are presented with respect to in situ analysis of cell, PF, and motor structure. In addition, advances in the dynamics of motility, chemotaxis, gene regulation, and the role of motility and chemotaxis in the life cycle of Bb are summarized. The results indicate that the motility paradigms of flagellated bacteria do not apply to these unique bacteria.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Longitudinal diagram of a typical spirochete. Note that the periplasmic flagella (PFs) overlap in the cell center. (B) Cross-section diagram of Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) illustrating the component parts. Note that seven PFs form a tightly packed ribbon that causes the outer membrane to bulge.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cellular architecture of one end of Bb revealed by Cryo-ET. A 3-dimensional model was generated by manually segmenting the outer membrane (light green), protoplasmic cell membrane (green), flagellar motors and filaments (blue), MCP array (red), and outer surface proteins (yellow). Reprinted with permission with modification from Reference (100).
Figure 3
Figure 3
A 3-D reconstruction of the Bb flagellar motor. The major components (the rod, the stator, the P ring, and the MS ring) are labeled, with CM representing the protoplasmic cell membrane. The C ring is composed of FliG, FliM and FliN. “Collar” is a spirochete specific feature. The export apparatus is divided into three separated densities, although the boundary between the MS ring and the export apparatus is not obvious from the figure.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Swimming cells of Bb as a function of direction of rotation of the PFs. Blue arrows at cell ends indicate direction of swimming. Curved arrows indicate direction of rotation of the PFs. For simplification, only one PF is shown attached at each end of protoplasmic cell cylinder. The top two panels show translational forms, and the bottom two-panels show nontranslational forms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Related Resources

    1. Hazelbauer GL. Bacterial chemotaxis: beginnings of molecular studies. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 2012;66 In press. - PMC - PubMed
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    1. Samuels DS. Gene regulation in Borrelia burgdorferi. Annu Rev Microbiol. 2011;65:479–99. - PubMed
    1. Tilly K, Rosa PA, Stewart PE. Biology of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi. Infect. Dis. Clin. North Am. 2008;22:217–34. - PMC - PubMed

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