ArticleMolecular microbiology2013
A mechanical signal transmitted by the flagellum controls signalling in Bacillus subtilis.
Article in Molecular microbiology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 88 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
88 citing papers in PubMed, 145 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Spx inhibits expression of the SwrA•DegU master flagellar activator inJournal of bacteriology · 2026Article
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- Physics of swimming and its fitness cost determine strategies of bacterial investment in flagellar motility.Nature communications · 2025Article
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- Clostridioides difficile Biofilm.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2024Article
- Mechanical stimuli activate gene expression via a cell envelope stress sensing pathway.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Mechanobiology as a tool for addressing the genotype-to-phenotype problem in microbiology.Biophysics reviews · 2023Review
- Bacterial biofilms as an essential component of rhizosphere plant-microbe interactions.Methods in microbiology · 2023Article
- Density and temperature controlled fluid extraction in a bacterial biofilm is determined by poly-γ-glutamic acid production.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2022Article
- Motility Increases the Numbers and Durations of Cell-Surface Engagements forACS applied materials & interfaces · 2022Article
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- Identification of Genes Required for Swarming Motility inJournal of bacteriology · 2022Article
- Biophysical aspects underlying the swarm to biofilm transition.Science advances · 2022Article
28 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
In the natural environment bacteria predominantly live adhered to a surface as part of a biofilm. While many of the components needed for biofilm assembly are known, the mechanism by which microbes sense and respond to contact with a surface is poorly understood. Bacillus subtilis is a Gram-positive model for biofilm formation. The DegS-DegU two-component system controls several multicellular behaviours in B. subtilis, including biofilm formation. Here we identify the B. subtilis flagellum as a mechanosensor that activates the DegS-DegU regulatory pathway. Inhibition of flagellar rotation by deletion or mutation of the flagellar stator gene, motB, results in an increase in both degU transcription and DegU∼P driven processes, namely exoprotease production and poly-γ-dl-glutamic acid biosynthesis. Similarly, inhibition of flagellar rotation by engaging the flagellar clutch or by tethering the flagella with antibodies also promotes an increase in degU transcription that is reflective of increased DegU∼P levels in the cell. Collectively, these findings strongly indicate that inhibition of flagellar rotation acts as a mechanical trigger to activate the DegS-DegU two-component signal transduction system. We postulate that inhibition of flagellar rotation could function as a mechanical trigger to activate bacterial signal transduction cascades in many motile bacteria upon contact with a surface.
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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.