Abstract
Twitching motility allows Pseudomonas aeruginosa to respond to stimuli by extending and retracting its type IV pili (TFP). PilJ is a protein necessary for this surface-associated twitching motility and bears high sequence identity with Escherichia coli methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCP). Here, we report that whereas wild-type P. aeruginosa PAO1 cells have extended pili at a single pole, pilJ mutant cells have shortened pili often at both poles despite normal levels of pilin accumulation, suggesting that PilJ is required for full TFP assembly/extension. Using yellow fluorescent protein fusions (pilJ-yfp), both plasmid born and in-frame chromosomal constructs, we determined that PilJ localizes to both poles of the cell. Overexpression of pilJ-yfp resulted in the protein accumulating between the poles.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Ellen Quardokus for her technical assistance and valuable discussions. This work was supported by NIH grant No. GM61318-01.
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Paul DeLange and Tracy Collins contributed equally to this work.
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DeLange, P.A., Collins, T.L., Pierce, G.E. et al. PilJ Localizes to Cell Poles and Is Required for Type IV Pilus Extension in Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Curr Microbiol 55, 389–395 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-007-9008-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-007-9008-5