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PMID: 12003957 Published · ppublish English Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Construction and characterization of a cheA mutant of Treponema denticola.

Journal of bacteriology ·Vol. 184 ·No. 11 ·2002-06-00 ·Pages 3130-4

Lux R, Sim JH, Tsai JP, Shi W

Abstract

The Treponema denticola cheA gene, encoding the central kinase of the general chemotaxis pathway, was analyzed for its role in chemotaxis and tissue penetration. The cheA gene was interrupted by insertion of an ermF-ermAM gene cassette. Reverse transcription-PCR confirmed that the other downstream chemotaxis genes within the same operon (cheW, cheX, and cheY) were still expressed in the cheA mutant strain. Lack of cheA resulted in decreased swarming on soft-agar swarm plates and failure to respond chemotactically to a mixture of nutrients. Behavioral analyses using video microscopy revealed that the cheA mutant exhibited coordinated cell movement. The cellular reversal frequency, however, was severely reduced, indicating that CheA in T. denticola mainly controls cellular reversal and that active chemotaxis signaling input is not required for coordination of flagellar rotation at both cell poles.

MeSH Terms
Bacterial Proteins Chemotaxis/genetics Genes, Bacterial Membrane Proteins/genetics Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Proteins Movement Mutagenesis, Insertional Treponema/enzymology
Chemicals
Bacterial Proteins Membrane Proteins Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Proteins
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Lux Renate
School of Dentistry and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1668, USA.
Sim Jee-Hyun
Tsai Jon P
Shi Wenyuan
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Article Info
Journal
Journal of bacteriology
Abbr.
J Bacteriol
ISSN
0021-9193
DOI
10.1128/JB.184.11.3130-3134.2002
Published
2002-06-00
Pages
3130-4
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
2985120R
PMCID
PMC135053
Subset
IM
Grants
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM054666 · United States
NIDCR NIH HHS · DE12532 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · GM54666 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.11.3130-3134.2002 PMC Full Text View journal details
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