Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 20 June 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5883, pp. 1636 - 1638
DOI: 10.1126/science.1157877
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

A Molecular Clutch Disables Flagella in the Bacillus subtilis Biofilm

Kris M. Blair,1 Linda Turner,2 Jared T. Winkelman,1 Howard C. Berg,2,3 Daniel B. Kearns1*

Biofilms are multicellular aggregates of sessile bacteria encased by an extracellular matrix and are important medically as a source of drug-resistant microbes. In Bacillus subtilis, we found that an operon required for biofilm matrix biosynthesis also encoded an inhibitor of motility, EpsE. EpsE arrested flagellar rotation in a manner similar to that of a clutch, by disengaging motor force-generating elements in cells embedded in the biofilm matrix. The clutch is a simple, rapid, and potentially reversible form of motility control.

1 Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
2 Rowland Institute at Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
3 Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dbkearns{at}indiana.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Laboratory Strains of Bacillus subtilis Do Not Exhibit Swarming Motility.
J. E. Patrick and D. B. Kearns (2009)
J. Bacteriol. 191, 7129-7133
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
{sigma}X Is Involved in Controlling Bacillus subtilis Biofilm Architecture through the AbrB Homologue Abh.
E. J. Murray, M. A. Strauch, and N. R. Stanley-Wall (2009)
J. Bacteriol. 191, 6822-6832
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Role of the {sigma}D-Dependent Autolysins in Bacillus subtilis Population Heterogeneity.
R. Chen, S. B. Guttenplan, K. M. Blair, and D. B. Kearns (2009)
J. Bacteriol. 191, 5775-5784
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A molecular brake, not a clutch, stops the Rhodobacter sphaeroides flagellar motor.
T. Pilizota, M. T. Brown, M. C. Leake, R. W. Branch, R. M. Berry, and J. P. Armitage (2009)
PNAS 106, 11582-11587
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
RemA (YlzA) and RemB (YaaB) Regulate Extracellular Matrix Operon Expression and Biofilm Formation in Bacillus subtilis.
J. T. Winkelman, K. M. Blair, and D. B. Kearns (2009)
J. Bacteriol. 191, 3981-3991
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Signals, Regulatory Networks, and Materials That Build and Break Bacterial Biofilms.
E. Karatan and P. Watnick (2009)
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 73, 310-347
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
DegU and Spo0A Jointly Control Transcription of Two Loci Required for Complex Colony Development by Bacillus subtilis.
D. T. Verhamme, E. J. Murray, and N. R. Stanley-Wall (2009)
J. Bacteriol. 191, 100-108
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Genetic Analysis of Vibrio cholerae Monolayer Formation Reveals a Key Role for {Delta}{Psi} in the Transition to Permanent Attachment.
K. L. Van Dellen, L. Houot, and P. I. Watnick (2008)
J. Bacteriol. 190, 8185-8196
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)