Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41513997›Full record

ArticleNature microbiology2026

Structural insights into the assembly and evolution of a complex bacterial flagellar motor.

Xueyin Feng, Shoichi Tachiyama, Jing He, Siqi Zhu, Hang Zhao, Jack M Botting, Yanran Liu, Yuanyuan Chen, Canfeng Hua, María Lara-Tejero and 4 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature microbiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing 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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. TheProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  3. The ancient E-ring in bacterial flagellar motors.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Xueyin Feng *State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Observation and Research Station for Coastal Upwelling Ecosystem, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
Shoichi Tachiyama *Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Jing He *State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
Siqi Zhu *State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Observation and Research Station for Coastal Upwelling Ecosystem, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
Hang ZhaoDepartment of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Jack M BottingDepartment of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-7304-3936
Yanran LiuState Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Observation and Research Station for Coastal Upwelling Ecosystem, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
Yuanyuan ChenState Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Observation and Research Station for Coastal Upwelling Ecosystem, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
Canfeng HuaDepartment of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
María Lara-TejeroDepartment of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1339-0859
Matthew A B BakerSchool of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, UNSW, Sidney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5839-6904
Xiang GaoState Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China. xgao@email.sdu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6397-5639
Jun LiuDepartment of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. jliu@yale.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3108-6735
Beile GaoState Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Observation and Research Station for Coastal Upwelling Ecosystem, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China. gaob@scsio.ac.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5295-3415

Funding

Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Division of Intramural Research of the NIAID) R01AI087946 and R01AI132818National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 32470031 and 32370189Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation) ZR2024ZD47
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Knowledge of bacterial flagella has largely come from studies of the simpler motors of Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica. However, many bacteria harbour more complex motors. The function, mechanisms and evolution associated with such auxiliary motor structures are unclear. Here we deploy structural, genetic, biochemical and functional approaches to characterize complex adaptations of the flagellar motor in Campylobacter jejuni. We observed an E ring formed by 17 FlgY homodimers around the MS ring, a cage-like structure made of FcpMNO and PflD, and PflA-PflB interactions in a spoke-rim formation between the E ring and cage. These scaffolds stabilized the 17 torque-generating stator complexes. Phylogenetic analyses suggest an ancient origin and widespread prevalence of the E ring and spokes across diverse flagellated bacteria, and co-option of type IV pilus components in the ancestral motor of phylum Campylobacterota. Collectively, these data provide insight into the assembly, function and evolution of complex flagellar motors.

Indexed as

Bacterial ProteinsCampylobacter jejuniEvolution, MolecularFlagellaMolecular Motor ProteinsModels, MolecularPhylogenyProtein MultimerizationBacterial ProteinsMolecular Motor Proteins

Identifiers

PMID41513997

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.