Identification of flagellar hook and basal body gene products (FlaFV, FlaFVI, FlaFVII and FlaFVIII) in Salmonella typhimurium

Abstract

The flagellar genes flaFV, flaFVII, and flaFVIII of Salmonella typhimurium were cloned, and their presence on a given plasmid was verified by complementation of Escherichia coli mutants defective in the homologous genes. The gene products were identified by radiolabeling in a minicell system as being proteins of the following molecular masses: FlaFV, 42 kilodaltons (kDa); FlaFVI, 32 kDa; FlaFVII, 30 kDA; and FlaFVIII, 27 kDa. These data, together with isoelectric focusing data, confirm gene product assignments of flagellar components made indirectly from mutant studies. Flagellar components are transported by either a signal peptide-dependent or a flagellar-specific pathway. Consistent with its location in the outer membrane ring of the basal body, protein FlaFVIII seems to use the signal peptide-dependent pathway, since it was synthesized in a precursor form and processed, presumably by peptide cleavage, to a mature form; the maturation process was inhibited by addition of a proton ionophore. Proteins synthesized in minicells were localized as follows: FlaFVI was localized to the soluble fraction (cytoplasm); pre-FlaFVIII and FlaFVIII were localized to the particulate fraction (membrane or high-molecular-weight aggregate); FlaFV and FlaFVII were localized to both fractions. The significance of these locations in terms of known or suspected roles in the flagellar apparatus is discussed.