Requirement of the Flagellar Protein Export Apparatus Component FliO for Optimal Expression of Flagellar Genes in Helicobacter pylori

What is it about?

The flagellar protein export apparatus transports most of the protein subunits of the bacterial flagellum across the cell membrane. The export apparatus is located a the base of the flagellum and is composed of 6 different membrane proteins. FliO is the least conserved of the export apparatus proteins. We identified FliO in Helicobacter pylori and examined its role in flagellar biogenesis in this bacterium.

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Why is it important?

FliO in Helicobacter pylori differs from its counterparts in other well-studied bacteria in that it is predicted to possess a large, carboxy-terminal domain that is exposed on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane. Our deletion analysis of FliO showed that the carboxy-terminal domain has a relatively minor role in flagellar biogenesis, and that the membrane spanning portion of FliO appears to most critical for assembly of the flagellum in Helicobacter pylori.