Spatiotemporal regulation of peritrichous flagellation in Bacillus subtilis (P11)

• Subject Area: Metabolism, Biochemistry and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 269423233

The proper spatiotemporal regulation of flagella is critical for the environmental success of bac-teria. Flagella are organelles of locomotion and allow bacteria to move in accordance with chemical gradients. It has long been established that place and number of flagella (flagellation pattern) vary among the species. The most common patterns are characterized by the monotrichious (1 flagellum at 1 pole), amphitrichous (1 flagellum at each of both poles), lophotrichous (multiple flagella at 1 pole) and peritrichous (multiple flagella at the lateral sides, but not the poles) distribution of flagella. The molecular mechanisms that establish these flagellation patterns during each cycle of cell division are far from being understood. For all these different flagellation patterns, there are two proteins, FlhF and FlhG, which can be essential. This not only raises the question how the FlhF/G pair establish a flagellation pattern in a given species, but also how they can be involved in generating different ones.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 174: Spatiotemporal dynamics of bacterial cells
• Applicant Institution: Philipps-Universität Marburg
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Gert Bange