Disease relevance of fliL

• We report the sequence of 3978 bp of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens chromosome which contains a putative operon encoding the homologues of the transmembrane proton channel protein MotA, and the flagellar switch proteins FliM, FliN and FliG [1].

High impact information on fliL

• The nonmotile BRUME also carries many flagellar genes but these are generally not PHX and all but one are located in the second chromosome [2].
• Furthermore, this secretion pathway contributes to flagellar biogenesis and chemotactic responses but not to sensory perception of plant signals or the assembly of a type IV secretion system [3].
• Two transposon insertions in fliG result in a non-flagellate phenotype, indicating that this gene at least is required for flagellar assembly [1].
• This contains a putative operon encoding homologues of the flagellar rod and associated proteins FlgBCG and FliE, the L and P ring proteins (FlgHI) a possible flagellum-specific export protein FliP, and two proteins of unknown function, FlgA and FliL [4].
• Agrobacterium tumefaciens possesses a fourth flagelin gene located in a large gene cluster concerned with flagellar structure, assembly and motility [5].

Biological context of fliL

• Mutagenesis and protein profiling demonstrate that all four flagellins contribute to flagellar structure: FlaA is the major protein, FlaB and FlaC are present in lesser amounts, and FlaD is a minor component [5].

Other interactions of fliL

• The authors have identified a fourth flagellin gene in a 21850 bp region of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58C1 chromosome containing at least 20 genes concerned with flagellar structure, assembly and function [5].
• This suggests that the A. tumefaciens motility is important for virulence and that bacterial flagellar synthesis occurs at a higher level in a liquid environment than in a solid environment, perhaps resulting in a higher motility [6].
• Sequence analysis showed that the transposon was inserted at the fliG gene, which encodes a flagellar motor switch protein required for flagellar movement [6].

References