ArticleJournal of bacteriology2009
High-force generation is a conserved property of type IV pilus systems.
Article in Journal of bacteriology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers.
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Who cites it
79 citing papers in PubMed.
- Discovery of PilU as a second type IV pilus retraction motor inJournal of bacteriology · 2026Article
- Orthogonal microfluidic approaches reveal force-enhanced migration of bacterial populations on surfaces.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Structural modeling reveals the mechanism of motor ATPase coordination during type IV pilus retraction.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- Capillary interactions drive the self-organization of bacterial colonies.Nature physics · 2025Article
- Milestones in the development ofJournal of bacteriology · 2025Review
- Beyond movement: the dynamic roles of Type IV pili in cyanobacterial life.Journal of bacteriology · 2025Review
- Review
- Saccharibacteria deploy two distinct type IV pili, driving episymbiosis, host competition, and twitching motility.The ISME journal · 2025Article
- Saccharibacteria deploy two distinct Type IV pili, driving episymbiosis, host competition, and twitching motility.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Combinatorial control of type IVa pili formation by the four polarized regulators MglA, SgmX, FrzS, and SopA.Journal of bacteriology · 2024Article
- Tight-packing of large pilin subunits provides distinct structural and mechanical properties for theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Article
- Bacterial motility: machinery and mechanisms.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2022Review
- A noncanonical cytochromeProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Conditional and Synthetic Type IV Pili-Dependent Motility Phenotypes inFrontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- Motor-independent retraction of type IV pili is governed by an inherent property of the pilus filament.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Article
- Fresh Extension of Vibrio cholerae Competence Type IV Pili Predisposes Them for Motor-Independent Retraction.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2021Article
19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The type IV pilus (T4P) system of Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the strongest linear molecular motor reported to date, but it is unclear whether high-force generation is conserved between bacterial species. Using laser tweezers, we found that the average stalling force of single-pilus retraction in Myxococcus xanthus of 149 +/- 14 pN exceeds the force generated by N. gonorrhoeae. Retraction velocities including a bimodal distribution were similar between M. xanthus and N. gonorrhoeae, but force-dependent directional switching was not. Force generation by pilus retraction is energized by the ATPase PilT. Surprisingly, an M. xanthus mutant lacking PilT apparently still retracted T4P, although at a reduced frequency. The retraction velocity was comparable to the high-velocity mode in the wild type at low forces but decreased drastically when the force increased, with an average stalling force of 70 +/- 10 pN. Thus, M. xanthus harbors at least two different retraction motors. Our results demonstrate that the major physical properties are conserved between bacteria that are phylogenetically distant and pursue very different lifestyles.
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