Wu Zhengyu, Tian Maojin, Fu Sanyuan, Chen Min, Zhang Rongjing, Yuan Junhua
Research Center of Translational Medicine, Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China.
Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Elife. 2025 Sep 4;13:RP97514. doi: 10.7554/eLife.97514.
The opportunistic pathogen serves as a model organism for studying multiple signal transduction pathways. The chemoreceptor cluster, a core component of the chemotaxis pathway, is assembled from hundreds of proteins. The unipolar distribution of receptor clusters has long been recognized, yet the precise mechanism governing their assembly remains elusive. Here, we directly observed the relative positions of the flagellar motor and chemoreceptor cluster using flagellar filament labeling and gene editing techniques. Surprisingly, we found that both are located at the same cell pole, with the distribution pattern controlled by the polar anchor protein FlhF. Additionally, the efficient assembly of the chemoreceptor cluster is partially dependent on the integrity of the motor structure. Furthermore, we discovered that overexpression of the chemotaxis regulatory protein CheY leads to high intracellular levels of the second messenger c-di-GMP, triggering cell aggregation. Therefore, the colocalization of the chemoreceptor cluster and flagellum in serves to avoid cross-pathway signaling interference, enabling cells to conduct various physiological activities in an orderly manner.
这种机会致病菌是研究多种信号转导途径的模式生物。化学感受器簇是趋化途径的核心组成部分，由数百种蛋白质组装而成。受体簇的单极分布早已为人所知，但其精确的组装机制仍不清楚。在这里，我们使用鞭毛丝标记和基因编辑技术直接观察了鞭毛马达和化学感受器簇的相对位置。令人惊讶的是，我们发现两者都位于同一细胞极，其分布模式由极性锚定蛋白FlhF控制。此外，化学感受器簇的有效组装部分依赖于马达结构的完整性。此外，我们发现趋化调节蛋白CheY的过表达导致细胞内第二信使c-di-GMP水平升高，从而引发细胞聚集。因此，化学感受器簇和鞭毛在该菌中的共定位有助于避免跨途径信号干扰，使细胞能够有序地进行各种生理活动。
