Evidence map›Paper›PMID 11983908›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2002

Asymmetrical flagellar rotation in Borrelia burgdorferi nonchemotactic mutants.

Chunhao Li, Richard G Bakker, Md Abdul Motaleb, Marina L Sartakova, Felipe C Cabello, Nyles W Charon

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
64citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

64 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Leptospira spp. Toolbox for Chemotaxis Assay.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2026
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  2. Article
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  10. Chemotaxis Coupling Protein CheWInfection and immunity · 2023
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article

4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Chunhao LiDepartment of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology, Health Sciences Center, Box 9177, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506-9177, USA.
Richard G Bakker
Md Abdul Motaleb
Marina L Sartakova
Felipe C Cabello
Nyles W Charon

Funding

Stringent response and bmp expression in B. burgdorferiR01AI043063 · NIAID · NEW YORK MEDICAL COLLEGE · PI CABELLO, FELIPE CARDENAS · 1998 to 2007
$2.2M
BORRELIA BURGDORFERI MOTILITYR01AI029743 · NIAID · WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY · PI CHARON, NYLES · 1990 to 2007
$2.1M
Stringent response and bmp expression in B.burgdorferiR21AI043063 · NIAID · NEW YORK MEDICAL COLLEGE · PI CABELLO, FELIPE C. · 2002 to 2002
$380k
NIAID NIH HHS AI29743NIAID NIH HHS AI 43063NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI029743NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI043063NIAID NIH HHS R21 AI043063
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi has bundles of periplasmic flagella subpolarly located at each cell end. These bundles rotate in opposite directions during translational motility. When not translating, they rotate in the same direction, and the cells flex. Here, we present evidence that asymmetrical rotation of the bundles during translation does not depend upon the chemotaxis signal transduction system. The histidine kinase CheA is known to be an essential component in the signaling pathway for bacterial chemotaxis. Mutants of cheA in flagellated bacteria continually rotate their flagella in one direction. B. burgdorferi has two copies of cheA designated cheA1 and cheA2. Both genes were found to be expressed in growing cells. We reasoned that if chemotaxis were essential for asymmetrical rotation of the flagellar bundles, and if the flagellar motors at both cell ends were identical, inactivation of the two cheA genes should result in cells that constantly flex. To test this hypothesis, the signaling pathway was completely blocked by constructing the double mutant cheA1kan cheA2ermC. This double mutant was deficient in chemotaxis. Rather than flexing, it failed to reverse, and it continually translated only in one direction. Video microscopy of mutant cells indicated that both bundles actively rotated. The results indicate that asymmetrical rotation of the flagellar bundles of spirochetes does not depend upon the chemotaxis system but rather upon differences between the two flagellar bundles. We propose that certain factors within the spirochete localize at the flagellar motors at one end of the cell to effect this asymmetry.

Indexed as

Bacterial ProteinsMutationAnimalsBlotting, WesternBorrelia burgdorferiChemotaxisElectrophoresis, Polyacrylamide GelFlagellaMembrane ProteinsMethyl-Accepting Chemotaxis ProteinsMicroscopy, ElectronMicroscopy, VideoPlasmidsRecombinant ProteinsReverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain ReactionSoftwareBacterial ProteinsMembrane ProteinsMethyl-Accepting Chemotaxis ProteinsRecombinant Proteins

Identifiers

PMID11983908
PMCPMC122921

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.