Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558-8585, Japan.
Annu Rev Microbiol. 2010;64:519-37. doi: 10.1146/annurev.micro.112408.134116.
Mycoplasma, a genus of pathogenic bacteria, forms a membrane protrusion at a cell pole. It binds to solid surfaces with this protrusion and then glides. The mechanism is not related to known bacterial motility systems, such as flagella or pili, or to conventional motor proteins, including myosin. We have studied the fastest species, Mycoplasma mobile, and have proposed a working model as follows. The gliding machinery is composed of four huge proteins at the base of the membrane protrusion and supported by a cytoskeletal architecture from the cell inside. Many flexible legs approximately 50 nm long are sticking out from the machinery. The movements generated by the ATP hydrolysis cell inside are transmitted to the "leg" protein through a "gear" protein, resulting in repeated binding, pull, and release of the sialylgalactose fixed on the surface by the legs. The gliding of Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a species distantly related to M. mobile, is also discussed.
支原体，一种致病性细菌属，在细胞的一个极处形成一个膜状突出物。它通过这个突出物与固体表面结合，然后滑行。这种机制与已知的细菌运动系统（如鞭毛或菌毛）或传统的马达蛋白（包括肌球蛋白）无关。我们研究了速度最快的物种，即黏质支原体，并提出了如下的工作模型。滑行机构由膜状突起底部的四个巨大蛋白组成，并由细胞内部的细胞骨架结构支撑。许多大约 50nm 长的柔性腿从机器中伸出。细胞内的 ATP 水解产生的运动通过“齿轮”蛋白传递到“腿”蛋白，从而导致腿上固定的唾液酸半乳糖的反复结合、拉动和释放。与黏质支原体关系较远的肺炎支原体的滑行也进行了讨论。
